108It's nice to Equal Vision, who have put out some classic records over the decade, finally put out some hardcore records again. After all they have released some of the most influential records of the 90's, including two of 108's records, "Holyname" and "Songs of Seperation" but have strayed into the indie rock scene the last few years. Well, here we are in 2006 and they are paying homage to one of their finest bands to date.
I remember learning about the brainchild of 108, Vic Dicara (Vraja Kishor Dasa) while checking out one of my favorites zines that he just happened to run, Static-Void, which gave me a superficial understanding of Hare Krishna and others nuggets of knowledge, like the Cro-Mags actually happend to be influenced by Krishna. Vic has also played guitar in Inside Out and bass in Beyond, other than Vic, who was the nucleus, the band saw a revolving door of musicians come in and out, including such note worthy names as; Chris Daly (Texas Is The Reason) and Matt Cross (Orange 9MM). From 1991-1996, 108 recorded and released "Holyname" (91'), "Songs of Seperation" (93'), "Panic" (95'), and "Threefold Misery and Curse of Instinct" (96'), all of which are on this 2xCD discography.
Still 10 years since they wrote their last song, there isn't many bands, let alone hardcore bands that can come close to what this band did musically. These guys were one of the few bands that were able to capture the feeling of the moment whether it be the speed and energy of punk rock and hardcore or being able to throw in some of the most catchy and rocked out sections that have ever graced this listeners ears or even a short lived reggae moment. No matter the tempo of the music, the band is always able to convery their mood.
Even though I don't agree with everything Hare Krishna preaches, it's not even close to being any worse than Christianity or Catholicism. And hell if Krishna influenced bands don't put out some of the best lyrical content (:::cough cough::: Cro-Mags) Regardless, most of the lyrical content is about soul searching, and questioning the normal way of life, etc,. There's great tracks about the possibilities of afterlife "Deathbed", the ideals behind vegetarianism "Killer of the Soul", issues of the role women have in society "Woman," and other themes that are conveyed through great word usage that modernizes the stories told by old 15th and 19th century Krishna/Hindu writers/poets.
Tom Hutten at Bionic Mastering did a fantastic job reworking this one, although the material he had to work with wasn't complete garbage, I mean Don Fury did record "Songs of Seperation". But it was 13 years ago and the technology is a lot cheaper than it was back then. While they are still some rough spots, this thing sounds as good as it can, certainly more stronger sounding than prior to this re-release. No quarrels here. The layout on this is absolutely breathtaking. The actual jewel case is housed by a white cardboard sleeve with the lettering in silver ink. The layout is done up in an extremely eye catching silver metallic ink throughout the trayout, booklet, and CD faces. The packaging includes two of the most crucial elements to a discography, lots of photos and linear notes. This booklet is nice and thick and includes lyrics to every one of the 36 tracks with brief song backgrounds by Vic and vocalist, Robert Fish. In the middle of the hefty booklet there is a image of the star of David/pentagram/Krishna symbol/sign of Venus that folds out into a four page story of the band that is separated into III Acts, really fucking cool. You could easily spend an hour taking in and absorbing everything in the booklet. I wish more labels and bands would do something along these lines.
Rating: 5/5
Songs Worthy of Replay: Blood, Arctic, Curse of Instinct, Thorn, Woman
Thesis: This is one of the most complete discographys I've ever had the pleasure of owning, shit this is even better than the Judge one Revelation put out, and even better than the Earth Crisis one put out by Victory. Great music, great visuals, loads of information behind one of the most influential bands of the 90's and beyond. If you have the cash to spare, you'd be a fool not to purchase this.