if you are like me and prefer early Isis over newer Isis – this album should tickle your fancy. if you don’t give a fuck about Isis (you should, btw), you should listen to this album because it is awesome. epic and grandiose progressive screamo mixed with powerful and hard-hitting black metal. what more can one ask of a band? it’s Euro-style breakdowns and interludes galore, black metal guitars and screamed vocals. screamed like Manhattan Skyline, Orchid and Quiritatio’s screams – not like Honeywell, Reach Out and mamma, jeg blör… but the main ingredient in Celeste’s music is how epic they sound, and the sheer progressiveness they display. so get on it. download!
archive for August, 2009
Celeste – Pessimiste(s)
Thursday, August 20th, 2009if you like the crusty tech bands on this blog, like Manhattan Skyline, you’ll definitely want to download Celeste (which consists of ex-Mihai Edrisch members, among others). this is the kind of band that you imagine yourself in complete trance, moving nothing but your head, which is bobbing to the inviting sounds of melancholy and utter despair, if you ever get a chance to see them live. their mesmerizing beyond compare. epic like City of Caterpillar, hard like Orchid and tech like Manhattan Skyline. a simply amazing band that deserves your download. you will probably want to buy their albums as well, because this is just too good not to.
Gone With the Pain – from a split with Reaction and Under the Waves
Wednesday, August 19th, 2009this is a song by Gone With the Pain that appeared on a split with two other bands. the song is a 1:34 mammoth thrasher. fast and chaotic screamo similar to Don’t Fuck With Columbus, but with The Spirit of Versailles vocals. if you haven’t bothered getting anything from this band before and want a little teaser, get this. if you have the rest of the releases posted on that’s punk… well then you are currently listening to the song instead of reading this.
Gone With the Pain – La Ideología Del Vacío
Wednesday, August 19th, 2009if you downloaded Gone With the Pain’s s/t and thought that it was awesome but wish all the songs were too long or wish they’d be even faster and even louder… well then this is the download for you. if you didn’t download their s/t – download this. then download the s/t. because you need to give this band a go. what’s different from the s/t album? well for starters, every song on here is less than two minutes long. there’s a little more clear production, and the guitars are slightly cleaner. the screaming (almost shrieking) is even more intense. it’s more explosive. they hardly ever (only once) go into twinkly little interludes… but that’s only so they can explode and hit you harder than ever. they basically stop at nothing. it’s like a constant beating. it never ends! so download it and put it on repeat… until next that’s punk post, naturally.
Gone With the Pain & Optimus Prime split
Wednesday, August 19th, 2009this is a split between two pretty different, yet similar bands. the first half is by Optimus Prime, a Russian band. with an awesome lead guitar that plays what sometimes almost sound like classic rock solos, a viola, screamed vocals, upbeat drumming and just an overall tight sound. the lead guitar is especially worth noticing. it gives this band a unique sound. it’s a bit like One Last Wish. (listen to My Better Half.) oh and just because it has a viola, it doesn’t mean that they sound anything like I Would Set Myself on Fire for You. because they don’t. at all. this is way more intense. while they may have some of the experimental features of IWASMOFFY, they are not nearly as jazzy. most of the time they are also faster and more to the point. the guitars are also several miles away from IWASMOFFY. but in terms of quality – it’s just as good. a freaking awesome band that needs your attention. and so does the band behind the second half of the split. Gone With the Pain are intense, fast, loud, hard, screamo. in Spanish. their half of the split is actually their s/t album from 2006 in its entirety! and it’s great. I don’t really know what to compare this band with. it’s a bit like Don’t Fuck With Columbus, only it’s pretty much nonstop kicking you square in the nuts. there are few occasions where this band slows things down – but when they do, they do so to incorporate more experimental elements in the songs, as well as allowing the guitars to take a more “pretty” approach, twinkling and what not. it’s just as awesome as the noisy bits, if not more. at times they remind me a lot of The Spirit of Versailles – and in the noisier parts, the vocals are fairly comparable to BJ Anderson’s vocals. so if you’re into The Spirit of Versailles and other a bit chaotic and intense bands, this is the band for you.
syn*error – songs from a split tape with Jet Pilot
Wednesday, August 19th, 2009these are the songs from syn*error’s bit of their split with Jet Pilot. one of the tracks evident on this post have appeared earlier (the s*e/WPW? split), but the other four are new additions, which I hope you like. if you have downloaded the other syn*error posts – you know what you’re in for. if not… well then this is as good a place to start as any other. this is the type of band that probably would be tagged with “real emo” or “real screamo” on last.fm if they were popular. drawing influence from Still Life, Portraits of the Past, The Saddest Landscape and all that jazz, syn*error are definitely a “real” emo/screamo band. a solid and semi-experimental rhythm section that allows two sharp guitars to constantly try to create interesting patterns, experimenting with dynamics and contrasts. on top of all of this are the screamo vocals, perhaps a little less in focus than they tend to be in other screamo bands. the mix comes out awesome, and is definitely something everyone will have to make time to listen to. out of all the syn*error posts on that’s punk, it may also be worth mentioning that this is the most European-sounding one. so if you’re really into that stuff – get this. if you like all types of emo – get this. if you like *good music* – get this.
Rudi Simmons – Palpitations
Wednesday, August 19th, 2009Rudi Simmons is back with dirty lyrics and catchy melodies. and this time it’s even more folky. the sound is more sparse, focusing on a cracked voice, an acoustic guitar, drums and the occasional twinkle. but most of the record revolve around the narrative, clever lyrics. this does however not equal shit music! the music is definitely not elevator muzak. it’s mainly focused and concise folk rock with harmonic and concentrated chord progressions. there are deviations though, most notably the bluesy fifth track that’s way more wild than the rest of the record.
syn*error – syn*error
Monday, August 3rd, 2009hailing from Berlin, syn*error are a modern band that plays 90s emo. but not like Mineral and Christie Front Drive. more like Bubblejug, Still Life and Portraits of Past. it’s chaotic, dynamic and semi-experimental. but it’s still 90s emo, so some twinkling is still present. particurarly in the intros. it quickly builds up to a far more aggressive sound though. screaming, borderline jazzy drumming and screamo guitars. and lots of start-stop dynamics. mostly fast paced, but willing to slow down and be gentle at times. it’s in these calm bridges or whatever the melodies are perhaps at their most atmospheric. very much enjoyable. syn*error also employ somewhat unorthodox (especially to mainstream music, which they obviously don’t play) patterns, without having clear distinctions between them. they are not going A-B-A-B-C-B-B. every song is like a journey. they explore as much as possible. and they do so with considerably style, ending up somewhere between the twinkly almost poppy Cap’n Jazz influenced midwest emo and the chaotic and dynamic San Diego influenced emo/screamo. while they probably belong more in the latter, there definitely are traces of the first mentioned to be found. and that’s simply awesome, because this fusion works out better than anyone could ever hope for. absolutely beautiful music that I recommend everyone to check out. also note that one of the tracks on this album appear on the WPW? split posted earlier.
What Price, Wonderland?/syn*error tour split
Monday, August 3rd, 2009are you looking for more English emo? you have found the right blog then. what’s that you say, you’ve been meaning to check out some German emo lately? you have, once again, come to the right blog. so why not grab a chair, sit down and enjoy your stay. I guarantee you’ll find your residence very pleasant. this is a split between English hardcore/emo favourites What Price, Wonderland?, and the more screamo oriented syn*error from Germany. if anyone has their doubts about how these two bands could make a split that makes sense – shame on you! if you download it, you’ll find that everything makes perfect sense. while WPW borrows more from Cap’n Jazz than it does from Still Life, Don Martin 3 and Admiral, s*e are pretty much the opposite. this makes the bands slightly reminiscent, yet completely different, consequently making the split sound pretty awesome. the two bands are only similar in those little twinkles the guitars make, some of the rhythms and the passion. and that’s more than enough. it makes the similarity intricate instead of completely obvious. it’s the greatest strenght of the split. so grab this. enjoy WPW’s seven minute epic and their two other Cap’n Jazz-esque songs. enjoy s*e’s Drive Like Jehu style over the course of four songs. there’s plenty of twinkly guitars and complex climaxes to be found here. this is emo the way emo should be. and if you are a WPW fan who haven’t heard this, you need to hear it! this is WPW leaving the screaming and thrashing behind, in substitution for even more twinkling than usual. this sounds like what Manrae might’d sound like if they were on Jade Tree instead of Ebullition.