Review
It has been 5 years already since they released their last record Rats // Snakes , but now the heavy hitters in STAB are finally back with a new record: Street Justice. Hailing from Kortrijk, Belgium, STAB is back (and how?!) with a brand new record.
First track on this record is ‘Nothing To Prove‘ which pulls you straight in with this powerful quote promising menace from this record: “There ain’t nothing more lethal than a dying old man with a handgun and vengeance on his mind”.
This first song gives a taste of what to expect from this record: raw vocals, heavy breakdowns and catchy riffs. H8000 hardcore at its best!
Second track is also the title track ‘Street Justice‘ and starts off with powerful guitar riffs , followed up by a heavy breakdown that makes you wanna get up and jump in the mosh pit! ‘Trial By Fire‘ takes us back to the old school hardcore sound. And as we expect from a hardcore band, a skull crushing breakdown can’t be far away…
If you thought the breakdown was heavy in ‘Street Justice‘, well think again, this breakdown hits even harder! Can’t wait to hear this banger live! ‘Respect The Name‘ is one of the most groovy tracks on this record, which makes me think about great hardcore bands such as Reduction , Kublai Khan TX and Fox Lake. Nice touch!
‘Deadweight‘ is the fifth track which kicks off heavy and follows through till the end of the track. Followed by ‘Open Wounds‘ which is a fast-paced, more groovy hardcore song. For the seventh track ‘Parasites‘ , Jeroen Theys and Tom Debels, both vocalists for STAB are joined by Mantah vocalist, Sven Herssens.
This is a bold collab, but actually it works out just fine. The totally different vocal styles give this song a unique sound which can be defined as a mixture of hardcore and nu-metal. To be honest, I am not sure if this song is gonna stick with the true hardcore kids, but well done!
‘Mayhem‘ is a fast-paced track, no bullshit, straight to the core. ‘Earthshaker‘ lives up to its name: when played on high volume this track makes the earth shake; filled with anger, breakdowns and fast old school side to side hardcore riffs.
Tenth track ‘Verbal Homicide‘ hits differently, thanks to the big collab with Moecyrus , hip hop rapper straight from Chicago, USA! His influence takes this track to a higher level which resembles tracks from bands such as Dropout Kings and Body Count; I might even say this is my favorite track of this record.
To top it all off, they even made a cover for this record. It is not the cover you would expect from a heavy hardcore band such as STAB… but they nailed it! Amazing cover of ‘Lords Of The Boards‘ by Guano Apes!
After about 30 minutes, we are down to the last track called ‘I Spit On You 2024‘ which sends us back to reality (sadly?) with a bang. The menacing smile and gutturals at the end of this track are unheard of! Can’t wait to see the moshers go ballistic on this one!
Overall, Street Justice is a great hardcore record which shows exactly what STAB is all about, but it also shows that the guys in STAB do not miss the chance to try something different.