Review RYKER’S ‘Ours Was a Noble Cause’

Germany’s hardcore institution Ryker’s started in 1992 in Kassel, Germany and had eight successful years before the band disbanded in 2000. The start of the second era of the hardcore veterans dates back to 2013 which was further manifested with the ‘Hard to the Core’ album. Since then the guys are going full throttle again and it seems that today’s times are made for Ryker’s hardcore. Frustration and anger is what you can often meet these days and it seems that the five guys of Ryker’s are pissed off as well.

‘Ours Was a Noble Cause’ is the title of the latest work of the Kassel-based hardcore specialists and it is none other than return of Kid D. who shouts out all his anger during these ten songs.

Musically the album is an elemental force with which Ryker’s approach again to earlier works like ‘First Blood’. ‘Ours Was a Noble Cause’ is vicious and sarcastic. Ryker’s deal with the current circumstances and their effects. Songs like ‘Bread and Circuses’ address the polarization of society, the social media that gives populists a stage and turns people into a blindly following mass.

Musically, the opener ‘When the Dam Has Broken’ sets the scene. Ryker’s don’t take long to get going. The opener with its just under two minutes playing time is an energizer that directly shows with its grooving beat that no compromises are made here. The title track also stands out. ‘Ours Was a Noble Cause’ begins gloomy and oppressive. This basic atmosphere runs through the entire song and it is the shouts in the chorus that makes the song a predetermined live anthem.

That Ryker’s also count metal to the favored genres can be clearly detected by ‘Mentally Unlocked’. The song contains more than just one Slayer cross-reference and has an absolute legitimacy on the album.

It is a cover version which ends the album. ‘Riot’, in the original by the UK Subs, is a felicitous finale to a bear-strong hardcore album. Ryker’s, with all their experience, have not lost any of their intensity and as mentioned at the beginning, maybe it’s times like these that turn a spark into a musical firework. ‘Our Was a Nobel Cause’ is one of the highlights of 2022 and shows that ten good songs and a playing time of just under 30 minutes are enough to generate some serious power