Go it Alone “Histories” CD

"Histories" (on Rivalry Records) is the latest from the always impressive Go it Alone, offering up 11 tracks in about a half-hour. It's still an energetic and melodic take on the old school style—occasionally accented by added heaviness—but the songwriting on this record is much more stripped down, and seems to integrate the melodic attributes more directly into the old school hardcore heart of the music. There's a good variation in tempo, however, with some emphatic breakdowns (though not of the "moshy" variety) and little hints at subtly rocked out riffing adding some breathing room amidst the fast-paced power chords. But there's also some great dual guitar work that can get pretty epic sounding at times, and some of that actually lends a bit of a darker vibe to the material, which is awesome. In fact, the label refers to the album as having "a darker, heavier sound à  la Damnation A.D.", which I did not buy into at first, but the more I listen to this thing the more I start to find myself saying, "Oh yeah, you know, that riff does sound like Damnation A.D.—just without the detuned sludge factor going on," here and there, so... it's in there! Beyond that, the recording sounds great; the clean, simple layout does its job well; and the lyrics definitely continue to bear more substance than the majority of what people tend to expect from old school-rooted hardcore:

Sometimes love is not enough to clear my clouded heart, strangled by mistrust. Sometimes love is not enough. I'm trying to sort through the way I feel and getting nowhere quick. This chip on my shoulder feels more like a ten-pound brick. You want to know what's smashing through my mind? Well, take a number and get in line. I'm being pulled in two different directions: Love and hate, getting confused inside.

Go it Alone "Love"
Go it Alone "Rapture"

I'd prefer to have posted a track that's a little more blatantly demonstrative of some of the aforementioned "darker" textures that are happening here, but you can buy these jams on iTunes (ugh, paying for intangible digital files is disturbing), so I'm only posting tracks that you can already hear online. You should absolutely buy this if you like what you hear, and I certainly encourage you to grab the CD itself and read the lyrics and all that shit:

Rivalry Records
RevHQ
Very Distribution