Review Summary: Get ready for the next apocalypse, baby.
I stare over the nuclear holocaust that is my homeland. Warfare has ravaged the land, crisping it to a bleak brown. The skies are as crimson as fresh blood, and the water has been sucked into nothingness. Atomic embers settle in the distance, and debris settles on the ground. Bullets litter the area like dropped water bottles. My rifle has two clips left, it's dusty and caked with mud. My lips are very hot and dry, my body armor is ragged, and I can barely stand on my two legs. The nights are freezing, and nuclear warfare has laid the land to rest. I plug in my earphones and exit reality.
Have you ever had one of those rare, rare occasions where the lyrical flare of an album is powerful enough for you to literally go into another world, so thought-provoking that you get lost in a single thought that takes over your entire mind? This album doesn't exactly do that, considering how gritty and off-kilter the production is.
Hardcore punk remains a genre that isn't exactly popular for being the most polished genre in the music industry, with over-stimulated and unrelenting instrumental work, with short but sweet time lengths. The fact that Wasteland is one of the rare examples of a hardcore punk album done right, but still managing to keep it's reputation, makes it worth listening to. The bass line is heavy and crushing in the various tempos, and the vocal work is decent enough to warrant a listen, across each of the five tracks. It's heavy, haunting, thought-provoking, but unpolished and cataclysmic.
Recommended.
