(((((OPENmind/SATURATEDbrain))))): VRIL

Sunday, 10 July 2016

VRIL

Band: VRIL

Genres: Punk / Hardcore / Screamo / Emo-violence / Skramz / Grind / Post-Metal / Ambient / Crust / Thrash / Noise / Experimental
Related artists: Heritage Unit and Letters To Catalonia.
Country: Los Angeles, California USA
Years Active: 2014-present
Song: "Dispirit"
Album: "No Traditions"
Year: 2016
For fans of: Loma Prieta, Punch, Lord Snow, La Luna, Cloud Rat, Yuri, OsoLuna, Saligia, The Gentle Art Of Chokin', Empty Vessels, The Truth About Dreaming, Warsaw Was Raw, Battle Of Wolf 359, Amygdala, Rayleigh, Dowager, Sleeper Wave, Hugs, Furnace, Crrust, Mahria, Vivre Sa Vie, Ruptures, Left Astray, Eyelet and Weak Wrists aka PROPER SCREAMO.

Label(s): Self Released / Sombras Del Progreso
This post's artist is from the June 2016 Mix. This is track #10.

You can download: the July Mix#7 right here or get the new August 2016 Mix#8 here.

Dirty, caustic, violent and occasionally atmospheric and melodic, the four-piece out of Culver City in Los Angeles known as VRIL recently released a new six-song blast titled 'No Traditions', which was sent to me by my friend Marcel in Left Astray who started up the new label Sombras Del Progreso with friend and bandmate Ivan. The band has two proper releases, both of which came out in 2015, the early work compilation cassette known as 'Predispositional' LP and the aforementioned 'No Traditions' EP. Early on the band switched vocalists and at that point seemed to become more of a crusty, noisy, screamy hardcore band instead of an emo-violence one. The song "Weeds, Waves" that was released on the 'Spawn 003' digital single had Kieran Harden still doing vocals and is much more of a screamo song than the band's later material.

'Predispositional' collects all of the band's 2014-2015 material (aka pre-'No Traditions') and packs all 8 of those bangers on one cassette. This release has an experimental and dark feel to it which is made abundantly clear on the opening track "100,000". "Weeds, Waves" follows and sounds quite different as the recording quality is vastly improved and the vocalist is different from the original so the emo-violence aspect is primarily shed to make way for some rustic and metallic hardcore and a sliver of powerviolence and screamo, which ends up sounding vaguely similar to some Eyelet, Crrust and Loma Prieta songs. "In Vines" is a 56-second instrumental noise track and followed by the incredible "Kaleidoscopes & Perception" which showcases an excellent grasp of melodic and powerful screamy hardcore with some jazzy bits, ambiance as well as a pounding second half. "Thoughts Divide Us" has some Hugs qualities to it, while "Disillusion/Unveil" is an unrelenting experience of epic hardcore not unlike Furnace, Fall Of Efrafa and Perth Express. "Post Abstraction" is just over three minutes and is a dreamy post-hardcore jaunt with injections of faster, screamy hardcore, while the closer "Sun Gods" takes the "long song" award at only 3:59. The final track ends the album in a very fitting manor, as the towering guitars fill a bleak sky with massively dark clouds before raining down some somber melodies. At 1:26 the song gets into the thick of it and bounces around with thick, metallic/post-hardcore goodness for the remainder of the record.

'No Traditions' was released in mid-December of 2015, which essentially makes it a 2016 release in my book because it's really hard to get on a year-end list when you release something with two weeks to go in the year. This release has yet another vocalist, Erica, who does a great job at rounding out the harsh and crusty sound found emanating from the other instrumentalists. "General Consensus" is a blistering opener, "Sentimental Longing for the Past" has a strong Lord Snow mixed with Cloud Rat feel, and "Grawlixes" throws in some melodic, Mahria-esque guitars. Halfway through the EP, at song four, we have the title track "No Traditions" which is a cluster fuck of parts, all heavy, pulverizing and laden with breakdowns - easily a contender for best song they've ever written, right along with "Dispirit" which is the most versatile and accessible song on the record. The closer "Sanpaku" begins much like the album opens, albeit with an exceptionally strong and atmospheric closing. This EP will be released as a 7" very shortly on Sombras Del Progreso.

In short, the variety found on each release by VRIL and the level of mastery each sound is well worth your time. Get it all. It's all a little different. It's all amazing.

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DISCOGRAPHY

2014 - Spawn 003 cassette single (stream/donate/download here)

2015 - Predispositional cassetteLP (stream/donate/download here)
2015 - All My Wishes Were Thrown Down A Well And Should Die There split cassetteEP

2015/2016 - No Traditions 7"EP (stream/donate/download here)

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(2015) VRIL - "Dispirit" (from 'No Traditions')