SPIRES

Band: SPIRES

Genres: Punk / Post-Rock / Post-Hardcore / Post-Metal / Screamo / Hardcore / Thrash / Doom / Ambient / Crust
Related artists: Big Kids and Acid Fast.
Country: Oakland, California USA
Years Active: 2008-2009
Song: "Eves"
Album: "Flowers and Fireworks"
Year: 2009
Label(s): Inkblot Records / Pissart Records / The Hive
This post's artist is from the April 2015 Mix. This is track #12.
You can download: the May Mix#5 right here or get the new June 2015 Mix#6 here.
For fans of: The Power And The Glory, Baroness, Light Bearer, Curl Up And Die, Gray Ghost, His Hero Is Gone, Tragedy, Fall Of Efrafa, Creeper, Circle Takes The Square, Birch, Mesa Verde, Nous Étions, Rosetta, Ladder Devils, (old) Gaff and Back When.

SPIRES were a very short lived band from Oakland. They were something special and quite unfortunately often overlooked. I personally enjoy the LP much more than the split 12" with 1994!, but that lack of balance doesn't make the band any less interesting. Most songs clock in around the five minute mark, have a layer of rust and grit on the recordings, are jagged and discordant, are seeping with Curl Up And Die-esque growls/screams and border on space/experimental/ambient post-hardcore/post-metal/screamo.

The opener of the 2009 12"LP 'Flowers and Fireworks' is titled "Shores" and has a Back When meets Fall Of Efrafa crust/post-metal feel with some biting guitar licks as well as vocals heavy and thick enough to actually sound like they are about to drop through the floor. "Whoring the Fields" follows and is another killer song with some very interesting guitars, most notably the part at 2:20 when they pull out the clean riffs. "Through a Cold, White Beard" is a blast of the dark arctic. I imagine this being the soundtrack to hunting massive Norwegian trolls in the black of night. The song is very interesting as it weaves through a myriad of sounds and textures, as well as my personal favourite - many vocalists! "Flames for the Strays" is a typical SPIRES affair that's shorter, faster and more focused than most of the band's other tracks while "Man and Mother" is the most chaotic and heaviest of the bunch. "The Bitter's" is one of my favourites as it now reminds me of Lentic Waters and in a historical context Curl Up And Die. It's awkward, spazzy and grooving with a fantastic build that starts just before the three minute mark. My choice cut is "Eves" because it's epic as shit. If you've read my Back When post then you know how I love this kind of sound, as the song could easily have landed on Back When's 'We Sang As Ghosts' LP or Baroness' older, better material (aka 'I'-'III'.

As I mentioned I don't particularly enjoy the '1994! split' 12"LP nearly as much as 'Flowers and Fireworks' but that doesn't mean you should pass on it, just don't begin with it. The songs are much more ambient (not to say they are ambient) but the aggressiveness and urgency are toned down quite substantially, most notably on the vocals. Grab the discography taken from my vinyl. Enjoy!

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DISCOGRAPHY
Click )==>here<==( to download the band's complete discography in mp3 form.

2009 - Flowers and Fireworks cd/cassette/12"LP
2009 - 1994! split 12"LP

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(2009) SPIRES - "Man and Mother" (from 'Flowers and Fireworks')

(2009) SPIRES - "Eves" (from 'Flowers and Fireworks')

(2009) SPIRES - "The Bitter's" (from 'Flowers and Fireworks')

(2009) SPIRES - "The Water's Edge" (from '1994!' split)

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SPIRES out of print mp3 discography download

(download here)

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