One Second Thought - Self Inflicted (1999)^{Release ID: 32547}

This is probably my favorite hardcore album of all time. This is really no other band of the last few decades that can compare in both overall intensity, emotion, and technical ability. The vocalist, Eric Rockford, gives an amazing performance, with missed off, misanthropic lyrics that never sway into pure Nihilism or despair, but instead a liberating, Nietzschean egoism, paired nicely with his inflection just between death metal and traditional hardcore vocals. The guitar and bass are awesome, with unpredictable power chord progressions, well down chugs and thrash chromatic riffs during faster sections. However, what stands out in my opinion are the FUCKING DRUMS. They are so natural and organic, where it feels like whatever is called for (hip inspired beats, NYHC speed skanks, breakdowns, etc), the drummer is constantly playing like he's an melody alongside the guitars just as much as he is driving the beat. Its just so infectious, with a sense of groove being displayed in every delayed backbeat and drum fill. Overall, an essential hardcore album, that every hardcore band after only wishes they could be.

Self Inflicted is known as one of the cult albums deep in the underground metalcore/early deathcore mines. However, there's not much in common with what I'm used to when it comes to this style...

I mean, there are some moments to beat you into damnation, but I was hoping for more in this mix of Hatebreed-style metalcore and slight Crowbar-ish groove. Maybe a bit of experimentation from fellow New York-core band Candiria would've spiced things up, but nope, nothing like that here, other than a few audio samples. One track, "Step Back" is pretty good, but everything else is mediocre and boring (I hate using that latter word to describe anything metal). I got much better bands to access than this poor sh*t...

Favorites (only one for this album): "Step Back"