by Debra Au
Daily Lobo
I admit it - I'm not into hardcore metal.
I mostly listen to the likes of whoever is in the Top 40 and Broadway musicals. Green Day and "Avenue Q" are probably as hardcore as I get.
The sheer fact that I hate metal bands more than likely means that fans of Sworn Enemy and similar groups will love the band's new album, The Beginning of the End.
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Based in New York City, but gaining worldwide popularity - somehow - the band describes itself, in its liner notes, as a "caustic hybrid of thrashy, intense metal with the thud and grit of hardcore."
What an awfully verbose way of saying, "We like to scream incomprehensible lyrics and play guitar."
However, each of the 11 tracks has eclectic electric guitar arrangements that are surprisingly energetic. It's loud, and it makes no apologies. In fact, most of the songs are quite tolerable when there isn't any singing - if you want to call it that. So I'd say that there's six and half minutes of pretty good music on the album. That's not too shabby for 48 minutes of an otherwise pure musical hell. Kudos, Sworn Enemy.
There's one track in particular that's a real standout for me: "We hate."
"What I really hate is music like yours/ it makes me want to smash your head into a door," goes this versatile verse. Not only is this true for metal-heads who hate popular music, but the feeling is shared by people like me.
This album is perfect for, hypothetically, blasting outside your roommate's door at 3 a.m. because she left her Starbucks Cambodian blend grounds in your coffee maker for two weeks and never cleaned it out. Just a word to the wise, Millie. Just a word to the wise.
