For years, Southern California has been one of the pinnacle places in the world to produce a vast array of music. For anyone who holds hardcore and metal near and dear to their hearts, this place is just as important as New York City or Gothenburg, Sweden. Oxnard, CA native sons The Warriors look to extend the legacy a bit further with their latest work, Genuine Sense of Outrage (Victory Records).
Produced by Cameron Webb (Social Distortion, Motorhead, Silverstein), the opening track “The Ruthless Sweep” immediately punishes you with an assortment of 1990’s hardcore-meets-modern metal that sounds like a rabid midget plundering through a group of 12-foot Goliaths. While the humor in that example may fall short, what doesn’t is the venomous guitars and vocals that come together to bring a nice kick in the pants of heavy music.
Vocalist Marshall Lichenwaldt manages to bring out a nice mix of Inside Out-era Zack De La Rocha vocals but with even more youthful vigor. Songs like “New Sun Rising” and “Destroying Cenodoxus” provide you a look into what The Warriors are capable of creating. Guitarist Charlie Alvarez and Javier Zarate provide plenty of punch and circumstance with breakdown after breakdown and Matt Anderson keeps the tempo alive with unyielding precision.
It’s obvious The Warriors continue to lean more towards hard-core than to metal but they make their love of bands like Refused, Snapcase, and Sick of It All very evident in their vocals and arrangements. Now, there is some groove found here and there but not as much as their previous efforts such as This Is Hell or Beyond The Noise, which can be either good or bad, depending on the listener.
Having a few well-known and well respected musicians doesn’t hurt either as Sick Of It All’s Lou Koller and Andrew Neufield of Comeback Kid lend a hand in making this record even more heartpounding and raw. The biggest surprise however is having Motorhead’s Lemmy Kilmister on board for “Price of Punishment” which meshes Lemmy’s recognizable throat with their blistering guitars so effortlessly.
Bottom Line: This record is straight to the point and relentless. While previous releases they have constructed had a just a tad more groove influence, Genuine Sense of Outrage marks a great addition to the Victory catalog that should cater to their fans and create many more in the process.
Article comments
1 - The Rusty Trombone
First album is called "War is Hell" not "This is Hell"
2 - jerry
Dammit. I knew I was close but I forgot to double check that. Thanks for the heads up.
my lesson for today? double check my facts.