I'll be honest here. I was never a huge Outbreak fan. You Make Us Sick was fairly decent, but I was never really sold on the group. I have a lot of friends that swear by that record and the subsequent release of Failure. but I'm just not one of them.
Anyway, Work to Death is a new 7" single from Outbreak, who has since seen the departure of two main players to Cruel Hand. Vocalist Ryan O'Connor and company solider onwards
"(Work)ing Dead" leads things off and is a two-minute cut that definitely shows the band going on a slightly different direction. The music is slightly less chaotic and straightforward. It kind of reminds me of what The Bronx and Hour of the Wolf are doing, blurring the line between rock and roll, classic punk, and early 80's hardcore. Meanwhile, "Don't Want to Fade (to Death)" clocks in at forty seconds. Again, the band is mixing classic hardcore sounds with a punk vibe. It's different
which is fine; it just lacks a certain intensity that the band used to carry.
I can see this 7" doing two things. One, it might alienate current fans of Outbreak. Two, it might win over a lot of new fans as the whole rock meets punk sound is quite big. Either way, the guys in Outbreak are doing what they like and you can't fault them for that.
