Wednesday, 9 August 2017

***ZEGEMA BEACH RECORDS Fest Day #2***

ZEGEMA BEACH RECORDS Fest
Show #2 / Saturday June 3rd, 2017

 FOXMOULDER / WHAT OF US / CROWNING / PEOPLE'S TEMPLE PROJECT / THE WORLD THAT SUMMER / LESSENER / FRAERA

It's been over two months since this show happened and my wife and I often reminisce about it and the fest in general. The final night was just as amazing as the nights that preceded it (Pre-Show here and Day 1 here) and I was able to say goodbye to many of my good friends. There were a lot of people there, all of whom were enthusiastic and excited for the bands, perhaps none more than myself, as I hadn't seen People's Temple Project in years, What Of Us always destroys and I'd never witnessed the awesomeness that is Crowning. No bands disappointed and the air in D-Beatstro was filled with love. Goddammit Toronto, I'm seriously going to miss you. In fact, being here in New Zealand, I miss you tons already. I feel the need to thank my good friends in Foxmoulder for supporting everything I've done with the blog and the label, as well as the fellas in The World That Summer for putting up with me and playing some really fun music together. We've bonded in special ways and I will never forget it. This is my official online goodbye, Canada. I love you. I miss you. But I'm not coming back.

You can also find a plethora of phenomenally filmed videos by Brandon Douglas who also tapped into the mixer with vocals for videos that sound much better than the ones I filmed. I have linked his videos as *BD* after my videos.

FRAERA
From Toronto, FRAERA has been releasing two new songs every few months or so in the vein of Circle Takes The Square and Saetia, nicely incorporating post-hardcore and the odd non-screamo vocals amidst their generally raw and abrasive screamy and dreamy hardcore. The quartet has but a single guitarist yet three fourths of the band lend their vocal abilities, giving them a balanced and far reaching sound. There are spoken word, as well as yelled, screamed and even shrieked vocals. Although they are quite new, they have shown that they do excellent debuts and both sets I’ve seen them play have been quite engaging. Keep it up, FRAERA, and thanks for playing!
Links to songs: *2* / *BD1* / *BD2*

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LESSENER
In 2016 I played in Rhode Island, Providence in the U.S.A. alongside the amazing Weak Teeth and opener Districts. After around five years, in early in 2016, Districts acquired my brother from another mother #2 aka Mike Van Buren who had recently moved to the area to take over vocal duties instead of Jake and the others sharing them around. The show we played together was one of their last under the Districts moniker, as they quickly renamed the band LESSENER. Since then they have already recorded a 12”EP that I’ve jammed at least 20 times. This 12” should be out by the end of 2017 and is fucking awesome, and Zegema Beach Records will help release it. The band plays screamo with post-hardcore leanings and employs three vocalists, ending up sounding somewhere between Daitro and Young Mountain. I was pretty bummed that I was watching the door for the beginning of their set and missed their Jeromes Dream cover. I did get three new songs, including the stupendous “Shape Of Heart, Shape Of Human” which I’ve embedded below. Note the guitarist at the forefront screaming along with almost 50% of the vocals, at one point which Mike sees and pulls him close for some very intimate dualies in “Our Form Of Closure”.
Links to songs: "Our Form Of Closure" / *2* / *BD1* / *BD2*
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Buy: patch / Jeromes Dream comp

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PEOPLE'S TEMPLE PROJECT
I first met the boys of PTP back in the summer of 2015 when мятеж toured with them across 8 or 9 dates around the mid-eastern U.S. and we formed a strong bond (we also released a split 7" together, linked here). It was a no brainer to invite my first touring buds to play and I was shocked and stoked when they said they were game, as they ended up coming all the way from New York to play the final day of ZBR Fest. Opting for almost all new material, they played songs from their upcoming 12” split with Sleeper Wave, their 5” lathe and a single song from their self-titled demo tape. Almost as good as their full set (which I captured and have embedded below) was the time that my wife and I got to spend with them while at the venue. Mad. Fucking. Chills. And a whole hell of a lot of laughter. If the first song in the video below doesn’t get your screamy hardcore soul excited as fuck you’re probably on the wrong blog, cuz that shit is nuts. Since our tour together they wrangled a fourth member to play bass and the sound is thicker and fuller than ever. The bassist offers up some additional vocals which include some melodic, clean singing that fits beautifully. Easily one of my favourite screamo bands, PTP has killed it on every recording and slay live so if you get the chance you should jump on it! I’ve also got their ‘Empathy’ tape comp as well as the мятеж/PTP split 7” in stock which are linked below.
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Buy: 7" split / tape comp / sticker

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CROWNING
Let’s get real really quick, here - I fucking looooooove CROWNING. After hearing the Chicagonians previous outfit Pregnancy Pact I was pretty stoked, only to hear a week after they sent me their debut that they were breaking up. Justin (drums/vocals) did give me an indication that their new band would be similar and heavier, but nothing could have prepared me for the 5-song EP that CROWNING sent me to help premiere in late 2016. I wrote Justin back promptly and stated that I was in love with the ‘Funeral Designs’ EP and wanted to put it out on tape, because it was much more worthy than a digital-only release. At ZBR Fest CROWNING played ‘Funeral Designs’ in its entirety as well as two brand-spankin’ new songs that tore me a new one. Their dark, intricate and multi-vocal approach to screamo isn’t far removed from Loma Prieta, Youth Funeral and Улыбайся Ветру so you know it’s gonna rip. Not only that, but CROWNING recently added James, the vocalist of Itto, as their primary vocalist, so all future recordings are likely to be even better…which I’m not even sure is possible. Be sure to watch the end of this full set I’ve stuck below (which is rather unstable as I’m swaying/headbanging along to the whole thing) because the end of the title track “Funeral Designs” was given a .gif from god/Letters To Catalonia/Black Nail-esque final breakdown, including an additional, slower and even more sinister sounding conclusion that is not on the recorded version. This was one of my personal highlights of the entire Fest. Thank you, literally a million times, to Justin, Dave, Myles and Vanessa. Oh, Vanessa also did an alternate show poster for this night that I have a few copies left of and are linked below along with pins, stickers, shirts and their debut cassette which will sell out soon!
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Buy: tape / sticker / pin / t-shirt / alternate show poster

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WHAT OF US
Weow, I really do have a whole lotta love to dish out here. WHAT OF US consists of four beautiful people by the names of Eric, Tom, Eric and Ross who absolutely lay waste to anyone in the surrounding area. These New Jerseynites have played in a ton of bands including (more recently) Weather Lore, The Saddest Landscape, Capacities, Black Kites and Hell Mary and their screamy hardcore blasts generally last between one and three minutes with little-to-no time to catch a breath, let alone maintain a straight thought other than, “goddamn this kicks ass”. I first witnessed them on the 2016 мятеж tour in New Jersey with Coma Regalia and Massa Nera, which happened to be the best set I encountered during the entire trip and I’ve linked for ya right heeya. On this night they blasted through a 15-20 minute set that had everyone in the room mesmerized. In fact, the drummer in the band that I was playing in came up to me and made the observation, “Dude, how are we supposed to follow that?” Too true, Jesse. Too true. WHAT OF US have an incredible split 12”LP out with Coma Regalia as well as a new 7”EP with friends of Zegema Beach Records (aka we released the demo, linked here) from Indiana, Hive Mind. Without a doubt one of the most cathartic, intense and socially/politically minded bands around. If you have the chance be sure not miss out!
Links to songs: *2* / *3* / *4* / *5* / *BD*
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Buy: 12" split / 7" split

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THE WORLD THAT SUMMER
This was my final show with THE WORLD THAT SUMMER. It was incredible and it was saddening. Our drummer Jesse chose some very choice Starship Troopers audio clips which I am eternally grateful for and helped ease my closure with the band, as they are still in Canada and I am here in New Zealand now. I believe our set list was “The Standard Gravity of Impending Doom”, “No Hugs For Lucas”, “Voltron Division”, “Swine Dialect Incantation”, “Moth Volcano” and “Le Fin et le Non le Fin”. I can’t really attest to how good or bad it all sounded or what bands we sound like, but I am well aware that we played a volatile mixture of post-hardcore and post-metal with some songs coming across quick and violent while others were drawn out, dreamy and screamy jams. A few quick notes: I wore my original Zegema Beach Records shirt (or as it appears on the shirt, “Beach Zegema”), Jesse smashes his finger at the end of the final song and I puked my guts out whilst hanging out with Truke and Lilley outside the venue. It was a very surreal experience and I truly cherish the time I had with my friends creating and playing, what I feel, are some pretty sweet tunes. THE WORLD THAT SUMMER is currently on hiatus as the remaining members figure out if they will continue, get new members or just jump ship to whatever offspring slides out next. Whatever the decision, I wish them all the best. Oh, it should be noted that “Voltron Division” and “Le Fin et le Non le Fin” have not been recorded and therefore may or may not end up getting released in the future. If not, I will attempt to release some kind of retrospective with our other unrecorded songs via live takes and practice sessions, as we also have “2028”, “The Cells Infuckingside Me” and “Wretched Portals” that never ended up making the cut. 
Links to songs: “The Standard Gravity of Impending Doom” / “Voltron Division” / *BD1* / *BD2*
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Buy: 2x12" split / 10" split / tape split / cd / t-shirt / stickers

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FOXMOULDER
As I begin to write this I realize that I don't have the language to put into words how I feel about FOXMOULDER, especially considering just a few hours ago I read about their impending dissolution. Well, here goes. When I first started attending shows in Toronto in 2013 I met a ton of amazing people, most of whom have receded into the world outside of punk, hardcore and screamo. The ones that stuck around and continued helping bands by booking shows seemed to end up playing in FOXMOULDER. Em, Rohan, Matt, Peter, Darren and Travis are awesome people that helped myself and Zegema Beach Records find our Canadian footing. We helped release their 7"EP, split 5" and split 12", all of which I feel helped lay the foundation for ZBR. Those folks are also beautiful people whose motivation and intentions are for the scene and being as inclusive as possible within said scene. They are, without a doubt, the most important Toronto band that I have come across in my five years of covering the happenings in Ontario. This night's set was my last time seeing the band, although at that moment I had no idea that FOXMOULDER would cease to be an entity just a few months later. They played all their bangers as well as two new tunes ("Gift Horse" and "Consequences") and it was glorious. I think I caught every song but may have missed one due to battery deadness, hence the switch up between proper camera and cellphone camera with the linked videos below. Their honest, passionate, cathartic and downright killer music/sets will never be forgotten, as they will always be a beacon of positivity and hope for myself and the Toronto scene in general, I would reckon. Just check out "Tempered Ill" below to see everyone go absolutely apeshit, and/or watch "Ascent" linked above where Em officially comes out as a trans person. <3 Screamy. Political. Social. Gender awareness. Regret. Honesty. Anger. Love. Acceptance. FOXMOULDER, my friends and my inspiration.
Links to songs: "Shame" / "Havelock" / "Gift Horse + Increments" / "Antrim" / "Consequences" / *BD*
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Buy: 12" split / 7" / 5" split

FOXMOULDER show reviews:

August 7th, 2014: w/United Nations & Black Clouds

August 17th, 2014: Skramden Yards final show w/Capacities & Blackbelt

December 5th, 2014: w/Lonely Animals, Terry Green & Woodlouse

April 4th, 2015: w/Locktender, Shahman & Woodlouse

August 6th, 2015: w/Lord Snow, Joliette, Life In Vacuum & La Luna

January 9th, 2016: w/Hiera, Terry Green & Nanette

April 29th, 2016: w/The World That Summer, Sarin & Terry Green

September 21st, 2016: w/Eyelet, The World That Summer & Wimp City

April 15th, 2017: w/Commuovere, Respire, La Luna & Fraera

FOXMOULDER review on OMSB

Em (vocals) video interview
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