JUDICIARY, a 5-piece metallic hardcore band from Lubbock, Texas, brings the breakdowns on their debut full length album Surface Noise.
The album rips open immediately with ‘Social Crusade’. It is a defiant call to violence and action. The riffing has the definite chug and bounce you would expect from any hardcore outfit, but I feel the meat of this album is more the words and message it is trying to convey. The message is defiance, violence, and burning down the old guard to make way for revolution. I can already feel the march of anarchist and slam dancers flocking to this album. The next couple of tracks, ‘Karma’s Knife’ and ‘Temple’, bring more of the same but enjoyable nonetheless. ‘Stronger Than Thou’ was a weak point on the album for me in that it doesn’t sound out of place, but it does bring the pacing of the album to a halt. The album at least picks right back up with ‘Burden Of Truth’ and, my personal favorite of the album, ‘Pure Fury’. The riffwork around 30 seconds into the song just really got me back into this album. The rest of the album is more of the same, but it wraps up in concise package at just under 28 minutes.
Overall, on Surface Noise, the message and passion put into this album shows. It’s a solid album that any fan of hardcore should give a spin or two. I look forward to their future releases to see where this band grows from here.
Review By: Robert Atkinson
JUDICIARY
Surface Noise
Closed Casket Activities
4.5 / 6