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Knuckledust-Universal Struggle
(Gangstyle/PHD, 2003)
This album along with a few others that I’ve received recently have totally made me remember how much I love hardcore music. Knuckledust play energetic hardcore that goes straight for the throat. I would say that the music they play is a cross between Hatebreed, Biohazard and Blood For Blood with a little bit of Madball thrown into the mix for good measure. That basically means they play fast hardcore, but there is a lot of slower old school style riffs and shout along gang vocals.
Some people might say this style has been done to death, but in a time when most hardcore bands are trying their hardest to sound like At the Gates it’s great to hear bands sticking to the classic formulas. I don’t mind the genre expanding and evolving, but it seems for every move the scene makes there are 10,000 bands to copy the first 5 or 10 original bands. So what if you can hear the influences, it’s an energetic and enjoyable listen.
I think that this album definitely could have benefited from a beefier guitar tone. The faster riffs which utilize higher chords sound fine, but when the heavier more bassier riffs come in a heavier tone would have done them a lot of good. Overall it’s a pretty strong sounding record though, not much to complain about other then the guitar sound.
If you are into straight forward hardcore you’ll definitely be into Knuckledust. They aren’t reinventing the wheel, but they are damned good at what they do.
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