The first six tracks on this split CD are from Supreme Commander whose 7" I reviewed and whole-heartily enjoyed a few months back. Supreme Commander play tuneful melodic quick paced punk that once ruled the roster of Epitaph Records in the mid-90's. If you wish to recall bands like Pennywise, NOFX, and Bad Religion and if you yearn for the days of really huge skater shorts and watching half-pipes at Warped Tour then Supreme Commander will fill that soundtrack perfectly. The only thing that sets Supreme Commander apart from your run of the mill Epitaph/Warped band is that they have this ALL type thing. Supreme Commander is some sort of higher being propelling the four dudes in the band to create music. They even refer themselves as "Loyal Servants." Supreme Commander, the band, doesn't bring forth a set of rules like ALL did. There's no Supreme Commander Commandments, but there certainly is something that comes off as somewhat mystic, spiritual, and looking into the unknown. The lyrics are near impossible to read due to the not very well thought of layout of words over dark images. However from what I can make out there's nothing about Jah, Allah, Buddha, Jesus, Satan, Vishnu, etc. Supreme Commander is a whole new god. Supreme Commander also throw a decent curve by covering Gorilla Biscuits "New Direction" that is surprisingly good, easy to recognize, but not without its own flair. A very wise choice to separate the two artists.
The last six tracks are done from a new band to me called, Alive at Last. When I saw their photo in the layout and the decent amount of facial hair I was expecting either something nü-metal or something on the lines of Supreme Commander but a lot more cock-rocking. Alive at Last, no matter what they sound like, win automatic points by entitling a song "Snakes Eyes vs. Storm Shadow." Yeah I have http://www.yojoe.com bookmarked myself. G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero defined my childhood and was the reason I looked forward to birthdays and Christmas to see what heavily armored engine of destruction I was going to get to unwrap. I don't how many missions G.I. Joe went on in my backyard. They fought so many battles in the tall grass, the snow banks, and the trees with Cobra. Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow were two ninja brothers that fought in a war where Storm Shadow saved Snake Eyes from a certain bullet riddled death. However, Storm Shadow infiltrated Cobra to track down his uncle's killer and was eventually brainwashed to fight for the evil terrorist Snakes.
Anyhow, thanks for the nostalgia, Alive at Last. Oh and thankfully you don't sound either cock-rocking or nü -metal. Nope, actually you sound a lot like a straightforward version of Bane, especially in the sick vocals. Alive at Last are fast and melodic much like their disc mates, but more on the hardcore side of things with their sing-alongs, mosh parts, and any another musical nuances one would attach to hardcore. There isn't anything that sets Alive at Last away from the mountains of other fast melodic hardcore bands but they are good at what they do and quite the keeper actually. They use a sound byte from The Goonies which is making me wonder if we grew up together in some weird alternate reality called New Minnejersey.
This split CD isn't anything spectacular. Then again, aside from the Faith/Void split, is there any split that is life changing? Yeah, no. Here we have two bands, Supreme Commander and Alive at Last, that are good at what they do but after the CD stops spinning I barely recall anything I just heard. Supreme Commander may have the ALL thing going on while trying to get on skateboard VHS compilations. On the other side, or half, is Alive at Last with their positive blasts of hardcore and rehashing my childhood. However, neither band is reinventing the wheel but they defiantly know what routes to tread on. The split is a decent if albeit typical split CD from two good bands. If you see this CD in your local record store and like your hardcore/punk on the more melodic side, pick it up.
