Reviews:

As with a lot of old hardcore bands' later releases, it is almost pointless to review them because you will inevitably have the music on a CD reissue with their prime material. If you have any of the Singles collections, or the Hear Nothing See Nothing Say Nothing with bonus tracks, you have this 12" and the Price of Silence EP, whether you like it or not. Personally, I love this stuff. Although there is no comparison to their earlier 12", Why?, what band could repeat the success of that record? Instead you have four songs, all between two and three minutes, that favor a more mid-tempo, palm-muted attack than Hear Nothing See Nothing Say Nothing, but are still distinctly DISCHARGE. The production is pretty boss (you can hear the bass drum better than on the several previous records), and there is plenty of guitar wankery. The riffs are still catchy, if no longer very "raw," and the haiku-style lyrics/structure is still in place. The main problem most people seem to have is with Cal's high, strained, singing (but not yet the falsetto of Grave New World). For me, once you get used to it, it is not a big deal, and considering that the music was a bit more metallic and held-back, it would have sounded dumb if he had continued singing the normal way. The lyrics are as good as previous work, and the guitar solos are usually pretty good, too. The only bad song is "Anger Burning," which really doesn't make any sense and doesn't sound like DISCHARGE at all. If somehow you have escaped ever hearing this 12", I suggest you pick it up in a used bin somewhere, because it's actually quite good, and certainly unique.
-BEN PARKER