Originally published in Verbicide issue #5

I was so excited to see this in my mailbox. Ringworm! Eleven brutal tracks of furious metal hardcore mayhem straight from Clevo. This album is nothing short of a massive comeback for the band, after not releasing one for eight years. Fans of old Ringworm and Integrity will find no problem picking up (change) where they left off. The album stresses what every man fears — himself — as an interweaving tale of human struggle.

Birth Is Pain returns to what Ringworm knows how to do: straight up metalcore. Take a six-pack of Slayer brand beer and mix it up with a few shots of that early ’90s hardcore sound and swallow. There hasn’t been a good hardcore album out in so long…Ringworm saves!

(Victory Records, 346 N. Justine St., Ste. 504, Chicago, IL 60607)