Authority Zero - A Passage of Time

Authority Zero’s debut album is a Mountain Dew-fueled mix of punk, ska & reggae, surf rock, and latter-day Metallica, peppered with various worldbeat influences. In case you had any further doubts about their worldliness, the album features lyrics in English, Spanish and Portuguese. Despite all the diverse influences and good intentions, the songs fail to avoid a certain unshakeable sameness. Blame it on producer Dave Jerden (The Offspring, Alice in Chains, Jane’s Addiction, Anthrax, Social Distortion), who hasn’t done his best work here.

Like a lot of first records, the ambitions of ‘A Passage in Time’ are more impressive than the actualization of those ambitions, but the band wears their influences (Pennywise, Minor Threat, Bad Religion, and Operation Ivy) well, and amid a dearth of quality major label punk albums in recent months, this is—if punk’s your thing—a sound if unspectacular album.

Matt Parks (February 22, 2003)