Now a days, seeing a bunch of dudes with weird looking tufts of hair sticking out of the back of their otherwise bald heads jumping around on stage making a weird version of punk rock while yelling about the Krishna (the focus deity from the sect of Hinduism called Hare Krishna) probably would not be met with much controversy or notice; but when Ray Cappo left Youth Of Today to create his Krishna focused project group Shelter (which was originally only supposed to be a one off project), flaming shockwaves were sent shooting through the hardcore scene that had been building up around Revelation and Youth Of Today that only fanned into a larger conflagration when the project expanded into what would end up being a long running band.
Quest For Certainty is a compilation of early EPs and other songs that Revelation re-released following Shelter’s peak of popularity (the band was actually pretty big around the time of their album Mantra that was on Roadrunner) which allowed newer fans of the band to hear some of the band’s rare out of print early singles (and some live tracks thrown into the deal as well), but for some, this EP compilation allowed many to hear the band’s songs that were written and recorded when Vic DiCara (who left Inside Out to join Shelter when he became a Krishna devotee and prior to his leaving and forming his own Krishna centered group, 108) was a part of the band. This release contains my two favorite Shelter songs that they ever wrote and recorded, and thinking back on when Quest For Certainty was initially released by Revelation, I remember being rather excited that these songs would be available again (in the pre internet proliferation age when records went out of print, it was tough to hear them); “Quest For Certainty” (a harder edged song that is easily my favorite song from the band) and “In Defense Of Reality” still hold up rather well with their melodic hardcore punk with some metallic tinges and clean singing (as opposed to Cappo’s growl from his Youth Of Today days) while some songs are still serviceable (“Freewill” and “Saranagati”), but there are songs on here that do not hold up (“The News” sounds a bit cringe worthy and the live songs are fairly forgettable) while their cover of Black Sabbath’s “After Forever” is almost like a novelty.
While Quest For Certainty is a somewhat piece of Revelation related history, I could understand why most people would pass over this album (but in doing so, these people would miss out on at least two pretty cool songs); and in any case, the record is certainly a nostalgia trip for people like myself who did see a bunch of Shelter shows.
