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Lionheart - Undisputed

Rating

RIYL

Terror
Terror
and more Terror

Release Date

05/08/2012

Label

Mediaskare

Tracklist

1. Undisputed
2. Lifer
3. From Nothing
4. By Any Means
5. End Of My Rope
6. That's Real
7. At Your Door
8. Can't Hold Us Down
9. Better Days
10. Concrete
11. How I Was Raised
12. Never Break
13. Letting Go

Users Rating 4 ratings	Your Rating Create an account or log in to rate this album
Recent Ratings
MustangMan311	Mike Duchnowsky
buck09	Rick Gebhardt

Times change, people change, but one thing never does—hardcore. Or does it? How many bands are left doing the American Nightmare thing outside of maybe Dead Swans (whose last release was severely underwhelming)? Hope Con? Have Heart? It seems that despite the charge that hardcore is aggressively static, things do indeed go through cycles, just like anything else. Crossover was huge two years ago, and now all of a sudden everyone wants to try their hand at powerviolence or d-beat. And that’s cool too, because we have some amazing music being produced. But there will always be those that stay true to their aesthetic, regardless of what their peers are doing, and I think this is just as admirable as trying something new or diversifying your sound.

Clearly Lionheart love Terror. For a long time hardcore was on that Underdog swag, but with everyone around them growing out their hair and dusting off Carcass records, Lionheart forgot to stash the mesh and flat-brims. And we are all the better for it. The criticism here is easy—if you’re going to listen to Terror, why not listen to Terror? Plus, there’s only so much you can do with the mosh. In this instance, Lionheart’s right in the thick of it, dropping two-steps and breakdowns left and right all the while issuing dire warnings to their enemies and thumping their collective chests with pride like it’s 2005.

Hence my statement on the limitations of the mosh. If songs about pitbull mentalities and defending your own appeal to you, then you’ll likely be windmill kicking the night away to this soundtrack. If not, I hear Xiu Xiu has a new album out (just kidding, I wouldn’t wish that on anyone). Undisputed is strictly a genre release with limited wider appeal, which I get the sense is just fine with these guys, and also part of the record’s sour-faced charm. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go don a longsleeve shirt and crush some fools in the pit, at least until Live by the Code drops later this year. Peace.

--Jacob Oliver