BarricadeThese guys are from South Eastern, PA, Schwenksville to be exact and play a style of hardcore very akin to Madball and Terror. Yeah, I know you probably see that in a fuckload of reviews but these guys actually do! It's fucking crazy, how much they remind of me Terror, even down to the vocals. Prior to releasing this, their debut full length, the band had released an EP titled "Choose A Side" and have played out constantly.
There's 10 tracks on this album, and the songs are steady in their length, all of the tracks range between 2-3 minutes. The most important thing is that the songs never drag on which is essential to this style of hardcore, the band keeps the momentum moving throughout this release.
Although it's been done over and over again, the track "Fashion Police" is still a fucking gem, it also doesn't hurt when you have one of the best vocalist in hardcore, Mad Joe from Wisdom In Chains lending some lines. That's pretty much the theme of the record, tried and true lyrical themes dominate the album. There's songs about betrayal, friendship, standing up against facist, etc,. Nothing new, but they execute it extremely well.
These guys kept it local for the recording and production of the album, rather than going to a bigger studio, which I'm sure they could've if they wanted to, they opted to record at Creep Studios in Downingtown, PA. I gotta say this thing sounds fucking hard, the guitar tone is pummeling, the bass has a nice full tone that compliments the meatiness of the guitars. The drums sound fucking awesome. And you can't ask for a better mix on the vocals. Top notch.
Even though the inside of the booklet is pretty bare bones and plain, making use of only a black background and plain white font, the artwork makes up for it. On the front there is a cartoon individual with a bat in hand staring out at city that just got it's ass turned upside down with buildings in flames, cars turned upside down, etc. It was also a nice touch with the panorama view of the disaster, when you fold out the booklet the front cover is expanded on three pages. The back of the tray art is pretty much the second page of the booklet.
Rating: 3/5
Songs Worthy of Replay: Fence Walker and Fashion Police
Thesis: The biggest downfall of this band is going to be the lack of identity and they can easily get lost in your cd collection. They definitely play the style better than most of the bands coming up these days but there are plenty of bands that have done it better and longer. This album is solid, and if you love the mid-paced stuff from the mid-90's and what Terror has been doing the last few years, you'll love this. Check them out at Myspace.com/barricade to see for yourselves.