Face Your Enemy - Steal the Crown CD Review

Damn!

is the first that springs to mind when you flip Face Your Enemy's new CD in your stereo. This is beatdown hardcore from Italy, with no sidetracks what-so-ever. From what I've seen, Europe has a tradition of heavier bands with an urban/gangsta/thug approach. This is the style that made hardcore popular in Europe back in the late 90s, with bands like Backfire! and Only Attitude Counts, so it's nice to see it has survived and is still played today!

I got this CD from World's Appreciated Kitsch, the Greek hardcore label and fanzine which, along with a few others, released Steal the Crown (nice title by the way). And as Greece also has a strong liking for brutal hardcore, I can easily see Face Your Enemy coming here in Athens and hit the stage sometime in the near future!

Musically, nothing is really new here, except for some really brutal vocals (of the death metal sort) and some ultra-slow parts that catch your attention. Of course there are no solos or melodic parts, but there are shoutalongs, lots of swearing and cool breaks instead. In general it's the exchange between fast and slow that these guys base their sound on, so you get the picture. The production could be a little better but it's OK (I've heard much much worse)!

So if it sounds like your thing, you should go ahead and check these guys out! I think 2010 will be a strong year for 'em!
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http://www.myspace.com/casertahxc (Face Your Enemy Myspace)
http://www.myspace.com/keepitrealhc (World's Appreciated Kitsch Myspace)