KIOWA

Band: KIOWA
For fans of: Hayworth, Fainting In Coils, Swan Of Tuonela, Onewaymirror, Love Lost But Not Forgotten, Letters To Catalonia, Dispensing Of False Halos, .gif from god, My Heart Your Hands, Long.Way.Down., Me And Him Call It Us, A Paramount A Love Supreme, and Ihuntmonsters.
Genres: Punk / Hardcore / Metal / Metalcore / Metallic Hardcore / Emo / Screamo / Skramz / Emo-violence

Related artists: Versera, Widowdusk, Theodore War, and Clay Birds.
Country: California U.S.A.
Years Active: 2023-present

Label(s): Self Released

     This debut KIOWA ep is fucking awesome! The metallic hardcore/screamo concoction is done in a way that sounds both refreshing and amazing, a hard feat to come by nowadays.

     The band's songs can be broken into two categories, the 50-second bangers and the 2+ minute brooding epic jams. The former include the sassy opener "Batter Up" and "You're Eggin' Em On" which houses a massive bass drop that is dripping with Hayworth influence. "A Toast to Before" has a great build that holds back for most of the jam, giving it a feeling like it could explode at any second, whilst still retaining some beauty in the emo section. "Are You __ Or Are You Just Happy To See Me?" is heavy on the metallic hardcore while "Something Greater" manages to sneak in some clean vocals nicely into the first section before all that destruction. "This Is No Laughing Matter." follows the same epic trajectory and is the perfect closer. Woo-wee what a ride!

    I do believe the California band has a few splits coming out later this year see keep at least one eye out!

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DISCOGRAPHY

2024 - Forever ends today EP (stream/buy here)

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(2024) KIOWA - "You're Eggin' Em On" (from 'Forever ends today')

https://youtu.be/T2QLFxA8MWo

(2024) KIOWA - "Are You __ Or Are You Just Happy To See Me?" (from 'Forever ends today')

https://youtu.be/T9GPRa4qhFM

(2024) KIOWA - "A Toast to Before" (from 'Forever ends today')

https://youtu.be/oPh6AjTZ4Lc

(2024) KIOWA - live

https://youtu.be/W8CawUNxJ2E

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*** PODCAST #153 Constrain ***

    Once I heard CONSTRAIN's material for the Loose Teeth split tape that released on Tomb Tree last year, I was fuckin' hooked. With the imminent release of their new EP I spent some time hanging out with them and talked about a buncha awesome stuff including: hair metal influence, Blood Brothers album rankings, fuck Brampton, Killing Is Contagious and Short Attention talk, the Nate factor, the rare and elusive "click", how Hamilton got not shitty, from skramz to neo-metalcore and screamo elitists, SeeYouSpaceCowboy influence, the Fall Of Troy connection, a miserable party that someone recorded, info on the upcoming 'Welcome To Club Vampire' ep, Sass Fest info, podcast therapy, etc. Bands played in this podcast: The Blood Brothers, Dance Gavin Dance, The Gorgeous, In Her Head, The Love And Terror Cult, Push Over, and Transistor Transistor. Listen to podcast #153 which is available to stream and/or download for free via this link.

CONSTRAIN

Bandcamp

https://youtu.be/VRO7dPF7D4Y

1 Intros and Influences

THE BLOOD BROTHERS "Cecilia and the Silhouette Saloon" (Cinco)

TRANSISTOR TRANSISTOR "I Am The Goddamned Devil" (Dave)

2 Oh You Mean Something Like This?

DANCE GAVIN DANCE "The Backwards Pumpkin Song" (Jesse)

IN HER HEAD "There are no doves in outerspace" (Dave)

3 We Like Breakdowns

THE GORGEOUS "Lake Ontario" (Cinco)

THE LOVE AND TERROR CULT "We Are You On Fire" (Dave)

PUSH OVER "1ne" (Jesse)

~Dave

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PODCAST #153 linked here

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THE BINDING

Band: THE BINDING
For fans of: The Love And Terror Cult, (early) Cave In, Weak Wrists, O'God The White Whale, Converge, I Hate Sally, Back When, Botch, Lockslip, and A Needle Under The Nail.
Genres: Punk / Post-Hardcore / Metalcore / Metallic Hardcore / Mathcore / Screamo / Skramz / Grindcore

Related artists: ?.
Country: U.S.A.
Years Active: 2004-2005

Label(s): Imagine It Records

     I downloaded THE BINDING's EP earlier in 2024 and was for some reason under the assumption that it was also released this year. I had it on my list as the best EP of 2024. So I was surprised to find out that this thing came out nearly two full decades ago, making it that much better as the relevance this band holds in terms of sound is mindblowing. It's also noteworthy that NONE of these tracks were on Youtube so I rectified the fuck outta that.

     The band played a volatile mixture of metallic hardcore and mathy metal, melding the two to the point where I don't know what I'd call them if I had to choose one of those descriptors, as perhaps chaotic hardcore is the best description here.

    The band's only release spans five songs in about 17 minutes. For an initial band comparison I'd go with Closet Witch (partially because of those venomous screams) but with a more melodic injection and longer songs. I'm hesitant to say grind meets metallic hardcore but technically I just wrote it so fuck let's roll with it. Opener "Keep Walking Empty Eyed Man" has massive metal chops in those licks, but the entire thing is something to behold and I can't recommend it enough. "Insanity in Numbers" and "Shoot the Shooters" follow the same trajectory of chaotic, stop-start, metal-influenced hardcore not unlike early Cave In and Converge, with the former housing a ridiculously sassy riff post 1:20 and the latter is wild and unpredictable throughout its 4:16 runtime. The band also display instrumental chops in "Addenda" which reminds me of Edhochuli and Harris Hawk's offspring, really gorgeous for a bit, and then massive later on. Often instrumental tracks seem to be an afterthought or just plain boring, but this is anything but a throwaway track as it's probably my second favorite jam on here because it's done expertly.

     Damn, really wish there was more material but at least we have this fuckin' fire.

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DISCOGRAPHY

2024 - The Binding digital EP (stream/donate/download here)

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(2005) THE BINDING - "Insanity in Numbers" (from 'The Binding')

https://youtu.be/QM1MFzQKOHU

(2005) THE BINDING - "Keep Walking Empty Eyed Man" (from 'The Binding')

https://youtu.be/feb8JeBStIA

(2005) THE BINDING - "Addenda" (from 'The Binding')

https://youtu.be/0UHVF5FdFE0

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THE BINDING additional links

Bandcamp

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