LP Record review:
Madball - Hold It Down

Madball - Hold It Down

Band: Madball Title: Hold It Down Rating: Release Date: 25 July, 2000 Media: LP Record Tracks: 1: Intro 2: Can't Stop, Won't Stop 3: Hold It Down 4: Fall This Time 5: Everyday Hate 6: Done... 7: Say What? 8: D.I.F.M.M. 9: Show No Fear 10: Never Look Back 11: Still Searching 12: Confessions 13: Thinking to Myself 14: Semper Fi

Editoral Review With their sixth blazing collection, it's pretty much business as usual. Since first emerging from the ashes of New York hardcore legends Agnostic Front, Madball have been ploughing a similar furrow of wholly uncompromising, full-throttled aggro rock with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer. Freddy Cricien's throat-tearing vocal assaults intone bludgeoning anthems of strident self-assertion and full-blooded belligerence. It would, of course, be refreshing to report that Madball are creating a riot of their own by moving their hardcore remit into new stylistic territory. However, despite an introductory passage that toys with hip-hop devices, Hold It Down is simply another example of drab, monochromatic austerity. That said, if you like a bit of precision punk bluster toughened up with metal menace and the politics of brutal intent, you could do a lot worse than avail yourself of Hold It Down. --Ian Fortnam .. You can see a complete list of all Madball discography, or go back to the Madball tabs