SUFFOCATE FASTER

Apparently, "Cincinnati Hardcore" sounds a lot like everyone else's hardcore. "For fans of HATEBREED, TERROR, EARTH CRISIS and FULL BLOWN CHAOS", reads the sticker on the front — doesn't that pretty much cover every hardcore fan on earth? Unfortunately, SUFFOCATE FASTER doesn't seem quite ready to stand with names like those just yet.

For one thing, the drumming on "Don't Kill the Messenger" is clunky, clicky and noticeably off — poor-sounding triggers combined with less-than-tight playing to throw the whole damn thing off the rails. It's not like anyone else is redeeming themselves either — the guitars are thin and the vocals are hoarse and unimpressive. This is definitely straightedge on a budget, which wouldn't be as much of a problem if they weren't taking a more metallic tack — but their sound comes off anemic compared to the bands that influenced them, and there are no hooks to make the songs rise above their limitations.

"Don't Kill the Messenger" is just basically more of the same, a hardcore record that makes people think there are maybe too many hardcore records out there. There are ten bands better than this in any good-sized city, so what's the incentive to get into SUFFOCATE FASTER? A guest vocal from Scott Vogel from TERROR provides no extra excitement, while album closer "Left For Dead" is a pointless underground hip-hop instrumental track not even put together by the band. It all adds up to a big heap of "why bother?" and an excuse for less-discriminating straightedge kids to stridently defend a mediocre band in chat rooms.

Just say no.