Rescue Records is the label behind this 11 track EP CD which consists of 4 full length tracks by In This Victory and 5 full length tracks by The Frontline. Both bands also contribute a short 'intro' track of highly predictable material.
I went into this really wanting to like it a lot more than I ended up liking it. With no song breaking the 2 and half minute mark and most not breaking the 2 minutes at all this entire album only clocks just over 21 minutes total. Highlight of the album is track 5 the last song by In This Victory entitled 'Nothin's Gonna Phase Us' and is exactly what you expect from the title, however it starts up with some killer double bass and really speedy guitars.
All in all both bands bring to the table plain and simple old school hardcore. The production of the CD would be rated as a medium not being terrible but not being top notch. The gang vocals used on the In This Victory tracks are weak and don't create the heaviness that is intended. Tracks by The Frontline suffer from badly mixed guitars, however I will say for a hardcore band the bassist is amazing. First off I can HEAR the guys bass lines very distinctly (probably because the guitars' mix is off) and second he's freaking good, not content to ride the E string for half a song. The gang vocals come off better than on the ITV tracks and the guitar riffs are good, not quite as predictable as ITV. The vocalist actually kind of reminds me of old Blamed (like from Frail) you know with that closer to the punk influence than brutal hardcore. Both bands dish out breakdowns that are nothing new and usually just breakdowns, not heavy breakdowns like we like see where you want to tear the building down.
Both bands have lyrics that are really good, no way at all you don't know these bands aren't Christian, it's just too blatant. The themes of some of the songs are a bit tired but in all honestly I don't really get tired of hearing people give praise to God no matter what direction they come with it.
Seems to me Rescue Recs is trying to get in on some of the success that other (Facedown?) labels are experiencing with their old school hardcore (Figure Four?) bands. This is NOT a bad CD and any serious hardcore junkie will want to check it out, heck it's only 10 bucks in the Christian bookstores! After all it'd be nice to be familiar with this music when the bands come to town right? Just don't expect a CD that's gonna blow you away. But man check out that bassist for The Frontline, oh yeah and a couple of extra bonus points to The Frontline for the sample from The Matrix MAN I love that movie.
5/10
