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Starting off with some distorted guitar and drums...slowly building...the bass comes rumbling in...then the guitars blow you backwards...seconds later the extremely powerful vocals of Andrew Schwab come raging through your speakers. It's Project 86 and they are back with a vengeance. This is killer rapcore that is right up there with P.O.D., and many listeners will say better than P.O.D. The music is downright brutal and very well played. The vocals are extremely aggressive, from a Mark Salomon/Stavesacre style to a screaming your lungs out that will rival any hardcore band out there. This album...I feel...is a big leap forward compared to their first album. Not that that one was bad. I just like this one a lot more. The Project is newly signed to Atlantic Records (home of P.O.D.), and it's obvious why the secular world is taking notice. According to the Project newsletter at the first of June, they have been #1 on Metal Radio for three straight weeks! Picking best songs off this album is very tough. "Stein's Theme" starts the album off with authority. The lyrics (which are tremendous throughout) state that "You hate us cause we'll never go away. And like some sort of fungus we're growing every day...Our message isn't stopping till you pull us all away." "One-Armed Man" is next. The singing at the end of the chorus of "Play on...play on.." sounds good. In fact they incorporate this singing in a few songs other than this one. I think this added dimension makes album even better. It makes the screaming vocals that much more aggressive and emotional. This band is labeled as rapcore, but they are so much more than that. They even have a slow and haunting acoustic song called "Star" that is very well done. Other awesome songs include "Set Me Up", "Sad Machines", "A Toast to My Former Self", and "Chimes". Heck, every song rules. And with great production like this, you can crank it up and enjoy. The only one that would be any kind of a throw-away song would be "Twenty-Three", which is the last song. My overall opinion...This album is big and it's bad. If you like hardcore or bands like P.O.D., or even Stavesacre, this is a must. (Review by Matt)
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