When a band releases its debut album as a two-CD set, it makes you wonder what high concept, message, or musical soundscape they have to present to us. (Besides, I thought Frank Zappa was the only one who could get away with that kind of audacity). What a shock to load up both discs of Fall From Eden’s self-titled release and be greeted with a battering ram sound that blends the best and most blistering elements of death metal and hardcore punk (usually the latter). Fall From Eden reminds me a lot of the bands that I listened to during my punk-rock phase in high school, representing the fist-pumping energy and vibrancy of what I like to call the Spirit of ’96. You can hear elements of Bad Religion, early Rancid, Pennywise, and the Living End in their songs, from the familiar lightning-fast drum beats, crunching power-chord riffs, and soaring anthemic choruses. The tempo on songs like “Walls of Discretion” and “Another Piece Of The Puzzle” go from fast to faster and back again. The band even throws in a little wah-wah-driven ska in “You’ll Never Know” for good measure. And as for the second disc? It’s essentially a second record, as if the band wanted to rescue the material from the dreaded sophomore slump. The most interesting part of the entire record, though, comes at the end of the first disc, an untitled bonus track recorded at an all-ages show. It consists entirely of what sounds like a rent-a-cop laying down the law, telling kids to leave the building and making the boys in Fall From Eden, who are just antsy to start their set, out to be “an example of no respect.” Cut to the end of their set, where the band declares that they will never again play the venue, and a legion of young fans defiantly cheering them on. That, more than anything, embodies the true spirit of punk.