Whew, I've been impressed by these guys in the past and this fucker succeeds just the same. From the opening moments of the disc it's painfully apparent that this is just another league of hardcore band that vastly outshines their contemporaries and has a lot more to offer on all accounts - musically, lyrically, aesthetically... everything. It's like they just set out to make this record as epic as possible and just nail the point home again and again for an ultra concise 27 minutes . I mean, shit, when "The Outsiders (AKA Hell is for Heroes Part I)" creeps in with those barely distorted guitars that carefully increase in volume behind the wrenching texture of the yelling, you just know this isn't gonna be a normal hardcore record... and it's not. It's pretty wild, because they manage to unload a powerful and memorable set of songs that basically never follow a verse/chorus structure at all. The way things piece together it definitely kind of feels like a concept record in the sense that the general tone and theme remains consistent throughout, but there's not a lot of lyrical repetition going on at all in the individual songs, so it's kind of like everything just builds and builds and builds together over time - no way in hell is it set up in a linear manner. There are no breakdowns, no token sing-along moments, no prefabricated point-your-finger-and-yell-go setups, etc. Just check out how the awesome "Martin Atchet" tosses in some quick little melodic lead lines and creative picking patterns with hints at what's to come; as "John and Jimmy" shovels through tons of jarring, frantic rhythms and dissonant post-hardcore textures with noisy picking patterns that retain a sense of control. "Marshalltown" is nothing but one somber, faintly distorted chord progression for the first minute, before thicker distortion surges forth with vocals and the rhythm section to build off of that same repetitious pulse, before "D.E.A.D.R.A.M.O.N.E.S." bounces back with a lot more melody and one of the more traditional hardcore backbones (just barely - as I said, none of this stuff points to straightforward hardcore too much at all). "Young Man on a Spree" is dominated by drums and vocals with more subtly noisy guitar work in the background, almost acting more like a quick interlude, as "I'm Not Ready" comes in and builds off of that approach with an atypical structure that kind of fades in and out and back and forth in volume and density before giving way to "Young Man Blues", which has a little bit more of a rock vibe to it, but with a heavy midpaced tempo that keeps it from sounding like the generic rock 'n' roll bullshit that's been popping up so much over the last couple of years. Closer "Hair Raising Accounts of Restless Ghosts (AKA Hell is for Heroes Part II)", by far the longest track at more than five minutes, is another sparse number with lightly distorted chords that build up into a pounding chord progression with melodically discordant textures and a truly emotional vocal performance - eventually dropping back to a quick lull of arpeggiated riffing before blowing up into a massive climax during the final minutes. All of this makes for a little bit more of a rhythmic metal influence, but not taken to the point of sounding like actual metal. They actually do a pretty good job of avoiding any literal genre tags on this thing, which is cool. The production sounds damn good to me, with a really thick mix that doesn't feel muddy or clouded. The drums are nice and natural with a lot of warmth; the bass is smooth and fluid and adds a lot of rounded low-end without being too focal (though the basslines don't simply mirror the guitars and you can always make 'em out); the guitars are thick but not overly heavy, possessing just the right amount of texture to add some bite and grit; and the hoarse vocal shouts are mixed closely in against the music and hang back just right. Great work... no gripes here. The layout looks fuckin' awesome, too. The jewel case is enclosed in a slip sleeve that matches the stripped down look of the booklet, using metallic silver ink against dark blue in lots of high contrast photography with layers of text and handwriting presenting some of the lyrics in an artistic looking format over the course of a massive 24-page booklet. Then, the last two passages present all of the lyrics in a much cleaner and more compact, legible format. Quite nice. And the lyrics? Shit, man, they're amazing. I challenge anyone to show me better lyrics on a hardcore record that's come out in the last five years. The sheer level of intensity and sincerity, not to mention that fact that the approach is far more intricate and involved than average, thus staying away from hollow topics. I mean, shit, just check out the first fucking verse on the record: "So what the fuck are you going to do, kid? Still rattling at the chains of the gates of the world... but you can't quite pretend. Still tasting youth's bitter exile here in your empty generation's wasteland... where all the things that you've been clinging to are being ripped from your hands..." Impressive. These kids are really onto something here, and if they keep at it I think they're gonna just floor the fuck out of a lot of people in the years to come. There's so much more feeling and artistry on this record than most of what bears the "hardcore" tag these days that it's impossible not to take notice. I really respect and appreciate what these guys are doing and totally look forward to seeing where it goes from here. Nicely done.
[Deathwish]
Running time - 26:54, Tracks: 9
[Notable tracks: Martin Atchet, John and Jimmy, Marshalltown, Hair Raising Accounts of Restless Ghosts (AKA Hell is for Heroes Part II)]
Deathwish Inc. - http://www.deathwishinc.com
