Women and Children Die First

The sophomore album from Remembering Never finds the band taking a salutary look at the world outside its own messed-up head and discovering that there are lots of things to be angry about other than one's own difficult life. We call that growing up, and we don't see it happen that often with hardcore bands. One of the things singer and bandleader Pete K. noticed about the outside world is that his country is at war, and he is not pleased about that fact, as he makes clear in "Color of Blood and Money" ("Bodies and flowers pile up in ash and memory/While your freedom is raped by gunfire"). He's also pretty irritated at anyone who eats meat ("Grenade in Mouth Tragedy"), who takes things for granted ("Glutton"), who believes in anything ("For the Love of Fiction"), or who relies on anyone ("Closed Caskets"). Okay, so he's still got some growing up to do, but who doesn't? In strictly musical terms, this is one of the most ambitious and consistently interesting hardcore albums in years, with tons of unpredictable rhythmic changeups, subtly elegant guitar work lurking beneath the general bombast, and a few moments of actual singing. Recommended.