Straight Opposition - Step By Step - [Indelirium Records]

2006-12-28

Music crosses boundaries, we know that by now, and hardcore is certainly a good example - Italy's Straight Opposition is a fine example of how that works. American sounding hardcore, straight out of NY, it’s a combination of more metallic output like Hatebreed with the dirty aggression of Biohazard, you get the picture, it's hard men doing hard music.

With 10 tracks clocking at 24 minutes overall, there isn’t too much in the way of sophistication or complexity, there's not much variation in the tempo or riffs as well, actually it sound mostly like one track played 9 times, with the last track also combining some Italian hip hop artists singing in their native tongue.

This isn’t to say it's bad, they have some fine energy, good playing abilities, and the vocalist has one of the most awe inspiring hardcore shouts possible, it's just that there's very little meat in this, it's all pasta and no bologna, you get the picture.

If you're into 24 minutes of mindless fun, with some real mosh-pits in mind, this is fine, for anything more substantial, keep on looking.

Alon Miasnikov