### Strife: In this defiance

#### 21/09/11 || Habakuk

Yeah, I know. Hardcore is such a joke. Tough guy facade, vegan/Straight Edge agendas, the constant conjuring of “working class against the world” themes. Then again, if you take this as an argument against the music, I assume you can’t enjoy metal either. Oh sure, metal is so much more intelligent. And it is so much more technical! Some metal bands even play with orchestras or even opera singers! And guess what assface, almost all of this shit blows. Give me blunt, fast, aggressive rage, combine it with a bit of groove and I’m happy. Sure, it ain’t that easy – I’m a bit too picky for that – but that’s a solid base right there. And this is why I can appreciate some hardcore just as much. Enter Strife.

Just like Hatebreed’s debut, their album “In this defiance” came out in 1997 on Victory records. The difference is that these guys already had a solid fundament to work off, seeing as this is their third full-length, and were able to successfully pull off songs which for the most part go a minute beyond the super efficient stuff their Connecticut labelmates put out. This means we get a good serving of downtuned shredding, punkish energy outbursts, a thick production that shines light on the great, hard-hitting drumming (Igor Cavalera makes a guest appearance, among others) and songwriting that goes beyond stupid breakdown sequences. Sure, this has stomping groove written all over it, but it’s got enough song substance to back it up. And one thing that almost all hardcore has always done better than, say, thrash, is that it used the potential of the bass. Unsurprisingly, “In this defiance” also sports a snarly rumbling that really emphasizes on the albums’ heaviness, which in turn forms a very fitting background for the pissed off screaming of Rick Rodney and his backup gang.

Bonus points go out for the fact that this is in a way too old to sound like a rehash and comes across as genuine, despite a lot of familiar elements being present. However, while the album holds up well in outside comparisons, the songs don’t differ enough from each other to make this a truly standout album. The way it is, you’ve simply heard it after a while. However, that’s not to say the individual songs aren’t high quality, so just keep the daily doses at an acceptable limit and you are definitely in for a great blast from the past with songs like “Overthrow” and “Blistered”. Fans of the Cro-Mags, Snapcase, and yes, Hatebreed, can’t go wrong with this. Just make sure to skip the intro and the outro, that shit is annoying and absolutely pointless.

- Information
- Released: 1997
- Label: Victory records
- Website: Strife MySpace
- Band
- Todd Turnham: guitars
- Andrew Kline: guitars
- Rick Rodney: vocals
- Chad Peterson: bass
- Sid Niesen: drums

- Tracklist
- 01. Intro
- 02. Waiting
- 03. Force of change
- 04. Stand as one (redemption)
- 05. Grey
- 06. Will to die
- 07. Blistered
- 08. Forgotten one
- 09. Wish I knew
- 10. To an end
- 11. Overthrow
- 12. Outro