This is the final statement by Washington, DC straight edge hardcore powerhouse PROTESTER. Our take: Final 12” from this DC straight edge institution. While Watch Them Fall is an overtly straight edge record (nearly all the lyrics are about the topic), Protester’s music comes from the hard, fast, and mean school of hardcore… more Negative FX than Gorilla Biscuits or Bold. While there are a handful of pit-clearing breakdowns and a brooding closing track that sounds like it could have been on the Judge LP, those are the only stylistic nods to youth crew. Instead, I’m reminded a lot of Wasted Time and Out Cold, two bands that weren’t afraid to sound good or play well, but channeled those skills into sounding like a bulldozer rather than being technical or accessible. This whole record hits with the force of a wrecking ball. The militant straight edge lyrics will put off some people, but honestly this is one of the few times I’ve bothered to read the lyric sheet on a hardcore record in recent memory, so there’s that. A total beast of a record.
