Reviews: Evolution So Far - Armies Of Bitterness
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Euro Punk (http://www.europunk.net)
With the grittiest scream I've heard since the demise of Dag Nasty, Evolution so far opens their new record entitled "The armies of bitterness". The Italian band literally slaps you in the face with their tight sound they belt out from the very first second. And that's just the beginning.
In my review of their split with fellow countrymen For I am blind (check it here I nominated Evolution so far for Europe's best hardcore band in the years to come. High pressure you say? You couldn't be more wrong. ESF lives up to all expectations. Still sounding like the perfect mixture of the old school and new school sound. Reminding me very much of both Good Riddance (in their good old hardcore days) and Minor Threat, ESF brings us tight ass old school hardcore songs with flowing melodies and the grittiest vocals you've heard in a long time. When singing very high pitched, the singer is able to switch to screaming in less than a millisecond and is even able to give it a thick Italian accent.
To be honest, all twelve tracks (+ bonus track) are all winners here. Gunfire verses, scream along choruses and pit killing bridges make most songs an intensive listening. Strangely enough, my favourite two tracks are the somewhat slower two of the record, being "Fear of a right planet" and "American dreamer". Especially the latter one gets me jumping and dancing around to the great guitar lead.
Where most hardcore bands that claim to be playing old school hardcore still fall back into a chaos of trash that sounds more like metal, ESF keeps it real. While instrumentally and vocally sounding extremely tight, the lyrics are up to par as well. When uninformed about the bands nationality, reading the lyrics will make clear that these guys are not American. But the upside about this, is that the lyrics are fairly simplistic and easily to understand. This will come in handy when trying to get their message out to the crowd in the multi-national European region; after all ESF is very political. Singing about Baghdad and American ignorance, ESF are trying to create a social awareness within their listeners. One can of course only support bands like these: musically and lyrically at the top of their abilities? I can only hope for a further growth on their next record. Untill then I'm sure I listen to "The armies of bitterness" many times. Hell, I even dare stating that this will be the best hardcore cd of 2004. Check these guys out when into Good Riddance or old school hardcore!
