True angry music is a lost art. Now a day, it is all angry at the girlfriend or parent lyrics, but just pissed off at the world music is gone. Not anymore, for out of the ashes of several bands comes Suicide File with their first full length release "Twilight."
"Twilight" is beyond harsh, and that is an understatement. Suicide File is a well-oiled hardcore machine, but almost too well oiled as the album doesn't even clock in at a full twenty minutes long.
The lyrics are put on the spotlight in this album, because in the hardcore-hold-no-barred genre, they are arguably the most important aspect of the sound. Suicide File doesn't fail in this area. Vocalist Dave Weinberg screams, but it isn't the stereotypical hardcore scream, as his words are generally intelligible. "Twilight" showcases two differently song types, the political edge and the bitter at everything edge.
Songs like "W" and "Ashcroft" make some pretty blunt words for the men their respective songs were named after. "Ashcroft" makes a pretty harsh statement with, "I can see people like you/using tragedy to advance/your own narrow moral crusade."
Other songs like "Mission Hill Party" have Weinberg screaming "No one's gonna save you/so just quit trying/no one's gonna save you/so just quit crying."
Musically, Suicide File is as tight as Hope Conspiracy, the band they most remind me of. There are two guitars for riffs that generally only one guitar is needed, but that adds to the brutality of the album. The bass lines are solid, nothing spectacular, but for the most part, nothing on the album is, and that is the genius of "Twilight."
The highlight of the album is definitely the track "Rum, Romanism and Tammany." It takes everything that Suicide File does best and smashes it into one minute and five seconds of sheer brutality. It's fast, it has both the political and angry edges, and it isn't catchy at all. There doesn't seem to actually be any reason why this song works so well, but it does. It is like my friend said: listening to that song is like someone saying they are going to throw a brick at you on the count of three, and on the count of two, someone runs behind you and hits you in the back of the head with a bag of bricks. The track pummels you and leaves you broken and bloodied on the floor, yet still craving more.
For all of the greatness that is Suicide File, the huge problem with the album is that it is over in less than 18 minutes. I think there is only one track that actually pushes 2 minutes. Now I have never been one to criticize lengths for two reasons. Number one, I think that the length of an album adds to the character of it. Take Kid Dynamite, I am sure that they made sure that their albums barely push 30 minutes despite having 20 tracks for a reason. Reason number two, in my dive into the punk genre, I think I have become desensitized to short albums. Short albums have just become a way of life for me. But, hell, NOFX did a song longer than this album. Sometimes it seems over before it even began.
Other than that, "Twilight" is a great album. Great finish huh?