Description

What the hell is going on with Sick Of It All? If they were professional athletes playing at this level more than three decades into their career, we’d have to assume they were on steroids. What’s the musical equivalent of steroids? These guys are definitely taking some kind of performance enhancing substances. The statistics don’t lie – 32 years, 12 LPs, a couple of live albums, a buttload of EPs, 75% of the original lineup still in tact, and still making raging hardcore.

2014’s The Last Act of Defiance was a wonderful late career record. Wake the Sleeping Dragon! is even better. It makes me question whether or not SOIA is actually in the late part of their career. They seem ageless at this point. I see no reason why they can’t go on indefinitely. As I mentioned earlier, they’re not just surviving, they’re thriving. A lot of aging hardcore bands make records where they attempt to sound like younger versions of themselves. They often come across as caricatures. That’s not the case here. Sick Of It All feel fresh and vital, with a wisdom that can only come from experience.

I assume anyone reading this knows what New York hardcore sounds like. The vocals are shouted and there are plenty of sing along choruses. The lyrics are both personal and political. The guitar riffs are metallic with chugging breakdowns. The drums alternate between pummeling speed and slower grooves. SOIA are the embodiment of that sound. (They may not have been around for quite as long as Agnostic Front or Cro-Mags, but they’ve been more consistent over their 30 plus years.) Wake the Sleeping Dragon! Sounds like you expect it to, but still seems dynamic.

Radiation records edition.