Traditions gathers
Adamantium's first vinyl-only EP, three previously unreleased tracks from the same sessions and all of the band's various compilation appearances, belatedly gathering all the band's odds and ends a full four years after they split up. It's a handy collection for fans, but pretty inessential for everyone else. This Orange County hardcore crew was fairly generic overall; although 2000's When It Rains, It Pours works up a good dose of righteous angst, singer Aaron Lisi was simply too lacking in personality to make much impression. None of these 12 tracks is a particularly distinguished addition to the band's legacy, and poor recording quality hampers much of the collection. When the best song on the album is a half-hearted cover of
the Bad Brains' "Re-Ignition," itself not the Rasta punks' most sterling effort, the bottom of the barrel has been reached. ~ Stewart Mason