ALBUM REVIEW: For The Cause – Madball

You don’t last thirty years in the music business without having your head screwed on straight and your act together. MADBALL have been creating razor sharp offerings of hardcore punk music for three solid decades, helping to push the genre onwards with their forward thinking and dedication to the cause. Since the band’s last outing Hardcore Lives long-serving guitarist Brian ‘Mitts’ Daniels stepped away from the band and despite the band remaining outwardly positive about the change, fans around the world would not be judged for being a little apprehensive about the first release since his departure. Now with their ninth album For The Cause in the chamber, locked and loaded the veterans seem to be taking it all in their stride.

The album opens in the way you would expect with an out and out Hardcore track named Smile Now, Pay Later which begins with a dense layer of feedback and an impressive drum sequence before the thick, heavily distorted guitar riffs kick in. This song has all of the hallmarks of a classic MADBALL track including groove laden guitars, gang vocals and a colossal breakdown. It is important to note at this point that the band have lined up a number of friends and former members to fill in for the empty guitarist role in the band throughout this recording and have still managed to maintain the sound that resonates so well with their long-serving fan base.

The following effort Rev Up picks up the baton and runs with it at full speed (ignoring the interesting reggae section that introduces the track). The drums sound very full and are incredibly prominent in the mix, which is perfect in this scenario because they really drive the song onwards. This track focuses less on the heaviness and leans far more on the more traditional punk rock elements that the band utilise so well. The album carries on in a similar fashion with tracks such as Freight Train and Tempest keeping the momentum going through to the middle section of the record. The latter of the two almost coming across as a thrash/hardcore crossover track in certain places which will surely be the cause of some bloody noses and black eyes when it gets introduced into their already stacked set lists for the upcoming tours.

Evil Ways is a massive highlight on the album. The track clocks in at just one minute and forty-six seconds and that is all that is required for MADBALL to kick your teeth back down your throat. The fact that the song doesn’t feel too short or rushed when it clocks in at under two minutes is simply down to the fact there is no fat on the bone here, there are no clever tricks or soundbites or strange interludes. Just a straight up hardcore track with poignant lyrics that tackle violence and tyranny in the modern world and with the added ingredient of a fantastic guest vocal spot from rap/metal/hardcore veteran Ice-T and MADBALL are on to a winner, which speaks volumes about the lessons you can pick up with experience.

For The Cause loses none of the headwind accrued throughout the front half of the album as we hit the back end. The band seem to lean more heavily on the tried and tested New York Hardcore scene style that they helped to birth and raise throughout their career with tracks such as Old Fashioned, Lone Wolf. The guitars remain true to the rest of the back catalogue with the heavily distorted guitar tone and the mixture of upbeat chord progressions, heavily palm muted runs and hard hitting, heavy breakdowns that link up perfectly all the while with the impressive drum work on the album. Many of the tracks on the album would fit right in to classic MADBALL albums such as Set It Off and Hold It Down.

The band have always had a very straight forward way of writing their songs, rarely straying too far from the blueprint that has made them what they are and in turn helped carry the New York Hardcore scene onwards through the decades along with bands such as BIOHAZARD, SICK OF IT ALL and AGNOSTIC FRONT to name but a few. Although this isn’t always the chosen path for many bands nowadays who seem to attempt to reinvent themselves and their sound multiple times through their careers, there is certainly something to be said for bands who stick to their guns and reliably release solid albums each time out. MADBALL are one of these bands. No bullshit. No theatrics or dramatic left turns. Just straight up, old fashioned hardcore music.

Rating: 8/10

For The Cause is set for release on June 15th via Nuclear Blast Records.

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