Reviews

This band has the pedigree. Whether its punk rock, hardcore, metal, or pop punk, chances are someone in this band has been in a pioneering band. We got Russ Rankin bringing the vocal stylings and lyrical skill of Good Riddance, Bill Stevenson pulling the percussion from Black Flag and the Descendents, Aaron Dalbec tossing in the guitar from Bane and Converge, Zach Blair with guitar stylings of such heavyweights as Gwar and Hagfish, and brother Donivan Blair on bass from Hagfish and Armstrong. Full on ridiculous.  with the hiatus of good riddance and the formation of silent drive by other Bane guitarist Zach Jordan, Russ and Aaron both had time on their hands and started recruiting for this monster project. I wasn’t sure at all what to expect from this effort, but I’ll admit I was hoping for a metal/hardcore influenced project, kind of like tim from rise against’s Killing Tree. Turns out, the cd sounds a lot like you could imagine it.  Russ’s voice will always be good riddance to me and the songs are constructed in a melodic hardcore format, giving it a definite resemblance to Good Riddance. Some of the songs could very easily be mistaken for GR songs, but on a few the influences of the other bands, bane and converge especially, can be discerned. For the most part, I would describe it as a good riddance cd with harder breakdowns and an occasional odd-timed discordant riff. The best songs on the record, in my opinion, are the ones where the hardcore and metal influences are easier to pick out, like the fifth track (To the Nines) and eighth (Virus), because we get a hint of the talent wielding the instruments and a format which makes them distinct from Good Riddance. All said and done, this is a good cd, well-recorded, and tightly put together. It does, however, sound a lot like Good Riddance, who I happen to love. If you like Good Riddance, you will like this. If you like melodic hardcore in general, you will like this. I just wish it utilized some of the hardcore and metal genius in the band to distinguish itself from previous projects.