After having firmly established itself in the punk scene, Epitaph Records seems prepared for expansion. Recent releases suggest that punk's close relative, hardcore, is the candidate of choice. Straight Faced's Conditioned is a pivotal offering for the new direction, but unfortunately, it doesn't seem to fully represent the scene's available talents.

Straight Faced is a by- the- numbers hardcore band, albeit one that performs the majority of its duties very well. Most of the band's progressions reside in the lower- ended power chord range, guitar noises like feedback and pick slides continuously add to the aural chaos, seamlessly executed breakdowns come at critical moments, and the lyrics speak to tried and true themes like identity, betrayal, and scene unity.

Despite their many strengths, however, Straight Faced's one obvious weakness constitutes a major one-- incredibly bothersome vocals. The vocalist sounds like a cross between AC/DC's Brian Johnson and Udo from Accept; two of the most inhuman, Marlon Brando prototype, "mouth full of marbles" individuals who have ever stepped in front of a mic. Due to the vocals' emphasis in the mix, the shortcoming is hard to ignore.

With the likes of Ignite, Good Riddance, and Strife all hailing from the West Coast, it's hard to imagine that Straight Faced was Epitaph's best option. The labels attempts at branching out are respectable, but until a karaoke version of Conditioned becomes available, I'll get my hardcore fix from other sources.

-Kevin Ruggeri