About as subtle as a freight train, Raised Fist have proven once again that they are the hardest of the hardcore breed. It is quite simply impossible to do anything else while listening to Dedication. The songs don’t let up for an instant and are about as aurally assaulting as they come, the buzzsaw guitars and martial rhythms rocketing through eleven tracks in what has to be a land speed record of thirty- five minutes. Unfortunately, the ability to play that fast is not always a creative boon. What often happens on Dedication is that the meaning of the songs is often lost in the sonic blur. Inspection of the lyrics contained in the liner notes reveals that singer Alexander Rajkovic is capable of writing very thought provoking lyrics that unfortunately take a back seat to the larger than life instrumentation. Taking a cue from former Germs lead singer, the late Darby Crash, Rajkovic growls and snarls his lyrics; swallowing and running over syllables which is a real shame. Articulate rants against technology (“Get This Right!�), faceless corporations (“Killing Revenues�) and the mass media (“That’s Why�) all get lost beneath a tidal wave of distortion and seizure inducing drums. The only thing this band needs to be great is the self discipline to slow themselves down and be heard. There is some great music here with some truly excellent lyrical content that could be great if the band can realize that it doesn’t need to fly to be good. As soon as that happens Ian McAye and Fugazi will finally have a proper opponent in the hardcore political battle that has allowed them to retain the position by acclamation.

By Bill Adams
Mar 13, 2004