Once For All
Down For The Getdown
5.2
Synopsis:
Late eighties style Hardcore with modern production - average...
Review:
Being a fan of hardcore and punk of the late eighties and early nineties this disc has some nostalgic value for me. This is straight forward, no bullshit power chord heavy hardcore with dual shouters and a nice powerful delivery. There are changeups in the tempos, a tight rhythm section, and everything plays off one key. It's all here, just like you remember and expect.
Which means, of course, that there is nothing new about any of it. Apart from the production this is exactly the same as umpteen other pure hardcore bands from that time, and since. The songs are in the 1.5 to 2.5 minute range and don't stray from the basic hardcore ethos. You will not find any cutesy clean singing or virtuoso soloing anywhere near this record. There are no inspiring drum fills or tricky riffs either. It's essentially a Verbal Abuse or Sick of It All record with a couple of Hatebreed breakdowns here and there. The plus is a powerful production job that lets the performance shine.
Bottom line here is if you have an obsession with owning every hardcore record there is, or if you have NEVER heard a hardcore record before, this is a good enough purchase. But if those two categories don't apply, you can find records of equal quality and perhaps more relevance to their times by going to a local used CD shop and asking about the best 80's hardcore bands. You will save some money and be getting the true originals in their prime. I am not knocking this band, because live, local hardcore is always exciting, and these guys are nailing it just fine. But if you release a record to the world and it brings nothing new to the table, you can't really expect more than an average response.
