This is a reissue of the first two classic Agnostic Front albums, but in reverse order. Cause For Alarm, the second album is a decidedly more metallic effort than the previous years Victim in Pain, mixing in their trademark hardcore punk with speed metal. This album is considered one of the most important albums to emerge from the 80s, setting the precedent if you like for the emerging crossover scene and would go on to influence countless bands from Carnivore and M.O.D, to more straight ahead metal acts such as Metallica and Slayer (who were seen wearing AF T-shirts!). It also stirred up quite a bit of controversy as well, as many die-hard fans saw this new found direction as a sign of selling out! This is hard to comprehend these days, when you take into account the considerable number of metal-core acts mixing in hardcore with thrash/death metal. But back in 86 this was a big deal! It seems doubly ridiculous when you think about it, because this CD is meaner and faster than previously. The debut album also available is considered something of a classic which it is thought Agnostic Front will never be able to better. This is something of an overstatement to say the least. Victim in Pain whilst good, doesnt offer much in terms of variety in comparison to its follow up. Still there are still some real classics on offer here such as, Fascist Attitudes and United and strong, to name but a few. The album basically follows up where debut EP United Blood left off. Pummelling hardcore and not much else. However that said, this is still a pretty good package overall and should be of interest to anyone interested in the NYHC scene.
