If you're searching for raw, real hardcore,
Madball's third full-length,
Look My Way, is the album for you. Similar to old
Biohazard and their ancestors
Agnostic Front,
Madball repeatedly inform the listener of how hard it is nowadays on the streets, backed by brutally dense music. Singer
Freddy Cricien screams/raps in the expected hardcore style, with lots of group-chanted vocals in place of choruses. The 12 songs that comprise the album are all similar in sound and execution, but the music's overall power is quite intriguing at times. Any cut will do, but highlights include the opening title track, "Waste of Time," "All I Can Take," and the 58-second "Walk Away." If you're not appreciative of hardcore music, chances are you'd find the style monotonous, but simplicity and straightforwardness was what the musical form was founded on. And with
Look My Way,
Madball have become the premier purveyors. ~ Greg Prato