mordam records. mdr 6 / 16 tracks / 1988

+ lyric sheet and label catalog.

Believe or not, but for a while in the late 80's, Mordam was one of the most interesting and progressive hardcore labels. Their first three releases were the debuts of Faith No More, Rhythm Pigs and Victim's Family - a pretty impressive track record. That said, this LP was their first release that didn't blow me away completely. It's great, sophisticated and powerful, but it doesn't have the hit factor of the other albums. A blend of Nomeansno, Bad Brains and moshy NY hardcore, so this is complex and powerful at the same time. All that sounds good, I know, but still, the songs are not that memorable, and the production with a lot of reverb gives this a somewhat distant, cold feeling. Well, still a good record. [7]

Komplexer, jazziger Hardcore à la Nomeansno oder Victims Family, aber deutlich hardcoriger und mit einer gehörigen Prise moshigem NY-Hardcore; auch ein bisschen Bad-Brains-Einfluss höre ich heraus. Leider sind die Songs etwas zu un-eingängig und wirken durch die hallige Produktion etwas kalt und unpersönlich. Im Ganzen eine gute, kraftvolle und intelligent gemachte LP, aber nach drei absoluten Hit-LPs aus dem Hause Mordam (Faith No More, Rhythm Pigs und Victim's Family) war ich fast ein bisschen enttäuscht.

Tracks: leech / behind your back / ways and means / sudden death wish / pathetic / send me flowers / harlequin / gerbil // l.p.d. / time to lose / spoiled on war / this nightmare's for real / street life / time to call the vote / money hungry whore / get to know your graveyard