well I don’t know about you, but I’ve been looking forward to this for a very long time. for those of you who hang on the forums (you lurker, you!), you’re probably aware of the sad disbanding of mamma, jeg blör… – so it is with great pleasure I introduce you to Auguries of Innocence. Mats played guitar and sang/screamed in mamma, jeg blör… – and now he sings/screams/growls/shrieks/whatever in Auguries of Innocence, a five piece deathcore act. and he does so with great skill and diversity, not unlike how every other member perform his key role to perfection. because let me assure you, everything is handled with the utmost care on this demo. Auguries of Innocence settles for nothing but perfection. the energetic drumming takes command and pummels the band through each of the compositions firmly with all of the corresponding breakdowns and tempo shifts. on top of this, the band has put ultra-melodic guitar riffs at high speeds – that sometimes takes the time to go into epic metal guitar solos, and sometimes to heavy palm muted riffs. in the middle of things are the vocals, sometimes intense shrieking, sometimes brooding low gutturals. at all times the execution is flawless, yielding a crisp and direct sound, helped by the rich mix. this is one of the very most accomplished and consistent demos I have ever heard, and you owe it to yourself – and everyone else – to give this a shot. it’s wonderful.
archive for March, 2010
Charles Manson – Demo
Friday, March 26th, 2010Edwin and Steven from TEETH have a band called Charles Manson. and like TEETH, Charles Manson have fade outs to their songs. this band has a demo, consisting of four tracks with Charles Manson samples, blast beats or heavy beats, a heavy bass and shouting this is extremely raw power violence. this demo doesn’t *focus* on recording quality, to put it like that. if you aren’t into stuff that kind of sounds like it was recorded in mono into a boombox that was inside a metal trash can – you might just want to avoid this altogether. but if you aren’t too picky in terms of production value, you might enjoy this and all of its dissonance. this is power violence stripped down to its core. get it!
Mutiny – Mutiny
Thursday, March 25th, 2010from Norwegian screamo to the Canadian crust band Mutiny. including members of that’s punk favourites Iskra, they are a more than welcome addition to this blog. this is their self titled 7″, my last blog update for today. Mutiny are a really heavy crust band. grindcore and power violence influences are more than apparent. these guys slay. they go from heavy, gloomy and trance-inflicting metal, to fast-as-shit thrashing grindcore, with almost shrieking vocals, rapid-fire riffs and blast beats. it’s amazing. thirteen songs in fourteen minutes, this is mind-melting hard and politically outspoken music. it destroys. get it.
Dominic – Running With Scissors
Thursday, March 25th, 2010this is an album that should’ve been up ages ago. the reason it hasn’t been? simple. up until recently, I only had the 10″. now I got the CD from my friend Rune at http://www.notanotherrecordlabel.com/ – which you should definitely check out. the distro is beyond solid, and he’s always looking to hook you up with cool shit. this record is released on Dead Letter Records, but I don’t know how alive they are these days. their site is down, but I guess maybe you could message them on MySpace? I think Rune is a surer bet. anyway, this is – as the title implies – another Dominic record. it’s called Running With Scissors, and was released in 2004. so it pre-dates the s/t by two years, making it the earliest Dominic release on this blog. it’s five songs and about fifteen minutes. it showcases Dominic at their very most impatient. full of eagerness and hopefulness, they set out to create some of the most emotionally charged moments you’ll ever be lucky enough to experience. if you’ve heard this band before, you know what you are getting into. they have a highly distinct sound. instantly recognisable, instantly worthy of appreciation. get this. (then get the rest of their stuff, if you haven’t already.)
Bomb the Music Industry! – Adults!!! Smart!!! Shithammered!!! And Excited By Nothing!!!
Thursday, March 25th, 2010I’m getting sort of annoyed by these gimmicky exclamation marks… oh well. the music is thankfully really good. there’s something thoroughly cosy with this release. most of the tracks are upbeat ska with horns and the whole boat, but there’s this one downbeat track, and an electronica interlude thing. «Recorded, mixed and released in the span of FIVE DAYS, Adults!!! has the whole big family playing a million horns, bells, organs at full speed! Yes yes yes!!!», is how they like to describe it themselves – and they do so better than I can. but I’d like to add my own observation: what makes this release so incredibly successful is how easily it comes across that the band are having fun! the tunes are really good, but above all else they excel by being joyful. so if you are in the mood for fun and joy (how can you not be?), download this! I’d also suggest you do a donation via PayPal to info@quoteunquoterecords.com, including the band or album name in the title or body of the payment. this way these guys can have fun without being broke!
Bomb the Music Industry! – Scrambles
Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010continuing where they left of, the punk collective Bomb the Music Industry! strikes back with more infectious punk rock. Scrambles starts out with a demo-quality track, and then moves on to a “real quality” ska-tinged melodic punk rock track. sounds familiar? yes. the whole album is really “nothing but” a continuation of the previous album, or to be more precise – a perfection. it even includes quite some elements of ye olde Bomb the Music Industry! like synths and bells and bold jumps and quakes. so it’s still quirky and introspective lyrics on top of quirky and melodic music. it’s the same formula. but it’s has never been better employed throughout their career than now. they have simply grown a lot, and learned many new things. there is nothing that screams rock anthems more than a piano. while not *all* Ben Folds’s songs are good, the foundation is really cool, so ripping him off *is* a good thing… and so on. all these experiences make this a thoroughly enjoying album, full of pure quality, and lots of diversity. on “$2,400,000″, it even goes into Wingnut Dishwashers Union land! the lyrics are always honest, modest and somewhat sad, though at the end I always find optimism in there somewhere. there’s always hope in the end! this is inherently a joyful album, in my humble opinion. and it’s a *damn* fine album, that deserves your listen. download it! and buy it on CD/LP from http://www.asianmanrecords.com, or donate via PayPal to info@quoteunquoterecords.com, including the name of the band or the album in the title or body of the payment. the CD/LP is really worth it though, because you get this awesome fanzine with it (both the CD and the LP), that features many cool tips. not to mention you get this glorious album! the definite culmination of everything that is good with this band – including one of the finest punk anthems ever – “(Shut) Up the Punx”. this is one of those albums where almost every song is an anthem! get it!!!
Bomb the Music Industry! – Get Warmer
Monday, March 22nd, 2010this record marks a real turning point for Bomb the Music Industry! live drums appear throughout the whole album, and there are no programmed synths. it’s all analogue, baby. they even recorded demos and then re-recorded them. professionalism! this is even the first record that you can actually buy! so buy it from http://www.asianmanrecords.com/ while you’re at it. or, if you think that those “records” and “CDs” are for dinosaurs, keep donating via PayPal to info@quoteunquoterecords.com while including the name of the album or band in the title or body of the payment. anyway, to get back to the album; nothing says higher production value like having a demo-like quality to the intro, that eventually gets wrapped up in a “real quality” song. I love that idea. my band will definitely do that on our début. no doubt. so yeah, you guys remember how the previous album I posted, Goodbye Cool World, marked Bomb the Music Industry!’s turning point? well if that was a sort of transition, then this is the new (and improved?) Bomb the Music Industry!. so there are fewer maniac bursts of almost The Locust-esque synth-heavy hardcore, or ’80s east coast harDCore punk. Bomb the Music Industry! is simply more consistent than ever. less funny genre jumps, more melodic and engaging punk rock riffs. the thing about this more focused album is that it does automatically come off as more immediately believable. I’m sorry, but when you do what Bomb the Music Industry! had a habit of doing on especially the first two albums, you feel forced to take the time to evaluate – «am I being taken the piss out of?» but here, it all comes off very believable. what’s even better is that the band hasn’t compromised its creativity, nor lost its interestingness. it has matured though preserved what made it great in the first place.
Bomb the Music Industry! – Goodbye Cool World
Monday, March 22nd, 2010more quirky lyrics and quirky music? more Bomb the Music Industry!? yessssssss. here is “Goodbye Cool World”. how is it compared to the other two albums (which you obviously have already downloaded)? well, it’s more what old people would call “mature”, in my opinion. attempts at ripping off The Hold Steady and mid-tempo arena rock anthems are some of the ingredients of this album. but don’t despair, there are still some high paced ska/punk songs. there are just fewer of those rowdy punk rock songs, compared to the number of synth-heavy feelgood tracks. despite some really unorthodox genre blending and jumping, I think it’s worth noticing that Bomb the Music Industry!’s lyrics are sincere and how they usually make really valid points. they speak their opinions loudly, and I gather they’d expect to be taken seriously. no matter if they play a synth-reggae song, or an ’80s alternative rock song. the fact is just that this band is just immensely creative, and seem to feel a dire need to experiment with genres – thus making the end result all over the place, which is a great deal of what makes this band so fun to listen to. and then on this one track there’s a ‘ukulele… which pretty much constitutes awesomeness! get this! and keep donating by sending some money (maybe $5 or so?) via PayPal to info@quoteunquoterecords.com. put the band name or album title or whatever in the title or body of the payment, so they know what you are donating to/for.
Bomb the Music Industry! – To Leave Or Die in Long Island
Friday, March 19th, 2010I wrote a lengthy thing here, but it wasn’t saved so I’m now writing it for the second time. that pisses me off. but anyway, we’re wasting as little time as possible here at the that’s punk community. so let’s continue our dive into Bomb the Music Industry!’s discography. this is a band that has as quirky lyrics as music. sounding somewhat like a Christmas album made under the heavy influence of crystal meth and various other substances, To Leave Or Die in Long Island stands on well balanced hardcore and ska legs, but everything from the legs and up consists of what they themselves elegantly describe as «[s]ing-alongs, drum machines, synthesizers [and] saxophones played faster than fuck». a fitting description, indeed. though there are actually some calmer points to this album, just as the début. there’s even some sort of uhm… ballad..? yeah. the lyrics still revolve somewhat around the hardcore scene and punk rock – but the main themes are still the band itself, and the lyricist. from being broke and stuck in a minimum wage job to their bassist applying for Every Time I Die, it’s diverse enough to not constitute nagging. Bomb the Music Industry! continues their avant-garde punk rock thing with style – and energy. if you liked the first album, you’ll like this. if you didn’t like the first album, you won’t like this. if you haven’t heard the first album, get both, and play them. play them hard. download this! oh, and you can still donate by sending money via PayPal to info@quoteunquoterecords.com with the album title or band name in the title or body of the message.
Bomb the Music Industry! – Album Minus Band
Monday, March 15th, 2010if you’ve already heard this band, chances are you’ve already downloaded their discography and indulged in it heavily. if you haven’t heard this punk collective – now is the time. and there’s no better place to start than the insanity of their début, a messy beating of an album. the music is… pretty hard to categorise and speak of… let me get back to that. the lyrics are easier to decipher, so I’ll do those first. they could probably be categorised as “offensive”, when they just throw it out there in the open, that maybe George W. Bush (president at the time) should blow his brains out on national TV. dealing with everything from social politics, to personal day-to-day issues, to “the scene” – and how stupid bands who think they are “cool” are. usually employing a rather simplistic straightforward though slightly comedic approach to lyricism, Bomb the Music Industry!’s songs are highly refreshing. now to try to say a few words about the music… well… it’s definitely energetic, intense and ferocious. firmly rooted in punk rock, with plenty of ’80s east coast hardcore and ska influences… with drum machines and synth and American Steel/Against Me!-esque vocals and uh stuff… but this album essentially sounds like it was recording whilst the performers had a constant itch. it rapidly jumps between different blends of musical genres. who would know that putting synthpop on top of ska makes a totally legit Harvey Danger cover? but what I am in fact trying to say here is that this band sounds like no other band. and no matter if they are doing sped-up lounge rock in 8-bit electronic synths combined with a dancehall-ish ska back-beat, acoustic guitar ballads or furious harDCore punk anthems – they do so in a highly authentic and believable way. this album has some of the most intense quick-paced energy bombs put on record, some cracking social commentary, great and ambitious genre blends, and a completely beautiful ballad to end it all. seriously – it rocks so hard that you can’t even begin to imagine how much it rocks until you put it on… which of course means you’ll have to download this asap! yes, that’s right. this band isn’t only great because of its music, but also because of their impeccable diy ethics. I just hope this band is remembered just as much for their great music as for releasing their music for free on Quote Unquote Records. you can donate by sending money via PayPal to info@quoteunquoterecords.com (suggested donation is $5, but it’s up to you), and putting the name of the band or album or whatever in the donation title or body. I recommend you do, and help these guys to go on forever and ever! and remember to check out the epic Black 47-esque album closer!