Few Left Standing Wormwood
By
Vinnie Apicella,
Contributor
Monday, July 29, 2002 @ 10:49 PM
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I'm not quite ready to raise them to the top of the hardcore heap just yet, but they're fast approaching.
Few Left Standing builds well on the innovation of Stretch Armstrong's Ritual Of Life LP from a few years back, one of the most aggressively fast and melodically up-tempo records that really helped define and design a new approach to making hardcore music more than we've expected it to be. Incorporating slick lead breaks and sequential slants within a consistent heaviness, Wormwood treads where few have dared, so that "Burn Me To The Ground" and a song like "The Latest Fad," or "No Apology" pack a fist-clenching immediacy and propel themselves into a more traditionally-inspired musical range. They do this by way of distinctive intros, catchy harmonies, expanded bridges and anthemic choruses, with each song building on the strength of the other, extending a sense of character, subtly charming under a scowling demeanor.
The rebirth of hardcore is upon us, and Wormwood will measure up against many of the best, past and present, and open new doors for the innovative Memphis mudslingers who will undoubtedly prove to be one of the "Few Left Standing" when the smoke of stagnation finally clears.
***1/2
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