A new chance for the punkrockers of 98 Mute, from the South Bay punk scene. They have toured with GBH, Blink 182, and Pennywise in the past, and they return after a period of “darkness”. It was Pennywise guitarist Fletcher Dragge who put the band on their feet again after a while, and stimulated them to record a new album. The result is full speed ahead, with lots of aggression and energy: it will be crowded in the mosh pit again. Though the new album is once more very powerful, it’s got more variation, more fluent and melodic guitar lines (Bad Religion, NOFX), a real sing along song (“Man of the Hour”), and even some acoustic guitars in the mellowed-down “Small Minds”.

Though the aggressive, staccato vocals of singer Pat Ivie make the sound of this very varied piece of work recognisable as a 98 Mute album, personally I would prefer some more fluent lyrics, in combination with the rather melodic arrangements.