The Warriors

Beyond the Noise
2006
Eulogy




Review by: Anchors
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Published on August 22nd 2008

I couldn’t go so far as to use the phrase “diamond in the rough” in referencing the Warriors, but when compared with the rest of Eulogy Records’ roster (either at the time of this album's release or the present day), the California natives decidedly are and were the cream of that breakdown-laden crop.

Opting for a screamy hardcore sound instead of the chugging of their former labelmates, the Warriors have provided an engaging vehicle for what is the real cargo -- the lyrically told coming-of-age tale based off Herman Hesse’s Siddhartha. The story of a young man looking for the meaning of life, and in doing so, finding the meaning which he possesses within.

Those themes are sprinkled all through the album: “I Won’t” represents the beginning stages, where the protagonist is looking for something solid to grab on to.

And they may say I’m a coward, that these pursuits are in vain / But I will sprint, I will sail away / But now they say it’s in fear, that I’ll be broken, guilted, cheated / But you will never see me fail.

As important as the story and plight of the person it’s being told about, is the music it’s set to. Marshall Lichtenwaldt’s rabid vocals call later Snapcase works to mind, in that those vocals are delivered in a very methodical, calculated, yet intense way. In vocals and instrumentation, the Warriors place the majority of their emphasis on rhythm -- the album is loud, and it’s heavy, but every track sounds different than the last because their approach is never the same.

“Shadows of Birth” leads in with some melodic chord progressions that slowly but surely increase in volume, and while that’s happening, drum fills sporadically accent those chords, also becoming louder until the booming vocals come in and the rhythm swings into a rise-and-fall sound that allows the lyrics to be delivered by a back-and-forth between Lichtenwaldt and the gang vocals that punctuate him.

Moving along in the journey of the story's protagonist, “Re-Vital-Eyes” foreshadows a possible end to the journey. Backed by a quick rhythm and frequent crashes to the cymbals, the song is symbolic of the questions that regardless of our position in life, we all ask ourselves: "It was spoken to us at birth, it said ‘men, when something starts, there’s got to be an end’ / cycles die, when will they begin again?"

Beyond the Noise is a refreshing release from Eulogy, and was a refreshing maturation for the Warriors. They’ve taken the same course in their career that the protagonist of the story takes at the end of his:

Now I can never return, with walls of flames the bridges burn / Not with a match, but with a blowtorch.