EULOGY RECORDINGS

The good, the bad, and the truly abyssmal...

KNOW THE SCORE
All Time Low

Right off the bat, the Heidi Van Horn cover, caught my attention, for obvious reasons, but I still wasn't sure what to expect. From the start of the record, it took me a few moments to recover from the throttling jab to the grill. I checked the release date, the lineup, and the band's name...no, this wasn't a new album by the Stormtroopers of Death, but it sure sounded like one. These are definite influences on here, it being a pissed-off fusion of old DRI and SOD that launches an unrelenting, high-speed, non-stop assault from beginning to end. I loved every second of it.

In true, old-school hardcore form, most of the songs clock in at under a minute, some of which at a mere 2 or 3 seconds, which would make Billy Milano and Scott Ian proud. The band is tight, the musicianship is solid, and the production level for this type of band is higher than one would expect. "All Time Low" is a wonderful ode to the pioneering days of crossover thrash, who I am sure are just insane to see live. For me, there was no down side, except at the CDs end, I'm left wanting more. For those of you are, or were, fans of this type of thing, make sure that you KNOW THE SCORE.

WISDOM IN CHAINS
Class War

This is the sound of the end. In their own words, from the first track, this perfectly summarizes Wisdom in Chains' new record, "Class War." Pennsylvania's angry voice of the working class is a cross of metal and hardcore, over shredding guitars and a thundering rhythm section that brilliantly shows diversity throughout the sixteen tracks, without being played out. Yet another region proves the streets are mean, no matter what city you grow up in, and the voice of resistance is no different.

"The Sound of the End" is an apocalyptic lead-in to the devastation of "Early Grave." "Cap City" is a ballad of tragedy in Ohio, but then again when is time spent in Ohio not tragic? There are great blue-collar anthems like "No Justice for the Working Man," "Class War," and "Killing Time," odes to street punk like "No Smiles in the Ghetto," and of course, a shout of Keystone pride in "The Land of the Kings." From beginning to end, it's a perfect blend of metal, hardcore, and punk with in-your-face brutality and cutthroat introspective. Definitely worth checking out, and if you dig this, grab their re-release of "Die Young," which has 17 tracks plus three bonus, also available on Euology Recordings, which I enjoyed even more.

YEARS SPENT COLD
Moving Heaven to Hell

Growling lyrics akin to the older days of Max Cavalera's Sepultura, with a whole lotta Slayer riffs, double bass kicks for days, and just a whole lotta death metal...Crunching, crunching, and more crunching, with throaty choruses of pain and suffering, and backing vocals from a tortured antichrist. The very dedicated fans of brutal death metal will probably be into this. It was just too, too much for me. I just couldn't dance to it...

UNTIL THE END
From the Beginning...Until the End

A two-CD release of Until the End's four releases from their self-titled to "The Blind Leading the Lost" in 2004. In the vein of the Hatebreed influx of metalcore bands, Until the End flies to flag of anger, frustration, and injustice, in a straight-forward, non-stop, assault of breathless vocals, flying guitar lines, and pummeling drums, into the occassional breakdown to bring everything back to centerline. This compilation is a slice of the current millenium's surge of the aggressive genre of metal-induced hardcore, that so many have done so many times. For me, these guys were pretty solid and the production was tight, but there was nothing that blew me back in the way of originality. I'm sure, in their day, they were a fun band to see, but as this is a collection of their output, that day will likely never be.

SET YOUR GOALS
Mutiny

It has the old-school sing-a-long choruses in all the right places. It has fast parts. It has elements reminiscent of the Descenedents. It feels Cali. But then it happens...again, and again, and again, painfully, far, far, FAR too many times, moving from the classic feel of So-Cal based hardcore into the dreaded sympathetic, pop-punk voice of desperation and turmoil. Emo isn't even an appropriate label here. It's just a poor choice of direction. Right when they seem to be doing everything right, they go and fuck it up. It just hurts.

Formula. All the punk and hardcore cliches seem to have been planned and strategically placed and then segwayed to weak-ass sappy for MTV play chorus and verse. Weak. If this is their intent, then it was achieved. I can't believe I made it to track six. For me, a pass. There's a bonus CD. I didn't bother. I declared a mutiny on SET YOUR GOALS.

FALLEN FROM THE SKY
Tonight We Radiate

Hard college rock? I don't know what to say. Just not very good. I see them with a future in television and film soundtracks, to be forgotten with all the other bands of this genre. Just played out, lame lyrics, and just revisiting bad music that was bad then and worse now. It seems they really poured their souls into music that is soulless...