Guns Up!

All This Is (2005)

Meg Reinecker

Part of me wants to say something sweet like "THUMBS UP! for GUNS UP!" But then the other part of me realizes that up and up don't rhyme. They're just the same word. So I'll stick with saying that Guns Up!'s All This Is is one of the better hardcore albums released lately. Or hell, maybe I'm just impressed that it's not metalcore.

I don't know about a Madball comparison, but I can ensure you that Guns Up! has mastered straight-forward hardcore. And so soon, too. All This Is encompasses six new songs with three tracks from their out-of-print 7". Guns Up! will take you on a journey back to the simple, New York hardcore, untarnished by tight pants and melodic interludes.

The record's first three tracks do a pretty decent job of summing up All This Is. "Abusive" vocals, breakdowns, animalistic growls, you know, the whole sheBANG (pun completely fucking intended). Whether opening a song with "Yo, straight up. Hit this shit" or yelling "Step the fuck back" after a minute-long build up, Guns Up! will have you wanting to participate in their intensity.

Face it, any up and coming hardcore band that gets to tour with Verse and Have Heart must have some credibility. And having the same man, Dean Baltulonis, who produced releases for Agnostic Front and No Warning, do their recording sure doesn't hurt. Guns Up! are simply straight-forward hardcore, no bullshit. All This Is isn't fleshed out with filler tracks, nor does it seem as if Guns Up! is trying to be something they're not. And what they're not, is a disappointment.

MP3s
How It's Done
No Shelter