*** BACK TO BREWHALLA ***

VARIOUS ARTISTS - "CHAOS DAYS" ("Narayan Records"; LP):

A four way split LP that contains one 7" single of each of the four bands. And that's really a nice thing if you ask me, not at least more or less all of the featured bands had been more or less unknown to me. The artwork (cover, bakcover, inlay) of the 7" singles had been taken as the components of the LP artwork, in which all are 'melted together into one' artwork. And it looks really awesome, all in black/white with nice grey contrasts. Also the production sound of each former 7" single is at least truly some good stuff if not even better. Hm, but don't ask me if the production sound was remixed or remastered or what ever when it comes to this LP release here. Ah, the LP comes on the french (?) label called "Narayan Records". It owns not the best reputation, to say it this way, but I don't know if it's true or not and anyway it's just not my problem at all at the end of the day. So, okay, now to the bands and the music we do get here: It all starts off with the great American Oi! band ROAD TO RUIN. They were a follower band of the then defunct RED, WHITE & BLUE, after they've splitted because of too heated 'political tensions' between the bandmembers. Later and after ROAD TO RUIN (don't know it, but I think they aren't existing anymore at a band) some of them went on to play in THE BARONS and THE BOOZERS. But okay, if you now expect some brutal, harsh, and militant American roughneck Oi! Oi! music like RED, WHITE & BLUE used to play it, then you're damn fuckin' wrong. They play more a melodic and some-what catchy, yet still hard hitting American Oi! cultivated with some American Streetpunk notes. Maybe you can describe them as a mixture out of PATRIOT and some RANCID marks. Great stuff!!! They deliver three songs to us here, and "BACK TO BREWHALLA" is just a larger than life anthem, pure gold, great!!! Then are coming the New York City Bootboys of THE OPPOSITION, and they are playing a truly NYC Bootboy hard stomping Oi! Core the old school way of sound. Combine OXBLOOD with SKIN DISORDER and some WARZONE and old AGNOSTIC FRONT marks to it, yeahr, and then you know what you do get from this great band!!! Pure American Oi! Core brewed the traditional 1980's way without being retro in any way. Really damn, damn good stuff!!! Side A really convinced me very much, now onward to Side B. THE RESIDUALS, I think from the Great Britain, are the ones to start Side B off with their demolishing U.K. '82 Hardcore Punk, cultivated with some very few traditional D-Beat notes. Good stuff, even it's not my favorite genre of music anyhow. The next and last ones are the clinking DOWN & OUT from Liverpool, playing some very traditional England Oi! like the COCKNEY REJECTS used to do it in their glorious long gone days. Maybe nothing anyhow 'special', but really something truly good!!! Each band delivers us also a bunch of very good lyrics, thumbs up!!! So here you get four at least good, and even (much) better bands, so make sure that you test out this damn good four way split LP, coming in bloodred vinyl to you. About any limitations I know nothing, but it's not that brandnew anymore, so better be quick with going and buying it. My personal victors are ROAD TO RUIN, but their three partners are also good to some very good stuff. I liked to see and hear more of such split releases would see the light of the day. Really good stuff!!! Test it!!! Or better: Get it, not at least because this is the only releas of THE OPPOSITION and the great ROAD TO RUIN of that I know, which you can easily get over here in Germany and the rest of the so called 'old world'. Cheers & Oi! (8 of 10 points)

(http://www.myspace.com/ontheroadtoruin)

(http://www.myspace.com/theoppositionnyc)

(http://www.myspace.com/theresidual)

(http://www.myspce.com/downandouts)