Taken By ForceIt's seems over the last few years that the Baltimore hardcore scene has been growing exponentially and Taken By Force is among the crop of new bands. They have released a couple of demos prior to releasing this 7".
These guys play heavy metallic hardcore, and are self described as "Merauder meets Death Threat" hardcore but there's also some Slayer influence in there. Actually these guys remind me of Punishment a bit only with weaker vocals. The music really isn't that bad, even though the breakdowns sound a little to common if you know what I mean. The only thing that started to irk me with these guys were the vocals which seemed to never rest. They seemed too forced and unnatural and didn't really flow all that well. Even the gang vocals sound forced and don't really fit the songs.
Lyrically these guys aren't doing anything new but merely putting their own twist on the topical hardcore themes; betrayal and friendship. Although I got to say I really liked the song "Time Move On" which is about friends that begin to lose touch over the years. "Back when we were young we had no worries, we were just here to have fun...time move on. We've gotten more distance and now we barely talk. It seems like you don't remember our times even though it's hard to forget childhood peers. Next time we meet, just remember you've got a good friend here"
This album was recorded at Oblivion Studios and sounded pretty good. The drums have a good pop to them. The guitar has a nice thick, crunchy tone. The bass is solid but not as present as I would've liked. The vocals sound good for the most part.
From photo to drawing is the theme with this ones layout. The front cover shows police using "force" to control a riot scene. Looks very good, but I don't know what they were thinking with the color choice for the band logo, it's like a lime green or something. Blah. The record comes on a grey/black split color and looks stunning.
Rating: 3/5
Songs Worthy of Replay: Time Moves On
Thesis: Decent metallic hardcore with solid lyrics. The vocals nor the gang vocals were as good as they could've been but still solid. The packaging and layout look nice. Check these guys out at Myspace.com/TakenByForceBaltimore, if you like what you hear show some support and pick this up from the label.