Indisputably New Jersey’s most advanced metallic hardcore band to emerge from possibly the most underrated regional scene of the 90s, For The Love Of have been quietly on the prowl again since reuniting for Hellfest 2004 with new vocalist Mike Olender of Burnt By The Sun infamy. To say that this rejuvenated lineup begged to be immortalized on record would be criminally understated, and the self-released new EP “Not On My Watch” finally makes aging scenesters’ dreams a reality. It would take paragraphs upon paragraphs to list all the bands who owe their existence, whether consciously or not, to these Jersey pioneers. To shorten the list, one of principal and most imposing players in the resurgence of American metal, God Forbid, consistently credit For The Love Of for being a main source of inspiration early on when their “Out Of Misery” and “Reject The Sickness” releases were scaring Northeastern hardcore kids out of their comfort zones ten years ago. “Not On My Watch” sees the band at their most abrasive, uncompromising, and confrontational since “Feasting On The Will Of Humanity” dropped on Signature Records in 1997, and shortly thereafter re-pressed on Ferret as one of the label’s earliest releases. The addition of outspoken and daunting frontman Mike Olender only further reinforces the strength of this lineup, and truly eliminates any chance for a weakest link that tends to plague so many reunited bands whose original members are no longer on the same page musically or ideologically. Olender also happens to run the award-winning political “Issue Oriented Podcast,” further valuating the frontman for not only his monstrous vocal addition to the band’s lineup, but his degree of awareness as well. While the small yet sturdy fanbase of For The Love Of followers were truly left hanging when the band’s 1999 EP “In Consequence” on Ferret proved to be their swansong at the time, it can be rationalized that the arrival of a proper follow-up ten years later will reach more ears now than before due to a scene that can no longer dispute the band’s influence, and also thanks to digital distribution. Admittedly, starved fans are likely to gobble up anything when forced to wait this long for new material, but For The Love Of take no liberties with “Not On My Watch,” instead holding themselves to their usual high standard of twin-guitar interplay, time-signatures, and all the urgency of a furious young hardcore band. It’s better than “not bad for a bunch of guys in their mid-30s.” It’s as good as evil, east coast crossover hardcore can get. Like For The Love Of’s former labelmates, the recently reunited Disembodied, and many others from the same era seeking to metal-plate their hardcore roots, the influence of Sepultura, Machine Head, and Slayer can be figured out from the sound of “Not On My Watch.” But what makes both For The Love Of and this EP so distinct (among numerous other factors) is the fascinating dichotomy of the usual suspects Dan Sobon’s and John Stanley’s seamlessly performed yet raw, urban-styled thrash guitar work.