Ryker's
Never Meant to Last

Wow! That is the opening statement of the press release for this new album by the flagship of European hardcore as they claim that this band is. Having never heard of them it makes for a dubious statement until I consider that I am not really that knowledgeable about that genre, I know a little but not a whole lot so I take their word for it. Although finding facts about the band wasn’t that easy either but I managed to find out that they were active in the nineties and released a few albums up until 2000 before disbanding. In 2014 they released a comeback album that is said to have been critically acclaimed and now it is time for a new album, the second since the comeback and one that apparently make you say wow.

It is a very varied album considering the genre is hardcore, but that is not something these guys are limited by as they move in several different directions. Among others we find elements of thrash metal, of stadium rock, a bit softer stuff, they move all over the place. This put great demands on the quality of production and sound as this can make an album seem very incoherent, but this album is excellently produced and it all feels very well put together in terms of keeping everything coherent. The vocals are also varied and the cleaner vocals are pretty good while the hardcore styled vocals are pretty poor.

The variation makes the album dynamic and interesting; it makes it an album that you like to follow from start to end. And I think that it is a really good album as well, and I think that it will go down well with most people. Maybe some puritans of the hardcore genre think it should be less melodic and more aggressive but I doubt such a thing would be beneficial to this album. I think all the songs are very good and the hardcore vocals are probably the only slight weakness, although I don’t think they are a real problem for the album. I think that Never Meant to Last is pretty great and it stands up very well to close examinations – it is an album well worth listening to.

It may not have been meant to last but I think it lasts pretty well, it certainly lasts for the time one usually spends getting to know an album – I doubt that it will be easy to play it so much that you grow tired with it. I can recommend this album for all of our readers and when I now put it away I can conclude it may not make me go wow but it contains a whole lot more quality than most albums I have heard in the hardcore genre.

HHHHHHH