Maximum Penalty – Life And Times

February 2008. New songs appeared on their Myspace. People got excited. And then the big waiting started.

Skip forward to September 2009. It took a while, but it’s finally here. Maximum Penalty found a home on Reaper Records. “Life And Times” is the result. The big question is “Will it be worth the wait, will it live up to its hype?”

YES. Without a doubt. But you already figured that out by looking at the score right? 5 stars.

A classic? Yeah, I think so. The sound may have had a slight update to sound fresh and current in this day and age, but it’s still pure NYHC at its best. This record has it all, amazingly cools vocals (!), good riffs, a great groove and to finish it off it has a top-notch crystal clear production. I’ve had it on repeat for several hours on multiple occasions and didn’t grow tired of it once. A rare thing these days. The songs are balanced and varied enough to keep you interested for a long time. Lasting a full 42 minutes doesn’t hurt either.

All in all, this is a must have for anyone even remotely interested in NYHC. They’re around since 1986 and it’s cool to see them returning with a record like this to show all the bands out there how it should be done.

Can somebody please bring ’em over to Europe?

Published earlier on Asice.net

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