Career SuicideThese Toronto natives have been around since about 2002, give or take a year, and have several vinyl releases under their belt. This is my first exposure to these guys so I can't really compare this to any of the bands prior material, however, the press sheet claims it be the best in their career thus far. But I guess you could take that with a grain of salt because how many times do you hear a band say, "This is most brutal album to date, etc,.". A nice nugget of information; Jonah, the guitar player in CS, also plays drums in Fucked Up. I'm not sure if he is a permanent member but Brandon Ferrell (Direct Control, Government Warning) played drums on this album.
These guys play the old school influenced jams, circa 82' via the Boston scene and do it pretty damn good. There are 13 tracks in all and the songs pretty much stick to the 1-2 minute area which is pretty common ground for this style of hardcore. The vocalist brings mad energy to the songs, he definitely knows how to write good patterns, he mixes it up just enough throughout all of the songs to keep my interest.
Nothing to complain about in terms of the recording. They used a great bass tone, loads of treble that blends in nicely with the rest of the mix. The drums have great placement in the mix, the kick has just enough presence, great pop on the snare. The vocals are just a hair lower than the instruments, so it's not competing for room in the mix. The guitar tone has enough crunch and good placement, it gives the bass room to breath.
I'm not huge on the layout but I've seen worse. The front is very simple, it is just the word Suicide in a spicy mustard color with some wordplay by putting the album title and band name in small letters inside of it. The lyrics are printed vertically with a white background with red font. The font size is sufficient but the colors just aren't easy on my eyes. The back of the tray art is the same yellow used on the front cover with black, with falling lightning bolt C's, and displays the song titles with the credits.
Rating: 3.5/5
Songs Worthy of Replay: You Got Caught and Reciple For Disaster Synopsis: If you like early 80's hardcore, especially the stuff coming out of Boston you should definitely pick this up, these guys do it well and the vocals are pretty damn awesome. Not really feeling the layout, but hey you might and either way the music is the most important thing and the recording is top notch shit. www.DerangedRecords.com