damezumari is a phrase from the board game “Go”. it essentially means “you are fucked”, i.e. you’re in a situation that’s extremely difficult to get out of. damezumari are naturally a screamo band. I don’t know the exact date I found this band, but someone put up a “bands that sound like I Hate Myself” compilation. obviously, I checked it out. I wasn’t disappointed. you won’t be either, if you download this 2:22 collection of songs. like I Hate Myself, damezumari has a sound that is impossible to pigeon hole. reminiscent of ’90s emo like Still Life, 1.6 Band and Indian Summer, but modernised and comparable to their contemporary bands, e.g. the birds are spies, they report to the trees and Sinaloa. the hoarse yells over frantic melodies comes off as a very sincere and searching. the latter feeling further enhanced by the questioning lyrics, delivered by the quirky vocals. the main theme in damezumari’s songs is doubt. the songs are fragile and shivering with angst and helplessness, struggling not to cave in to depression; struggling to survive. at no point does damezumari’s music become annoyingly whiny or self-indulgent. it always maintains an aura of believability and honesty. the music is warm like rest of my life, spastic like the birds are spies, they report to the trees and wondering like Indian Summer. though the guitars are at times heavily distorted, and the lyrics are at times highly vague – there is nothing unclear about the beauty inherent in damezumari’s songs. there is obvious a lot of effort put into the song writing. and if we assume that «without effort there is no meaning» from “gravity is a choice” to ring true, rules of logic would indicate that with effort comes meaning. you need to hear this band. this is vulnerability in the form of music. check it out. and buy merchandise from http://damezumari.com/ – which also includes links to some of the people carrying their records.