Finding a great middle ground between tough-guy stuff and "happy hardcore", xDisciplex A.D. has one of the best hXc cd's I've heard in a long time. Wow, I get tired of hXc sometimes, but I get into this stuff. The guitar lines are way more interesting than a typical hXc band, and how about a drummer that isn't afraid of the double bass? Yeah!!! This band has been around for a long time, and it's clear that the work has not been in vain. I listen to this on the way to work and songs like "Told You So" play through my head all day long.
There is just one thing that I'm afraid I'm not a big fan of on here -- the vocals. The phrasing is great, the gang vox are fine... but he really just sounds like he's been doing hXc vocals for far, far too long. Which, of course, he has, so it's understandable, but just doesn't make me like it any better. This is the only thing keeping this from being a 9.
Lyrically most of the songs are relatively typical hardcore ramblings ("I will fight for what I believe, I will not lay down and die, I won't sell out and buy what this world is trying to sell to me") that could be applied to the Christian life or just about anything else, but there is also a track titled "Christ Shaped Vacuum", and it's clear that they're not trying to hide anything.
All in all, the music here's more than good enough to have me overlook the vocals that I don't prefer and recommend this for any hXc fan.
8/10
Other coverage for this album
HM Magazine #87Reviewed by Doug Van PeltErie, Pennsylvania has much to be proud of. These energetic boys unleash a ferocious hardcore sound that bites yer head off, waits two seconds, and slams your torso against the wall. Unrelenting metal. Some of the vocals here are long on anthem chants that don't sound as believable as past efforts ("Told You So"), but you still tend to believe that these guys mean it. While they wear the hardcore…Similar sounding releases
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