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Rating: One of the many "second tier" bands discovered and produced during the '90s by Epitaph, Union 13 was formed in 1992 in the suburbs of Los Angeles, releasing their debut album in 1997, and quickly creating three good works, the third of which is this "Youth, Betrayal and the Awakening," from 2000, currently the penultimate endeavor of the lineup. Here, the band, originally formed as a quintet, is reduced to a trio after the departure of the bassist and one of the guitarists, but this does not undermine the group's creative streak (whose main mind is Jose Mercado, a guitarist who handles the bass parts on this album as well).
Musically, the album is rather good: we certainly do not find ourselves facing a masterpiece of technique and originality, Union 13 plays fast, simple, and direct hardcore that roots itself in the California scene of the '80s (in more than one passage they reminded me of bands like classic Black Flag or Bad Religion, while it remains clear we are dealing with a band of clearly inferior caliber), although their proposition still shows a decent ability to create a personal sound, an element that can only play in their favor.
The lyrics, essentially on social themes, alternate between English and Spanish, one of the major distinctive points of the group's proposal (all members are of Hispanic origin), while the vocals feature a continuous alternation between two or even three voices that pleasantly enrich the band's sound (but in the four Spanish songs, the backing vocals and second voice inexplicably disappear completely).
The album opens really well with "The Game (We Don't Have to Play)", probably the best and most original song of the batch, followed by a series of good episodes culminating in the short and aggressive "Youth, Betrayal and the Awakening". After this track, however, the quality of the compositions becomes inconsistent, alternating between compelling and decidedly impactful moments (such as "Innocence", probably perfect live, the melodic "To Understand", one of the few tracks with a not excessively fast tempo, or the dark "Finding Out"), and others frankly negligible ("For Someone" or "Malice", for example, could have been safely removed from the tracklist without affecting the album's quality, which might have actually benefited).
The speed of the tracks, almost constant throughout the 17 tracks of the album, is remarkable and evident both in the excellent drumming and, particularly, in the vocals, with words sometimes not pronounced due to excessive haste, making them difficult to follow even with the booklet in hand; over time, this peculiar speed (perhaps the true key element of the work), however, risks tiring the listener, making the album seem much longer than its actual 36-minute duration, and continuous listening can undeniably become challenging.
Probably a slimming down of the lineup would have been desirable; nonetheless, "Youth, Betrayal and the Awakening" remains more than a decent album, not a milestone of the genre (those are quite different!) but still an enjoyable product, especially when compared to many much more prestigious works, deserving at least one listen from fans of the genre.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
10 Innocence (02:25)
You can't win all the time.
No one owns the perfect mind.
You can build and hope to find
the tangible worth while kind.
[Chorus]
Bury me I make true all the things I conceive.
Innocent, there's no blood on my hands
when the plan intervenes
No one out there thinks like you.
Awareness doesn't assure wisdom.
Sure enough the scorners laugh.
Understand and you will manage.
repeat chorus
So I find out I'm wrong,
I don't mind I'll flick it off and continue.
Living has to be done so don't dwell
on memories that impale you.
It's very hard to feel strong in a shell
that is soft light and fragile.
Learning to get along you'll be well
If there's a now, there's a later.
Nothing that you see is real!
Nothing that you feel is real!
Even life itself ain't real!
[Repeat chorus]
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