Vitamin X
Down The Drain

The cover is quite telling... for some strange reason, when nice days start to appear instead of calming down, taking a nice gulp of warm air and putting on a Junior Murvin record, I get the urge to blast my ears with some “ear-splitting” Hardcore.

Today, at the sight of the first fresh tufts of grass in my garden, it suddenly occurred to me to dust off "Down the drain" by Vitamin X.

From the Netherlands with passion, this band manages to draw a smile of approval from me for several particular reasons. Musically speaking, they have managed to stay true to an old and raw sound, few modern contaminations, no plastic-like recordings, pumped up or precise, just noisy guitars and raucous drum rolls, all accompanied by a raspy and angry vocal. Music distinctly backward compared to today, but beware, in my view, this is a merit because among the prominent groups of the genre we too often see either the ill-behaved kids of MTV or some over-the-top poser punk (I’d say like Casualties, but I’d be killed by someone).

Agonizing screams undoubtedly influenced by the Boston school and positive themes also undoubtedly influenced by the Boston school. Passages that brush against the "Crust" and touches that can come close to Nu-metal (but from very, very far away, mind you).

Twenty-three fast and intense tracks, no intro or any kind of nonsense, the album is like a mudslide, flowing from the first to the last song without catching a breath, delighting us from time to time with valid tracks like "Piss on you", "Down the drain" or "I pushed it", but the reasoning is always the same, if you appreciate one song you will appreciate all the others.

At the same time, though, it should be said that Vitamin X is one of the many bands in the field that does nothing but imitate the glories of the past, by now we have plenty of such lyrics, songs, and albums, nothing new to add, the same story from twenty years ago, however, no one can deny attention to a band for such a reason, if these guys love playing this music, no one can prevent them, in fact, someone like me is always ready to listen.

Pleasant spring listening, recommended and snubbed at the same time. It's up to you if you feel like it.