SOME RECORD REVIEWS...

LEGION/FINGERS CROSSED SIGN OF THE SOUTHERN CROSS SPLIT 7"
Here's a little split from our pals in Fingers Crossed and Legion. We'll call them dixies finest. Shit starts out with Legion from Alabama and the song Weed It Out. A good start, barked angry vocals and a short n sweet tune. Guitars sound good, as does the whole recording. Next song is a slower tune that starts out with a pretty HARD metal influenced intro, this is probably the song where all the kiddies will act really awkward because it's not up to their mosh speed standards. This song begins with the lyrics "I've got the bible belt around my throat", so christians...check this one out! At least he didnt put fuck in the same sentence right? Next tune is called SHED and sadly it's not about the toolshed from Evil Dead 2. Instead it's a fast blazer of a song with the hard part at the end, pretty standard but pretty hot n heavy. Last song on the Legion side is also the best song on the Legion side, called Ravenous. Any song where the frontman compares himself to some sort of wild beast is always fine with me. According to the lyrics this particular beast only feasts on the SKIN of his prey, which is just mean. Overall the Legion side is fast, quick and to the point. If you like shit like Infest but also like a little metal influence, you cant go wrong.

Now for the 2 Fingers Crossed tunes. Upon first inspection the recording does differ from the Legion side, common with 7 inches...and that's ok because it'll take you at least 7 seconds (ha) to turn the vinyl around. These dudes enjoy the GAIN knob on their amps and that is ok by me. First song is as hard as you'd imagine. There's some guest vocals here by Joe from Advent, they dont add too much but it works. The lyrics are pretty straightforward and as you may guess they're not very HAPPY, some may even call them "mad". Mosh part at the end, you'll probably like that. The next song is pretty sweet and hard. It's about cops and hatin on them, you just cant have enough songs with that subject. He says "you motherfuckers" pretty clearly near the end so if you don't like cursing you'd better run back into mommys room and hide under the covers little Ricky HxC. That's it, pick this record up if you like HARDcore. http://deadendrecs.bigcartel.com/product/legion-fingers-crossed-signs-of-the-southern-cross-split-7

THE BURDEN - CATHOLIC GUILT
This is actually a pretty interesting band/record. The music is just heavy slightly metallic hardcore, but it's not really generic by any means. The vocals I can't really compare to many other hardcore bands, which is a cool thing. The lyrics are defnitely new to me. Some of the most hopeless, pissed off at a certain person type of lyrics I've come across in a while. They tackle some subjects that I'm PRETTY sure no other hc band has touched. Some might call them "disturbing". A little snippet: "knife to the groin he felt the cut. cut. blood was pouring from her cunt. cunt. ariel was 12 the first time her daddy fucked her. all the kids at school called her a cutter". If that's your thing (I kinda hope not) then this is for you! I would feel supremely weird singing along to these lyrics at a show though. If you are looking to check out something a little different then you should probably give this a try.

CHEECH - PEOPLE AGAINST GOODNESS AND NORMALCY
First reaction to this is that it sounds like it was recorded in 1987 or something, and I almost get the feeling that this was the intention. I've heard of this band before but never checked em out. They play heavy NY style hardcore with some songs that are a little bit more on the 80's metal side (Metallica/Anthrax, not Motley Crue). This record has a good bit of songs(although I think some towards the end are from another recording)a little too many for me, but maybe it's not for you. Like I said you've got some songs that are nyhc/80's metal-ish, but then you've also got others that are almost Oi-like punk style anthems but with a TOUCH of the stuff I mentioned previously. I'm pretty sure I'm hearing horns on one song (maybe even a sax?) which is weird, but ok cool they're trying something outside of the normal formula. This record has a lot of big singalong choruses and what not, and I can't really see a lot of younger kids in hardcore getting into it, but I could be wrong. If this sounds like your thing go check it out.
Both the Cheech and Burden records are available from NGS records, you can find em at www.ngsrecords.com

BLACKLISTED - NO ONE DESERVES TO BE HERE MORE THAN ME
First off I'll start by saying that I'm not a Blacklisted fan. You might even say that I dislike them. Why am I reviewing it you ask? Why not? This is a new record of theirs and it starts out with a little intro of pots and pans banging together which is pointless, in fact you'll periodacally find little time wasting interludes of noise that feature trumpets and shit like that played badly on purpose. I'd like to think it's one of the band members old trumpets from middle school. I'm not sure what the deal is with the singing (if you can call it that) on this record. I really can't decide if it's horribly off key and bad on purpose or if it's just a bad effort at really singing. And lets get something straight, I don't give a shit if they're trying to distance themselves from hardcore songs completely, the idea of transitioning into some rock band is cool with me. Only problem is this transition was less than seamless for Blacklisted. I'm sure they like the fact that they've left a lot of kids scratching their head. That doesnt really matter though, they are so huge in hardcore that kids will suck down whatever this band throws at them just because simply..they're Blacklisted. They also enjoy their effects pedals a great deal on this record, I just wish they were used a little more tastefully. The lyrics are preeetty much standard Blacklisted, they can all be summed up with 3 words: "I'm so lonely". I'm not going to say this SUCKS, let's just say it's really not my thing. I find it to be a difficult task to make it through this entire record. I'm done, peace.