***TERRIFYING GIRLS' HIGH SCHOOL release show w/Ape War, Shearing Pinx & Balance***

TERRIFYING GIRLS' HIGH SCHOOL:
'Terrifying Girls' Spooky Gymnasium album release show'

@The Avant-Garden on April 19th, 2019
Vancouver, B.C. CANADA

Live Show Review

BALANCE

Opener BALANCE were super nice and were the first to introduce themselves to me upon entering. About two songs into their set I went from thinking, "this is pretty good," to "oooo damn I am diggin' hard!" The closest comparison I had was Kowloon Walled City, as their dark, abrasive hardcore utilizes progression and expansion within a generally confined genre. These two videos don't do them justice, as the subsequent two songs were even better than the videos I've posted.

(2019) BALANCE - 2

Bandcamp

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APE WAR

Holy fuck. This was what I said to myself and everyone else I saw that night about APE WAR. I don't think many there had seen this hardcore/grind/powerviolence/thrash/metal mutation before but people started shitting themselves once those vocals hit. Absolutely ravenous shrieking took the cake for me, but the dual-guitar attack was on-point and the bass and drums were tight-as-fuck. They had fantastic energy and my favourite moment of the night came when one of the guitarists nuzzled his head into the vocalist during a song. It was a very tender moment amidst a very violent and intense set. You will be seeing more of this band on the blog soon. Do yourself a favor and be sure to make it to at least 2:25 in the embedded video below...good lord almighty.

(2019) APE WAR "Born of Sodom"

For fans of: Discordance Axis, Pig Destroyer and Cannibal Corpse

Bandcamp
Facebook

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TERRIFYING GIRLS' HIGH SCOOL

It was their release show, and they brought it. Any other way would have been a letdown and this entire show was anything but. Henrietta strutted around squawkin' and screamin', Matt danced around with the bass, Miggy let loose some ear-shattering shrieks whilst guitarin' it and the drummer Matt lost every stick possible and looked like he was having a helluva time. Their new album 'Terrifying Girls' Spooky Gymnasium' was released but two days ago to much acclaim (OMSB, Sophie's Floorboard, Idioteq and Bandcamp) so ya best get on it.

(2019) TERRIFYING GIRLS' HIGH SCHOOL full set

For fans of: Innards, Kiss 2 and The Blood Brothers

Bandcamp
Facebook

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SHEARING PINX

I was aware of a few other projects by members of SHEARING PINX, but hadn't heard or seen this band yet. They were excellent and played a mishmash of rock, post-punk, noise and post-hardcore that were a perfect end to the night, especially their instru-metal jam that reminded me of Pelican and the embedded semi-improvised closer below with a rather terrifying climax. I get a bit of a Sonic Youth vibe but this is most certainly out of my comfort zone when it comes to accurate comparisons. It turns out the drummer is from Nanaimo so hopefully I can meet up with them soon and break into Nanaimo...as taking a 2-hour ferry each way for shows is expensive and time-consuming...but goddamn I love it.

(2019) SHEARING PINX - closer

Bandcamp
Facebook

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ADDITIONAL LINKS & WHATNOT

more live videos from the show:
BALANCE - *1*
APE WAR - *1* & *2*

TERRIFYING GIRLS' HIGH SCHOOL
podcast
premiere

2018/19 Vancouver Shows

***APOSTLES OF ERIS / RAINING exclusive split premiere***

APOSTLES OF ERIS / RAINING

'Split'

exclusive album premiere

For fans of: Altar Of Complaints, Raein, Cease Upon The Capitol, Sinking Steps...Rising Eyes, Caught In The Fall and In Loving Memory

Apostles Of Eris
Bandcamp
Facebook

Raining
Bandcamp
Facebook

order in the U.S.
order in Canada/Internationally

Spoiler alert, I am biased. For I do some of the vocals for APOSTLES OF ERIS as well as run the label that released it (Zegema Beach Records) and I'm friends with the members of RAINING because two of them played in Emo Lendvai with me. That being said, I think I know my stuff, and I like this stuff. Very much, actually. So does Eric who runs Larry Records as they are coreleasing it.

The APOSTLES OF ERIS side is instrumentally the most screamo thing I've ever been a part of, and lyrically/vocally what I am most proud of to date. Jesse Mowery does all the instrumentals including the drums on a real kit. He is one of the most passionate, friendly, honest, caring and hilarious people that I've ever met and sharing this music with him is more than an honor. Opener "...and one for all that I know" has guitars that give me goosies every time I hear that Via Fondo-esque intro, and the swing post two-minutes with those spacey lead riffs are unreal. The clips in "Fascist Pacifist" are from The Dark Knight and the song boasts a chorus that I dare say is one of the heaviest, angriest things I've ever written. Oh, and when Jesse fires off that lazerbeam of a riff come 1:43 my legs get all wobbly and I get butterflies in my stomach. No song has made me cry as much as writing the lyrics for "Mikey Got His Gun", which is about my brother's destructive cavernoma that robbed him of the use of 3/4s of his limbs and left him in a wheelchair at 32 years old. It's our longest and most varied track, and instrumentally reminds me of European screamo/post-hardcore with a ton of layered vocals. I even tried out some spoken word stuff inspired by bands such as Sed Non Satiata and Amanda Woodward with a questionable degree of success. "A fire for your horrid life..." was the first track we wrote together for this split and is about my utter revulsion at the ideals, education, hate and greed brought on by anything related to what Asshat Trump is associated with. Closer "The Eye" is a relatively straightforward screamo jam with a heavy swing around the one-minute mark that bleeds into a build that hits full stride at 1:45 before the post-rock/strings outro.

The RAINING side is, honestly, much better than I had anticipated as they gained two members since their previous endeavor and both add their screaming to the mix, bringing the total number of vocalists to four. Think In Loving Memory crossed with Sinking Steps...Rising Eyes and you're pretty much there. Opener "blanktree" is a whirlwind of screaming and chaotic instrumentals with a 90s emo midsection and I fucking epic/groovy conclusion. "inoperant" is similar albeit shorter and screamier with an excellent use of the sax. "two mirrors" is the subdued interlude by way of acoustic guitar and some spoken word before the intoxicating rhythms of "sleepy ernst" hit, and that cut/transition at 1:55 to the isolated groove is remarkable. Closer "chervonenkis in the swamp" is a sad, awkward and depressing affair that is also the sides longest track at 4:58. The band has an LP and another split coming out, one would presume in 2019.

(2019) APOSTLES OF ERIS "Fascist Pacifist" (from 'Raining' split)

(2019) RAINING "Sleepy Ernst" (from 'Apostles Of Eris' split)

(2019) APOSTLES OF ERIS full side of 'Raining' split

(2019) RAINING full side of 'Apostles Of Eris' split

ADDITIONAL LINKS & WHATNOT

Apostles Of Eris/Raining premiere on This Noise Is Ours

Apostles Of Eris OMSB review

Raining OMSB review

Podcast w/Jesse of Apostles Of Eris

Podcast w/Tom of Raining

***CLOSEDOWN exclusive song premiere***

CLOSEDOWN

"II"
exclusive song premiere

For fans of: Beast Jesus, Leveless, Pianos Become The Teeth, Devil Sold His Soul and Wolf Teeth

Bandcamp
Facebook

Today's premiere comes from a new(ish) band that was born from Ohio's Wolf Teeth. They recently had these two songs on a cdr that was available on a tour with Plague Walker (as vocalist Eddy played in Plague Walker on tour), which is now available for a full stream/donation-based download on the CLOSEDOWN bandcamp page which is linked here. The band plays an awesome mix of post-hardcore, screamo with splashes of post-rock and metal. They have an EP coming out soon so be on the lookout when it drops, these songs are beyond promising.

(2019) CLOSEDOWN "II" (from 'Demo')

This song doesn't sound like another band, and I can't just say a genre or two to get the point across. "II" is a trippy, post-hardcore/screamo song that dips into metal, post-rock and has so many dynamic shifts and vocal variations that you'll think you're jamming Beast Jesus. The opening has a strong Wolf Teeth feel, as Eddy croons his vocals before letting loose after about 20 seconds, at which point low growls and horrific shrieks seep out of the swaying, rhythmic, seismic shifts. After a collapse at 1:25 the band really focuses on their post-rock/post-hardcore with a beautiful build that erupts at 2:12 like Leveless was doing. Finally, I love the Swedish screamo instrumentals with the distant gang vocals to close out the track. Head over to their bandcamp to jam "I"!!!