After two successful albums, Stretch Arm Strong returns with Engage. Still you can hear that catchy hardcore that combines melody and aggression so easily. Yet, after listening to the album a great many times, I can't get as excited as before. It's not the production that makes me feel a bit disappointed. On the contrary, Engage has a very neat sound in which each instrument is essential. What I do feel, is that the new album doesn't add something new to the band. While I tend to think there is less aggression and less interesting intros, there are still those elements. I'm not entirely fair. There's a rap song on the album, which is something you probably haven't heard from these boys before. Did I expect too much?
Other coverage for this album
Decapolis January 2004Reviewed by Nate BaileyI have S.A.S's previous two albums and would consider myself a fan. That being said, most of the reports I heard about their newest album about the time it came out, was that it wasn't worth picking up. Were they right? The album begins with two songs that fit the classic S.A.S. sound then moves onto a song that is less hardcore than punk. There are several more songs like it throughout the…The Phantom Tollbooth 2003Reviewed by Len NashAs raw hard music gains momentum in the hard music underground, one of the bands riding this current wave is South Carolina natives, Stretch Arm Strong. The new album is named Engage, and it's on more of a melodic thread than Revolution Transmission and Rituals of Life, their other produce. Although S.A.S. plays something called "posi-core" (positive hard-core), the band isn't Christian and not…Similar sounding releases
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