Labels: Ed Walters Records
Review by: Andy Malcolm
This is number 3 in Ed Walters ‘Sea of Steel’ pro-bicycle comps. I still haven’t ridden a bicycle since the first one came out, but if you saw the state of my bike you could probably understand why. Actually, I think my bike got thrown out about 2 years ago anyway. It was a wreck.
I have heard of VBL before, but not the Awakening. VBL pound their way through 5 swift and destructive political hardcore blasters. They deal with issues such as the Iraqi situation (including a spoken word piece), and passivity towards the folks in power. I guess it’s fairly standard stuff but it means more than your typical “screamo” record. There’s not too much more I can say about VBL really, they are straight forward both in their music and in their message, they play fast and the vocals are all garbled. Good, honest, angry hardcore.
The Awakening use a messy font for their name so I was expecting more in your face, basic hardcore and that’s what they provide. They indulge in passionately shouted vocals and bludgeoning guitars and drums. They slow it down and chug a bit at times too. It’s not really my thing. I think they only do only one long song (it’s broken down into parts though), which lyrically fits with the theme of the comp, taking a green / environmental approach at the pro-bikes, anti-cars subject.
Musically and lyrically I prefer VBL, but if you are more generally a fan of politically charged hardcore I think you will enjoy both sides.