Album Review: Alpha & Omega - 'No Rest, No Peace'

Los Angeles' Alpha & Omega make their Bridge Nine debut with 'No Rest, No Peace', a ten-track smorgasbord of styles that takes cues from straight-up hardcore stalwarts, while spreading out to metal and thrash influences, crafting an impressive, coherent and engaging slab of crossover hardcore.

It becomes clear pretty early on that Alpha & Omega tend to stay pretty formulaic in their approach to structure. For the most part it's fairly simple verses and choruses, occasionally with brief breakdown sections for good measure – however, these are thankfully used somewhat sparingly. Far from making the record drag on, there's something refreshing about the directness on 'No Rest, No Peace'. With each track roughly two and a half minutes long, there isn't really time for the album to become stagnant, and flows in a way that feels steady and organic.

That's not to say it stays too simple though. The flourishes of thrash metal influence that bleed through don't feel forced and instead fit in pretty well. Brief solos, such as found on 'Counterfeit' are subtle enough to not become a focal point and are rather just a pretty cool little acknowledgement of the band's love of acts like Metallica. One of the more particularly appealing aspects is how damn catchy 'No Rest, No Peace' is. Choruses, refrains and hooks on tracks like 'Burning Rope' and 'Questions & Devils' are immediately infectious.

As far as how the record actually sounds, New Found Glory's Chad Gilbert sits behind the decks and handles the job magnificently. No stranger to producing hardcore records (Gilbert's credits include H2O, Terror and Trapped Under Ice,) the album sounds professional while still very headstrong and raw, slick and solid without losing any energy.

No Rest, No Peace is a refreshingly engaging, unpretentious collection of hardcore/crossover tracks that sees Alpha & Omega tip their hats respectfully to acts like Cro-Mags, Integrity and Leeway, while managing to sound sincere and authentic, taking the best elements of prior releases to deliver a very solid release.

1. Sink

2. No Rest, No Peace

3. Burning Rope

4. Underworld

5. Counterfeit

6. Downfall

7. Chains of Life

8. Questions & Devils

9. Lost My Way

10. Choking Tongue