There was a brief period in my life when I lived in Texas. During that time, I attended quite a number of hardcore shows that were always overflowing with young and energetic bands of youthful individuals. Even though I've moved on and live elsewhere, I must say that I still keep tabs on Texas because there is constantly a flux of bands coming from the state worth listening to.
Bitter End formed out of the ashes of one of those bands that I saw perform several times. They quickly built a name for themselves and last year Bitter End served up their debut offering, Mind in Chains. The six-track EP was combination of classic New York influenced hardcore and modern hardcore flavorings. Climate of Fear marks their first full-length, and the results couldn't be much better.
Climate of Fear starts with "Panic," which opens with random audio clips documenting various big news topics - September 11th, the war in Iraq, the shooting at Virginia Tech, and many others. This gives way to a nice guitar groove and that drives right into "Climate of Fear." The song shows definite signs of influence from the school of New York, particularly Leeway and Cro-Mags, with its throwback riffs and thick basslines.
"Phantoms" follows and features some fantastic riffs as well as a nice guitar solo mid-way through. The breakdown toward the end of the song is tough as nails and calls to mind more recent bands like Terror; the final lyrics that conclude the song are pretty damn great too. As the album unfolds Bitter End continues to lay down track after track of guitar-driven groove oriented hardcore.
The band does showcase their varying influences throughout Climate of Fear. "The Higher" demonstrates a slightly more metal vibe with the riffage that is featured in the song. It reminded me of their fellow Texas brethren Iron Age. "The Other Side" melds together the band's hardcore and metal influences; the guitar solo in this song rips.
Lyrically, Daniel Rosen places all his love, hatred, resentment, contempt, fear, and every other emotion/thought in direct light. One of my favorite series of lyrics comes from "The Other Side."
Don't know what's coming / This is not a game / Life and death, are they the same? / In the final hour, who chooses my fate? / Will I move on or remain in this world? / No escape from this maze / In the end you start again.
Climate of Fear is a really good full-length of throwback hardcore with some modern tweakings. The only real downpoint to this album is that the majority of the songs here easily could have been placed on a number of hardcore records in the late 80's or early 90's. Regardless of that minor flaw, this is one of the better hardcore records of the year and their live show is even more engaging.
