Rejected/Worth the Pain "split" 7"
[Psychedelica]
Rejected takes side A with three tracks of melodic punk rock that sounds a lot different than what I had expected. The songs are straightforward and fairly upbeat with killer basslines and a street punk-ish sort of angle, though the vocals are definitely not quite as gruff as most of that style. It's damn catchy stuff, though. "The Town of the Linden" is faster and damn sure reminds me of Rancid (come to think of it all three songs remind me a bit of Rancid), but I like the vocals better here because they sound a bit more consistent and genuine. They've got a solid recording as well, of course it's got a little bit of a bite to it, but the mix is even for the most part, and the sound doesn't hinder them at all. Lyrically the songs are pretty much the usual: Betrayed by "friends", hometown pride, drinking and fighting, all that jazz. Worth the Pain follow with two tracks of heavy hardcore with an old school sort of flow to the chord progressions and tempo, but the vocals are far deeper and more of a barked sort of style. There are two vocalists, and one handles the lower range while the other does more of a midrange Rick ta Life sort of grunt. So, the vocals do of course sound sort of forced, but I like the music. I don't dislike the vocals, but they do detract from the energy of the songwriting. "The Power of Conviction" has more of a Hatebreed groove at times, which isn't quite as effective as the more straightforward old school runs, but that's alright. The recording here is pretty good as well. The guitars could maybe be ever so slightly louder, but the mix is pretty good, and the tones are fine in my opinion. The lyrics deal with hard work and determination as well as living life for yourself and never giving in, that kind of thing. The record comes in a matte black and white sleeve with a consistent layout, and I like it. There's minimal artwork, photos and lyrics for each band, etc. Not bad. This is a good split. I have to say I like Rejected better overall, but I'm glad I was able to be exposed to both of these bands for the first time here. (7/10)
Running time - 13:00 (approximately), Tracks: 5
[Notable tracks: The Town of the Linden, Outta Control, Worth the Pain]
Worth the Pain - http://www.lprhardcore.net/wtp/

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