Band: SEROTONIN Genres: Punk / Rock / Math Rock / Emo / Shoegaze / Post-Hardcore / Hardcore Related artists: N/A. Country: Murfreesboro Tennessee, USA Years Active: 1995-2004 Song: "Alias" Album: "Future Anterior" Year: 2004 This post's artist is from the October 2013 Mix. This is track #6. You can download the October 2013 Mix right here. For fans of: Choke, Moneen, Riddle Of Steel, Drive Like Jehu, At The Drive In, Piebald, Mock Orange, Braid, Randy, Protest The Hero, North Of America, (old) Cursive, and The Holy Shroud.
SEROTONIN was an amazing emo/punk meets mathy hardcore band from Tennessee that created a very interesting amalgamation of sharp, intricate, beautiful, energetic and engaging music. The vocals, especially on the older material, may be trying at times - but once the band recorded 'Future Anterior' the vocalist had hit a mark that was able to accentuate the music, as opposed to take away from the fantastic instrumentals.
Seriously, songs like "Alias" and "Signal Flow" showcase the songwriting chops these guys possessed at the time of their implosion. The songs include fast skate-punk riffing and vocals, which then jump to hardcore and screaming and generally close out with soft, dreamy passages. "Alias" is the penultimate example.
Band: BRAVO FUCKING BRAVO Genres: Punk / Hardcore / Post-Hardcore / Screamo Related artists: Bedroom Eyes, Luau and L'Antietam. Country: USA Years Active: 2003-2006 Song: "Denelonette" Album: "II" Year: 2006 This post's artist is from the October 2013 Mix. This is track #11. You can download the October 2013 Mix right here. For fans of: Transistor Transistor, Wolves, Daniel Striped Tiger, Mouthbreather, Kill Sadie,Kodan Armada, The Blood Brothers, Love Like Electrocution, Loma Prieta, L'Antietam, and Hugs aka PROPER Screamo.
BRAVO FUCKING BRAVO, besides having a killer band name, cranked out some seriously catchy yet screamy hardcore in the vein of Transistor Transistor, Wolves, early Loma Prieta and Kodan Armada. The band's later work incorporated less screamo and more punk/hardcore with gruffer yelling rather than screaming, see Wow, Owls! and Mouthbreather.
This band would have been insane to see live. They have everything - noodley guitars, twangy guitars, Transistor Transistor and Wolves inspired clean chorded screamo rock riffing, back and forth screaming chaos, yelling, chants, slow stuff, fast stuff and incredible album packaging.
I uploaded the 4 best songs (1 from each release) to youtube and embedded them below and also make sure you download the band's complete and very rare discography. Hope ya dig.
"If loose lips sink ships I really hope you can swim."
-Friends With All the Dead Kids
Band: ENKEPHALIN Genres: Punk / Noise / Math Metal / Grind / Post-Hardcore / Metalcore / Screamo Related artists: Hirs and Boroughs. Country: Michigan, USA Years Active: 2001-2004 Song: "Calling to Confirm" Album: "Phoenix Bodies Split" Year: 2003 This post's artist is from the October 2013 Mix. This is track #4. You can download the October 2013 Mix right here. For fans of: The Great Redneck Hope, Cassilis, Botch, Llynch, Phoenix Bodies, Totem Skin,Officer Jones And His Patrol Car Problems, Bleeding Kansas, Dillinger Escape Plan,This Ship Will Sink, In First Person, Achilles, Back When, Black Kites, Orchid,Bucket Full Of Teeth, Loftus, The Minor Times, The Abandoned Hearts Cluband Converge.
In a similar fashion to Llynch and This Ship Will Sink, ENKEPHALIN takes parts from Botch, The Dillinger Escape Plan and Orchid and fuses them together to make dizzying blasts of mathy, screamy hardcore bordering on metal and grind music. They have their subdued moments but they are few and far between. Just listen to those guitars. Holy shit that guy was a hero.
ENKEPHALIN only existed for a few short years, but the output produced has a staggeringly mature and talented sound. The band is most well-known for their split cd/12" with Phoenix Bodies, another metal-infused hardcore/screamo/grind band, and the Robotic Empire 'Mutation' compilation that included unreleased tracks from the likes of heavyweights such as Ed Gein, The Minor Times and The Abandoned Hearts Club.
In 2011 I came across a rare 3" demo cd by the band on ebay. I proceeded to soil myself, clean up and then hastily order the cd. The 10 songs were mostly unreleased with a few demo versions that really helped bring the band's roots and influences to the surface. Coupled with their 2 other releases, I would strongly recommend downloading their mp3 discography posted below. This shit is nuts.
This post begins with a stupid story. I recently had gotten into Level Plane "screamo" back in 2003 and learned that The Assistant had recently disbanded and a member was in some band called THIS SHIP WILL SINK. The blurb read that the band took the heavy parts touched on in The Assistant and fleshed them out for a fuller, harder sound. Without hearing anything, I purchased the cd. Fast forward 2 weeks and my girlfriend-turned-wife and I had just purchased some alcohol at the LCBO (back when I drank) when we climbed back into the car and I popped in THIS SHIP WILL SINK's self-titled EP. I will never forget sitting in that car, mouth open, unable to drive until we hit track 4 because I was fucking floored. I mean, this shit blew me away. It opened up my soul, or some other horseshit - regardless, I was instantly obsessed.
If you are like me and wanted The Assistant minus the poppy, slow parts - THIS SHIP WILL SINK will give you a goddamned orgasm. I always thought that The Assistant's two heads conflicted at times - but THIS SHIP WILL SINK took The Assistant's strong suit and ran with it.
If you like your hardcore extremely fast, heavy and complex, then you need to download this discography. The band's few, quick releases rank as my favourite among Thomas Schlatter's long list of bands along with Capacities. Think Capacities but faster and much heavier, with a substantial nod towards metal over a punk sound. Somehow, THIS SHIP WILL SINK is able to weave some melody and dare I say it, softer parts (see the end of "Dear Matthew" and "You are Precisely My Cup of Tea") into their songs. Think of a more primitive and cathartic sounding Dillinger Escape Plan, mix it with some Black Kites and voila - you're headed in the right direction, sound-wise.
Seriously, if you dig Capacities or heavy, screamy hardcore and bands like Botch, Mares Of Thrace and Back When - giddy up.
Remember, OPENmind/SATURATEDbrain's entire Thomas Schlatter interview will be posted in January of 2014. Until then, here is an excerpt from it regarding his time with THIS SHIP WILL SINK:
"I didn’t really know Jason or Steve
that well when we started.They played
in some local bands and we had met through going to shows.They were both very talented, but I don’t
know how much we had in common.It was
my first time really getting to experiment with and hone in on playing a baritone
guitar through three amps.I wanted to
do something similar to The Assistant, though, with no poppy parts, much shorter
songs, and tuned down to drop A. When we initially started writing it came very
easily and we found it incredibly simple to put songs together.We played shows almost every weekend and
practiced twice a week.Within a year we
put out 4 releases. Our first tour was a full US tour with Kodan Armada for 30
days.It destroyed the band and that was
the end."
Band: LLYNCH Genres: Punk / Noise Rock / Prog Rock / Post-Hardcore / Metalcore Related artists: Reproach and Deamon's Jaded Passion. Country: GERMANY Years Active: 2001-2008 Song: "Humming With Chords" Album: "The Minor Times Split" Year: 2003 This post's artist is from the October 2013 Mix. This is track #1. You can download the October 2013 Mix right here. For fans of: Botch, The Minor Times, Converge, Isis, Back When, Circles Over Sidelights, This Ship Will Sink, In First Person, Lavotchkin, In Reverent Fear, Castle, Norma Jean, Moxiebeat, The Baroness, Thumbscrew, Ruptures, The Deftones, Officer Jones And His Patrol Car Problems, Tel Fyr and The Dillinger Escape Plan.
LLYNCH was a brooding metallic hardcore band with some serious prog-rock chops and Botch/Baroness-style dynamics that beg the question, why the fuck doesn't anyone know this band? I'm sure after I post this some readers will comment about how this band was underappreciated - but I have yet to find a single person with whom I can discuss LLYNCH without introducing them to the band first. I really hope there are pockets of fans keeping their flame alive.
Said flame should be kept alive, as LLYNCH pulled off the non-cheesy, dark, massive and engaging German metallic hardcore and did so with more than their fair share of catchy riffs, melody and some nice mathy formulas that beg the assumption that these fellas listened to a hell of a lot of Botch and The Minor Times. This makes sense, as the band's best output was released in 2003 on The Minor Times split 12" that vanished into relative obscurity. Please, download the discography and rock that split. If for nothing else, please, do it for me.
Band: MOXIEBEAT Genres: Punk / Noise Rock / Hardcore / Sludge Related artists: Dogs of Ire, Rogue State and Restrained. Country: 2013, present Years Active: 2013-present Song: "Art of the City" Album: "Moxiebeat" Year: 2013 This post's artist is from the October 2013 Mix. This is track #10. You can download the October 2013 Mix right here. For fans of: Cassilis, Callow, Llynch, Phoenix Bodies, Tentacles, The Catalyst, Ruptures, Doomriders, Maximum R'n'R, Every Time I Die, Rye Coalition, Arbogast and Dangers!.
MOXIEBEAT play dirty, bass driven hardcore that reminds me of a few bands right away; The Catalyst, Ruptures, Doomriders, Maximum R'n'R, Rye Coalition and Dangers. EP talk about it.
There are lots of different styles going on:
-"Avoiding You" has a dark, City Of Caterpillar-esque outro
-"Old News Forever" gets so hard I thought I was listening to the new Zozobra record
-"Art of the City" is very The Catalyst, but also includes some sass that reminds me of The Blood Brothers (albeit much grimier), but is more musically in line with Ruptures.
I do believe this band is coming through Toronto next week. If that's the case, I will be posting live videos soon.
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Band: MAKARA Genres: Punk / Grind / Emoviolence/ Powerviolence / Hardcore / Screamo / Skramz Related artists: Jenny Piccolo, The Anasazi, Welcome The Plague Year, Mohinder and Red Army. Country: Cupertino, California USA Years Active: 1997-2001 Song: "Papercuts" Album: "Discography" Year: 2001 This post's artist is from the October 2013 Mix. This is track #14. You can download the October 2013 Mix right here. For fans of: Lord Snow, Welcome The Plague Year, Neil Perry, Joshua Fit For Battle, Mahria, MNWA, Louise Cyphre, Jeromes Dream, Deadseraphim, Encyclopedia Of American Traitors, Mara'akate, Hassan I Sabbah, Ruhaeda, The Third Memory, To Dream Of Autumn and Nineteen aka PROPER Screamo.
MAKARA was a short-lived screamy hardcore band that shared members with legendary hardcore/screamo acts such as Welcome The Plague Year, The Anasazi, Jenny Piccolo and Mohinder. They had some high-pitched screaming courtesy of Kerry-Jo Pries of Welcome The Plague Year, ridiculous drumming with an insane amount of snare not unlike Ruhaeda and The Third Memory with further dissonant and frantic guitars which again were very reminiscent of Ruhaeda, Jenny Piccolo and newer bands such as Foxmoulder.
To be honest, newer bands like Lord Snow, MNWA and Mahria come pretty close to recreating this sound - whether or not they are even aware of MAKARA - I don't know (although I'm certain that Lord Snow was unaware of them). Seriously, if you're craving more MAKARA then go listen to Lord Snow, because it's as close as I've heard. The fact that the omsb mix had a MAKARA / Lord Snow one-two punch was no accident. Same with these postings. There's no noodling in MAKARA, but there's a ridiculous amount of speed and screeching - two of my favourite things.
Band: LORD SNOW Exclusive Interview/Live Sets Genres: Punk / Noise Rock / Jazz / Screamo / Powerviolence / Emoviolence-03 / Stoner-thrash/metal / Aesthetics Related artists: The New Yorker, Lautrec, Suffix, Raw Nerve, and Spreadsheets. Country: Chicago, USA Years Active: 2011-present Song: "The Background Static Of Perpetual Discontent" Album: "Solitude" Year: 2013 This post's artist is from the October 2013 Mix. This is track #15. You can download the October 2013 Mix right here. For fans of: Louise Cyphre, Jeromes Dream, La Quiete, Mahria, Kidcrash, Suffix, Tristan Tzara, Ahleuchatistas, Punch and Loma Prieta akaPROPER Screamo.
LORD SNOW is the shit.
I was able to interview the band over the course of 2 days in mid-November after their Toronto and Hamilton shows. This 3-part interview enabled me to interact with some of the nicest people I have ever had the chance of meeting. The first 2 parts include the full-band interview and live cuts while the 3rd part focuses on Stuph (the vocalist/bassist) with a few more live songs, but the audio quality isn't the greatest because the band Fucking Invincible was killing it on stage while we were talking. You can still make 80% of it out. Also, I love this 3rd segment because Stuph was so positively candid and very open to talking about the band.
For those who are still unaware, LORD SNOW plays a volatile style of jazzy screamo/powerviolence with a strong punk mentality. I don't feel the need to say anything more about it, as the interview and live videos embedded below will help you form your own opinion.
INTERVIEW Part 1/3
INTERVIEW Part 2/3
INTERVIEW Part 3/3
For the full live sets from both shows, please go to the Zegema Beach Records like HERE.
Genres: Punk / Post-Hardcore / Screamo / Skramz / Rock Related artists: Caution Children, Small Life Within, Beating A Horse To Death, Loner, Deadline For A Critic and Behold The Man. Country: Palm Bay, Florida USA Years Active: 2005-present Song: "Sinking With The Sunset" Album: "Lost Ships Sinking With the Sunset" Year: 2013 This post's artist is from the October 2013 Mix. This is track #16. You can download the October 2013 Mix right here. For fans of: Neil Perry, City Of Caterpillar, Book Of Dead Names, State Faults, Funeral Diner,Envy, A Day In Black And White and Mesa Verede aka PROPER Screamo.
I am going to focus my efforts on GILLIAN CARTER's 'Lost Ships Sinking With the Sunset', much like good comedians dump their old material once they refine newer material, and speak strictly about the band's new 10" of the fucking year.
"Sinking With The Sunset" is probably my vote for the most driving and complete aggressive screamo track of 2013. The other 3 songs just mentioned, for some strange reason, never really hit the mark that really sets them apart from other screamo bands until halfway through the tracks - that's when I go bat-shit crazy.
The second half of "Dissertation #1 (Trapped)" is probably the heaviest and most engaging 35 seconds on the album, with the instrumentals booming along in a way that reminds me of A Day In Black And White, Mesa Verde and Envy when they used to bring down the fucking house.
The band even incorporates some clean/gruff singing vocals on the opening track "Recently..." which are reminiscent of Hot Water Music or Make Do And Mend, as well as some folksy gang vocals that may or may not have been recorded while drinking heavily in the hold of a ship on "Time (All That Is Left Is Fading)".
I think an accurate and general comparison for screamo fans would be Book Of Dead Names / State Faults-sounding vocals, cavernous and epic instrumentals that bring to mind City Of Caterpillar / Envy as well as the speed and driving force of Neil Perry. For those of you unacquainted with the finer art... of screamo bands - saetiate your appetite with GILLIAN CARTER if you enjoy a mixture of melodic hardcore and screamy emo.
Regardless of the band's comparisons or genre classification, 'Lost Ships Sinking With the Sunset' is an album that surprised the hell out of me (considering I had heard the band's older material) and took me a little while to fully appreciate, but once I locked on I was able to realize the brilliance of this record. Their next album will be one my most anticipated of the year.
2013 - Lost Ships Sinking With the Sunset 10"LP (purchase 10" here)
2013 - Old NU Songs cdLP (stream/buy/download here)
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(2013) GILLIAN CARTER - "Sinking With the Sunset" (from 'Lost Ships Sinking With the Sunset')
(2013) GILLIAN CARTER - "I've Been Forgotten And So Have You" (from 'Lost Ships Sinking With the Sunset')
(2013) GILLIAN CARTER - "Waking Up (Lost Ships)" (from 'Lost Ships Sinking With the Sunset')
Band: KID KILOWATT Genres: Rock / Garage Rock / Post Rock / Indie / Alternative Related artists: Cave In, Converge, New Idea Society, Pet Genius, Zozobra, Clouds,Stephen Brodsky, Stove Bredsky, Sacrifice Poles, Mutoid Man, Euclidand The Holey Moleys. Country: Boston, USA Years Active: 1996-1997 Song: "Peeping Tomboy" Album: "Guitar Method" Year: 2003 This post's artist is from the October 2013 Mix. This is track #3. You can download the October 2013 Mix right here. For fans of: New Idea Society, Pet Genius, Stephen Brodsky,Stove Bredsky, Clouds, Sacrifice Poles, Cave In, Modern Rifles, Nada Surf, Limblifterand Foo Fighters.
KID KILOWATT was "...an extension of my love for the more tender sounds
of mid-to-late 90's underground music."
-Stephen Brodsky (OMSB interview)
As soon as "The Scope" blows past you, the opening track of 'Guitar Method', it is apparent that KID KILOWATT will be able to pull you in with hooks while throwing some aggressive rock' n' roll that would be a little too much for mainstream radio.
It's a shame that KID KILOWATT never got more popular, as the band crafted some of the most robust rock songs I've ever heard - and yes, I realize that Stephen Brodsky is also the Cave In frontman. Cave In's rock songs are on a different level. They are layered with effects, have intricate song structures and are generally more progressive sounding, with a few exceptions. KID KILOWATT embraced lo-fi garage rock and wrote songs that I would assume just poured out of their collective musical brain with little effort. Everything fits exactly where it should, there is little-to-no filler and the songs still excite this writer after a decade and a half of rocking them on a monthly basis.
The band only had 2 releases, the demo 'Hit Single' 7" that was released in 2001 and 2003's 'Guitar Method', which is actually a 14-song compilation of 3 years worth of recordings from 1996 to 1999. You need these if you even remotely like anything Brodsky does, or rock music in general. Seriously, it's that good. Sleeper of decade. If you don't believe me, listen to "The Scope", "Peeping Tomboy", "7th Inning Song Formation", "Bicycle Song", "Ted Nugent" and "Tug of War".
Click here to read (((((OPENmind/SATURATEDbrain)))))'s exclusive (and prodigious) interview with Mr. Stephen Brodsky of KID KILOWATT, Cave In, Mutoid Man, Converge, New Idea Society, Pet Genius, Stephen Brodsky's Octave Museum, Stove Bredsky and The Holey Moleys fame.
Band: DESCUBRIENDO A MR. MIME Genres: Punk / Hardcore / Screamo / Skramz / Emo-Violence Related artists: N/A. Country: Madrid, SPAIN Years Active: 2008-present Song: "Ʒyre" Album: "...Y Ya No Me Quedan Dientes por Arrancarme" Year: 2013 This post's artist is from the October 2013 Mix. This is track #5. You can download the October 2013 Mix right here. For fans of: The Sky Above And Earth Below, La Quiete, Adobe Homes, Louie Cyphre, We Were Skeletons, Trista Tzara, Books Lie, Caught In The Fall, Dolcim, Eyes Of Verotika, Danse Macabre, Death Of Anna Karina, Adaje, Raein, (early) Standstill, Catena Collapse, Belle Epoque, State Faults and Yage aka PROPER Screamo.
The first two bands that popped into my head when I first heard DESCUBRIENDO A MR. MIME were La Quiete and The Sky Above and Earth Below. The band cites Alexisonfire, Adorno and Comadre as influences, as well. Listen to this song and hear it all for yourself:
This record is insanely catchy, with some great screamo-injected noodliness. The guitars are great, and vary from slow, building clean riffs to fast and aggressive breakdowns (not the cheesy kind). The drums are timed perfectly and match insanity with craziness and tranquility with serenity. I love how high the bass is in the mix! Most bands nearly bury the bassist beneath everything else, so it's nice to see a band embrace the bass. Other bands do so post-haste! Besides the screamo and hardcore, there is a fair amount of straight-up punk stuff employed on this record, and much to my surprise it integrated seamlessly. This record really does cover a lot of ground in 8 tracks.
The vocals and artwork blend to create a dark yet beautiful atmosphere for the band's sound and visual representation on '...Y Ya No Me Quedan Dientes por Arrancarme' (English translation = '...and I Have No Teeth Left to Pull Out'). Here are the lyrics with translations for those interested. Vocally, there's a lot of The Sky Above And Earth Below, Danse Macabre and Arches going on - passionate and screamy.
Best pick this before all 250 copies have been laid to rest, much like all of the death imagery displayed in the artwork! The transparent vinyl b-side is silkscreened with 1 of 3 animal versions - a mouse, bat and bird. These LPs look stunning - here's a picture of my copies, although the picture doesn't do them justice! North America has 50 copies and the label I am part of has'em all. So get on that before they are gone. Great music. Great vinyl.
If you would like to grab copies:
Zegema Beach Records is handling NORTH AMERICA = here
Dog Knights Productions is handling UNITED KINGDOM/Europe = here
Walking Is Still Honest Records is handling SPAIN/Europe = here
2013 - ...Y Ya No Me Quedan Dientes por Arrancarme 12"LP (stream here) (PURCHASE HERE)
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(2013) DESCUBRIENDO A MR. MIME - "Constanza" (from '...Y Ya No Me Quedan Dientes por Arrancarme')
(2013) DESCUBRIENDO A MR. MIME - "El Vacío es la Forma" (from '...Y Ya No Me Quedan Dientes por Arrancarme')
(2013) DESCUBRIENDO A MR. MIME - "Ʒyre" (from '...Y Ya No Me Quedan Dientes por Arrancarme')
