Nuclear Blast are releasing some double album sets as part of a ‘Classic Series’, and here we have two albums from New York’s seminal hardcore act, Agnostic Front. Formed by singer Roger Miret and guitarist Vinnie Stigma, they released their debut as long ago as 1983, having an immediate impact on the underground scene. This set sees their 2007 album ‘Warriors’ combined with their 2011 release ‘My Live – My Way’, and although one could argue that this is less a set of classic releases, and more a way of having “new” product available for a major tour, this is a great way of discovering a band that more people will have heard of than will have actually gone out and seen or purchased any material.
Here is a hardcore punk band that are crossing over into the realms of thrash, but always with real melody and tunes. If I had to choose just one song out of the twenty-seven, then it would have to be “For My Family” which has a chorus and hook that digs into the brain and just won’t go away. Pop music for those who want it to be brutal and fast, or is it punk that genuinely is that, not the bubble-gum variety, that also understands the importance of real songs and real tunes? I’m not sure to be fair, but I do know that this set has made me wonder what the rest of their canon is like, as this is incredibly impressive, and at a cheap price for more than an hour of music it is well worth discovering.
