Mad Dog -Till i Die – Album Review

A new Hardcore album is in town. Italian Hardcore is on the rise once again. After albums from Unexist, Noize Supressor and Anime, it is now time for the frontman of Dogfight. DJ Mad Dog his saga will be extended. One year after the release of Dogfight it’s time for his next project, an album titled ‘Till I Die’. An album that consists two CD’s, one solo CD with fresh material from the studio and one including collaborations and remixed tracks by the man himself. Let’s have a look at DJ Mad Dog – ‘Till I Die’!

DJ Mad Dog worked really hard the previous years and is playing on almost every main event. After leaving Traxtorm Records behind and creating his own label with huge potential, Dogfight, which includes grand masters of Italian hardcore like Unexist, Noize Suppressor, Anime and Tears of Fury, he is next in line to unleash his music. Three years after his album ‘Rudeness Hardcore Beyond Rules’ and many releases, ‘Till i Die’ is a collection of these releases (mostly on CD 2) and new music presented on CD 1.

The album starts with an one minute introduction track, after that it’s time for DJ Mad Dog ft. Dave Revan – Maze of Martyr, the Dominator anthem of the 2017 edition. If you did visit Dominator you propably already heard this track a lot, and obviously you heard many new DJ Mad Dog tracks during his set. All of them are located at this brand-new album. Maze of Martyr is a typical Dominator anthem with the flavours of DJ Mad Dog. Without knowing the name of the creator, you recognize that Mad Dog is the man behind it. Keep this in mind for the rest of the album and you know how the album will sound like; Italian hardcore at it’s finest!

We make a little jump on the album. Track 04 – Why Me is what Mad Dog is about. A heavy chorded melodie leads the track from beginning till the end assisted by rap vocals and some short liners that sounds a little bit like ‘Painted Black’ or the old Milenium sound!

We skip track 05 for this review and directly move towards ‘Bring the Hardcore’. This track is one of our favourites from the album. This track starts with some heavy punching kicks and a rapline. Speeding up the tempo towards a classical Italian choir break. Amazing! It directly gives you the italian Hardcore feeling. You feel like you arrived inside an Operah House, but then suddenly the bass kicks in. Perfect combination of classical Italian music and Hardcore.

‘Drugs, Sex & Power’ is an ode to ‘Pulp Fiction’, using the vocals of Samuel L Jackson. With an epic melodieline this track is energetic from beginning till the end. After ‘That’s the sound’, ‘Hero’ and ‘Dogfight’ and  ‘Ama Shishi’ we spot the tracl ‘Fuck that Shit’; a heavy raw sounding track with raw synthlines and powerfull melodies.

At the end of the album we spot a collab with legend Rob Gee. Once again many rock influences during this track, but it worked out really well. For instance we here samples from ‘The Horn’ and ‘Slipknot – Wait and Bleed’ in this album.

As we said CD 02 is a collection of many releases. Think about; MFFYF, Priest, 911, Ama Shishi, Bassdrum Bitch, Attack (Dj Mad Dog remix), Remind and Real Voice.

The total album is what we can expect from Mad Dog. It’s his sound in a 2017 package. The album is sometimes unpredictable, aggresive, energetic and explosive. Of course some tracks are standing out, but that’s not a big deal. The album is a nice collection of energetic Italian hardcore. It proves that Mad Dog still explores the new sounds and developes himselve every day.

Tracklist:
CD1
01. Introduction
02. Maze of Martyr (Dominator Anthem 2017) Feat. Dave Revan
03. I Don’t Give a Fuck About Feat. MC Syco)
04. Why me
05. 1996
06. Bring the Hardcore
07. Drugs, Sex & Power
08. That’s the Sound
09. Hero
10. Dogfight
11. Fuck That Shit
12. HTC
13. The Kraken
14. Wait and Bleed Feat. Dave Revan
15. Down For the Core Feat. Rob Gee

Design
The front is a full logo of Dj Mad Dog but then in a deadly 3D versions metal look. It’s even angrier than usual! With metal stitches, plugs, sharp edges, well this gives you the dark energetic feeling the album contains. Inside we see once again the logo but also the latest press picture of mad dog wearing his typical red cap.
The design in total is not that special but we really love the rework of the logo on the front!
Summary
For every hardcore fanatic, but espesially the Italian Hardcore lovers and Mad Dog fans this album is a must have. Do you prefer Hardstyle or Rawstyle? Then this Mad Dog CD can be an interesting first Hardcore CD as well. The CD is not as heavy as for instance Unexist –  Unexistence, and it’s more approachable for a wider audience. Get your CD now at the Masters of Hardcore store; https://store.mastersofhardcore.com/mad-dog-till-i-die.html