Not bad at all. 10 tracks of old school straightedge hardcore from Italy that throws in just a hint of modern melody and dissonance. This is definitely the kind of stuff that would fit in perfectly with the bands on the Bridge Nine roster. There aren't really any frills here, so expect fast chord progressions that aren't really very metallic at all, a decent number of breakdowns and anthemic choruses, and vocals in an upper midrange shout that deal with your usual hardcore-isms like dedication, pride, etc. There's not a terrible amount of variety either, but they keep things short but sweet with songs that average about two minutes each and hold the energy level pretty high. The title track is catchy as hell and tosses in some octave chords and slick palm-muting for a little more variety and energy; "It Will Be a Dedication" is a little shorter, faster, and more pissed off than most of the other tracks; "Hands That Save a Life Lived With Tears and Lies" is simply a powerful song, bordering on some frantic guitar work but reigning things in for a powerful buildup at the end with some awesome melodic accents; and "Another Turning Back" explodes immediately with intense melodies and heartfelt vocals over a slightly more metallic edge to the picking patterns for an excellent track that really points to bigger and better things from this band. At the end of the disc after a quick instrumental outro, they also crank out an SSD cover, but... I mean, I've heard "Glue" covered about a million damn times at this point, and I'm not really feeling their version since the speed during the verses doesn't make sense and the vocals are too forced and overpowering here. Oh well. The recording's not bad, but a louder bass presence would definitely help drive the rhythm section, and the vocals sound slightly raw as well, so if they could round that off they'd be in a better position as well. I'm basically fine with the guitars and drums, and in the end it all works itself out, but a little extra polishing up would definitely get some crispness kicking around in there to add more clarity. The layout looks pretty good and maintains a consistent color scheme with lots of live photos and abstract green textures and whatnot. Sometimes the language barrier makes portions of the lyrics seem a little awkward, but most of the content is dealing with pride, relationships, and other standards of the genre: "Until the last word... I'll try to understand how much truth there was in your words? And how much hidden in your actions. Now that my good intentions are over, where are your promises? And your stupid answers?" In the end there's definitely nothing new here, and there are certainly some aspects about the release that could be considered generic, but... I'm really digging the songwriting, and they've got an admirable amount of energy that I can appreciate, so fans of this style shouldn't overlook these guys. The SSD cover was a misstep, but other than that this record's a damn solid listen.
[Goodwill]
Running time - 20:00 (approximately), Tracks: 10
[Notable tracks: Dear Hometown, Hands That Save a Life Lived With Tears and Lies, Another Turning Back]
Goodwill Records - http://www.goodwillrecords.net
