TORONTO CITY OMNIBUS COMPILATION LP

Bands of all genres that would probably never play together join up on this compilation of the current Toronto scene. Included are CLASS ASSASSINS, HAYMAKER, LEGION 666, SCARE TACTIC, MURDER SQUAD T.O., CAREER SUICIDE, BLUE DEMONS, RIOT 99, FUCKED UP. A little heavy on the hardcore and crust (some bands have 6 songs, some only two), but CLASS ASSASSINS and FUCKED UP are standouts. (DP)
-MaximumRockNRoll 244

Toronto is one of the hot scenes on the planet right now in punk rock. Here is a great sampler that shows why people are going gaga over the music coming out of that region. First off are the Class Assassins, who play real catchy street punk that is equally tough and melodic. Their first 7” is on Soap and Spike Records and a full length is on TKO. Not sure if they put out anything else. Haymaker is another band that has put out a good amount of material. Angry-as-fuck punk that is not pretty to the ears. They even throw in a Reagan Youth cover for good measure. Legion 666 is equal parts black metal mixed with crust. The name alone evokes heaviness. Career Suicide is a fave at the Razorcake HQ. See the interview in issue 21. Pure old school punk purity. Riot 99 has put out a couple CDS in the last few years and put their name on the map. You’ve probably heard the current punks on a pedestal, Fucked up. Just like a scene report, this record has some heavy hitters. Scare Tactic, Murder Squad T.O. and the Blue demons round this out. In a Time when comps are usually rally bad, it’s surprising to get one that is actually good. – Donofthedead
-Razorcake 22

This ripping longplayer features THE CLASS ASSASSINS - (streetpunk like the DROPKICK MURPHYS without their Irish folk roots), HAYMAKER - (fast, no bullshit hardcore), LEGION 666 - (brutal, downtuned and partly quick metallic, god hating crust; the cover of "Dear cops" by BASTARD [!!!] will tear you a new asshole!), SCARE TACTIC (cool thrash/punk), MURDER SQAUD T.O. (crushing crust), CAREER SUICIDE (their entire demo from '01 brings hurried, old school hardcore at it's best), THE BLUE DEMONS - (amusing, dirty surfpunk), RIOT 99 (alcohol fueled streetpunk) und FUCKED UP (mid- to faster paced, driving hardcore)!! 29 songs in all!! Stinkers: No one!! Highlights: HAYMAKER, LEGION 666, CAREER SUICIDE, RIOT 99 and FUCKED UP!! Whoa, Cana-Duh still has a lot to offer, so count your hard earned milk money in order to buy this splendid comp. LP!!
-Loser Zine

Speaking of Toronto, there’s also a compilation LP that features songs from Fucked Up and a strong array of punk and hardcore bands from that lovely city. A range of styles, from the trad-punk of the Class Assassins and Riot 99 to the pure bile of Haymaker to the Swedish-inspired hardcore of Legion 666 to Scare Tactic and Career Suicide’s raw, stripped-down old school sounds to the aforementioned hardcore/hard rockin’ fusion of Fucked Up. Even some surfy tunes from the Blue Demons. Something’s brewing up north.
-TOHC Amp EZine

5 years in the "making" and probably because it started as a Simon Harvey production, this LP sees the light of day in 2003. Some of the material that i’s familiar with is really old but there are some definate bright spots. HAYMAKER offer up 6 songs, one of which is a cover...all in the time it took CLASS ASSASSINS to do one song. LEGION666 and MURDERSQUAD are real boring DIS-style crud although LEGION do a BASTARD cover. CAREER SUICIDE whiz through 8 songs from their demo that includes an ANGRY SAMOANS cover. FUCKED UP is my favorite stuff here. “Generations“ finally sees vinyl and „Last man Standing“ is the song that I always refer to as the POISON IDEA song. “Generations“ is the closest this band will ever come to having a “mosh intro“ and I get a woody everytime they play it live. Other bands on here that don’t matter to me: THE BLUE DEMONS, SCARE TACTIC and RIOT 99. Like the scenes that these releases document, there is always good and bad.
-TOWN OF HARDCORE 6

This LP features many great Toronto bands, but also many bad ones I’ve never heard before. So it is kinda hit and miss. However, it does have the HAYMAKER and CAREER SUICIDE demos on it. It also has two awesome FUCKED UP songs not available elsewhere. Plus a couple songs from SCARE TACTIC and RIOT 99 (a local Oi band). It’s worth checking out for that material on it’s own, but there are other bands you may just fall in love with.
-NA 2

A document of some of the bands to be active in Toronto, Ontario over the past couple years. Features: Class Assassins, Haymaker, Legion 666, Scare Tactic, Murdersquad TO, Career Suicide, (the complete demo), The Blue Demons, Riot 99 and Fucked Up. Most of the bands are on the heavierfaster side of the spectrum and play multiple tracks. My favorites were the Haymaker, Career Suicide and Fucked Up tracks. Comes with a cool booklet as well.

- Short Fast and Loud #12