This split sees two Connecticut bands teaming up for a little over 30 minutes of material. Blastmat starts off with eight tracks from their "Chopping Block" CD, which is basically aggressive punk rock with a little bit of heavy hardcore or metal thrown into the mix. The vocals are pretty gruff shouts, there are some straightforward lead breaks, and the tempos range from slightly chunky and midpaced to a little faster and more punk influenced. The sound is a little raw of course, but it's not bad. The mix is even enough to get by, and I'm accustomed to hearing these types of bands sound a little rough around the edges. I kind of like the songwriting as well. "Hozer" gets a little weird in its contrasting mix of straight up metal riffs and overtly melodic chord progressions, "Mind Your Own Business" has more of an old school hardcore feel to it, and despite what the title might suggest "Working Class Blues" throws around some great high-speed riffing that sounds like early-80's thrash metal or something! I'm all fucking for that! There's also a cover song by some band called Stitch, but I'm not familiar with them so I don't know what the deal is there. Second Class Citizen is up next with seven tracks that are more metallic and consistent in approach, with vocals that carry a similarly gruff shouted tone but also come off as more aggressive. Their sound is a little less balanced as the guitars are kind of distanct and the mix lets percussion and vocals sit more up front, so that's unfortunate, but the songs are still alright. "To Each His Own" is a little more midpaced and has a crunchy sort of metalcore thing happening, "Social Neglect" follows a similar path with some brutal breakdowns, etc. The layout's a total D.I.Y. affair with some artwork in a jewel case printed from a black and white printer, so it definitely looks pretty shoddy, and the cut and paste layout ain't really looking that hot either, just because the art itself and the typefaces are really boring. I have no quarrels with cheap art, but it's still gotta look good to get the job done, you know? No lyrics or anything are included, but both bands seem to cover a mix of personal and lightly political commentary with no shortage of attitude. I'm torn on this. I like the songs for the most part, I think Blastmat has slightly more to offer here because their recording is pretty even, but Second Class Citizen has some strong tracks as well. The main thing holding this release back (sans minor production issues) is that it looks like complete crap, and that shoddiness is a major misrepresentation of the bands' music, making it hard to really take this seriously. I hate to be so picky, but I'm that way for a reason, because all of these other elements are important. I think both of these bands have something working in their favor, so I'd just like to see them push a little harder for slightly cleaner recordings and more effective (but still D.I.Y.) artwork/presentation tactics. Not bad. They're getting there.
[Dagger]
Running time - 34:35, Tracks: 15
[Notable tracks: Mind Your Own Business, Working Class Blues, To Each His Own, Social Neglect]
Dagger Records - P.O. Box 380152, East Hartford, CT 06138
