Record Label: Epitaph/Burning Heart
Genre:
Band Link:
Buy on Amazon.com link

Since when did Epitaph start signing metal bands? Raised Fist sounds like something that should be on Metalblade or Century Media. These hardcore Swedes bring forth an album of churning punk/metal vengeance that pounds your skull into oblivion. Not what I would expect from an Epitaph band. Not in a million years.

Surprisingly, I like this album more than I thought I would. I’m not into many hardcore bands but Raised Fist incorporates a lot of elements at times that I enjoy such as hard metal riffs, churning guitars and the driving double kick drum sound that sometimes reminds me of Sepultura. Raised Fist is not that hard and has more of a punk sound than Sepultura, but they have their moments. A few moments…

A handful of songs on this album sound an awfully lot alike, but if you listen to those songs a little closer, you’ll find the occasional melodic break down or guitar solo. Unfortunately, there are less of these moments than not. This album suffers from similarity syndrome. The constant yelling in most of the songs begins to get on your nerves after awhile. It seems that each song is either hit or miss. There is no in between. “Sound Of The Republic” misses more than not for me. I’m not saying that it’s terrible, just that some of the songs are lackluster and sound like something that you would hear on Headbanger’s Ball right after a Hatebreed song. There were a couple of good songs such as the Iron Maiden-esque “And Then They Run” or the melodic change of pace found in the title track “Sound Of The Republic”. I even heard some faint resemblances to Blood For Blood. Overall though, my main turnoff was the repetitive screaming of the singer. Some range would be nice for you. The rest of the band was pretty good and very talented musically. “Sound Of The Republic” is just not my cup of tea.

Bottom Line:
Notable Tracks: Sound Of The Republic, And Then They Run, Back
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