They're back! Is anybody feeling it? New Jersey's straight edge heavy-hitters, The Mongoloids are bringing back the "mongo stomp" with the furious release of Mongo Life, a new full-length that proves that after all of these years, they are still standing strong in the year 2013. With the vast list of bands have left their mark for the New Jersey hardcore scene, The Mongoloids is an essential band in the scene that adds variety to the hardcore genre in a chaotic and explosive manner. With face-ripping guitar solos, circle pits, epic two-steps and furiously heavy mosh parts, The Mongoloids still got it going on.
Opening this album is a strange yet beautifully-crafted symphony, titled Smoke Signals, which would leave some either puzzled at first or overwhelmed with bliss. Transitioning from this brief instrumental track is the explosive Live This Way. To those who are familiar with one of their previous releases (Assorted Music), the Mongos appear the recreate the suspenseful build-up of this album's introduction in the similar fashion as they created in the introductory songs of their earlier album (particularly, referring to the transition of Assorted Music leading into Circumstantial Criticism).
There are many standalone tracks that will definitely get you stoked and make you want to throw down in your bedroom when no one is wathcing. For instance, Room To Grow was the first single of this album to put The Mongos back on the hardcore map. With a grooving NYHC vibe, Room To Grow is a song that definitely keeps you on your toes. Also, we have the song Parallels, which captures the traditional Mongoloids sound in full force, plus a really radical guest vocal appearance by George Hirsch of Philadelphia's almighty hardcore saviors, Blacklisted.
Aside from the many tracks on this album that present their traditional hardcore sound, there were many unique songs on this album that prove that The Mongoloids are far from your typically generic cookie-cutter bands. Listeners of this album can gasp in awe by embracing the face-melting crossover thrash influences we hear in furious tracks like All I Am and Life Long Past. Did You Figure Out An Anthem? is also a cool track particularity because it combines their furious hardcore stylings with a spontaneous mixture of soulful reggae. Plus, I even got a chuckle of the closing title track (Mongo Life) because it is an interesting folk song that came out of left-field. These songs in particular, definitely reflect the fact that the Mongos aren't afraid to be themselves musically by embracing the variety of unique genres that have influenced them.
Overall, whether you love this band or hate them, The Mongoloids are still proudly carrying the torch for New Jersey hardcore. Listening to this album from start to finish definitely brought back old high school memories of how stoked I was on this band when I listened to Time Trails for the first time. Mongo Life is a jaw-dropping, heavy-hitting album that proves that after all of this time, The Mongoloids are band that will continue get the positive amount of attention they deserve, even in the year 2013.
Tracklist:
1. Smoke Signals
2. Live This Way
3. Did You Figure Out An Anthem?
4. Time Capsule
5. Room To Grow
6. Parallels
7. All I Am
8. Life Long Past
9. Go The Same Way
10. Nobility
11. Chamber Door
12. Mongo Life
Rating:
Written by Ryan McGrath
