![\"\"](\"http:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/71RjB1sS7dL._SL1200_.jpg\")
<\/a>Sick Of It All album reviews kind of write themselves these days with a large proportion of them either falling into the \u201cthis is no \u2018Scratch The Surface\u2019\u201d or \u201cit\u2019s their best record in decades\u201d camps, with journos being awarded extra special brownie points if they can actually manage to squeeze them both in. For yours truly it\u2019s more of a case of how much of a battering I feel like I\u2019ve had after each new record, because since the release of \u2018Death To Tyrants\u2019 back in 2006 I don\u2019t think the band has put a foot wrong release wise.<\/p>\nThat\u2019s 12 years of almost non-stop musical perfection encompassing five studio albums, a 30th<\/sup> anniversary EP and God knows how many sweat soaked sold out shows worldwide. \u2018Wake The Sleeping Dragon\u2019 then (album number 5 of this winning streak and album number 12 overall from the band) is exactly what I have come to expect from Messrs Koller, Majidi and Setari, just 17 blasts of brutal hardcore at its very best.<\/p>\n You can try and dissect \u2018Wake The Sleeping Dragon\u2019 all you want but ultimately the Sick Of It All sound really is their trademark with no ballads, no jazz fusion interludes and not one of the songs breaking the 2 minutes and 40 seconds mark, so there\u2019s also no \u201cshock horror\u201d clickbait headline to accompany this review. \u2018Wake The Sleeping Dragon\u2019 is simply the sound of the masters of the genre relishing every single second of their day job and in the process they deliver steamrolling anthems like \u2018That Crazy White Boy Shit\u2019, \u2018Bad Hombres\u2019 alongside the album\u2019s incendiary title track, each one meticulously designed to make you lose your shirt and your mind in a frenzied mosh pit when the Sick Of It All guys come to a town near you very soon.<\/p>\n Having never been afraid to hold back when it comes to their lyrics, the pick of the bunch here is \u2018Robert Moses Was A Racist\u2019, a 1 minute 28 explosion of rage directed at the legacy of New York City\u2019s \u201cmaster builder\u201d whilst in \u2018Beef Between Vegans\u2019 there is a timely nod towards the bigger discussion point of the moment, no not fucking Brexshit, but the world\u2019s ever diminishing resources.<\/p>\n Short, sharp and always on point \u2018Wake The Sleeping Dragon\u2019 doesn\u2019t so much as raise the bar for hardcore release worldwide as take a flamethrower to the bar and let the rest of the scene dance around the ashes Sick Of It All leave behind. I fucking love this album and I\u2019m pretty sure you will too.<\/p>\n This is one release destined for the playlist at Daley\u2019s Pumphouse gym that\u2019s for sure.<\/p>\n