If the first-song-as-intro was supposed to lure me into the fog, it didn’t work. Bland, mid-paced metallic hardcore that just kinda plods along without hooks or groove. Even when it picks up the pace in that too-tough-for-top-speed sort of way—Victory Records Fast, anyone?—you’re just like “why bother?” The second side has a little more energy and considerably better songwriting, but doesn’t permeate into “memorable.”
Euro straight edge on a seriously sinister bent, this seven-song slab (plus an intro) from Germany’s the FOG treats you about as nicely as a bag of bricks swinging around knee level in the pit. Thick, throaty vocals and a painfully mid-paced attack that seems steadfastly opposed to unleashing…which means that I basically spend the entire fucking record on edge. Waiting. Tense. In other words, the FOG cranks out traditional meaty hardcore without owing anything to anyone. This is what we like to call “success.”
