Pageninetynine

A sample from Kurt Cobain, stating that "punk rock should mean freedom, liking and accepting everything that you like, playing whatever you want as sloppy as you want as long as it's good and has passion," begins Document #8, both setting the tone and serving as a mantra for the opaque sonic onslaught that Virginia's Pg.99 unleashes. This eight-piece unit (dual vocalists, three guitarists, two bassists and two drummers) let fly from the get go with a ferocious buffeting that combines grindcore, power-violence and hardcore punk with fleeting snatches of melody and oceans of noise in what amounts to an utterly ferocious album, varied in its attack but single-minded in its voracity. Opening track "In Love With An Apparition" sets the standard for Document #8, as sloppy grind runs collide with hardcore tempos, melodic build ups, walls of feedback and metallic scrapes while the vocalists screaming for absolution from punk rock's sins rend the ear. "Your Face is a Rape Scene" and "Punk Rock in the Wrong Hands" further the thread, and the entire album is saturated with the sense that it's always on the verge of collapse, yet defiantly manages to hold on, sometimes by the thinnest of threads, making it an even more engaging listen. The beautifully stark black paperboard packaging, ominous booklet visuals and condemnations and self-affirming proclamations against the current pop-punk scene only intrigue, making Document #8 a rarity in aggressive music - an honest, real, and excellent album.