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Last Stand, The - This Is Real

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    Ian Jane
    Administrator

  • Last Stand, The - This Is Real



    Last Stand, The - This Is Real
    Released by: Irish Voodoo Records
    Released on: June 9th, 2017.
    Purchase From Amazon

    The Last Stand is made up of former Shutdown members Dion DeNardo on bass, Stephen Della Croce on guitar and Jimmy McCormack on drums and Inhuman's Mike Scondotto on vocals. They released their first full length album, The Time Is Now, in 2013 after releasing a self-titled 7” in 2011. Their latest effort, This Is Real, is no available through Irish Voodoo Records as either a four song 7” release or a six song CD release.

    The record kicks off with the title track, a song that fades up from silence and blasts into some pretty traditional sounding New York Hardcore after about fifteen-twenty seconds. Scondotto's vocals are right up front, pretty pissed off but right on target, while the band pummels you with some heavy riffs and impressively fast, tight drum and bass.

    The Ride is up next, it starts off with a bit of noise, some feedback worked into the mix, before the bass heads down the straight and narrow and the rest of the band follows suit. Again, the vocals are good here, clean but not too clean, angry and energetic but not overdone. It's catchy as hell but never lacking in intensity.

    Path Of The Righteous starts off on a similar note, again with a bit of a noisy intro before settling into a pretty tight mid-tempo groove and then shifting tempos very quickly taking the track into more standard and clearly more aggressive territory. Della Croce's guitar work here is really strong, it's fast but with just enough of a sludgy sound behind it to make it sound distinct and give it some character.

    Still Bleeding opens with some slow, almost languid bass playing, a simple opening that quickly turns into another track of blistering, traditional style New York Hardcore. This is a band that proudly wears its influences on its sleeve, but they definitely do manage to put their own spin on things. Probably the strongest track on a genuinely strong recording, this one makes you want to break shit and punch things.

    The two bonus tracks from the CD are Big Mouth, a Gorilla Biscuits cover, and Choose To Be, a Youth Of Today cover. The cover of Big Mouth is just killer, played straight but still clearly pulling from Gorilla Biscuit's screwy style. It's a great cover of a classic song. Choose To Be is also really well done, with The Last Stand putting their own stamp on YOT's anthemic track.

    Produced by Jerry Farley, the same man who handled The Time Is Now, the quality of the recording is top notch. It's clean but never overproduced and it effectively captures the energy, anger and aggression inherent in the songwriting and playing style. It took the band a while to get to this, but it was worth the wait. If the band isn't trying to reinvent the wheel, that's okay - they don't need to when they do what they do as well as they do!


    • Mark Tolch
      #1
      Mark Tolch
      Senior Member
      Mark Tolch commented
      Editing a comment
      That reminds me...I need to ask you about bringing something up for me this summer haha. Shipping to Canada is ridiculous.

    • Ian Jane
      #2
      Ian Jane
      Administrator
      Ian Jane commented
      Editing a comment
      Not a problem.

    • Mark Tolch
      #3
      Mark Tolch
      Senior Member
      Mark Tolch commented
      Editing a comment
      I'll shoot you an email when the bullshit around work stops flying and make the necessary arrangements haha.
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