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Various

Our Impact Will Be Felt: A Tribute to Sick of It
All (2007)
Abacus Recordings

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Contributed by: Brian
(others by this writer | submit your own)

Published on June 1st 2007

Through two decades Sick of It All have become a New York hardcore institution, inspiring countless hardcore, punk and metal bands alike along the way. If one was unable to follow SOIA all through their history, then evidence is still abundant on their 20-song tribute album, Our Impact Will Be Felt, where a number of devastating performances are turned in from friends and followers.

Rise Against are no strangers to blistering, powerful opening tracks, and it's just as evident in their stunning version of "Built to Last." Not only is it arguably more intense than the original, but Tim McIlrath absolutely nails the more melodious bridge with his smooth, clean singing. The melodic hardcore ambassadors not only usher in things wonderfully, but they provide what's perhaps the best track on Our Impact.

Another mighty standout is Comeback Kid's "Step Down," who somehow adds an upbeat party tone to the song. Apparently this was new-ish vocalist Andrew Neufeld's first recorded output with the band in his new role, but he sounds relatively comfortable with his bandmates as they shout along the raucous gang vocals. That band's biggest influence, Bane, hardly phones in their own contribution; "We Stand Alone" sounds better than most of Bane's catalog, as the band pushes it along at an urgent, mean clip, making for another of Our Impact's best.

Elsewhere, Unearth's brawny metalcore is toned down just a bit to highlight the metallic overtones of "Clobberin' Time / What's Going On"; the band shuns worries their heavy outset would be overwhelming by simply keeping things a little more straightforward. Even the normally deliberate Hatebreed blasts through "Rat Pack" at a frenetic pace. Ignite balances aggression with their super melodic vibes perfectly on "Cease Fire." Surprisingly, Pennywise's blast of "My Life" is one of the tribute's more noteworthy moments, with the band nailing the tempo changes and burly gang vocals bubbling up. Kill Your Idols' "Friends Like You" is delivered nicely, but the slight change in production value disrupts the album's flow a bit. Sepultura's "Scratch the Surface"? Not bad at all. Most Precious Blood's "Alone" is unsurprisingly solid. Stretch Arm Strong's "Busted" finds the band matching that oddly spazzy, rambling feel. Walls of Jericho completely ignore their normal stylistic vibes in their valiant effort in "Us vs. Them." Save for Battle Hymns, Suicide Machines have rarely sounded more intense than on "Goatless," definitely kicking it up a few notches.

Sour notes might include Madball and Bleeding Through's half-baked submissions. And while there's no questioning the influence Sick of It All had on No Redeeming Social Value, their cut of "World Full of Hate" is just bland; following them is Napalm Death, an interesting choice, but one that provides relative white noise in the form of the muddily recorded "Who Sets the Rules" -- too bad, as these are the tribute's last two tracks.

Admittedly, a couple of Sick of It All's albums are missing representation here and Our Impact Will Be Felt certainly ends on a couple less than overwhelming notes. However, mostly thanks to its gang of characters Our Impact Will Be Felt admirably captures the influence and importance Sick of It All has blessed hardcore punk with in years gone by.

Bouncing Souls - Good Lookin' Out [clip]

STREAM
Rise Against - Built to Last
Kill Your Idols - Friends Like You
First Blood - Just Look Around
Napalm Death - Who Sets the Rules

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thomas7155 (September 25, 2007)

Seriously, half of the chugga-chugga bands could have been taken off in place of bands that were actually inspired by Sick of It All. H2O, AFI, Good Riddance, or maybe Paint It black. well, at least the Rise against, Comeback Kid, and Ignite tracks are incredible.

thomas7155 (September 14, 2007)

word below. or Rancid, Dropkick Murphys and Agnostic Front.

jimmyjjackamoose (August 15, 2007)

weird how there aren't any covers by AFI, Death By Stereo, Strike Anywhere, Good Riddance or Slayer.

bombidol (June 4, 2007)

More Madball hating from Punknews. No one ever said they were the most original band in the world but they are far from the worst. The Madball effort on this album is solid. The Sepultura one being the weakest. First Blood's track is great.

miff (June 3, 2007)

i know what you mean but its worth listening past the poor production. or even better going to check them out live. one of the best bands ive seen dispite the majority of the crowd being fat, bald and over 30.

feeeding5000 (June 3, 2007)

Miff - the production on the first SOIA album just sounds horrifically muted to me, like a lot of late '80's metal albums. It's sort of like...the record is this big cavernous space, and the actual music is pushed into this one little corner. And although most of the music I listen to is pretty poorly produced, it is poorly produced in a way that sounds organic - either really fuzzy and raw, or really blown out.

Anonymous (June 3, 2007)

compared to early larm and assuck albums the production on napalm death's track is gold

miff (June 3, 2007)

to feeding 5000
yeah sick of it all were signed to fat wreck for a while during which time they made terrible records but seriously go and check out scratch the surface or death to tyrants if you want better production and better muisc
but who cares about the production blood sweat... was an amazing record, alright it may be a bit cliche now but thats only because so many people have tried to imitate it. anyway most of the bands on your top rated bands have terrible production

GlassPipeMurder (June 3, 2007)

to Feeding5000, check out their new album...Death to Tyrants..it's amazing.

rkl (June 3, 2007)

to the guy below me, the napalm death track sounds like it was recorded on a 4-track in someones bedroom

Anonymous (June 3, 2007)

this guy must know nothing of hardcore with all of his complaining about songs not having good production.

feeeding5000 (June 2, 2007)

I absolutely hate Sick of it All. The epitome of generic hardcore, really. The only album I've actually gotten by them is "Blood, sweat...", which is beyond boring. Their music is bland, the lyrics are idiotic, and the prodcution is terrible. Their later recordings are better produced, but are still incredibly boring. Sick of it All is one of the reasons why I feel that NYHC is one of the worst sub-subgenres of punk.

Anonymous (June 2, 2007)

best thing Stretch Arm Strong has done in awhile.

miff (June 1, 2007)

"Most Precious Blood's "Alone" is unsurprisingly solid"
if not 3 minutes longer than the origional

miff (June 1, 2007)

"first recorded output with the band"
i thought he used to play guitar for them and then took over vocal duties when the old singer left

Anonymous (June 1, 2007)

"have there been any napalm Death tribute albums"
i dont think so but they have done albums where they cover other peoples stuff. however they arent shit like when most people do them they actually covered some less well known bands. read a review of one of these albums in kerrang and they said that they covered unknown bands like agnostic front

gregs (June 1, 2007)

"But Step Down always had an upbeat party type of tone"

Agreed

eyeslikebombs (June 1, 2007)

Good review.

But Step Down always had an upbeat party type of tone.

Anonymous (June 1, 2007)

GLASSPIPEMURDER!

The Suicide Machines track was recorded well over a year ago, and only featured Jason and Ryan.
Still a great cover though.

TSM, R.I.P.
91-06
:(

Nap (June 1, 2007)

Great tribute... Ignite, Rise Against, Himsa and Walls of Jericho are the best tracks.

sickboi (June 1, 2007)

I'm suprised you didn't mention the Souls covering "Good Looking Out". Awesome cover,and they way they did it is totally unexpected. Does Brian do the backing vox in the chorus? It sounds a lot like Lou...

Anonymous (June 1, 2007)

The Napalm track sounds like it was recorded live at one of their shows or something.

If it was a well produced studio track, it would definately have been strong enough to be track 1.

Such a great band. By the way, have there been any napalm Death tribute albums?

Anonymous (June 1, 2007)

I downloaded it from napster.

Anonymous (June 1, 2007)

the napalm track is prime.

Anonymous (June 1, 2007)

Where can I buy this record online?

Anonymous (June 1, 2007)

as a fan of many of the featured bands i was pretty disappointed to find that very few of these tracks are as good as the originals. sad indictment upon todays scene perhaps? i dont know
i do know that SOIA were crucial up until 'call to arms' when they started losing it and they've never managed to get 'it' back. notice no one bothered covering anything post 'built to last'
~alexwank

theonetruebill (June 1, 2007)

You speak ill of Napalm Death, therefore this entire review is left invalid.

GlassPipeMurder (June 1, 2007)

I wanna know where this Suicide Machines cover came from. Are they holed up in some secret studio still kicking ass??

jamespastepunk (June 1, 2007)

This CD should be purchased if you're a fan of any of the bands.

Yeah, Rise Against has the best song on here. The Bouncing Souls cover is goofy fun.

Unbelievably solid record.

Anonymous (June 1, 2007)

the Souls' version of "Good Lookin Out" is surprisingly killer... a lot better than the shit they put out with The Gold Record

GlassPipeMurder (June 1, 2007)

Great tribute to a fantastic and well-deserving band. I could go without the Unearth though...would rather have heard Throwdown doing an SOIA song, maybe Maladjusted rather than Himsa...eww.