I denied hardcore for a long long time. I refused to listen to it basing my thoughts erroneously on the single fact that if it came from punk it's going to sound like punk. Six Feet Deep showed me that hardcore could be so much more. It was this album Struggle that brought me some of my best hardcore music ever.
From the moment this CD takes off with the song 'Angry Son' (for me this song is my soundtrack; see NecRoSarX's review below for explanation) you are simply...hooked. Lyrics like:
Father heal your angry son!
Please, set me free
I'm becoming the epitome...of what I oppose.
The quality recording of this album was one of the things that brought me around, it's simply top notch if you ask me. Although I don't quite agree with NecRoSarX's description of the band, I do feel they are indeed very hardcore and not as groove laden, I can't argue one bit with his lyrical description. This band wrote songs FROM THEIR HEARTS, and that's something that you do not see every day. Sure there are a lot of good lyrics running around out there but you can just tell when the songs are personal to the writers and when the writers sat down and really had to THINK UP lyrics. These songs flow like honey, grip your heart, and pull your spirit toward God. I really have only felt this way about 2 hardcore bands, Six Feet Deep and Strongarm, if that gives you some idea what I mean.
All in all this is a superb album, and you can find it pretty easily used here and there. So get yourself a copy.
9/10
Other coverage for this album
Dead Zine 2002Reviewed by NecRoSarXI don't know if I would consider this hardcore per se. Sixfeetdeep has more of a heavy groove to them than the usual run of the mill hardcore out there today. The hardcore sensibilities are there, especially in the lyrics and vocal delivery. Let's just say Struggle is really, really heavy in the Godsmack and Pantera region. All attempts at pigeonholing aside, let me explain why Struggle spends a…Salt #24Reviewed by RoadrunnerI guess the term hardcore fits here. It reminds me a bit of Entombed occasionally but without the fury or creativity. Myk Porter adequately uses his throat to deliver a message powerfully. In "Angry Son" he seeks deliverance from the anger brought on from many years of being stomped into the ground face down. People wonder how Christians can mix with hardcore. S.F.D. calls for people to get real…Heaven's Metal #49Reviewed by Doug Van PeltThese Cleveland punks go after it for 50-plus minutes through a muddy mix for half the album, which never peaks beyond the wide mid-range plodding out of the speakers. Vocally, the deathly muffled sound is chosen over rawness. Some of these tunes, though, have grooves too cool to ignore, like the deep dirty riffs in the title track and "Nemesis," where the sonics start to show a little…Similar sounding releases
1999Dodgin BulletsSoundtrack to the End of the World
1995Sweet NectarTired Face in Clown Paint
Drop DeadDeath by Fusion
1993PossessionThe Unnameable Suffering
1995StrongarmAtonement
1994ForbiddenDistortion
