I love it when punk bands know what they are doing. So many punk bands these days play pop-punk that whines and isn't rebellious in the least. They don't even know the roots of punk. Punk was born of rebellion. Punk is supposed to be angry. Punk is not supposed to be a happy form of music. The Ramones, The Clash, The Sex Pistols...they were not happy music. They were rebels. Ok...enough soapboxing.

Anthym understands punk rebellion. They play their punk music, loud, hard, and rebellious. They scream a lot, so they have bruised vocal chords. They play dark, thrashy chords, so the guitarists have blistered fingers from all the chord mashing. The drumming is tough and fast, so their drummer has muscles six inches tall from the speed with which he plays. Yes, Anthym bears all the hallmarks of a good punk band.

And good punk this is, my friend. If you want a punch in the face, pop this in. The opener "Broken Vessel" is a pretty good song, but the following song "Open Arms" is a stellar punk blast. One minute and forty four seconds of real punk bliss, as the guitars slowly drip dissonance and anger. This isn't speedy or bouncy; this is taking the rebellious punk mentality and updating it for the 21^st century.  If you want some Mach-2 speeds, check out "Second Chance", which opens up with a brilliant little guitar ditty before rocketing off into punk speeds. You can also look up "Blind", where the guitars are frenzied, punked, and fantastic. If you like wicked drums, you should check the stellar drum intro to "Tainted Smile".

This is real punk music for real punks (you know, the type who sport Mohawks and body piercings). There is no watered down pop-punk here..no whiny white-boy complaints. This is the real deal, and you want this album.