Waiting in the mail when coming back home were the long awaited pre-order records from React! Records. When I was opening the parcel I saw that this label puts time and effort in their packaging. It’s save with a sturdy mailer and cardboard stiffeners and all. So I’m glad with that.
The first thing I wanted to check, was the digital download from the NOT AFRAID Locked Out LP. I realized the packaging and layout are top notch again, while downloading the music. It’s a thick cover in mat. But the printed inner is glossy which forms a bit of a contrast. Basic layout, a live shot and the band logo well placed. The tracklisting is all over the back of the cover, there’s nothing else but that pictured. Very basic graphics on the backside, they might be containing too less information. But then there is the printed inner with a shot filled with live action, that compensates it.
So far the packaging. Packo’s voice sounds rougher than ever before. A bit hollowed out also. The music is as the packaging suggest pure Straight-edge Hardcore. Very to the point, no filler involved.
The band’s dedication to the American old school 80’s hardcore is obvious. Straight-edge hardcore is their passion and their lives. Their dedication to it is the fuel to make such a good and true straight-edge hardcore that doesn’t sound as a duplicate, they understand the concept fully and go further on the elan to create something totally original again and again. Positive hardcore will never die!
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