OK, so I tear apart some rapcore albums, and others I praise like you wouldn't believe. You guys have gotta be asking yourselves what's going on? Does Lister really like rapcore or what?
Well I like Concrete a lot!
This band performs the hardcore end of things the way I like it. HEAVY. The bass player does keep his lines nice and thick, and distinctive. This keeps you thinking you really are listening to rapcore. The song Time To Think is the perfect example of this.
Track 3, titled contradiction is a killer song lyrically, and has really good music but this track suffers from poor production that pops its head up here and there throughout this CD. It's not an issue on every track, but on the ones that it is (such as track 3) the guitars are extremely muddy and the vocals get that "were playing in a tin can" sound. Like I said though this CD suffers this only on 2 or 3 tracks.
They do break free of the standard hardcore playing several times, especially in the song My Faith. The music slows to a crawl and just continually pounds at you until they pick the pace back up again. Ripping through the chorus the band then goes into a speed frenzy.
Vocally this band is really up my alley going from the standard rap, to hardcore vocals frequently, throwing in a lot of riot vocal screaming along the way.
Riddled with samples all over the place, this is a really good effort, and anyone who digs rapcore will be blessed by the stuff this band sings about.
8.5/10
Other coverage for this album
The Phantom Tollbooth 1999Reviewed by Justin W. JonesExit: Ska. Enter: Rapcore. I have to say that the uprising of this style is much more enjoyable than the rise and fall of ska, and hopefully not as trendy. Anyway, this isn't an editorial on styles, it's a review. And although I somewhat enjoyed this "rap/hardcore" album, I wish they could have made something more...concrete. First of all, these aren't novices, (having two full length tapes…
