Bitter EndOver the last couple of months I'd say, a lot of people have been talking about the pending release of this album and I can't blame them because since the release of their EP "Mind In Chains" these guys have been gaining more and more attention and rightfully so because that EP ripped. And now that Malfunction Records have merged with Deathwish Inc it will only help these guys get their music out there to the people that want to hear it.
This, the band's first full length consists of 11 tracks that really shows how much the band has grown since the release of their EP. Though it was evident on their last EP that they were heavily influenced by the sounds of 80's-90's NYHC it still wasn't totally fine tuned. Well they have honed and perfected their sounds. When I first put this on, I was like damn, is this the same band or what? Just the tone of the album coupled with the song writing brings to mind many of the legendary NYHC acts such as Cro Mags, Killing Time and Breakdown. From the news clip intro of "Panic" to the fading out of "Two Domains" and everything in between, the band steadily hits you off with groove driven NYHC and all the hardcore leads you could ever dream of. In my eyes, the biggest difference between "Mind In Chains" and this album is the vocals. The dude is from Texas but sounds like he has been living in NY his whole life. And man when the little hip hop interlude comes in for a very brief amount of time in "Phantoms" (my favorite track by far) I couldn't help but to think of Madball "Hold It Down" and the Cro Mags.
Obviously by the title of the record you already should have a good idea of what the lyrical content is going to center around. A lot of the songs are about how the government keeps the people inline by using scare tactics which gets the general public paranoid. One song that breaks away from those matters is the song "Vigilance" which almost seems like it was written about Robert DeNiro's character in "Taxi Driver", though I doubt it is haha.
The recording which was done by Origin Studios in Houston, TX did a really good job shaping the sound of the album. Overall the album has a slight old school feel to it which is perfect for their take on metallic NYHC from the 80's and early 90's. Two of the biggest contributing factors is the echo on the overall mix which bleeds over to the vocals and especially the drums (you can really hear it in "On My Own"). The bass tone really helps bring everything together with the strong tone that is comprised of treble and plenty of presence in the mix. The guitar tone is fucking vicious as hell, it is perfect for the leads that are thrown in everywhere and the distortion is perfect for all the NYHC chunkiness.
Ah, the layout isn't anything spectacular. Considering the title and theme of the album they could've done a lot more with the design and layout rather than just pasting the band name and album title over a picture of the Earth. The booklet is four panels and displays the lyrics in a hand written text over a white contrasted background filled with images of war, soldiers and the WTC.
Rating: 4/5
Songs Worthy of Replay: Phantom, Terrified, Vigilance
Synopsis: It always seems that a hardcore band peeks with their first EP or full length album but these guys aren't allowing that to happen here. "Mind In Chains" was one of the better EP's that came out in 2005 but this album just crushes the shit out of it. Everything has improved, the song writing, the vocals, the lyrics, everything. This is definitely going to be a much talked about album in the coming months for sure, so don't sleep and be left out. I've been listening to this one a lot and can't see it coming out of my stereo anytime soon.
Check out some songs and if you like, make the fucking purchase!