Various Artists
The last time a serious documentation of hardcore music came out of Singapore was back in 1993 with the Lion City Hardcore CD (BigO #88) Since then, as both Nick and Khalid (who, along with Imran, run the Rage Generation zine and put out this CD) feel, the hardcore scene has pretty much slowed down. This CD, then, was conceived to halt that decline.
The bands here are not your well-established hardcore bands. Instead, they may be deemed up-and-coming bands with a lot of potential. At first glance, the CD in itself is pretty impressive. The packaging is simple but straight forward with lyrics printed inside, along with a kind of a plea, almost, to hardcore bands and that scene in general to take the initiative to support the scene and help it grow.
Starting off, Tools of Society's Outcries for Freedom is an apt protest against a system that "corrupts the mind" and abuses humanity. Written by Imran, but no doubt, a reflection of everyone's sentiments, it's a powerful song that fuses aggressive verses with an anthemic chorus. Tools also seem to be a promising band as far as the local hardcore scene goes.
In contrast, Retribution are lyrically more abstract but have particularly memorable lines like, "Break the trust and see the light," as when Mike screams in Distorted. Equally incredible is Stolen, their other track. This band proves that criticisms against local hardcore music can be dispelled - the songs are creative, impassioned and powerful. So far, allusions to Strife, Burn or Judge have been made with regards to this band.
Stampede appealed to me because they sounded a lot like some of the hardcore bands I remember liking. And I like the honesty conveyed in Timebomb:" Say what you want/Say what you want/Those words can't touch our integrity." That could come off badly if not done with sincerity but the band does it great.
That's where Nine One Six lose out to some extent. Their style may be considered "old-school" but Pride, instead of sounding anthemic, sounds really immature in a way. Perhaps their sentiments are sincere but they deliver them somewhat poorly and the song lack artistic integrity and is all not that creative.
Then there is the energetic and empowering Jabs, who deal with the theme of unity (a common thread on the CD) and the need to maintain loyalty within the scene. Then there is Environmental Disagree, in the vein of Earthcrisis a battle cry and a plea for greater concern for the environment.
Recover are Excellent Pain begins with a 30-second assault of the sounds of warfare and then the song kicks in. While it is powerful, there is also something oddly sad about it too, especially the lines: "Where are their rights? There are desperate." This is a serious pacifist anthem that conveys the rage against war and destruction in an admirable way. On the other hand, Side By Side is about the need for movement, the need for improvement for the sake of society. Overall, this band looks damn promising.
Revolt are a now-defunct band in which Andy and Greg of Still played. Along with Retribution and Recover, they convey the despair and anger of submitting to a system that manipulates and controls people. The lyrics for Enslavement Sentence were conceived by Greg and Vincent and Greg's lyrical style; the way Vincent builds up his rage and asks: They say we are free, but do you think we are really?," is incredible. The repetitive lyrics also tend to stick in your mind and, in the simplest terms, all of the frustrations of living in an oppressive system are put across.
Sickened Nature communicates the anger against institutions that insists on forcing their ideologies and doctrines on others. Again, it's an "in your face" track that delivers without any attempts to hide behind a veil of abstract words. Something of Still's sound is captured in this band and that makes them an almost interesting and excellent synthesis of hardcore and punk; this is pretty anarchist stuff and that's what I like best about it.
On the whole, a commendable effort and definitely worth checking out! - Vinita (BigO)
Rage Generation : A New Hope
