About a month ahead of the release of Ceremony’s fantastic Rohnert Park album, the band released a 7-inch featuring two songs. One of the tracks would go on to one of their most popular on the full-length while the other was a B-side that can only found on this release.

If you are at all familiar with Ceremony then chances are you know the song “Sick.” Unlike the Rohnert Park, this version of “Sick” is not attached to “Into The Wayside Part 1” so you get the song right away. “Sick” is a modern hardcore classic. Right when the track starts these “marching” drums that lead into these ominous guitars chords and rolling bass. Suddenly the track blasts into full speed and volume when lead vocalist Ross Farrar’s harsh yelling comes in and dominates from that point on. Lyrically and musically to some extent “Sick” is a pretty simple song in that the lyrics get right to the point of listing off what the parts of society that make the band angry…or “sick” if you will. And though you won’t find a guitar solo or some complex riff in it, the way the guitar chords follow the vocals and are just reparative overall are extremely creative ways to personify the disgust in the words. It’s familiar and perhaps in a way, a throw back to hardcore that preceded the band by a couple of decades. Still, “Sick” is quite the modern hardcore anthem.

While “Sick” has a pretty exact order to it, the opposite is true for the B-side track “Life As A War.” Immediately this song explodes with chaos from the band while Farrar’s vocals once again are remarkably savage. After some brief silence and a bit of feedback, the band melts into a sludgy break down which bleeds into the short drum outro.

This 7-inch is a contemporary hardcore gem, especially for those of us who collect vinyl. It has two fantastic hardcore tracks, one of which is probably one of the best tracks to come out in 2010 and a fun B-side that you won’t get if you just pick up the full-length.