AAC put their own spin on traditional hardcore with their latest EP "Stand Your Ground", on which they sound like a cross between Sick Of It All and Madball with perhaps some older punk influence along the lines of Black Flag added to round things out. There's also a slight metal aspect involved in the songs, which can bring to mind the likes of Biohazard or perhaps even older Anthrax.

Stacked with your usual aggressive barking vocals, there's nothing too out of the ordinary here. Straight forward hardcore lyrical structures aided by back up chants on the choruses and loose plunging guitar riffs complete with washed out distortion and pummeling drumbeats are whats served up by the pound. Unforunately, things are also pretty much done by the book as far the rhythm section goes, with few surprises thrown in as each song follows the tried and true guidelines that so many bands before them have laid down.

The production on the release isn't exactly the best and as such it brings out very little clarity of the bands instruments, but on the other side of the coin, the sludgy tones and sound are and almost always have been a part of the hardcore sound, so whether or not this will effect the listeners enjoyability is merely up to personal taste. In the end though, its hardcore music and its purpose is to get you slamming in the pit and not much else, so if that's what you're into then by all means check the band out, but for those just getting into the genre, a trip back to the masters of it is a more recommended venture as the ground that AAC are standing upon has already been tread by thousands of feet in the past.
(2 / 5)