The Rage That Guides

Album Review

Proud (and outspoken) purveyors of vegan straight edge ideals, the members of Philadelphia's Kingdom may not promise a barrel of laughs (their mothers also think they look a little gaunt, here, have a piece of cake!), but their full-length debut, The Rage That Guides, is commendably current and topical — even by hardcore standards. For example: "Real Crime" challenges the controversial "Stop and Frisk" policy adopted by many major cities in the aftermath of 9/11, despite the fact such visual profiling is utterly unconstitutional; and "Black Friday" (an unusually deliberate and dread-inducing track) memorializes the Walmart employee who was trampled to death in Long Island by hordes of Thanksgiving weekend bargain shoppers. Other notable standouts find the band railing against political corruption ("Hollow Bones"), sexual double standards ("Pythoness"), and expounding their vegan beliefs, naturally ("Bathory"), but rarely succumbing to frank nihilism, as they do on the truly hopeless "Voluntary Human Extinction." Through it all, vocalist Davin's forcefully rhythmic attack often recalls Agnostic Front legend Roger Miret, and Dave Hayler's metallic edged guitars reveal an appreciation for the Hatebreeds of the world without losing sight of simpler punk building blocks like those of "33/45," which even features a few lead guitar licks! In sum, there's no shortage of subject matter, desire, and good intentions in Kingdom's arsenal, and that should bode well for them within the usual limitations of the hardcore scene, if not anywhere near the mainstream. Surely, the band wouldn't want it any other way.