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New York City’s Madball continues to let you know that they’re still here, still sincere and still doing it better than everyone else. Not by simply saying so - any band can brag on themselves - but by year after year producing crucial recorded output in-line with the temperature of the times and consistently presenting devastating live performances dripping with ferocity and most importantly, integrity and passion. Ain’t nothing changed. MB doesn’t concern itself with online debates regarding the old school days versus the present, because the group proudly maintains a substantial chunk of both. The essence of hardcore is in its DNA; quite literally in the blood of its front man Freddy Cricien, in large part due to his familial relationship with Agnostic Front icon, Roger Miret. “Bridging the old to the new is something I think we’ve always done whether consciously or subconsciously,” Freddy explains. “This new album, Not Your Kingdom achieves that, but maybe on a more personal level than ever before. We’ve sort of reinvented ourselves without losing a bit of what we are.” Freddy and co. represent the heart and soul of the hardcore movement. That’s a fact. And that personification shines brilliantly on their newest long player. The collection bears each of the musical ingredients which have made Madball what it has been for the better part of an unfathomable 38 years as a band: volume, energy, groove, power and crunch, but with some tasteful and well-placed twists and turns. Lyrically, Cricien remains as disillusioned by our society and ways of doing things as he ever was. The singer clarifies, “There are definitely some nostalgic tales, survival tales on Not Your Kingdom. The things we’ve lived through that built us up and gave us our grit will always be important. But a lot of the lyrics represent my perspective on the state of the world and how people react to it.” Rebel kids don’t follow trends, Not when I was coming up. We questioned everything, Seems that’s coming to an end. - Rebel Kids Not Your Kingdom was produced in the not so hotbed of hardcore, Nashville, Tennessee by Andrew Baylis along with the band. Freddy offers up, “We worked with all Nashville cats, and they killed it for us. Really delivered on the sound and the tones we wanted. I’m extremely proud of what we’ve done.” While some members have come and gone over time, it’s important to note that “the new guys,” guitarist Mike Gurnari and drummer Mike Justian, have been members of Madball for longer than most musicians last in their respective bands; 7 years and 15 years respectively. “Paul Delaney (Kill Your Idols, Black Anvil…) played bass for us, and he will be the ‘official guy’ moving forward. He’s long been in the Madball rotation, so the transition feels organic. He’s family at this point,” says Freddy. Cricien adds, “The writing process went really smoothly. No egos - we just had a collective desire to put something amazing together and the songs just came out. No overthinking, nothing contrived, just Madball on a new level. It’s still crazy to me that this is album number 10 for Madball.” In summing up where he’s coming from, and really always has, Freddy breaks it down: “The lyric ‘Not Your Kingdom’ appears on the song ‘What Say You.’ The complete lyric is ‘You Hold the Keys but it’s Not Your Kingdom.’” Simply, we don’t run this extremely dysfunctional world we live in. Even the politicians and their ‘gangs’ everyone fights over, they don’t run it either. There’s a group of extremely wealthy and powerful folks who pull the strings.”He continues, “I don’t subscribe to the ‘normality’ others do and tend to live on the fringes with a lot of things. It’s a very punk/hardcore way of being which I never let go of. I don’t agree with a lot of what’s happening politically, socially, economically… So, I live my life as I see fit and as self-sufficiently as possible. I take care of my family as best I can and have a job which allows me to speak my piece. I’m not going to succumb to anything or anyone that goes against my own moral compass.”