Subtlety is a word that’s wasted on the guys that make up The Mongoloids. Except for the first 54 seconds of “Mongo Life”, this is a mid-tempo chugfest with plenty of groove that comes with a vocalist whose barks sound even meaner than a pitbull. Or just take a look at their name for chrissakes!

Their brand of thrash-infused hardcore (or is it hardcore-infused thrash?) leaves little room for variation but you gotta hand it to them, these straight edge dudes do a banging job of leveling everything in sight. When they do inject a little more melody into a song like “Life Long Past”, it only makes it all the more obvious what the other songs are missing. If however you’re looking for a mean hardcore album that comes with a nasty bite, then “Mongo Life” is just the album for you.

Oh, the country song that rounds out this album is excellent. Yeah, that’s right…  a country song.