now I’m a man who appreciates some good feedback. this alone makes Nightmares eligible for this blog. but in addition to using feedback, the music is pretty good as well! what do you know. the opening track “Sick” is definitely sick, with blast beats, heavily distorted guitar riffs, hardcore shouted vocals and at times grindcore growled vocals dealing with pretentiousness and elitism. me like. a lot of the lyrics on this demo seem to deal with the punk scene and what we want from it and how we need to give as much as we take – as well as scenester kids and how they need to pull off their mask and just be themselves. the melodic content on this album is mostly in between hardcore, metalcore and grindcore. it’s heavy and mostly fast. what *really* makes this sound so fucking awesome though is that it’s recorded live, giving it tons of extra edge. I know that there probably isn’t much chance of this happening, but I would be an extremely happy camper if these guys decided to record any future full lengths in the same manner. the feedback, the chugging, the shouting… everything sounds raw, emotional and on edge. the sheer power of this recording can’t be neglected. listen to this people!
archive for the ‘crust/grindcore/violence’ category
I.Witness – I.Witness
Friday, September 18th, 2009have you picked up these guys’ demo and/or the live show posted on this blog? well then you know how awesome they are. this is their album. it consists of the four tracks on the demo (in a remastered version) plus five more tracks. (most of which appear on the concert from this blog.) I.Witness has always been in between genres, and this persists with their début album. right off the bat they combine screamo sensibilities with a hardcore drive and crust guitars. heavy breakdowns and constant movement are key words to I.Witness’s sound. the diversity represented on the album is stunning. this album fits in like half the categories on this page. they fall somewhat on the same side as Alpinist, with their crust/screamo (creamo) combination. dynamic screamo passages and outros break up the intense crust drive of the songs. there’s low and guttural rhythm guitars and more high semi-twinkly screamo leads with shouting and screaming on top, and vivid cymbal-reliant drumming to keep it alive and moving. hardcore from Rossija. get this!
I.Witness – Demo
Thursday, July 30th, 2009with fast and to the point hardcore punk with heavy breakdowns and easy on the ear screamo chord progressions, this release has one foot in screamo, and one foot standing on the border between hardcore, crust and metalcore. it could just as easily’ve been in the crust/grind/power violence category or the screamo category. whilst obviously influenced by the likes of Modern Life is War and Tragedy, this band takes an even more melodic approach with their guitars. it reminds me of Alpinist at times. so if you like screaming, the guitar style of crust/screamo (creamo) bands and the sheer power of hardcore, then definitely check this out. peace.
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. :)
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!
Damage Digital – Split Tape
Friday, February 27th, 2009hard grindcore with blast beats and alternating fe/male vocals. everything about this is truly awesome. from how hard it is, to how they make it sound diverse, experimenting with different breaks and so on. oh and the snare drum sounds like a bell. get this.
The Spectacle – Rope or Guillotine
Tuesday, February 10th, 2009«the most beautiful, dynamic, aggressive, dark punk record of the year, hands down», says Crimethinc. then it must be hardcore, right? well yeah. it is. His Hero Is Gone’s meets Darkthone . three guitarists making a lot of noise, brutal vocals and thrash rhythms. epic hardcore. stunningly beautiful, marvellously intense and magically passionate. get this!!!
The Spectacle 10″
Tuesday, February 10th, 2009if you like what is often refered to as “post-rock” (ugh), you might like this. if you like extreme metal, you might like this. it’s diverse and epic progressive crust-tinged metal. enough said. get it. the album is magnificent. it will change you. and you’ll be better off for it.