Genres: Punk / Rock / Emo / Instrumental / Post-Hardcore
Related artists: Sperare.
Country: Midlands, UNITED KINGDOM
Years Active: 2013-present
Song: "The Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog"
Album: "Fears That Kindle Hope"
Year: 2013
Label(s): Glass Of Spit
This post's artist is from the January 2014 Mix. This is track #15.
You can download the January 2014 Mix#1 right here.
For fans of: Tomydeepestego, Pelican, Funeral Diner, Finger Of God, 5ive, Strung Out,
Explosions In The Sky, Gifts From Enola, Waxwing, State Faults, Ornaments
and Envy.
I first encountered MERRIDEW on Google+, of all places. I had just created my blog back in April of 2013 and after a few posts there was one guy who frequented the site because he had found it linked on a search through google when trying to find info about Funeral Diner. I love Funeral Diner. So we started talking and over the course of 6 months I found out the guy, LEE TAYLOR, played in 2 bands and was/is an artist. I picked up a copy of his band SPERARE's ep and the first 3 issues of DEAR JOHN, which is a comic/graphic novel about superheroes in an alternate reality who, much like the "heroes" in Garth Ennis' 'The Boys', are like multinational corporations. To elaborate, they do some good things and help a few people, but in the end they are detrimental to the health and well-being of the people who are "protected/served" by these heroes. I strongly recommend checking the issues out. Not only is the story very interesting, but LEE's unique artistic style and his use of panels and movement are truly impressive.
Let's get back to MERRIDEW (all instruments played by LEE) and by association SPERARE (guitar played by LEE). So after I contacted him about this interview, he had unfortunate news of his band SPERARE's demise. After sending me a track for MERRIDEW in hopes we could still talk about something musically current for him, I fell in love with it. The song is like the long lost sibling of SPERARE's strongest track "Lupus" and is an instrumental lullaby with waves of post-hardcore. The track, appropriately titled "The Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog" is an epic, driving, dreamy and atmospheric meander through a mix of Tomydeepestego, softer Pelican and Finger Of God. My hope in the future is that MERRIDEW incorporates some more massive breakdowns and climaxes, but I'm a sucker for the 2 extremes (soft and hard).
SPERARE, in my opinion, sounds like the LEE's current project but with more variety in extremes and a screaming vocalist. That band hinted at a crazy cross-section of punk that included Funeral Diner, Strung Out and Envy. Tracks like "Cromwell's Deathmask" have a late 90's skate punk feel when bands started to broaden their horizons to more aggressive hardcore and softer emo, especially with the guitars. I hear a lot of early Envy going on here, especially on songs like "Rabid Wolf". I also love the back and forth vocals they employed on occasion.
Anyway, check both bands out below and head over to LEE and Matt Nicholls website to pick up DEAR JOHN here.
DISCOGRAPHY
2013 - Fears That Kindle Hope cdEP (stream/donate/download here)
2013 - This Belongs To Us cdEP (stream/donate/download here)
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MERRIDEW
(2013) MERRIDEW - "The Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog" (from 'Fears That Kindle Hope')
(2013) MERRIDEW - "Summer" (from 'This Belongs To Us')
SPERARE
(2012) SPERARE - "Rabid Wolf" (from 'The Sea Takes The Rest')
(2012) SPERARE - "Lupus" (from 'The Sea Takes The Rest')
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LEE TAYLOR, MERRIDEW & SPERARE additional links
Bandcamp (Sperare)
Facebook (Merridew)
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