French hardcore band PRIMAL RAGE comes out swinging in their first studio album "Awakening the Masses" released in November 2021. Right from the beginning it's clear this band is high-energy and in your face. The guitars and drums are loud and the vocalist is yelling - it's a lovely attack on the senses. The first song "Repression" has a great guitar solo. Of course, one of the first things I notice is the vocals. Dav's vocals are definitely fitting for this type of music. I really dig his deeper screams, but the yelling he mainly does kind of reminds me of someone gargling, yet it somehow works mostly. There are occasion where I feel it's a little too Cookie Monster-ish, like in the song "Kill Yourself," but most of the time it doesn't bother me.

The aural attack never ends with this album. Every song is fast-paced and intense. The second song "F.F.F" has a pretty catchy chorus. For some reason it reminds me of a song I would hear on Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2. There are elements to this album that feel very punk rock. But punk rock and hardcore have quite a bit in common, so it's appropriate. "X-Rated" tries to be a sexy song. There's even some porn star moaning sound clips and it's clearly a song about sex. Just something about the vocals isn't sexy. I know he's probably not even trying to be sexy. But this one just doesn't work for me. There's so much going on in the content of this album and it seems strange to include a song like this when a lot of the album is about going against the status quo.

I particularly enjoy the opening riff to "No Cure for Hate." It's really killer and catchy. This one also has an epic solo. I feel like this song shows off their musicianship best. These things probably would make it my favorite one on the album, if I were to pick. Although, I feel with this album there's not a lot that stands out. There isn't much variety and a lot of the songs sound pretty similar. It doesn't really stray from this formula they seem to have created. That's not necessarily bad, but I like to feel like I'm not listening to one long song. This album has all the ingredients for a great stick-it-to-the-man, anti-politics song. "Freedom is a Life" is a perfect example. The main lyric is "Freedom is a lie, fight the liar." The content of this album makes it punk rock and the music makes it hardcore and it's a nice mash-up. I think fans of both genres would be interested in the album.