Record of the Week: RazorXFade LP
The Chicago straightedge nails it again. I missed out on their demo so I can’t make a comparison, but RAZORXFADE sounds like they’ve simply listened to all subgenres of top-shelf hardcore for years, and applied this to their songwriting and musical aesthetic with expertise. When I can hear identifiable elements of Boston Not L.A.-era GANG GREEN, INFEST, SSD, and YOUTH OF TODAY flawlessly worked into a number of songs that still sounds like the band’s own creations, I know that they’re on to something that’s more than enough to forgive their stupid name. Most of these songs go in unpredictable directions and will speed up or go into a mosh breakdown on a dime, yet the band is good enough at writing good songs and original riffs that there’s no forced or herky-jerky anything to get in the way. All of this is backed by vocals that are, um, boiling over with spite and possibly spit, and in the red of the already abrasive recording that makes it fitting that this was put out by a member of RAW NERVE. Along with DURESS, POISON PLANET, NOOSE, and A SORRY EXCUSE, this band can be added to the list of Midwest bands that are redefining straight edge hardcore to mean something raw, raging, and with substance, no pun intended. (Not Normal)
