Labels: Subaltern
Review by: Alex Deller
Curious notion here: Chicago-based punx Al-Thawra take the by-now familiar tropes of throaty, crusty hardcore and lace them with traditional Middle Eastern instrumentation. Now, I’d be the biggest fucking liar in the world if I started rattling on about this latter influence as if I knew anything about it, but to my untrained ear it at least makes for an interesting change of pace and certainly gives them an edge over many of the oiks simply peddling scrawny and unadventurous HHIG homage. While they get plus points for steering their punk into largely uncharted waters the two styles aren’t always a seamless fit, however, and along with this occasional stylistic uneasiness comes the fact that ‘Edifice’ is swaddled in a blustery production job which sees the band losing clarity and momentum whenever they start to speed things up. Still, these are the kind of niggles that get ironed out with age and experience, and on the evidence of doomier, dirgier tracks like ‘Wine Of Power’, ‘Mundo Y Carne’ and ‘Gaza: Choking On The Smoke Of Dreams’ Al-Thawra have certainly showcased enough by way of both power and chops to make whatever they release next worth a second glance.