It seems as if new super-groups keep falling into my lap, it wasn’t planned I swear. Fireburn boasts an impressive line up of hardcore and metal veterans including Israel Joseph I whom was in the legendary hardcore band Bad Brains, along side past and present members of Nails, Terror, Danzig, Knife Fight, Murphy’s Law and Warzone. Needless to say, I was not disappointed with Fireburn’s debut E.P. Don’t Stop The Youth.

Don’t Stop The Youth consists of 4 songs; the first three being of the hardcore punk variety, and the last song “Jah Jah Children” has a much more relaxed reggae sound to it. That combination may sound odd to those not familiar with Bad Brains, but it works perfectly here. The record begins with a fast and hard punk influenced hardcore song that would make the guys in Motorhead proud. The other three songs keep the same quick pace with a bit of melody thrown in for good measure.

Super groups like Fireburn have the benefit of having a built in audience, but on the other hand, they are strangled with the expectation of their music to live up to the legacy of their past musical endeavours. It is safe to say that for 90% of side projects and super groups their music is compared to the members’ previous bands, most of the time it doesn’t measure up. With Fireburn it comes close, perhaps not to the same degree as all of their previous bands, but Don’t Stop The Youth is a great debut effort.

Fireburn have done a great job of putting together an E.P. that seamlessly blends all of the influences of their previous bands including metal, hardcore, punk, rock and roll, and reggae. The biggest draw back is that there are only four songs. If you like fast and aggressive music of any kind this record will catch your attention.