"I am the mace and I am the axe, can't stop the flow and no turning back! And I am the sword and I am the blade, the triumph of all man has made! I am death and I will come, no time to speak and no place to run!"

THE CORPS - "BOTTLE OF ROCK & ROLL" ("Rebellion Records"/"Scampkid Records"; CD):

As you all maybe know I am also a very, very big fan of this whole world of Oi!, Hardcore, Streetpunk, Punkrock, etc. music from the continent down under named Australia. MOUTHGUARD, BULLDOG SPIRIT, SICK 46, R*U*S*T, PLAN OF ATTACK, THUG, FOOTSOLDIER, TOE TO TOE, just to name a few and no doubt about it, all great if not even better bands, and this guys here, THE CORPS are to be named pretty much at first of this row of mighty bands with a heavy Street Charme from Down Under, and this one here is their current and newest release. A very big THANX goes out to BALAZS of "SCAMPKID RECORDS" for sending me this masterpiece!!! THANK ya my mate!!! Cheers & Oi! Oi! Oi! So, back to the topic, the review of this, the newest masterpiece of THE CORPS. They had been always something like that 'special band', to say it that way, because of their very unique style of their own that they are playing and serving to us through and with their music. A very heavy and stand-alone combination of hard hitting, guitar dominated old school brickwall Oi! like CONDEMNED 84, a heavy and lethal dose of some of the best good old Rock & Roll music out there, just to name ya ROSE TATTOO, MOTÖRHEAD and THUNDERHEAD (for all of you out there who do call a Hard Rock and espacially Heavy Metal past their own, you all should know about them), and all cultivated with some (but only really very) few grim and mean old school Hardcore influences. That's a pretty good description (or at least I do think so...) of the sound with that they first caught me by suprise some or many years ago with immortal hymns like "ITCHIN' FOR EVIL" (just to name only this single one). They somehow stayed true to their unique style, but they also developed quite a bigger bit. To be honest, then I have to admit that (only to judge from listening to their new songs here) all the Oi! influences are now-a-days just to be called only very rudimenary, if they are still to be recognized anyhow. But shall I tell ya something? Okay, it doesn't matter if I shall tell it ya or not, I do it anyway: It really doesn't matter to me if the Oi! influences are strong or only rudimentary, just to get this straight!!! Instead of Oi! and Streetpunk and Hardcore the Rock & Roll influences are today outreachingly present. And not only this, they are also damn diverse, and it really makes me still hold my poor rotten breath (hm... rotten breath, fuck... damn it, to all the ladys out there, don't take it anyhow serious or anyway literal, it's just a metaphor, haha, and damn it, that's the naked and well odorant truth coming out of my clean mouth:-), just ask my chica amante and she will tell it ya... at least I do hope so, haha;-)...), cause here's so much to discover... where shall I start... First of all the guitar playing is phenomenal good, they (the guitar players, who melse...) create a strong and intense atmosphere and every single song really gets it done to create a very special mood of it's own in ya while listening mindfuly to them, and not at least this is a just outstanding achievement of the guitar work. Stand-alone and more than anyhow 'only' well-versed, very diverse guitar riffing, hot as fuck guitar leads ("AIN'T ENOUGH" will give ya goosepimples of one of a kind when listening to it, trust me, if not then you should grab a shovel, dig a hole, lie yourself down inside it, close ya eyes and wait for some friendly guy to dump ya with dirt and earth until you are all covered with it and there's no hole in the ground to be seen any more and then sleep well, 'cause then you're nothing more than already intrinsicly dead, so go and die instead of living dead), fantastic solo work and special stuff like a good old (but don't understand it wrong, with 'good old' I don't mean retro, in no fucking way, it's very exciting and very fresh, no boring retro crap) Slide Guitar how you know it from out of the good old Rock'n'Roll and also Country music, and this is only one exciting suprise that really will take ya by storm when ya're just listening to the opener "ALL MY MONEY" (damn, the lyrics are more than only true, haha;-)...), but after this one a lot more is waiting, trust me. Again: Trust me. Also the rhythm structure of the songs is great, grapping as fuck and forward into battle pushing like not much else on this damn earth, and the mood of every single fucking song is (like already mentioned) damn unique and stand-alone, and with the pace and the different rhythms the changes of it are really flowing without any kind of breaks or something like this in it, just great, and this also counts for the arrangements, just listen to the 'talking' between lead vocals and the guitar work, brilliant. Beside the guitar work also the rhythm section is just doing a phenomenal work and it's really worth it taking some more intense listening sessions to discover what bass and drums are really doing for a fuckin' awesome job here on this record. Fantastic!!! On top of it sits the crown, where else, right, and this crown is the heavy, full, powerful and throaty, whiskey and cigarettes fueled lead singing voice, the vocals of Alex are just more than only outstanding, hard, smart and charismatic-characteristic, truly one of a kind. Yeahr, just great!!! Beside the very heavy and strong Hard Rock notes THE CORPS also became much more metallic, and with the phenomenal intense and really bulldozer like forward cracking "I AM DEATH" they give ya a true beauty of a heavy groovin', more than good rockin', wonderful clichè free Metal headbanging track that will really give ya a hard hit after a hard hit second for second of the song, and it will make ya totally enjoy this beating. Then they do also two cover versions, one of "ACE OF SPADES" of MOTÖRHEAD and one of "NICE BOYS" of ROSE TATTOO. Ha, while reading this I first thought: "Damn it, why this two songs?" I mean, they are covered that often, who needs new versions of them on record, I mean, live yes, but on record?!? But trust me, this two versions you really need!!! They pay their tribute to this legends in a fantastic way, and to be honest I really like the THE CORPS versions somehow even more than the original ones, damn it, I think this is close to being blasphemy, so that's it for me, onward into hell I will go, but fuck it anyway, haha;-). And you know what, this two songs are done more than great but are still the weakest songs on this record, and this really means not just something, not just a lot, no, but it really means nearly everything!!! All is backed up with a lethal dose of Street Charmè and Street Credibility, so you can say that the Oi! and Punk background is still fucking there, even it's only the feeling that's backing it all up, but to me that's more than just okay, and so it should also be to ya. We also get a bunch of great Rock & Roll lyrics, covering quite a pretty wide distance, where I find myslef very often in the different topics and issues of the lyrics, for better or fo worse, haha;-), and for that I also just can say my honest 'Thanx!' to THE CORPS. The artwork of this record looks just awesome, and the brilliant heavy and dirty prodction sound is also just a pure and true beauty. So, what shall I say more, this is Streetrock & Roll at it's very, very best, and if ya're searching for some stand-alone, nearly all else outshining record and band, then hurry up and just get this fantastic record, point and fact!!! I'm currently also working on an interview I hope to do with them, so be prepared for it in the future!!! This is just fantastic music, so again: Damn get it!!! Now!!! (Ah, I think there'salso a nice vinyl version of it floating around, released by "BANDWORM RECORDS", limited ad so, but maybe you're a lucky guy and you're able to still get one of them...) (10 of 10 points)

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