Sunday 3 December 2023

*** CLOSET WITCH exclusive music video premiere ***

CLOSET WITCH
"Intro + Arlington Cemetery"
exclusive music video premiere

For fans ofFluoride, Full Of Hell, Insect Warfare, Malevich, Cloud Rat and Converge


     I think at this point a prodigious cross-section of punk, hardcore, metal, and screamo fans have fallen in love with 2023's 'Chiaroscuro' 12"LP by Iowa's CLOSET WITCH. The 13-track lightning train into the abyss will be splattered all over the best of 2023 lists that will pop up any day now cuz calendars are hard. I will be writing a full review of the record at some point, but I still feel that I'm unable to properly grasp the swirling ideas in my head - and this LP review deserves my best. Be sure to snag a copy as they deplete from the Zegema Beach Records stores for the U.S.A. (linked here) and Canada/International (linked here) and they've got additional copies on Bandcamp (linked here) if that's your preferred method of picking up vinyl. Check out the brand-spankin' new combo music video below!!!


(2023) CLOSET WITCH "Intro + Arlington Cemetery" (from 'Chiaroscuro') official music video

     This video combines the first "Intro" track from 'Chiaroscuro' paired with the 9th song "Arlington Cemetery" utilizing jarring cuts and superimposed film from what I imagine is from the 1930s and 40s. The intro ends around 1:45 and is immediately followed by the ear-shredding and eye-blinding song/video for "Arlington Cemetery". This latter video shifts into very quick cuts of plants, insects, humans (generally police officers), as well as surgery/medical diagrams, all with CLOSET WITCH just fucking ruining the listener.


ADDITIONAL LINKS & WHATNOT

Wednesday 29 November 2023

*** BLACK TEETH exclusive premiere ***

BLACK TEETH
'Black Teeth'
exclusive album premiere
For fans ofVersus The Mirror, Seasons Worn, We Were Skeletons, Constrain and The Fall Of Troy


     I got sent this a month or so ago and immediately asked if I could get the EP premiere for it. Voila! Today is the day!!! Tapes in December from Oliver Glenn Records! Instead of me giving the intro, you should hear it directly from the source:

"My name is Tyler Keir based out of Ann Arbor Michigan and BLACK TEETH is my solo project. I have played drums in Welman and Joyous and also mixed Morning Dew’s album pulp and their songs for their most recent split. However i have focused most of my attention towards this project for the past year and a half. My influences for this EP are mainly bands like We were skeletons, la dispute and a lot of early 2000’s post hardcore bands like Silverstein, Atreyu, Hawthorne Heights etc. All music was written, recorded, mixed and mastered by me at Dark farm studio in Michigan. There are no upcoming shows for BLACK TEETH but hopefully someday I will have a full band line up. Next release for BLACK TEETH is a split with Morning Dew."

(2023) BLACK TEETH 'Black Teeth' full EP stream


     So this thing houses five tracks which I'll fire through:
1) "Watching airplanes crash" - this sounds as in line with traditional screamo and metallic hardcore as it does with post-hardcore, giving me vibes from: Circle Takes The Square, Pianos Become The Teeth, The Jonbenet, Linger, Fall Of Troy, Seasons Worn, goddamn the list goes on, but at the same time this project really doesn't sound like a copy of any band
2) "DOG" - probably my favourite of the bunch, this one is the shortest and gives me mad metallic hardcore/Versus The Mirror vibes in the best ways possible
3) "Dying in the mouth of cancer" - this rides some punchy-ass riffs Fall Of Troy style with an excellent epic build that chills out after the one-minute mark before swinging back around again, making it just as good as the preceding track
4) "Stay out" - latches on to a catchy post-hardcore progression early, switching gears just before the halfway point to a much screamier and cathartic second half
5) "I found your limbs in the wreckage" - this closer is pretty playful and includes the most experimentation on the EP, and is probably where the most We Were Skeletons influence presents itself

Sunday 26 November 2023

*** PODCAST #136 Othiel ***

     Zegema Beach has been sitting on this OTHIEL 12"LP for a few months now and we're itchin' to let you fall in love. Those familiar with the stylings of Crowning, Old Soul, and Eyelet should eat this     very heavy yet very melodic screamo/post-hardcore from the Western US up. As I've been jamming this 24/7 and it releases this Friday, now seemed like a good time for a podcast with drummer Parker and guitarists Jacob/Isiah (and we were joined at the very end by bassist Josh). Some things discusssed: from Mai to Othiel & shoegaze to screamo, Foo Fighters = good & Led Zeppelin = bad, playing to thousands of people, the Deafheaven approach to screamo, girlsoverflowers and a crap ending, revisiting Coldplay, vinyl over tapes, "inspo" is a word, a buncha sick rock songs, bread burps, Josh's arrival (literally), Canadian sandwich definition, etc. Bands played in this podcast: Halfgrass, Kumo 99, Mansions, Mew, Old Soul, and Pinkshinyultrablast. Listen to podcast #136 which is available to stream and/or download for free via this link.

OTHIEL
Bandcamp

LP opening track "Upright" official music video
https://youtu.be/wRO6V9PgdCg



1 The Few You Click With
HALFGRASS "Buried in Bed" (Parker)
MANSIONS "Honeymoon" (Dave)

2 Sci-Fi Choose Your Character
PINKSHINYULTRABLAST "Metamorphosis" (Isaiah)
KUMO 99 "Adjacent Casualty" (Dave)

3 Passing the Test of Goodness
MEW "Am I Wry? No." (Jacob)
OLD SOUL "Lens" (Dave)


~Dave

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