The Change "s/t" CD
[Fight Fire With Fire]
Yeah, this is good stuff right here. Straight up hardcore from Sweden that's based around the old school style with simple chord progressions and moderate tempos as well as some melody and a more modern sense of energy. I really like the slightly gruff vocal yells, and most of the songs are right around two minutes or less so it doesn't get old. It's not rocket science, and there's not that much going on here to separate this band from the general range of this style, but it's very well performed and the songs have a lot of pissed off attack. It's not catchy, but it's not boring at all. Tracks like "My Last Breath" get a little more diverse, while "Call in Dead" is more consistently melodic and memorable, etc. The one song that really sticks out is "This is It", as it's far more rocked out and laidback as far as tempo and overall feel. The production is nice and clean without being too polished or anything. It'd be cool if the bass was a touch louder, but I wouldn't mess with anything else. The vocals and drums are perfectly placed, the guitar tone has enough clarity and bite for some interesting textures to seep through, etc. Not bad at all. The layout's not bad. I like the way everything ties together as far as the cover being a spraypainted stencil of the band name and the rest of the booklet showing photographs of the band interspersed with spraypainting/stenciling materials and random items on tables. The lyrics are all pretty straightforward and personal as far as talking about hard times or depending only on yourself and all that action. I don't know what else to say about this one. It's a brief CD and it's all fairly to the point. I really dig it, and I think the band could do some great things down the road. Check it out if you're into this style of hardcore. (7/10)
Running time - 20:51, Tracks: 11
[Notable tracks: Test of Time, My Last Breath, Call in Dead]
Fight Fire With Fire Records - http://www.fightfirehq.com

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