Opposition Rising – “Get Off Your Ass, Get Off Your Knees”
Opposition Rising is a hard hitting, smash mouth, super charged, fran-tastic (that’s a combination of frantic and fantastic in case you were wondering), pee-in-your-pants (ah man, you always take it one step too far), Boston-based hardcore band that TNB immediately fell in love with upon first hear.
The band itself appears to be a culmination of the non-stop toiling of vocalist Bill Damon and guitarist Will Sullivan, who have been a part of the hardcore, crustcore, crustpunk, grindfuck (now stop that) scene for the past twenty-five plus years.
Before Opposition Rising, there was Toxic Narcotic (1989-2005) and then Mouth Sewn Shut (2005-2009), both of which exhibit a similar hard charging, uptempo style. With Mouth Sewn Shut, and certainly Opposition Rising, there’s also a ska/reggae influence that rears its welcome head from time to time.
And at the helm, making it all work so seemingly effortless, is the fast talking, raspy rantings of veteran vocalist Bill Damon and, of course, the great musicians that back him.
Which brings me to Opposition Rising’s new 10” EP called “Get Off Your Ass, Get Off Your Knees”. The record itself is a split release between the band’s label Opposition Records, Pirates Press Records, Rodent Popsicle Records and Riot Ska Records (wow! that’s a lot of labels).
It features five new songs recorded in April 2013 by Richard Marr at Galaxy Park Studios and mastered by Jeff Lipton at Peerless Mastering. And as you will hear, Opposition Rising’s sound is indeed aggressive, brutal, and yes, catchy. One might even say infectious (once you hear one tune, you just have to hear another).
Let’s check it out.
The first track, “Guilty”, starts off like an AC/DC number, but soon changes it’s tune. With a nice diss’ed guitar lick the song takes off in typical Opposition Rising hardcore fashion. “Everybody is Guilty”. Ain’t that the truth.
[audio:https://www.thrashnbang.com/wp-content/music/01-Guilty.mp3|titles=Guilty]
The third track, “I’m An Infidel” is my favorite tune on the EP. It reminds me of so many great hardcore tunes I grew up listening too. A hardcore/metal combo in one package. With a sound along the lines of Gang Green you can’t go wrong.
[audio:https://www.thrashnbang.com/wp-content/music/03-Im an Infidel.mp3|titles=I’m an Infidel]
The fourth track, “Get Off Your Ass” is a hardcore ska number that elicits memories of early Clash . It’s not often I discover ska tunes to be as captivating as straight ahead hardcore ones, but the way Opposition Rising spins them is quite refreshing. Mixed with lots of hard hitting riffs and emotion.
[audio:https://www.thrashnbang.com/wp-content/music/04-Get Off Your Ass.mp3|titles=Get Off Your Ass]
The remaining two tunes on the EP are great as well, but I’ll leave it to you to have a listen. And please do have a listen.
Opposition Rising is also great live. I’ve managed to check them out 2 or 3 times now and can’t wait to attend their next show. They never disappoint. In fact, the entire band is a living testimony to the premiss that all great things only get better with age. They definitely have.
Keep bangin’ yo’ head,
(Andy Bang)
