Morning After "Through the Eyes of the Enemy" CD
[Rooster]
Awesome, more metallic hardcore out of Finland the way I like it. This is like heavier and more metal-based NYHC with a pretty significant Madball vibe, including vocally, and I'm all for it. The recording is a little thin, mainly due to fairly thin percussion, but I actually think this sounds better than their other full-length. At the very least the guitar tone is nice and harnessed and the vocals sound good. I'd love to hear more bass in the mix, though. Writing-wise this is basic stuff, it's nothing too complex at all, expect solid chord progressions with strong breakdowns and a range of tempos, a few more energetic vocal patterns, all that stuff. I could definitely see people tearing shit up to tracks like "Down With This", no question. There's just a ton of chunky mastery here, and that's the way it ought to be. "Face the Hate" is one of the touch faster/shorter songs and has a perfect tempo, but then again only one song hits three minutes, so they keeps things short but sweet on all occasions. "Showdown" is the shortest track at barely over a minute and has a thrashier sort of borderline catchy crossover vibe in some ways, while closer "Back 2 Basics" is just that - straight up rhythms, blunt lyrics, etc. I like the layout. It's consistent with a lot of abstract collaged textures and a few band photos with all of the lyrics and such. Nice and effective. Some of the lyrics are impossible to read because there's not enough contrast between the text and background images, but shit happens. The lyrics are pretty toughguy with lots of references to beatdowns and all that "respect"/"keep it real" kind of stuff for the most part. But they do it with a bitter attitude, and I dig that shit. It's not original but it's great for what it is, and I eat this stuff up so I really enjoy this band. I can't really see any reason why fans of this style wouldn't dig this. Check 'em out. (7/10)
Running time - 22:34, Tracks: 10
[Notable tracks: Down With This, Face the Hate, Showdown]
Rooster Records - http://www.roosterrecs.com/rooster/

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