Blood for Blood

Blood for Blood: SerenitySerenity (2004)
Thorp Records

Reviewer Rating: 3

User Rating:

Contributed by: wehavecomeforyourchildrenwehavecomeforyourchildren
(others by this writer | submit your own)
Published on October 9th 2005I got a huge kick out of Blood for Blood's Outlaw Anthems, but all the same never really gave Serenity a chance when it came out. Anyway, a month or so back I overheard a bit of the song "Hangin' on the Corner" and thought it was solid as fuck. As it turns out, "Hangin' on the Corner" is an aweso.

I got a huge kick out of Blood for Blood's Outlaw Anthems, but all the same never really gave Serenity a chance when it came out. Anyway, a month or so back I overheard a bit of the song "Hangin' on the Corner" and thought it was solid as fuck.

As it turns out, "Hangin' on the Corner" is an awesome song. I think if Irvine Welsh quit writing novels and instead chose to write lyrics for Blood for Blood, the product would be pretty close to this. (In other words, it's got lyrics about kids ODing, families falling apart, and living on the street). Musically, it sounds like Outlaw Anthems if Outlaw Anthems had lots of poppy vocal parts, although they do mix it up a little more at times. About the lyrics to "Hangin' on the Corner"...they seem a little over the top, but if I'm in the right mood I can take it pretty seriously. It's just so far from old Blood for Blood that I get confused sometimes. The repeated shouts of "WE CARE!" are a bit of a change from "Fucking your pussy was like fucking the wound from a shotgun blast, with gangrene" and other such lyrical gems from their previous effort.

If every track on Serenity sounded just like "Hangin' on the Corner" I'd love this shit. Sadly, with only 7 tracks, two of which are practically the same 30-second song, one of which boasts the chorus about how the dude just "gotta gotta got to save my soul" and reminds me of "Gonna Rock Around the Clock," and a couple throwaways -- well, I'm a little let down. Oh, but I oughtta mention that the 30-second song that opens and closes the EP is good. Oh shit, and I also ought to mention how stoked on Jesus these guys have gotten. The first thing you hear is the Serenity prayer that people recite for Alcoholics Anonymous and there's a few shoutouts to JC scattered throughout. Some kids might have a problem with that; I say to each his own.

Long story short: Kind of a mediocre release, but I know they still have it in 'em to put out some amazing shit down the road. If you've never listened to Blood for Blood before, I'd say go check out the aforementioned Outlaw Anthems before this one. However, if you have heard them before, don't rag on me for saying Outlaw Anthems and not Wasted Youth Brew or one of the older releases. I'm not retarded, I don't think Outlaw Anthems is their only album or their only good one. It just happens to be my favorite. Deal with it.

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Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not respon sible for them in any way. Seriously.

Anonymous (October 12, 2005)

thank god theres no fuckin metal in blood or blood
metalcore sucks, B4B rules

lushj (October 11, 2005)

"Also, CIV's second album is def. not lisetnable. thats a hunk of shit"

I know, that's the one I said was not listenable. "Blackout" is listenable, but definitely not a top record.

Anonymous (October 11, 2005)

attention OnTheAttack:

your retarded. Your probably too much of a pussy to like the Fuck You's of old blood for blood.

The runaway cover while sorta fun is actually.. well.. sorta terrible. This is not that solid from start to finish, and i miss the Fuck You's. The Fuck You's are B4B. There are approx. 3 good songs on this. Buy it and figure it out for yourself.
Also, CIV's second album is def. not lisetnable. thats a hunk of shit

get any other b4b release

lushj (October 11, 2005)

The Del Shannon tune? Interesting... thanks!

OnTheAttack (October 11, 2005)

I'd say closer to the DKM comparison. It's just got some melody to it, and they do a cover of "Runaway".

lushj (October 11, 2005)

"It's a little poppy for some,...No, BFB isn't sober or the new Christian band"

Is it poppy like DKM "Blackout" is to "Do Or Die" or is it poppy like Civ's 2nd record is to "Set Your Goals"? i.e., listenable or not worth it?

kenfuggit (October 11, 2005)

Bostoncore? Jerry's Kids, motherfucker. Fuck this crap, and fuck Slap-shit too.

-Ken

OnTheAttack (October 10, 2005)

Can't believe it took over a year to have this reviewed. Solid record from start to finish. Outlaw Anthems was just a rehashing of shit they'd done years before, whereas this album is a fresh start. It's a little poppy for some, but I think that's due to Rob doing stuff like Sinners & Saints on the side. You don't hear the "Fuck You"s that you hear every other line in past records. No, BFB isn't sober or the new Christian band; it is a shame that they're basically done, though.

lushj (October 10, 2005)

I love the early BFB records, and I would definitely call them tough-guy hardocre/moshcore.

Let's see, fast part, singalong chorus dealing with betrayal or other interpersonal issues, followed by slow chugga-chugga breakdown as pioneered by Youth Of Today, Agnostic Front, Slapshot. The guitar tone's definitely metallic, more than, say Youth Of Today, but maybe less than Sick Of It All's later records.

Maybe COMPARED to the bands you mention they're la-la-la pop punk, but that doesn't mean that they aren't moshcore (what with the... ahem... mosh parts after the bridge).

Anonymous (October 10, 2005)

Well the reason people are calling blood for blood shitty metalcore/brocore/whatever is because this is a punk site.

they sound like a boston hardcore band. i mean, where is the metal? youd have to be fucking retarded to relate this to metal in anyway.

that being said, toughguy? not really. sure their shows are pretty 'tough' but...this isnt toughguy hardcore.listen to some shitty band like until the end if you want toughguy mosh bullshit.

-bryan styles

Anonymous (October 10, 2005)

i love how everyone is calling this band brocore or metalcore.

blood for blood is pissed off old school tinged hardcore/punk with over the top ridiculous lyrical content. no metal and no chugga chugga hatebreed styled breakdowns.

if you think this band is anything but that then chances are youve never even bothered listening to them

lushj (October 10, 2005)

Wait, Blood For Blood have found Jesus and... sobriety? What? Is this a prank?

Anonymous (October 10, 2005)

"if from ashes rise have such great lyrics, then how come their jade tree site doesnt have them?
i mean, if theyre so great lyrically, id think their record label would want to shove them to the forefront, since their music is so shitty.
maybe i shouldve googled for xFROMASHESRISEx, but i have shit to do.

score's for this album."

Way to make really idiotic assumption about a band that's not at all how you generalized them...

From Ashes Rise are hardcore punk in the crusty sense... Not brocore, and certainly not at all like this trash.

-Will

kenfuggit (October 9, 2005)

Hey, a shitty violent metalcore band on thorp records...Who would have guessed??!?

Go floorpunch a fucking landmine.

-Ken

awkward (October 9, 2005)

hahaha BFB are into jesus nowadays? that made my day. fucking HILARIOUS! i take their suckiness seriously though, since this band alone has had a huge impact on the finnish hardcore scene: since they first toured finland, everyone in the scene suddenly turned all "macho" and dropped veganism and sxe. one band did that. changed an entire national hardcore scene. one fucking band. so FUCK blood for blood, forever.

rkl (October 9, 2005)

if from ashes rise have such great lyrics, then how come their jade tree site doesnt have them?
i mean, if theyre so great lyrically, id think their record label would want to shove them to the forefront, since their music is so shitty.
maybe i shouldve googled for xFROMASHESRISEx, but i have shit to do.

score's for this album.