Shards - Self-Titled LP

for those of you already familiar with North Carolina's SHARDS, you may have noticed that i've rotated the artwork 90 degrees right. i don't care how the LP is packaged; it really, really looks like a face, and having it sideways bugs the shit out of me.

anyway, a lot of people have been describing this new project as "dark" yet "melodic" punk. i can't say this is far from the truth (what else is new?), but i also feel that there's much room for elaboration. gritty, almost snotty vocals are probably the most notable aspect of the band. hooks and melodies? not really an option without harmonies or repeated one-liners/group vocals, in my opinion. catchy? yeah, i'll agree with that. last.fm claims that the band, "reach[es] back to punk’s pre-hardcore days", bringing to mind early TSOL. i'll agree with that too.

SHARDS goes for an almost SST Records (BLACK FLAG, HUSKER DU, etc.) style sound, and they do a pretty good job of it, considering it is 2011. heavy, crunchy bass is the most driving force underneath the layered vocals (which i must reiterate is definitely the most prominent force on this album), with a nearly absent bass drum and fairly weak snare drum hits. the guitar, however, is not nearly as fuzzy or distorted as these "pre-hardcore" punk pioneers. there are also no ridiculous solos or bends. the riffs they play are pretty rock-and-roll, but in a very subtle way.

because the record goes by so fast and there aren't many stand-out tracks, i'm going to go ahead and cut this one short. i must say, though, that for as underwhelming as i found it at first, this release has made more than its fair share of appearances on my last.fm charts. something about it keeps me coming back, and i'm sure they'd be quite a bit of fun to see live. i am very curious to see if they are able to spawn more bands with this interesting take on an old-school sound. perhaps some sort of unforeseen revival? i don't know. the point is: this is a solid piece of work, and there are definitely not enough people turned on to it. hence, my rants.

check out their myspace (linked in the post title) to hear these jams for yourself. it's not for everyone, i understand, but i think it's pretty cool stuff. and who doesn't like cool stuff?!

the songs i like better than some others: Bleach, Lycanthropic Discomfort, DMT, Self-Medication.

THE NEXT ONE WILL BE BETTER.

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.