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Outbreak - Outbreak

Rating

RIYL

Wake Up Call
Mental
Bad Brains

Release Date

11/10/2009

Label

Think Fast! Records

Tracklist

1. A Sign of Things to Follow
2. Human Target
3. HL
4. Misdirected
5. Temporary Hype
6. In the Digital World
7. Analyze/Criticize
8. Multiple Personality Disorder
9. Sedate Me
10. (Work)ing Dead
11. Warning Signs
12. The Countdown Begins
13. Too Paranoid for Politics
14. Don’t Want to Fade (To Death)
15. Concealed

Users Rating 3 ratings	Your Rating Create an account or log in to rate this album
Recent Ratings
danielwasilewski	Bill Lohr
Rick Gebhardt

As improbable as it seems, Outbreak have returned with their third full-length, this time essentially self-released through vocalist Ryan O’Connor’s label Think Fast! Though far from their finest hour, the Maine natives find themselves in familiar territory, continuing to kick out the jams like it’s 1982. Many thought this day would never come, with the majority of the band leaving to pursue Cruel Hand full-time, however, O’Connor has rebuilt the line-up and the mission is the same as ever: attack, attack, attack. Clocking in at a shade over twenty minutes, this fifteen-song set features the standard Outbreak calling card of old school hardcore in the vein of bands like Bad Brains, Circle Jerks, and SSD.

After a mediocre beginning to the album, Outbreak really picks up with three of the best songs in the band’s catalogue: “Temporary Hype,” “In the Digital World,” and “Analyze/Criticize.” The issue with this disc, however, is that some of the edge that made Outbreak so good in the past seems to have abated. Although lyrically still as direct and angry as before, some of the songs, like “(Work)ing Dead,” are instrumentally just like so much of the mid-paced generic punk of today. This disc is frustrating because the band has several high points where they’ve never sounded better, only to slide into mediocrity on the next track. The album is split into two distinct sides: the uninspired-sounding and the fiery & rousing. Outbreak has an EP’s worth of standout cuts (tracks five through seven and twelve through fifteen), and an EP’s worth of filler. Although the inconsistency can be attributed to the band replacing the lion’s share of its line-up, it’s tough to totally excuse as Maylene and the Sons of Disaster were in the same predicament and put out one of the year’s better albums.

Outbreak continue to soldier on, playing a brand of hardcore that is becoming increasingly rare in today’s scene. Although they’ve lost some of the fire of their earlier work, they continue to perform a solid homage to the roots of hardcore. Their brand of three chord, break-neck music may not be the most fashionable thing going now, but they stay true to their roots and continue to pound out passionate releases. Outbreak is one of the hardest working bands around, and this reviewer hopes they develop more chemistry and comfort with the current line-up for the next go-around. Outbreak shows plenty of promise, which is an odd thing to say for a band on their third album, but as they are essentially starting from scratch, it is a good staring point. If they can avoid the revolving door syndrome, then they have laid a solid foundation to build upon.

--Jake Oliver