Klatzke
07/21/08, 05:58 PM
Verse - Aggression
Record Label: Bridge Nine Records
Release Date: June 10, 2008
Aggression is a 29-minute trek through powerful displays of emotion, intelligent songwriting, and well, aggression.
Firing up with "The New Fury," it quickly escalates into emotion laden screams. Delivering politically-minded lines like, "We still struggle with the fact that 1 percent / has 99 on their knees," with powerfully-driven instrumentals and vocals, it sets itself up as the best track from the album. The rest don't fall short though.
"Scream" is the one track that rivals "The New Fury" for the best track of the album. Starting out with almost spoken vocals, it escalates into hostile shouts, with the lead vocalist shouting the emotion filled lines: "As long as my heart keeps beating / I can't stop screaming / silence and violence / I'm bending, I'm breaking / I'm broken." The song then promptly breaks down into softer instrumentation that leads into the three-part track "Story Of A Free Man."
Verse chooses to end this album on the same note it came in on. The last song "Sons and Daughters" is as intense as the other tracks on the album, and ends the album solidly.
While the vocals may not be exquisite, they work well. They stay in the forefront of the composition, as they should, while delivering politically-themed and always intelligent lyrics. The musicianship is driven and leads the tracks along very well. The production on this album is well above par; the sound is still raw, but has enough production that it actually sounds like a good recording. The production also does a great job making the album flow but not run together.
Even though Verse isn't really doing anything particularly creative, I wouldn't hesitate to say they've released one of the best, if not the best, hardcore albums so far in 2008. If you're a hardcore fan, I highly recommend picking this up.
Have Heart, Sinking Ships, Down to Nothing
myspace.com/verse (http://www.myspace.com/verse)
Record Label: Bridge Nine Records
Release Date: June 10, 2008
Aggression is a 29-minute trek through powerful displays of emotion, intelligent songwriting, and well, aggression.
Firing up with "The New Fury," it quickly escalates into emotion laden screams. Delivering politically-minded lines like, "We still struggle with the fact that 1 percent / has 99 on their knees," with powerfully-driven instrumentals and vocals, it sets itself up as the best track from the album. The rest don't fall short though.
"Scream" is the one track that rivals "The New Fury" for the best track of the album. Starting out with almost spoken vocals, it escalates into hostile shouts, with the lead vocalist shouting the emotion filled lines: "As long as my heart keeps beating / I can't stop screaming / silence and violence / I'm bending, I'm breaking / I'm broken." The song then promptly breaks down into softer instrumentation that leads into the three-part track "Story Of A Free Man."
Verse chooses to end this album on the same note it came in on. The last song "Sons and Daughters" is as intense as the other tracks on the album, and ends the album solidly.
While the vocals may not be exquisite, they work well. They stay in the forefront of the composition, as they should, while delivering politically-themed and always intelligent lyrics. The musicianship is driven and leads the tracks along very well. The production on this album is well above par; the sound is still raw, but has enough production that it actually sounds like a good recording. The production also does a great job making the album flow but not run together.
Even though Verse isn't really doing anything particularly creative, I wouldn't hesitate to say they've released one of the best, if not the best, hardcore albums so far in 2008. If you're a hardcore fan, I highly recommend picking this up.
Have Heart, Sinking Ships, Down to Nothing
myspace.com/verse (http://www.myspace.com/verse)