The San Francisco Bay Area is notorious for some of the best hardcore punk and hardcore-influenced bands to exist during this modern era of music. From newcomers like Set Your Goals and Animosity, to old school veterans AFI and the Dead Kennedys, the Bay Area in northern California is home to some of the best hardcore out there to date. Allegiance is a band that has been making waves in their hometown ever since they dropped their demo, but it wasn’t until recently that they were able to branch outside of lovely San Francisco and play in venues that were on the other end of the Pacific Ocean.

Much like Allegiance’s last effort, “Overlooked,” this album features gritty hardcore punk that is reminiscent of late 80’s and early 90’s hardcore bands that focused more on getting their perspectives on life across to their audiences, than on trying to come up with eccentric solos that would “wow” crowds left to right. The album opens up with “Another Wave,” which features probably one of Allegiance’s best songs to date thanks to its catchy, yet abrasive tone. From songs like “The Desperation” and “If Its Just Words,” to songs like “Taking It Back” and “Summer Relief,” the listener can feel the intensity of every word being conveyed by the band, as well as the immense musical effort put forth. Although you won’t find any “sweet riffs” on this album that were performed by a guitar virtuoso, Allegiance make up for that greatly by creating lyrics that actually take the negatives of the world and try to change them into positives.

Ideally, it would have been great if Allegiance tried to broaden their musical spectrum a bit, but at the same time one has to contemplate if changing the music behind Allegiance is the right move to make. Allegiance has always come off as a band that is just as much about the words they say, as they are about their music. Although they may not have creative breakdowns or highly melodic guitar parts, their message comes across so vividly in their music that it doesn’t really matter how basic their sound is because the conviction behind it is so much more powerful than music alone can convey. You might feel hard-pressed to find something unique about this album upon first listen, but taking a look deeper will yield a vast world that has gone virtually untouched by so many bands for so many years. At the end of the day, Allegiance opens the listener up to a musical world that doesn’t really exist in our mainstream culture. A world that features insightful lyrics and abrasive music that both serve as more of a call to arms, rather than something to listen to on the ride back home from work.