Let me start of this review by saying fast youth crew style hardcore is not my thing generally speaking, altho there are always exceptions (Alone In A Crowd, True Colors). In any case, I decided to give Rejection Pact a chance as they clearly also took a chance on having me review their 7", heh...
The first thing I noticed was the cover of the 7" with its stark photo of someone cheering in front of a burning car (presumably during a protest/demo of some sort?). It already gives the impression of a band that is not content with rehashing the same basic lyrics about brotherhood and such. Lyrically the band touches on subjects involving politics, bigotry, (online) social justice warriors and complacency. Musically Rejection Pact's material also has a sense of urgency and desperation to it, especially in the vocal department. This feeling is also enhanced by the short length of the songs, this 7"contains 10 songs, so obviously their sound is very direct and focused. I do kinda wish the band would have upped the harshness a bit in their sound, as at times I felt the music was a bit too clean cut to match the lyrics, but I guess in a sense it comes with the youth crew territory, heh. But in terms of youth crew hardcore (and my fairly limited knowledge of it) RP's sound should please the youth crew fans out there. If I had to throw in a comparison, I guess I would go with Betrayed and Battery mixed with some True Colors.
As a bonus, track 'Nothing Man' features a guest appearance by Greg Bennick (Trial, XBystanderX) and 'Echo Chamber' has guest vocals by Tyler Short (Inclination), and both do a great job. 'Echo Chamber' is also my favorite track on this 7", it's got a great furious edge to it.
Overall, would I give this 10-song 7" a regular listen? No, probably not, but that has more to do with my tastes in hardcore rather than the quality of this 7". Would I recommend it to people who have a fondness for youth crew hardcore tho? Yes, definitely.
