Sick Of It All
Death To Tyrants

THE REVIEW

Twenty years of career and not a single misstep? That's Lou Koller and company for you. Coexisting in the '90s with bands like Offspring and Green Day without feeling their influence at all? That's Lou Koller and company. Still being a leading HC band two decades after their inception? Always their thing.
What does all this mean? The myriad of punk bands and their similar adolescent sound can go to hell, the real kick-ass music resides here in NY. That's what it means.

After the compilation "Outtakes For The Outcast" and leaving Fat Mike's label for Abacus Recordings, the New Yorkers absolutely do not disappoint expectations, continuing to follow a style maintained for so many years; reviewing an album of this kind, I would say, goes beyond the simple "track by track," in my opinion, it would almost be an insult to such a magnificent work as this, it's an album to let play from the first to the last roar: 30 minutes of granite hardcore, the animalistic screams of Lou ruling supreme, beautifully accompanied and joined with the sonic wall created by his brother Pete on guitar, Craig Setari (ex Agnostic Front) on bass, and Armand Majidi on drums. Anger and hatred blatantly ooze from the song lyrics, protests against government and politicians, "Always War" and "Uprising Nation" above all: what do you expect, when there is shouting against Bush and his damn wars, truly excellent albums emerge. The desperate "Die Alone" and "Leader" are beautiful, truly amazing: they end after a little over a minute, and you ask yourself: am I really dealing with forty-year-olds here, or with young wild beasts in their early twenties at the beginning of their careers?

Other noteworthy tracks on this album are "Forked Tongue" where Freddy Cricien, leader of other NYHC sacred monsters, Madball, makes an appearance, and "Fred Army" which concludes with a military march. And damn, mentioning some tracks doesn't mean there are some that stand out over others, they are all so well held together and compact that making names and distinctions seems really pointless, as I find it limiting to listen to tracks here and there randomly: believe me, the best experience is obtained by listening to the entire album.

There is no moment of pause for the eardrums, the album flows wonderfully and ends speeding just as it started. And when your ears finally find peace, you find yourself thinking: this is HARDCORE damn it! And it almost leaves a bitter taste for that scarce half-hour that set you ablaze.
But as we know, the best hardcore albums are the ones that leave in a flash... a moment full of fury and delirium.