The recent couple of years of hardcore have raised the waterline. The landscape’s been reshaped, expanded, and redefined, like a river backed up by a dam. Bands like Fucked Up, Career Suicide, Out Cold, Cut the Shit, DS-13, Tragedy, From Ashes Rise, and La Faction, I believe, have dealt out hands that equal the best from the early ‘80s. The Horde are good, not great. Take early Sick of It All, a less frenetic Force, and, especially, Death By Stereo’s first record, and they’re in that camp. Borderline metallic, tough guy/positive force hardcore that’s not shameful, not without merit, but not entirely memorable or distinct in its own right.
–todd (1-2-3-4 Go!)