Hmm, now this is probably quite a hyped release. Anything Pg.99 seem to do is gobbled up by the hordes. As for Majority Rule, well I have no idea who they are. Listening to their stuff on here I understand why. They strike me as a pretty standard metal band to be honest. With emo parts. If they stuck to the emo parts I would enjoy it a heckuva lot more, but in between the moody bits they play pretty typical and chuggy metal riffs with shredded vocals and it really doesn’t do much for me at all. It has it’s moments at times but it sounds pretty much like a standard every day band playing hardcore with metal bits. Your town probably has a band like this, but I doubt they could get on a split 12″ with Pg.99. OK, so my review sucks, but so does most of Majority Rule’s stuff on here. Boooooooooooooring.
Now, Pg.99. This is good. This band is evolving! And evolution is a good thing. If they were stuck making 1999 screamo ad infinitum I would probably be bored as a bastard by now but their songs on here show a band that is not happy with equilibrium, a band that wants to try new things and be a little more challenging than yer average hardcore band (definition of average hardcore band: see [or hear] Majority Rule). The first song is a perfect example, the first 30 seconds sound like Assfactor 4, then it descends into a very peculiar break before picking things up again. I guess at their harshest they sound like a tamer early Racebannon, but that is fine by me. Yep, they still mix in yer good ole crazy screamo parts, but they have a certain edge to it that makes it stand out from the wolf pack. Heck, half way through this suddenly changes direction dramatically and one song even sounds like Engine Down circa Under the Pretence of Present Tense. Boy am I confused. In a way on this split Pg.99 are headed in a direction much like their counterparts City of Caterpillar. Mixing up the chaos with the control. These two bands are helping this style of hardcore stop from growing stale. And those that do make it stale are doing so because they play metal instead of ripping off Honeywell or Mohinder or something. But I digress. And I am kidding, those stale bands just suck because they do. So. This is really impressive and I wish they could have made it to the UK this autumn. Bah.
I enjoyed the 99 here, and Majority Rule certainly weren’t the flake.