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Verse and Another Breath…

Verse - From Anger and Rage"From Anger and Rage" is my first exposure to Rhode Island's Verse, and, well... I guess Rivalry Records has done it again. Like several other bands on the label's roster, Verse plays a melodic and energetic form of hardcore with just the right amount of metallic crunch thrown in, making for 25 minutes of powerful and memorable material that totally hits the spot with me. If every hardcore band sounded like this I'd be in heaven, I just love this shit. It's those speedy picking patterns and upstroked chords with octave harmonies and dissonant little arpeggiated riffs, man... that shit gets me every time, I fuckin' eat it up like candy. I can't get enough. And when the recording's solid and there's a truly heartfelt sense of emotion coming from the tracks, how can you go wrong? On occasion these guys toss around some Burn-ish sounding runs and unexpected clean breaks that separate them from some of their contemporaries, as do the surprisingly socio-politically oriented lyrical themes and such, but there's always a personal element involved that keeps things sounding wholly authentic. Yeah, this is an excellent fucking band right here. That's all there is to it, my friends.

Verse "Start a Fire"
Verse "Stolen"

I've said it before and I'll say it again (see below): Rivalry Records is probably the best hardcore label out there right now. I'm constantly amazed by how awesome their releases are. Buy this shit straight from them and show some love:

@ Rivalry Records

Another Breath - Mill CityAlmost exactly two years ago, it was Another Breath's "Not Now, Not Ever" EP that provided me with my first clue that Rivalry Records was really onto something. And now, their "Mill City" full-length is just another in a long line of examples proving that the label is in fact among the absolute greatest sources of amazing hardcore these days. This particular outing provides 15 explosive tracks in 35 minutes and is basically bursting with completely relentless energy. While a good level of melody is still present (in the form of many of the playing styles mentioned above with regard to Verse), I'd say that this material seems slightly more straightforward and aggressive overall, though part of that might just be because they plow through song after song almost nonstop and the energy simply never drops off. Despite a few tracks that accent slower tempos or increased levels of melody, it's a fairly consistent listen for the most part, but this is one of those bands that just exudes sincerity, and you can't argue with that shit—especially when the songs are so damn good! And like most everything else this label graces us with, the recording is strong, the layout looks slick, and everything about the release exudes an admirable level of quality. Sign me up, I'm hooked yet again.

Another Breath "Off With Your Head"
Another Breath "Jailbreak"

If you download this record instead of buying it, I hate you. Support this fucking label by purchasing this and all of their other top-notch records straight from their webstore so they can keep putting out insanely awesome material for years and years to come:

@ Rivalry Records

Comments

  1. Indeed, this label is fuckin wicked and id say that 99.9% of the time, their releases blow Bridge 9’s away.

    8.1.2006 | By xbenx

  2. Another Breath is killer, I love their ep and will need to get this new shit.  Rivalry is kickass lable, as is Bridge 9.  Currently Rivalry is slightly better since Bridge 9 lost Champion.

    8.5.2006 | By Anonymous

  3. I saw Verse a couple of weeks ago and they definitely delivered.  It was awesome.  Altough their guitarist was wearing jeans and a long sleeve shirt in the venue and it has to be like 105.  must not be right in the head.

    8.7.2006 | By EMS / COREGASM / SA MOB

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