Here we have a whopping 32 tracks of old school styled hardcore. I thought this band's recent "Burning the Lies" full-length was okay, but it wasn't really anything new as far as the genre is concerned. The same goes for these older songs, though I honestly enjoy this stuff a little bit more for whatever reason. I don't know... the vocal shouts seem a bit angrier and the songs, while still heavily influenced by older stuff along the lines of Youth of Today/Judge (but heavier), seem a bit more memorable... even if they sound very similar to one another. "Donkey Shot" is a Manliftingbanner cover, and it definitely stands out from the other songs a little bit, even though some of the riffing is similar to Reaching Forward's originals. The last eight songs were recorded live in Poland and include two more covers: Side by Side's classic "Backfire" and "The Kids are United" by Sham 69 (though honestly these renditions aren't really doing the songs justice). The recording for the first 18 tracks sounds pretty good. The mix is strong in that it keeps things balanced and even, and nothing really bothers me aside from the fact that some of the drums are a little bit too flimsy. I'd turn the bass up even more, though. The second set of songs sounds similar, but everything is a little bit weaker. It's not as full. There's more definition to the bass tone, but it's sort of plunky. It's not bad, but things do take a noticeable step down from the first set of tracks. The live tracks sound pretty good for being as raw as they are. The most important thing is that the mix is actually even, so despite the fact that the bass drums are pretty muddy and there are some gaps, it's tolerable to listen to... even if it does sound like a better than average bootleg. One thing I definitely dislike is the layout. Not because it looks bad, it looks fine, but because this is the most confusing and uninformational discography CD that I've ever seen. Visually everything is black and white with one group band photo, a few individual live shots, and some repeating facial images printed really dark in the background. Fair enough. Now, what I don't understand, and what pisses me off, is that under the CD all they list is where and by whom these tracks were recorded. They don't list the year in which they were recorded, they don't indicate what releases the tracks originally appeared on, etc. And if that's not enough, they only include lyrics for the first set of songs. That's it. There are no liner notes or anything. Not one word about the band. Who are they? Where are they from? What did they do in two years that warrants the release of this CD? I mean, give me a break. At least throw in all of the lyrics, some more photos, a few flyers... something. After doing some searching I was able to find out that the studio tracks come from the "Pride is Everlasting" 7", the "For the Cause" LP, and split 7"s with Bloodpact and Ensign... all of which were released during the band's first two years of existence. Which tracks come from which release? That I have no idea. But all of this information should absolutely have been included in the booklet, because when I see a dated discography CD that contains 32 tracks from a band that I'm not too familiar with, I'm going to assume they've broken up, which is not the case here. Overall this is a decent listen, but there are still some problems bogging down the release as a whole. I would have liked this a lot better if it was just the first 18 tracks too, because things get tiresome after awhile, but what can you do?
[Martyr]
Running time - 53:39, Tracks: 32
[Notable tracks: The Pain, Ways to Grow, The Future is Here, Donkey Shot, Wrong Direction]
Martyr Records - http://www.martyrrecords.com
