Drainland - And So Our Troubles Began

once again, i will attempt to describe an irreducible band in one simple post. i apologize in advance. Drainland are, for starters, "5 angry people that live in Ireland who keep getting compared to crust and metalcore bands [they] don’t listen to" - last.fm. i would say it's more along the lines of dark hardcore, sludge, noisy doom metal, and a pinch of post-rock thrown into a blender. but who's to say that's objectively any more accurate or helpful? i've only very recently been turned on to this band, and i regret having not immediately checked them out. (i've gotten over the habit of completely neglecting bands with what i feel to be terrible names, but that in turn has made bands with names that aren't great but don't outright suck be able to fall by the proverbial wayside. (longest parenthetical ever.)). to be honest, i came for the cover art, but i stayed for the substantially unique jams.

i can't honestly say that the record is cohesive, or that Drainland has developed a new sound that is all-their-own, but it's kind of interesting in that sense. it's more of a challenging listen than a lot of bands who have a very well set and defined brand of music and simply follow that script. and while there is an "atmospheric" (for lack of a better term) presence throughout, no two tracks bleed together/become indistinguishable. maybe it's because i'm not up on my Irish punk/crust/sludge, but there's something about this band that strikes me as different. while trying to sum up their sound for my pal Brendan (new KRANG 12" coming soon, whaaat?), i could only manage to say "it's kinda like CURSED, but...not at all...".

vocals consist of decipherable yells which can, depending on the song, have a screamo-ish wave to them or reach bellowing depths. it's pretty neat. the drums are all quite punchy, with the exception of the popping metallic snare. cymbals - particularly the ride - are very well balanced and bright, of which the latter is typically unusual when it comes to heavy stuff. also neat. the bass is also hella metallic but has that crusty-distorted factor. fuzzy, but not sloppy. guitars have almost a black metal quality about them, in that it sounds like many of the riffs were recorded in barren caves and abandoned alleyways. in addition to the constant riffing, the guitars also create a lot of indiscernible noise, which serves both hi and lo end purposes. it's all just very, very neat.

favorite tracks: Jellyfish, Sominal Hex, Weakness, Luxophage.

i'm really tired, so i apologize once again for this half-ass review. but i do sincerely suggest you people check these guys out either on myspace, facebook, tumblr, or bandcamp (linked in post title). these dudes know how to utilize the web.

GIMME GIMME MELATONIN.

As We Draw - Lines Breaking Circles

punk inspired post-metal from France. some would simply collapse the aforementioned genres into "post-hardcore", and there would be a degree of validity to that. however, in an effort to paint a clearer picture, i'd say these guys are more along the lines of CELESTE, in that no one genre easily defines their sound. it's heavy, it's really angry and screamy, and no song breaches the 7 minute mark. it's an especially impressive effort considering it is their debut release. LP packaging looks amazing. seriously considering adding it to my collection, as the fizzle and pops would accompany the feel of this album quite nicely. includes lyrics that elaborate on their relation to the artwork.

the most interesting aspect(s) of this album - beyond the awesome vinyl format/package - are the vocals and the guitar tones. the vocals have somewhat of a CIRCLE TAKES THE SQUARE pattern to them. not necessarily call-and-response style, but pretty evenly divided and often overlapping scratchy skramz with guttural/more enunciated yells. as for the guitars, they lay down quite an atmospheric sound while remaining really crisp and clear.

i think they probably have a plethora of peddles/effects to aid in this, because they certainly don't rely on heavy, down-tuned chords or crushing distortion. granted, my guitar knowledge is limited (and i'm too lazy/not invested enough to look through pictures), but it sounds like a Gibson SG to me. i don't know how helpful that is to you, the reader, but it makes sense to me so i'm going with it. there's a lot of tapping riffs and hallway/reverb stuff going on, but when they want to make it more driving AWD does just fine. heavily distorted, metallic yet crusty bass aids in these efforts as well.

rhythmically, there are no abrupt shifts in either time signature or tempo, which i find suits this overall style of music better. it finds other ways of staying interesting, though. mostly through subtle snare taps, dynamic changes (lots), and ear piercing cymbal crashes. there's also occasional group vocals and group singing, which being as partial to classic hardcore as i am, i enjoy quite a bit. and it definitely helps keep this record unique and relatively unpredictable. i kind of get bored sometimes listening to sludge or post-metal where the vocals have one sound/style/technique that persists throughout.

in short, AWD has undoubtedly made an indelible mark on this recently popularized sound, and will probably only continue to get better and gain huge recognition worldwide. this isn't one of those bands you here, listen to for a month and then occasionally name drop. they're not a reference point, they're damn good. an instant classic that waaaay more people should be getting into.

favorite tracks: Sin of Addiction, Shield, Fault Lines, Draft, Scum of the Earth.

last.fm here and myspace link in the post title.

CAN YOU DIG IT?!

Social Coma - Self-Titled 7"

an all-too-often glossed over piece of Chicago power-violence magic. a surprising fact considering the band shared members with both the legendary CHARLES BRONSON and the almighty MK-ULTRA. repressed by Youth Attack, who also recently put out new RAW NERVE material. (see y'all on the 29th!)

clocking in at 11.5 minutes, this fifteen track 7" of shrieking female-fronted terror should probably have been sold with a paper bag with which to hyper-ventilate or puke from cranial overload. ear-wrecking shit.

favorite tracks of mine: Smear the Career, Confused as Fuck, Thanks for the T-Shirt, Marlboro Man, and Death of a Clone.

i don't really know what else to say about this release, it's pretty self-explanatory. so with that being said,

CHI-TOWN REPRESENT.

Seven Sisters of Sleep - Self-Titled LP

"tune low, get high" probably sums this album up better than the widely circulated description "sludge for people with short attention spans". granted, both are accurate, but there's so much more to Seven Sisters of Sleep than sludge. this is one of the few full-lengths in recent history that can be appreciated beyond the tracks contained within. this record, with its incredible gatefold artwork, consistency, uniqueness, dope (pun slightly intended) lyrics, etc. is simply an experience that the listener is actively engaged in. the fact that it's only 8 tracks at just under 20 minutes in length makes it all the more impressive.

tons of melodic feedback allow the songs to flow together nicely, and also gives you a chance to let your brain catch up with your ears. distorted, gruff vocals work in collaboration with the rhythm section nicely, whether intentionally or not is irrelevant. the cymbals are probably one of the biggest overall record highlights. maybe it was an effort in microphone placement or equalizing or something, but they actually stand out without having to be whipped as hard as possible. the rich tones they produce help keep an overall mellow vibe even with SSOS is hammering your soul with satanic, anti-capitalist hardcore. yes, i did just use the words "mellow" and "vibe" in succession. no, i do not regret it.

while describing their sound in more detail with a handful of local punx, i found myself viscerally making the following oversimplification: "it's somewhere between COUGH and early BLACK SABBATH, but with more rage and sometimes way faster". so yeah, to further oversimplify: heavy metal guitar riffs, crust punk bass, gritty wailing vocals, drums that slash your face.

standout tracks, in my humble opinion, include: Tide is Rising, CCEC, and Follow the Serpent. this may only be for the fact that they're the most pissed off sounding ones, but i stand by it. honorable mention also goes to Passed Out Standing, mainly for using a guitar riff that gets stuck in my head for at least an hour a day. Swamp also has some sweet lyrics. most of their songs can be streamed on youtube with footage from The Holy Mountain and weird shit like that. so that's cool. i wish i could spend more time talking about how special i think this band is/will be, but i think for the time being this album speaks for itself. another gem dropped by the folks at A389 Records. click this posts' link to access their website and check out all of their sweet merch that's probably all limited and shit like that. otherwise, you can dig them via facebook, like 'em, and build the hype so that they may exceed it in the future.

till next time...

Full of Hell - The Inevitable Fear of Existence

not an impressive band name, i know, but the music they write and - perhaps most importantly - the intensity with which they perform is incredible. brutal, grindy, shrieky, unstable, sludgy, chaotic, pukey, tortured, noisy, just plain fucking pissed. the only band i can readily compare them to is MAGRUDERGRIND, but that's really only in terms of the high-end vocal work and the occasional blastbeat on FoH's end. aside from this 7", which i find to be their best work yet (both in terms of song-writing and production), they have: a split with GOLDUST, a demo EP entitled Savages, and a few random demo tracks floating around. a full-length is also being pressed soon and will be released by A389 Recordings some time in August.

The Inevitable Fear of Existence kicks off with a beautifully simplistic guitar riff (reminiscent of TRAGEDY), which is soon accompanied by bass drum kicks and cymbal crashes powerful enough to make a whale's head explode. get it? because they use sonar. anyway, they hammer out the intro, let the notes hang, and then "Lead Tongue" just punishes you with relentless thrashy blastbeats, only to break back down and get super pissed, grunt, and bring the destruction right back for the last 15 seconds or so. it's honestly a damn near perfect song. from here, the album definitely falls more "into place", shall we say, as the band demonstrates that they can in fact play a consistent beat and groove for a minute. the thrashy drums and lyrics in "Black Iron" rule. trust me. and i don't mean thrashy like 80's crossover hit the drums light but fast DRI style or anything. i mean it sounds like this dude is just flailing his appendages at the kit as violently as he can while still maintaining a tight beat. rules rules rules. next there's "Horus" which features some nice double bass work and some stoner-inspired riffage. but then they end the 7" with a title track. this one is more of a doomy sludge song with hallway effect vocals. honestly kinda makes me think of DYSTOPIA because of how tortured and miserable everything sounds. its excellent. i cannot fucking wait for their upcoming LP.

*Random Disclaimer - the reason why i'm not being as creative or descriptive as far as this band/release goes is because i've just been too damn excited about them. all i can do is play them for people and be like, "see?! it's just fucking, like. FUCK!". so i apologize that this review or whatever is basically just saying that using a lot more words.

i don't really know what else to say about this band. they're fucking furious. and if i were to start my ideal band, it would sound pretty fucking close to this. they're in the middle of a huge US tour RIGHT NOW so check out their facebook, bandcamp, and all that good stuff. also if you catch them on tour, buy me their merch. one of everything. then email me and i'll send you my address. kthanks.

this is what you'll have to reckon with. enjoy.

Young and In the Way - Amen

Young and In the Way are, surprisingly, a mere four-piece band who are giving a whole new rise to the North Carolina punk scene. i say "surprisingly" because of the amount of noise they create. the sheer intensity of each song/release is simply undeniable. their last.fm entry describes YAITW as, "fast blasts and destructive crust with ties to unrelenting hardcore and black metal", which is not wholly inaccurate. too hardcore to be blackened crust, too blackened to be hardcore. if i were to describe them in a word, which is admittedly not a simple task, it would be "evil dark hardcore". (okay, that's three words, but whose blog is this, i ask you?)

Amen is my personal favorite of their albums thus far, though their newest LP entitled I Am Not What I Am is also pretty ruthless. and sold out on vinyl. damn.

the record kicks off with an instrumental track, which begins with some dreary noise, quickly followed by a bone-crushing wave of distortion and dissonance. awesome, right? without hesitation they begin blasting through "Dark Seed". with the snare smashing through the downbeats and the tempo-change-to-(yes i'm about to use this word)-breakdown, head-banging is imminent. roaring through the record, YAITW puts to use everything from blasts to half-time to d-beat while maintaining an overall gloomy/cold atmosphere. thus, this record not only has the ability to command your undivided attention, but also keeps that attention. in other words, you become involved with the record as opposed to being subjected to - and eventually lost in - the noise.

standout tracks for me include "Worrier" and the final track "The Becoming". the former exhibits a fucking awesome bottoming out of the guitar and drums during the hook line, which will ensure pile-ons for as long as they perform. the latter, however, is truly a masterpiece in and of itself. a fourteen-minute-long epic, "The Becoming" is surrounded on both sides (intro/outro) by an eerily serene arrangement of instruments, and the song - even after kicking in - has a momentum to it that you can feel building and building. the "climax" of the song, if you will, arrives right around the 9:10 mark, and honestly i think it might have the almighty FALL OF EFRAFA beat, at least in terms of rage. debatable as that may be, this track is still fucking incredible in its own right, and from what i can tell the band at large deserves much more attention.

a bandcamp link is provided in this post's title. you can listen to/purchase the digital albums and splits/EPs there. if you'd like to get a hard copy or vinyl (good luck) of any of their releases, keep checking out their official website: here. oh, also, their logo and artwork is badass. just thought i'd mention that as a final word.

GO FORTH AND WREAK HAVOC.

Terminal Youth - Self-Titled LP

Terminal Youth were a thrashcore band from Massachusetts, but with a distinctly west coast vibe. short-lived as their "career" may have been, i am grateful that they were able to unleash this 18-song record unto the world. maybe it's because i'm from Chicago (no coast like no coast!), but i don't feel that nearly enough people appreciate this hardcore outfit; this sublime effort in particular.

if you're more prone to checking out a band based on "member diversity" or whatever, they did have (i believe) a female bass player. lyrically, from what i've deciphered, TY seems to stick to the proverbial script, covering inter-personal relationships as well as some introspective subjects and occasionally offering some subtle political commentary. borderline powerviolence at times, this album truly rips from front to back. major distortion, major treble, major speed. "fastcore" is an applicable sub-sub-genre, if you're into such specificities.

distributed through To Live A Lie (who, incidentally, recently dropped the new DEATHRATS 7"!!!), i believe that there was a batch of just over 500 vinyl that are now, perhaps permanently, sold out. in the meantime, check out their myspace and get all resourceful if you want more.