Blackened – This Means War – Review

Release Date: January 20th, 2009
Record Label: Think Fast! Records
Genre: Hardcore

To all those thinking this is a tribute to the Metallica song of the same name, you might be upset to hear that it is not. For the others that actually have modern music tastes, Blackened is a four piece (with two former members from Hatebreed) that is ready to release their latest album to an amassing bunch of hardcore listeners. The band is built around “traditional hardcore” as a foundation and personally I know there is no other label that fits underground/up and coming hardcore acts like Think Fast! Records.

So if you are here to enjoy pure and unadulterated hardcore that speeds through with sloppy and aggressive riffs/vocals then this is the right place. “This Means War” is Blackened’s first record and this is where all the belligerent force and tendencies come out for this band (before the band’s production gets commercialized and toned down. Well that is what happens to the usual hardcore band anyways.) I do however believe that Jay’s voice will hopefully keep this band’s voice as a strained shout-o-rama rather then anything else because as much as you might find the vocals on “This Means War” a bit raw, the powerful shouts keep the album jagged enough to make the old school hardcore lover in your life happy.

The album is a slender 9 tracks long and you will flip through them fairly fast, but aggressive punk/hardcore is best served in short strong blasts in my opinion. So if you are a fan of the traditional and new hardcore makes you wish you had a time machine that takes to back to the times when Hatebreed and Sick Of It All played with authentic aggression, then Blackened is the band for you and “This Means War” is a nice addition to the modern bands still celebrating old school hardcore. ~Staff

Score: 3/5

Track Listing:
1. Tirade
2. Let Them Drink Venom
3. This Burden Off My Back
4. Unfinished Business (Live My Life)
5. The Great Sorrow
6. If I Could Say It All Over Again
7. Unscathed
8. Kill The Weak
9. Enough Already