from the very first second, this is energetic and intense. it pretty much starts out with screaming and noise. the guitars alternate between typical screamo stuff and metal riffs. the vocalist alternate between screaming and this feminine spoken word thing. it sounds a bit… errr… but it’s actually really good. it works. slightly in the background you have mostly upbeat drumming that is kind of experimental. very tight at all times. everyone should also pay attention to the breakdowns and these sweet calm parts, where the band really excels. and that sweetest of album outros… wow. this is just an awesome effort from a real good band. get it.
archive for May, 2009
Isaïe Buried Memorial – Demo
Tuesday, May 26th, 2009you like what? French emo? hmmm… guess that means I’ll have to put up yet another French band then! and it’s another winner, for sure. ofc it is. I wouldn’t put it on the blog if it didn’t rip! and this band certainly does rip. in a vastly different ways from most of the other French bands on this blog though. while this still has some twinkly stuff like the others, it is noticeably more aggressive and fast. they vary between emo violence and Orchid-ish hardcore/screamo, kind of like Palatka. and they do so by rapidly hitting the snare, thrashing the guitars, screaming and pretty much just tearing everything apart. while this demo doesn’t have the best production quality (it is after all a demo), the point certainly comes across. this is sooo gooooddd, and everyone needs to download it and give it a listen. you can buy the demo from their MySpace, and you should definitely consider doing so if you are a fand of outstandingly aggressive music. :)
Soup – Acoustic
Tuesday, May 26th, 2009for those of you who really liked the Soup album, here is a special treat for you – an acoustic version of My Justine! you will be sure to like this. if you on the other hand didn’t catch the Soup album when I uploaded it, download this anyway! give it a go! you might just like it. it’s a powerful track with dreamy lyrics and vocals. the flowing chord progression mesmerizes the listener, whilst the nice strings in the background makes sure that it is forced to place all its attention on the track. and the peculiar lyrics and wonderful vocals makes it want to be in the track. it’s just such a well done version of the song, it’s mind blowing. you need this. download it!
Kazan & After Taste Split
Sunday, May 24th, 2009we all love French skram. so this is a split between no less than two(!) French skram bands. and from the crushing intro by After Taste to Kazan’s equally crushing outro, this is a real treat. and this is two rather different bands as well. After Taste are a highly atmospheric and progressive band with epic overtones. they create this tense and melancholic mood, yet they sound very big and pounding. lots of cymbals, heh. at times you feel like you are listening to a Bal-Sagoth of screamo or something. they even crash into full-blown metal parts. weeeee. I really like this band. they are incredibly diverse. one minute it’s acoustic, one minute it’s loud screamo with medieval undertones and then one minute it’s just crushing epic prog with heavy use of cymba. a pretty amazing band, to do the exact opposite of exaggerate. downbeat, upbeat, all-over-the-place-beat – whatever. this band masters it all. and it’s a privelige to be able to listen to this fantastic work. so you should DEFINITELY listen to it. a fucking perfect band. but this split does not consist of only two bands. there are two bands. two rather different bands as well. Kazan might sound similar at first. the first minute of their first track is pretty hands on French screamo. and though After Taste are an incredibly diverse band, you can always tell that it’s French screamo. and Kazan has that recognizable sound as well… for the first minute. then they go into a beautiful and soft folky part, that eventually progress into a metalcore-esque bit that could just as well had palm muting (it already has double bass pedals so), that climaxes into an epic screamo part, before it goes into the metalcore-esque part again, with some medieval undertones – like After Taste occasionaly has. it makes me want to play Warcraft II. simply amazing stuff. if only two bands in the world should have done a split, these two bands might very well be those two bands. whilst being different, they are both equally diverse and original. two such atmospheric bands are hard to come across. especially on the same record – making this a must have!
I.Witness – Live In Tomsk 02.05.09
Monday, May 18th, 2009if you liked Spray Paint the Sun, chances of you liking this are pretty high. the guitarists from SPtS are in this band as well. and you can tell. even though I.Witness’s sound is generally more upbeat, the lead guitars are noticeably dreamy, like in SPtS. but the chord progression is much faster, like in a hardcore band. but at the same time it is way twinkly and obviously screamo-tinged. the vocals are in between screamo and hardcore. so is the upbeat and dynamic drumming. everything is just a big blender of hardcore and hardcore-derived genres. including a huge crust factor. this is all the way through an interesting and highly worthy listen. aggressive and angry. despite being twinkly, I.Witness sounds nothing like midwest emo bands or the modern experimental screamo bands. this is a band that has much more in common with the neo crust sound albeit with some passages that are reminiscent of those experimental screamo bands. also be sure to check out the awesome Hüsker Dü cover!
Spray Paint The Sun – Still Alive In Tomsk 02.05.09
Monday, May 18th, 2009I generally have no idea about what these guys are singing about or anything else apart from the fact that they make good music – but that’s enough to earn them a spot on this blog. ultra-melodic and extremely creative. the highly original harmonies found on this album is something that deserves to be heard. while it’s not every day I listen to Russian rock, I will definitely listen to it more often after discovering this band. if not for the unique way the guitars interact, then for the shrieking vocals that will rival The Spirit of Versailles and Saetia any day. hell, this is even up there with Nacht und Nebel and Slave Whipping Blasphemy’s shrieking. pure awesomeness. the shrieking and guitar fighting is on top of an upbeat rhythm section that handles both tempo shifts and breakdowns more than properly. they are pretty much as adept at playing at 3000bpm as they are at playing at 3bpm. they mostly play in a mid-tempo but upbeat style, allowing the guitarists to steal the attention with their atmospheric and dreamy chord progressions. this is just an awesome album that needs to be heard. Russian screamo for the whole family.
LxExAxRxNx – ‘Till Death
Monday, May 18th, 2009if you haven’t guessed already by the misspelled album title – LxExAxRxNx are not an American band. it’s an Italian band playing American music. and they pull it off so magnificently! this album is really a split with Common Enemy. but appearing on this (my) version of it are only the LxExAxRxNx tracks. fourteen glorious tracks – including four covers. one of the bands they cover are 7 Seconds, and this makes perfect sense given how early era 7 Seconds they sound. it’s catchy and very fast, just like The Crew. so if you are into Negative Approach, Minor Threat, Degenarates, 7 Seconds and so on – definitely pick this up. it will make you a fan even before the first guitar solo. if you send an email to xtrustnoonex-AT-hotmail-DOT-it, you might even get this on a 7″. :)
LxExAxRxNx – First Lesson
Monday, May 18th, 2009being one of the most hard-hitting hardcore acts you’ll ever hear, LxExAxRxNx are a marvellous take on modern hardcore. despite being retro (how can hardcore not be?), this band has something fresh about them. the skate punk catchyness and energy combined with the thrashcore speed and intensity come together to a power violence a la Infest and Lack of Interest influenced call and response hardcore reminiscent of early AFI combined with early ’80s harDCore. does that even make sense to you? oh well, download it anyway. it’s awesome. don’t be fooled by the goofy name – they are great musicians. also notice the covers of Bestie Boys, Minor Threat, Gorilla Biscuits and Scholastic Deth. if you really dig, you can send an email to xtrustnoonex-AT-hotmail-DOT-it and request the 7″. it’s pretty cheap yo.