Villain - It's Rough

Old-school grit meets thrash heaven. These young dudes pump out fast hardcore with plenty of brutal breakdowns. Their ideals and views are rejuvenating to this old guy; nice to hear bold, brash statements shouted with fervor and spite for the wrongs of this world. Plus, with everyone that lives west of 128 (and 495) saying on their FB that they live in "Boston" - i like that this band says "Marlboro" on their myspace.

True MASS attitude in spirit and in music. Heavy metallic riffs - from thrash swing to crunching romps - with a stomp and spitting drums for moshing; side to side and spinkicks...no need to choose one over the other! This is hardcore - not COC/DRI crossover - just hardcore made with metallic influence in the writing. Tough, groaned vocals a la (a tougher)Shark Attack or Negative Approach.

Not one song of the 11 over 2 minutes. This unmatched energy and stained passion for the hypocrisies and pollution of the modern society is invigorating. A great nod to 90's metallic youth crew revival while wearing metal proudly on their sleeveless denim vest. A notch above the redundant Cro-Mags worship that has a ubiquitous grasp on young bands these days. In the end, it feels like Guns Up!, Word for Word, Tear It Up, DYS, SOD, A-Team, xFilesx got thrown in a blender. This is great!

"Reasonable Doubt" and "IQ" and "Chains" ("i wish i had a bullet for every cop in sight") and "Comply" (heavy!) stand out to me.

Review by Hutch from Empty Hands blog
Label: Arrested Records
Year: 2010
Band's website