First Blood was spawned from the demise of Sworn Vengeance who pounded their name into the ranks of tough-guy-dom via multiple sub-mainstream releases, namely the epic full-length (and arguably the best of the "tough-guy" HC genre) Domination. Though perhaps credely recorded, the disc embodied the very essence of the style with extreme, blunt force impact; never has an album invigorated me to encase my fists in concrete and windmill my way through a crew of shitkickin' brawlers twice my size. When SW folded, First Blood quickly arose and a self-titled EP, with the same kill-or-be-killed objective, was unlreased. A tad more "traditional" in the hardcore sense, the vocals echoed with unheard-of reverb, as if recorded in a NASA hangar with four-dozen hanging microphones. And now, the band's first full-length debut, fittingly title Killafornia, will have hardcore enthusiasts forming backyard circle pits. This shit is HEAVY. Sans the echoing vocal approach of the EP, Killafornia is a bigger production, with all the clean-up projgrams in full effect thanks in part to a larger recording budget. Still, the fucker is potent. The cali clobberers go fucking gorillashit with breakdowns and riff after wild-eyed riff of upward-building maliciousness. Their timing and tension builds are near perfect and never is the listening built up to be disappointed - at least not if that listener has a penchant for swiftly executed E-chord pummeling and antagonistic wrath. Besides the eye-opening first track, "Next Time I See You, You're Dead" and the subsequent "First Blood" - yes, the band is named after the most atavistic, improvisational action movie of our time (and perhaps Sylvester Stallone's best flick ever) - every track is aptly named in one word that basically sums up the band and album's intention: "Suffocate," "Execution," "Unbroken," "Armageddon" etc. You get the idea. Each number is a collection of face-rearranging mosh pit brutality of the finest breed, and while I'm still more a fan of Sworn Vengeance than First Blood, this is one of Trustkill's heaviest releases ever and one i'll rock in regular rotation for many moons to come. As John Rambo stated: "They drew first blood, not me."

HARDCORE RAMBO: If the ultra-aggressive lyrics, such as, "They drew first blood, not fucking me!" doesn’t send shockwaves through your brain, then see a doctor quick. Examples like that, as taken from the opener "Next Time I See You, You’re Dead," are found throughout Killafornia. This is heavy and unrelenting hardcore packed with more explosive power than an IED, thereby driving former Terror bassist and current First Blood vocalist Carl Schwartz’s many heartfelt messages into everyone’s psyche within hearing distance. Outspoken on topics ranging from the vegan lifestyle and animal rights to the manipulation and misuse of power by the government, First Blood stands down to nobody and nothing. Killafornia hammers out 11 tracks of pure contemporary hardcore. This debut of a once side-project band is certainly not the work of the untested novice. The members of First Blood have been exercising their right to rip and tear their San Francisco home to pieces since 2002. Schwartz and company challenge the system and the audience who takes the time to absorb their formidable words. Killafornia delivers on all the levels of riffing, roaring, and battering that hardcore music known for, but this release is certainly not for the casual listener.

Bring a good supply of body bags When Terror’s demo hit the hardcore community, a dose of excitement took over, no band had been that devastating and that brutal in a long while and the music they produced resurrected a while genre. And then just when you thought things were waning, along comes First Blood, featuring ex-Terror bassist Carl Schwartz on vocals. These Rambo-obsessed Bay Area boys have as much fury, as much power and as many chugga mosh parts as Terror…and then some. Carl spits vitriol in his lyrics, and songs like “Executioner” are packed full of furious beatdowns. Featuring three songs from their acclaimed demo and new material, “Killafornia” is a metallic onslaught with a hardcore heart, it’s a wrathful release that works any listener into a frenzy. Do not listen to this if you are having a bad day, First Blood cannot be responsible for your actions.

Any band that names itself after the original Rambo movie better have balls the size of hand grenades. It better sound batshit insane from enduring ‘Nam flashbacks on a regular basis. It better make you want to tie a bandana around your brow, hide in the woods, and fuck shit up Green Beret-style. Luckily for them, First Blood are a magnificent killing machine. From that savage neighborhood known as San Francisco Bay Area, the band include members of Sworn Vengeance and Terror, including the latter’s ex-bassist, Carl Schwartz, who takes up vocal duties here. Though there’s a strong emphasis on the heaviness of the material, the most remarkable aspects of Killafornia are the musical fluidity and standout production. The band compresses different styles of hardcore—two step riffs, cavernous breakdowns and some of that old school chugga chugga—then pokes them with a cattle prod for good measure. These guys are clearly influenced by metal’s technical elements and, as a result, spent time mapping out the instrumentals. Tracks like “Next Time I See You, You’re Dead” and “Conspiracy” could tear down walls with their sheer vivaciousness; “Tides” and “Suffocate” load up on hardcore punk and shout-along choruses. Like John Rambo, Killafornia takes no shortcuts. First Blood is in this for the long haul, and they’re bringing along a good supply of body bags.

Coming headfirst out of the Trustkill camp, First Blood's Killafornia may be the band's full-length debut, but it sure comes off as much more than that. Not only has press already taken quite the liking to it, but they've also already landed stateside tours alongside hardcore heavyweights Comeback Kid and Sick of It All. First Blood has got the camo hardcore caps, gang vocals, and metallic guitars, but they've also got former Terror bassist Carl Schwartz (now on vocals, but still vegan!) and fellow, and current, Terror axe man Doug Weber on board, too. It's almost like an incestuous hardcore, Trustkill family reunion. Right off the bat, these guys are metal enough to have a song called "First Blood," incidentally enough about 'the norms' picking on humanity before the rebels. So get into your 'let's change the world with a musical revolution' frame of mind, because that's what First Blood does for the duration of Killafornia's 30-some odd minutes. Revolution, calls for change, conspiracy theories, it's all in there. Featuring some tweaked tracks from the band's first EP and split album with snazzier production and an overall tightened sound, First Blood is probably going to end up on a lot of the hardcore bro-core crowds' year-end lists, although First Blood is at its best on the faster, shorter, more brutal tracks on this record. With plenty of gang vocals, 'fuck you's, and balls-out attitude, Killafornia is a refreshing hardcore record, focusing on 11 fast-paced hardcore tunes, instead of endless breakdowns (although the scenesters can rest assured, there are enough breaks to get your 'dance on' to), certain to please the crowd that's already down with the cause.

The new album by First Blood, with ex- Terror bassist Carl Schwartz on vocals (!), contains more breakdowns than a desert highway. Anthems like "Victim" and "Execution" overflow with brawl-inciting riffery. Social messages help transcend Killafornia beyond meathead metal. And while Schwartz is a staunch vegan, he doesn't promote that singular message, instead barking about other social injustices including the reprehensible post-war treatment of Vietnam vets and government-manufactured cover-ups and conspiracies.

It is really quite simple: Most of you either dig this style of HATEBREED-by-way-of-TERROR metal-edged hardcore or you do not. Yes, the market is flooded, but quality acts still exist within it. The San Francisco Bay Area's FIRST BLOOD are an upper-tier, tough-guy hardcore band and debut album "Killafornia" is chock full of iron riffs, adrenaline-pumping pit slams, and true-to-life, conviction-backed lyrical content. The song "First Blood" is the best the album has to offer and defines the band's face-breaking ways, as well as some solid, if not groundbreaking, songwriting. Foundation-shaking double bass from Brandon Thomas and the commanding bark of vocalist Carl Schwartz (ex-TERROR, ex-SWORN VENGEANCE) give these songs muscle and credibility. Of course, in the case of Schwartz, his fiery devotion to the vegan cause is no secret. As such, his approach is hardly a subtle one. No matter the topic, the vitriol he spits is made of contempt for the silent and hate for the enemy, regardless of how said "enemy" may be manifested. I cannot quite put "Killafornia" in the same league as TERROR's "One with the Underdogs" or either of the last two HATEBREED albums because aside from highlights like "First Blood", the tunes aren't always the most memorable. Pure violence and a little indefinable thing called feeling just about make up for it though. And yes, the album is filled with chugging breakdowns and hard-ass stomps, so do not expect wheel reinvention. No matter what side of the line you are on, the adrenaline rush produced and the determined messages shouted make it damn difficult to not feel something, even if it is just the urge to knock the shit out the guy standing closest to you. If you are looking for a vicious hardcore album that holds on to the roots of the storied genre and mixes up the arrangements just enough to keep things moving, then "Killafornia" is your ticket. Wear a helmet.

I went completely apeshit the first time I encountered First Blood, the California metalcore act fronted by former Terror bassist Carl Schwartz (who actually recorded all of the guitar and bass parts for this album as well), and when their demo finally saw an official release on Division 36 a few years back I felt that it was one of hardest slabs of metallic hardcore that the west coast had to offer. It's taken far too long for the band to finally drop a full-length, but "Killafornia" is here at last (thanks to Trustkill Records), and despite a few minor shifts, it still delivers exactly the kind of brutal and over the top metalcore one would expect based on the demo. Several of the demo tracks appear here in re-recorded form, but there's something about the feel of the full-length that changes things up a bit, and I can't quite place it. It doesn't hit me as hard as the demo did, and I don't know if that has something to do with the production or the surrounding new material. The recording is actually significantly stronger than that of the demo, but it almost has an overproduced churn to it since there are so many staccato rhythms and a plethora of midpaced chugging tends to run the show. I love the balance of pounding basslines just behind the guitars though, so there's a nice pulsing throb to the material that does pay off. But I do probably wish they'd speed things up a little more frequently, because more often than not as soon as the tempo picks up a bit and leans more towards a thrashy or traditional hardcore vibe the energy level tends to follow suit and grab your ear right away. I'm all for the massive breakdowns and crushing chugs, but somehow or another that midpaced focus gives this material a hint more of a metal sound, which is of course absolutely no problem whatsoever in my mind, but it does hinder the band's potential for absolutely insane ferocity to some degree. But hey, these cats aren't trying to rewrite the book, you know? It's 11 tracks in 35 minutes: All pissed, all mosh. Let's face it, any band that names themselves after a Rambo flick (and yes, some good ol' John J. samples are still in tow) is going to crack a smile on me, and I'm into it. I dig the layout on this thing, too. It's pretty basic, but something about the photography works, I don't know... it catches my eye for some reason. Good stuff. Pick it up and crack some heads or something.

First Blood's pedigree will likely precede them as band frontman Carl Schwartz's time spent as Terror's bassist will surely raise a few eyebrows. Beyond that though, if anything should make a first impression for the band, it is the unwavering intensity that permeates and subsequently powers the raging metalcore assault captured on "Killafornia", their debut bow for Trustkill. At face value this is the same tough guy metalcore album you've heard done by the likes of Terror, Hatebreed and about 3000 or so others. But sometimes a band doesn't need to be entirely unique to actually succeed. First Blood are one of these rare few exceptions, utilizing a very keen metal sense of timing within their chugging riffs and unrelenting waves of breakdowns and gang shouted choruses. With a balance mixture of hardcore aggression and metal shredding, the base work is set for a do or die performance and more often than not Schwartz and co. spare no expense. This is where First Blood excel as the conviction and dedication behind their craft, particularly in the vocals, is absolutely crushing. Factor in that nearly every chorus is gang shouted and is easily picked up on with a generally grim message and you have yet another reason to keep your knuckles bloody and your fists pumping.

In the year 2002, hardcore/metal outfit Sworn Vengeance was on the brink of blowing up. The band had finished recording what I consider to be the best album to never see a proper release, Outstretched Arms of Damnation. In addition the band was about to embark on a tour as direct support to Hatebreed. But fame and glory were just not meant to be as Sworn Vengeance decided to disband. Sworn Vengeance members Carl Schwartz and Doug Weber soon resurfaced in the Rambo themed First Blood armed with an astonishingly brutal demo (eventually re-released by Division 36 Records). Hardcore enthusiasts ate it up and they're going to do the same with the band's debut full-length, Killafornia. For Killafornia First Blood wrote a number of new songs (in addition to re-recording old ones). The album begins with a threesome of new cuts, “Next Time I See You, You're Dead” - a killer intro track - “First Blood” - primarily a sing-along extended into a song - and the punishing “Conspiracy,” which is reminiscent of The Great Southern Trendkill-era Pantera. It's totally metal and the breakdown is tough as nails. “Execution” is another new song that will easily incite a riot on the dance floor; I definitely got a Breed the Killers vibe from it. The remaining new songs follow suit - intense hardcore/metal with gang-chorus sing-alongs, upbeat two-steppin' parts, and plenty of breakdowns. In addition to the new tunes First Blood also chose to rework some old favorites, the first song we encounter is “Suffocate.” The song sounds essentially the same as the demo version except the recording is a bit more crisp and polished. Also redone are the crushing “Victim,” “Tides,” and “Unbroken.” If you missed these tracks the first time around you'll be kicking yourself after hearing them. The lyrics may be simple but singing-along is so much fun. The breakdowns are totally insane - if you don't loose your shit and want to tear up the dance floor you might as well quit heavy music. There is really only one weak point to Killafornia, and that is that the bulk of the material was previously released. I could have gone for a few less re-recorded tunes and more new ones, but I'm sure the vast majority of the target audience has yet to hear those. Bottom-line, I could continue to ramble on about how good this album is but I think I've said it more than enough times. If you're into mosh-heavy metallic hardcore, you absolutely have to pick this album up.