PAX CECILIA, THE

Band: THE PAX CECILIA

Genres: Punk / Post-Punk / Art-Rock / Post-Metal / Instrumental / Post-Hardcore / Screamo / Experimental
Related artists: N/A.
Country: Rochester, New York USA
Years Active: 2003-2011 (hiatus)
Song: "The Tragedy" and "The Machine"
Album: "Blessed Are The Bonds
Year: 2007
Label(s): Self-released
This post's artist is from the May 2014 Mix. This is track #11 and #26.
You can download the May 2014 Mix#5 right here or get the new June Mix#6 here.
For fans of: From A Second Story Window, Angel Eyes, Black Heart Rebellion, Circle Takes The Square, Funeral Diner, Coma Regalia, Mesa Verde, Pg.99, Isis, Romans, Pianos Become The Teeth, Buried Inside, Regina Spektor and Joanna Newsom aka PROPER Screamo.

THE PAX CECILIA is a two-headed beast. You've got your slow, ambient songs that wouldn't sound terribly out of place on a Sigur Ros record. You've also got your ridiculous fast, screamy post-metal songs that sound like a mash-up of Converge and Circle Takes The Square. The band began in 1999 under a different moniker, changed to THE PAX CECILIA in 2003, stopped touring in 2008, stopped recording in 2011 and are currently on hiatus due to geographical inconsistencies, and not broken up.

The band's first proper album, 'Nouveau' is a much more unbalanced affair than the band's sophomore effort, with the first 4 songs being relatively instrumental with no hardcore, screamo or metal while 3 of the remaining 4 songs venture into much heavier territory. The songs have hints of the cohesive direction the band was moving towards, but generally lack a certain flair that makes the later songs so special. I will make an exception to note here that "England; Theatre Of The Air" is as good as any harder track on the next album. Holy shit that so is so fucking good. Think Mesa Verde meets 'As The Roots Undo'-era Circle Takes The Square. The band told me that this album was influenced heavily by CTTS and Pg.99.

I'll go over my favourite songs from the 'Blessed Are The Bonds' cd that the band sent away for free upon its release 7 years ago. The opener, "The Tragedy" is simply breathtaking. This 10-minute epic sounds like someone truly fleshed out Between The Buried And Me as well as From A Second Story Window's softer material, especially the FASSW track "Ghosts Over Japan". The song rises and falls with excellent clean vocals over piano and violin. Almost immediately following the slow and quiet first track, "The Progress" sounds like a completely different band...Converge if they injected more screamo and less thrash, to be exact. After nearly 2 minutes of seething instrumentals the vocals kick in with pure screams. The absolute inversion of musical styles is something I love as it keeps the listener (aka me) on their (aka my) toes. This track is no exception. The song then moves to a keyboard-laden passage without vocals before bringing the song back around right before the 4-minute mark as the passionately spoken-word vocals are intertwined with the denouement. "The Machine" is one of my favourite heavy tracks by the band. It utilizes extremely quick chord riffing and combines it with an off-time breakdown before catapulting the listener into insanely distorted screaming.

The 4 songs I've put up on youtube will probably be enough to make most people download the discography. Although I find these 4 songs to be vastly superior, the entire thing is certainly worth the download as the tracks are meant to be a movement in the grander sense of each album. I should also mention that the band recently released 4 songs from random sessions online a few weeks ago, which you can find here. They are collectively titled 'Mythos/Fragments' and look like they'll be the first of two 4-song downloads, with the next coming in the summer of 2014. The songs on the first download are here.

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DISCOGRAPHY

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

2004 - Nouveau cdLP

2007 - Blessed Are The Bonds cdLP

2011 - Mythos (compilation of random tracks)

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(2007) THE PAX CECILIA - live video part 1 of 3

(2004) THE PAX CECILIA - "England; Theatre Of The Air" (from 'Nouveau')

(2007) THE PAX CECILIA - "The Tragedy" (from 'Blessed Are The Bonds')

(2007) THE PAX CECILIA - "The Progress" (from 'Blessed Are The Bonds')

(2007) THE PAX CECILIA - "The Machine" (from 'Blessed Are The Bonds')

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THE PAX CECILIA out-of-print discography mp3 download / additional links

(download here)

Web Blog

Facebook

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STOVE BREDSKY

Band: STOVE BREDSKY

Genre: Rock / Blues / Indie / Garage / Solo / Experimental / Stoner
Related artists: Pet Genius, Cave In, Stephen Brodsky, Kid Kilowatt, Mutoid Man, Converge, Stephen Brodsky's Octave Museum, New Idea Society, The Holy Moleys and Sacrifice Poles.
Country: Boston, USA
Years Active: 2008-2009
Song: "Blood Red Blues"
Album: "The Black Ribbon Award"
Year: 2008
Label(s): Hydra Head
This post's artist is from the May 2014 Mix. This is track #17.
You can download the May 2014 Mix#5 right here or get the new June Mix#6 here.
For fans of: The Beatles, Elliot Smith, Pet Genius, Steely Dan, Stephen Brodsky, Kid Kilowatt, Down With The Butterfly, Stephen Brodsky's Octave Museum, New Idea Society, Elliot, The Paper Chase and King Krimson.

I would posit that STOVE BREDSKY sounds like the demo sessions for Pet Genius and Stephen Brodsky's Octave Museum, as the songs in general hold a comparable style that seems rooted in bluesy/experimental rock with some occasional bottom-heavy guitars. They were also written up to 10 years before the album was recorded and is much more playful and lighthearted than his typical solo releases under his actual name, Stephen Brodsky. Why STOVE BREDSKY and not Steve Brodsky? The man that is my hero explained recently in an interview that I had with him, which you can read in full here.
"It started with a joke that Aaron Turner came up with, where he'd swap the first two vowels in a person's full name. The results could be pretty funny, such as Aaron effectively becoming "Uron Tanner", later shortened to just "Ron", which I still use. And my name treated in same fashion became "Stove Bredsky", which kind of stuck with my friends... maybe because astrologically speaking, I'm a fire sign and also have a tendency to get pretty hot-headed with my temperament, haha. Let's see... the song "Blood Red Blues" kind of encapsulates my headspace at the time of making 'The Black Ribbon Award' album. Definitely smoking too much weed while getting wrapped up in making a record, in order to escape some relationship problems I was having at the time. But I'm happy that the song at least comes off with a lighthearted touch!"

There are 3 songs in particular that strike a chord with me on the 18 track album, all of which coincidentally play consecutively on the record. First is "Dead Battery", which plods out of the gate for the first minute using feedback, slow thumping and distant, wailing "ah"s before settling into the track's groove of a thick and dirty bass riff and some subdued, catchy riffs that are played with some of the best vocal melodies on the album. He uses this for the entirety of the song without any big changes, but considering how good the track flows I have no complaints.
Second would be "Blood Red Blues" which was included in the mp3 mix. This is one of my favourite Brodsky tracks that shows him at his most humourous. The song itself has an interesting spaghetti western feel to it, using some playful guitar and simple rock'n'roll riffs with vocals that jump from low crooning to some upper register stuff. Let me provide some lyrical examples, "Then I smoked a ton of weed, thinning out my seed...I was in need of a queen for my dome. One that would serve me closer to home...We were standing by a stream, the water wasn't clean, she thought I might be gay." These silly lyrics fit the song perfectly and leave me chuckling every time.
The third song I wanted to write about is "Spacegirl Saturn" which could easily have been included on Cave In's 'Antenna' and meanders between material from that era along with another one of Brodsky's side projects, Pet Genius.

I have linked an insane amount of demos on the Cave In page. 48 songs spanning 7 demo "albums", to be exact. These are all insanely rare and will expire in a month so I suggest you download and share them now! I got the okay from Steve Brodsky to release these on the blog, so everyone please enjoy! Grab them at the top of this post. Included in the downloads are:
(1995-1998)
1 N.I.B. (Crambone remix)
2 Juggernaut
3 Until Your Heart Stops
4 Terminal Deity
5 N.I.B.
6 Halo of Flies (instrumental)
7 Bottom Feeder (instrumental)
8 Intro
9 Capsize
10 Flypaper
11 Forecast

(Until Your Heart Stops)
1 N.I.B. (Crambone remix)
2 Juggernaut
3 Until Your Heart Stops
4 Terminal Deity
5 N.I.B.
6 Halo of Flies
7 Bottom Feeder/The End of Our Rope is a Noose
8 Casio Killtoy
9 Segue 2/Outro
10 Luminance
11 Magnified
12 Mr. Co-Dexterity

(Antenna)
1 Lost in the Air
2 Seafrost
3 Stained Silver
4 Anchorage
5 Bigger Riff
6 Lift Off
7 Lost in the Air

(Tides of Tomorrow)
1 Dark Driving
2 The Calypso
3 Tides of Tomorrow

(Demo #1)
1 The World is in Your Way
2 Prognosis
3 Trepanning
4 Paranormal
5 Believe in Doubt
6 Tension in the Ranks

(Demo #2)
1 Prognosis
2 On the Prowl
3 Ataraxia
4 Perfect Pitch Black

(White Noise)
1 Centered
2 Sing, My Love
3 Iron Decibels
4 Reanimation

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DISCOGRAPHY

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

2008 - The Black Ribbon Award cdLP

2009 - Champions Of Sound 4-way split 2x7"

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(2008) STOVE BREDSKY - "Dead Battery" (from 'The Black Ribbon Award')

(2008) STOVE BREDSKY - "Blood Red Blues" (from 'The Black Ribbon Award')

(2008) STOVE BREDSKY - "Spacegirl Saturn" (from 'The Black Ribbon Award')

(2009) STOVE BREDSKY - "Lima Bean (alternate/demo version)" (from 'Champions Of Sound' split)

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STOVE BREDSKY out-of-print discography mp3 download / additional links

Stove Bredsky discography

(download here)

Cave In demos
demo 1 (download here)
demo 2 (download here)

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SMILE TO THE WIND (aka Улыбайся Ветру)

Band: SMILE TO THE WIND (Улыбайся Ветру)

Genres: Punk / Screamo / Hardcore / Post-Hardcore / Metalcore
Related artists: Homeless Is Dead and Minaret.
Country: Saint Petersburg, RUSSIA
Years Active: 2012-present
Song: "Второй рассвет"
Album: "Моменты"
Year: 2013
Label(s): Sad Records / Zegema Beach Records / It's A Trap! / Pike Records / Flood Records / 
This post's artist is from the May 2014 Mix. This is track #31.
You can download the May 2014 Mix#5 right here or get the new June Mix#6 here.
For fans of: Ravin, Carrion Spring, Loma Prieta, Youth Funeral, Orchid, Protest The Hero, Itto, This Ship Will Sink, In First Person, Caitlyn Bailey, Dip Leg, Gaff, Louise Cyphre, Tristan Tzara and Voyage In Coma aka PROPER Screamo.

I remember when my good friend Alex in Nous Etions posted his top 10 albums of 2013 and this band SMILE TO THE WIND (aka Улыбайся Ветру in Russian) was among them. Considering we like a lot of the same music I checked them out right around the time to band contacted me about helping out with their split. I was game based on the 2 releases they had that year. Fast-forward another month or so and I find out the band is splitting with Øjne! I nearly lost my mind at how amazing that split was/is going to be, and here we are with just over 2 weeks to go before the pre-order is posted - June 15th, to be exact. By the way, this is the first SMILE TO THE WIND release on a physical format. Happy days!

So, SMILE TO THE WIND. The songs have a lot going on, but generally follow a similar path through an onslaught of tumbling bass, thick screamy vocals, cymbal-heavy/lightning fast drums and speedy palm-mutes combined with a lot of intricate/chaotic solos. Seriously though, if you are into 'The Short History Of Decay'-era Carrion Spring, Louise Cyphre and the new Ravin cd, this will be your new favourite band. As an additional note, 'Моменты' (aka 'Moments') was mixed and mastered by Will Killingsworth of Orchid/Ampere fame. Another interesting note is that the 2 recordings from 2013 only have 3 members making all that noise! They have since added a second guitarist which really makes the band sound thicker and much better live.

Songs such as "Последний миг наедине" (from the LP) and "Катастрофы" (from the МАЯК split) are excellent examples of how the band mix speed and off-time melodies, not unlike Loma Prieta. On occasion SMILE TO THE WIND slows it down, although not substantially. "В руинах" and "Д-503" are prime renderings of the band taking their time to craft more fluid songs that sounds organic, which is a dynamic I hope the band embraces more in their future. If there's one issue it's that some songs from 2013 sound similar, so the variation within the songs is even more apparent when SMILE TO THE WIND decides to do something different. That being said, I love all of these guys' songs - even the ones that share similarities. If you know how to do something right, do it up. All songs on these 2 releases never extend themselves beyond an invisible 2-minute barrier and "Улица Думская" is only 10 seconds long, which should help reinforce the fact that SMILE TO THE WIND songs are so short and fast, they smash you in the face and then are gone before you know what hit you.

Most signs of songs sounding similar are rectified on the Øjne split 7" which has 4 new blazers that I'm not sure of the names because I have them as a single file on the computer and they are unmastered. They total 4:59 and are definitely the most eclectic of the band's released material. The first song is starts as an ambient track before things really get going, and rectifies the issues I had with the band's previous work after a mere 1:27. Track 2 is stripped of all slower melodies and is a 40-second hardcore romp. Track 3 sounds like it was culled from a western movie, with an eerie bass-driven intro that sounds like Kidcrash before delving into the meat of the song which lingers on the longer side, a whopping 2 minutes, which is the current max for the band. The final track is a slower song that focuses primarily on nice, noodley goodness. I think the band was influenced by Carrion Spring in the past and are now listening to more Kidcrash, so it's a great mix of those 2 styles. Oh, and the Øjne song is ridiculous, to boot.

Go to SMILE TO THE WIND's bandcamp page linked here to get their 2013 albums for free and be sure to check back on June 15th for the Øjne split 7" pre-order.

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DISCOGRAPHY

2013 - Моменты digitalLP (stream/download here)
2013 - МАЯК split digitalEP (stream/download here)

2014 - Øjne split 7"EP (pre-order available June 15th, 2014)

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(2013) SMILE TO THE WIND - "В руинах" (from 'МАЯК' split)

(2013) SMILE TO THE WIND - "Д-503" (from 'Моменты')

(2013) SMILE TO THE WIND - "Второй рассвет" (from 'Моменты')

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SMILE TO THE WIND additional links

Bandcamp

Facebook

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***ITTO / LIFE IN VACUUM / CONGRATULATIONS / SKETCHBOOKS / FOSSIL show***

This isn't really a review because I put the show on. I've posted videos from the show that are definitely worth your time - especially considering at least 5 songs contained therein are currently unreleased. Below are my favourite videos by each band, starting with the out-of-towners, Chicago's ITTO who asked me to help them put this show and thus was the catalyst for me putting on shows. The link to the full show HERE has 16 videos in total.

ITTO

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LIFE IN VACUUM

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CONGRATULATIONS

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SKETCHBOOKS

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FOSSIL.

CITY OF CATERPILLAR

Band: CITY OF CATERPILLAR

Genres: Punk Rock / Hardcore / Post-Hardcore / Screamo / Experimental

Related artists: Pg.99, Ghastly City Sleep, Malady, Verse En Coma, Enemy Soil, Ancient Sky, Fairweather, Darkest Hour, Disinterment, Iron Reagan, New Millennium's Hope, Rope Cosmetology, Smoke Or Fire, Suppression and Majority Rule.
Country: Richmond, Virginia USA
Years Active: 2000-2003
Song: "Fucking Hero"
Album: "City Of Caterpillar"
Year: 2002
Label(s): Level Plane Records / Adagio830 / Lilac Records / 6-60 Records / Sea Of Dead Pirates
This post's artist is from the May 2014 Mix. This is track #16.
You can download the May 2014 Mix#5 right here or get the new June Mix#6 here.
For fans of: Gospel, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Congratulations, Angel Eyes, Birthday Boyz, Portraits Of Past, Funeral Diner, Mogwai, Who Calls So Loud..., Fugazi, (old) Rye Coalition, These Arms Are Snakes, Drive Like Jehu, Ruhaeda, The Exploder, Old Soul, Majority Rule, Pg.99, Captain Your Ship Is Sinking and Envy aka PROPER Screamo.

CITY OF CATERPILLAR is one of the most influential and diverse bands to come out of the United States in the last 2 decades and in terms of progressive hardcore/screamo they are probably at the top. The band was an offshoot of Pg.99 but played more more eclectic music and was much better, in my opinion.

CITY OF CATERPILLAR played bass-heavy punk with lots of feedback and atmospherics dispersed throughout the songs. Oh, and lots of chaos although most is restrained enough that it's not grind or emo-violence or anything like that, There are parts that have a very distinct slow, brooding and ambient feel, that make it pretty obvious what band it is that you're listening to. I love the dual screaming but there are bouts of some weird wailing/crying vocals that I'm not necessarily fond of. Regardless, the band's lone album is nearly flawless and is reviewed track-by-track below.

I was mentioning above about having some great, catchy parts. Take the opening track, "And You're Wondering How A Top Floor Could Replace Heaven" as a prime example, which after about 3 minutes delves into some serious post-rock/Mogwai territory with their patented groovy instrumental passage that lasts here for about 2 minutes until it climaxes in typical CITY OF CATERPILLAR glory and then meanders through the outro of the track. Did I mention the song is over 8 minutes long?

"A Heart Filled Reaction To Dissatisfaction" follows and is a mere 2-minutes. It opens with a killer bass riff before the vocals come in and steal the show. Seriously the vocalists have some amazing screams which are put at the forefront here as well as on the band's penultimate track, "Fucking Hero".

"Minute-Hour-Day-Week-Month-Year" is wedged in between 2 of the strongest tracks (this is track 3) and is another very long song that builds around a Godspeed You! Black Emperor ambient slow instrumental passage that subtly engages the listener for almost 5 minutes before getting into the meat of the track (which is actually quite short) and then moving on to what sounds just like "Blaise Bailey Finnegan" with noise, bells and some spoken word/movie clip inclusions to lead the 9-minute song to the finish line.

Getting back to "Fucking Hero", this song is definitely quintessential. My wife was the one who really got me to recognize the amazingness of the song. The last half of this song, from about 2:20 onwards, is unreal and my favourite CITY OF CATERPILLAR moment. It's unbelievable. The first half  is about what you'd expect from one of the band's more aggressive songs, but when this last half starts to materialize the chances are you'll be floored if you've never heard this band before. The acoustic guitar builds for about 20 seconds before the CITY OF CATERPILLAR perfectly utilizes a driving hardcore breakdown along with a beautiful spacey riff and dual screaming vocals that are placed in an immaculate fashion. Holy shit this is so good it's kind of silly to continue this review. Eh, I'll make it quick.

"When Was The Last Time We Painted Over The Walls" is a chaotic number that has kind of a jungle-feel to it amidst the crazy first part and the ambient second part. I absolutely love the floating, swirling guitars and sexy bass riff that are the precursor to the tail-end of the song, which again uses phenomenally placed dual vocals.

"A Little Change Could Go A Long Ways" is the song that makes me think about how beautiful the stars in the night sky are before wanting to smash them to pieces. That's honestly what I think when I hear this 9-minute masterpiece. This song is so fucking good. It will do. Oh yes, it will do.

"Maybe They'll Gnaw Right Through" snips the chord of this 7-song album. It's progressive and reminds me of These Arms Are Snakes material, and although it's good and all, I don't think it's a fitting closer. I would personally have switched this with "A Little Change Could Go A Long Ways" because of the epic nature of the song, compared to one of the weaker songs on the album. Regardless, the close of a near-perfect album.

CITY OF CATERPILLAR has another release with demos and live songs that's decent but not worth writing about as the above descriptions have drained me and are much better than that compilation release.

Whether you've slept on these guys or just need a refresh, I'm sure we can all agree that CITY OF CATERPILLAR was and will always be amazing.

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DISCOGRAPHY

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

2000 - System 2600 split 7"

2001 - A Split Personality (split w/Pg.99) 7"
2001 - Live In New York City 7"

2002 - City Of Caterpillar cd/12"LP
2002 - Demo + Live Recording cd/12"LP (compiles 2000/2001 material)

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(2002) CITY OF CATERPILLAR - "Fucking Hero" (from 'City Of Caterpillar')

(2002) CITY OF CATERPILLAR - "A Little Change Could Go A Long Ways" (from 'City Of Caterpillar')

(2001) CITY OF CATERPILLAR - "The Ghosts of Shadows Passing in City Streets" (from 'A Split Personality')

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CITY OF CATERPILLAR out-of-print discography mp3 download

(download here)

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WHITE ZOMBIE

Band: WHITE ZOMBIE

Genres: Metal / Thrash / Rock / Cinema / Grunge / Industrial / Techno
Related artists: Rob Zombie, Scum Of The Earth, Rights Of The Accursed, The Cult, Exodus, Helmet, Testament, Youth Gone Mad, Psychotica, Da Willys, Last Crack and Angel Rot.
Country: New York City, USA
Years Active: 1985-1998
Song: "El Phantasmo And The Chicken-Run Blast-O-Rama"
Album: "Astro-Creep: 2000"
Year: 1995
Label(s): Geffen Records
This post's artist is from the May 2014 Mix. This is track #30.
You can download the May 2014 Mix#5 right here or get the new June Mix#6 here.
For fans of: Pantera, Ministry, Nirvana, Motorhead and a lot of other 90s grunge/metal.

Brian Chamblee knows. Maybe you just have to be old enough to remember a time in the early-mid 90s when there wasn't a lot of decent heavy music to listen to. Thank the metal gods for WHITE ZOMBIE.

One of the most influential memories I have is a plane trip from Canada to England when I was about 12, on which a guy whom I was sitting next to noticed my Pantera shirt and said I'd like this band called WHITE ZOMBIE. He pulled out a cd (which happened to be 'La Sexoricisto: Devil Music Vol. 1') and I was instantly hooked. Once we landed in England I was constantly scouring cd shops for this cd. When I found it, my parents didn't let me purchase it because the first track was titled, "Welcome To The Planet / Psychoholic Slag". They were not a fan. That certainly was instrumental in me NOT liking this album as much as I was only able to buy 'Astro-Creep: 2000' which became vastly superior in my mind as I only had access to that album. Therefore when speaking about WHITE ZOMBIE, I'm generally referring to 'Astro-Creep: 2000'.

Describing WHITE ZOMBIE is difficult, although hearing them and making your own description is probably pretty easy. For me, they sound like a cross between heavy grunge like Nirvana and Mudhoney mixed with parts of Pantera and Ministry. In the end, they just sound like WHITE ZOMBIE.

Now, let's be honest, Rob Zombie doesn't have a lot of melodic range. He also doesn't scream or growl or yell. It's like...a monotonous croon with rock/metal sass. Okay, there are times (especially on the older material) where he let's a scream go here and there, but generally he kind of sings/talks. In so many ways I shouldn't like these vocals, but I confess I love them. They are really catchy and fit the music to a fucking T. Speaking of which, the instrumental section of the band is superb. The heavy/chugging riffs in "Creature Of The Wheel", the pulsating industrial palm-muting of "I Zombie", the really cool sampled intro from one of the Charles Manson cult interviews in "Real Solution #9" and the sweet metallic/thrash riffs of "Super-Charger Heaven" are merely a few of the gems on this album.

I have to discuss my favourite song before this review is done. "El Phantasmo And The Chicken-Run Blast-O-Rama" is without a doubt my most cherished WHITE ZOMBIE track. It starts with what sounds like a ship tearing through a wormhole and then the opening riff kicks in and knocks you on your ass. The song then takes an interesting turn and injects some bouncy/jungle drums as well as some electronic samples. I'm guessing this was the creative catalyst for more of Rob Zombie's shittier songs in the future, but luckily this one remains untainted even after almost 2 decades.

This may not initially appeal to some people and others may dig it right away. I understand this style has been through the mainstream meat grinder since, but this band and 'Astro-Creep: 2000' were extremely important to my musical upbringing.

On one last note, I should advise against listening to "More Human Than Human" with your parents in the car. Things could get weird.

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DISCOGRAPHY

The band's discography is massive with a bunch of singles that I'm not going to list, check the full discography here!

1987 - Soul Crusher 12"LP

1989 - Make Them Die Slowly cd/cassette/12"LP

1992 - La Sexorcisto: Devil Music Vol. 1 cd/cassette/12"LP

1995 - Astro-Creep: 2000 cd/cassette/12"LP

1996 - Supersexy Swingin' Sounds cd/cassette/2x12"LP (remixes album)

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(1995) WHITE ZOMBIE - "Real Solution #9" (from 'Astro-Creep: 2000')

(1995) WHITE ZOMBIE - "Creature of the Wheel" (from 'Astro-Creep: 2000')

(1995) WHITE ZOMBIE - "El Phantasmo and the Chicken-Run Blast-O-Rama" (from 'Astro-Creep: 2000')

(1996) WHITE ZOMBIE - "The One" (from 'Escape From L.A.' soundtrack)

(1992) WHITE ZOMBIE - "Thunderkiss '65" (from 'La Sexocisto: Devil Music Vol. 1') official music video

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You can grab their stuff online. I ain't getting mixed up with major labels like this.

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MONUMENTS COLLAPSE

Band: MONUMENTS COLLAPSE
Genres: Punk / Rock / Post-Hardcore / Post-Metal / Doom
Related artists: Anopheli.
Country: San Francisco, California USA
Years Active: 2012-present
Song: "Pathos"
Album: "Breag Naofa split"
Year: 2014
Label(s): Halo Of Flies / Shove Records / 50 Year Storm Records
This post's artist is from the May 2014 Mix. This is track #25.
You can download the May 2014 Mix#5 right here or get the new June Mix#6 here.
For fans of: Tephra, Milanku, Lightbearer, Amber, Nous Etions, Rosetta, Buried Inside, Isis, Neurosis, Breag Naofa, Pelican, Finger Of God, Amenra, Arktika, Back When, Examination Of The..., Battlefields, Bokanovsky, Celeste, Curl Up And Die, Disappearer, Envy, Eyes Of Fire, Gojira, Gantz, Intronaut, The Ocean, Omega Massif, Snowblood, Switchblade, Titan, City Of Caterpillar and Funeral Diner.

I picked up a bunch of copies of the MONUMENTS COLLAPSE and Breag Naofa gatefold split 12" (get'em here) a few months back because I love Breag Naofa. I heard an extremely pleasant surprise when I spun the b-side of the record and jammed these San Francisco fellas. In fact, I would go as far as saying that their side is superior to the Breag Naofa side, although both bands dabble in a very similar vein of post-hardcore/post-metal with crushingly heavy vocals. I nabbed their self-titled 12"LP afterwards and haven't looked back since. I'm doing my best to get involved with the band's tentative 2015 LP release because they are so fucking good.

MONUMENTS COLLAPSE play an epic, atmospheric, driving, sludgy and heavy brand of post-hardcore/metal. If you dig bands like Isis, Amber, Tephra, Cult Of Luna and Buried Inside then you are going to love this. The debut LP is pretty good and reminds me of Neurosis and Fall Of Efrafa. but it's not until the split 12" with Breag Naofa that they really hit their stride.

The songs are absolutely massive and never let up. They sometimes build into a climax, but that generally starts from the beginning of the song, as opposed to a plodding section being placed in the middle of a track and slowing down the pace built by the foundation of the song. These guys build from the get-go and once they hit the good stuff they do not let up. There are even points where the riffs share similarities to Godspeed You! Black Empeoror, Funeral Diner and City Of Caterpillar because of the dreamy plucking.

From the split, I love "Starvation" but "Pathos" is a goddamn masterpiece. Check it out below and if you want to hear their older style and have 20 minutes to kill, hit up "Out Of Darkness" from their self-titled 12". There's also a great 11-minutes video for Pathos linked here.

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DISCOGRAPHY

2013 - Monuments Collapse 12"LP (stream here)

2014 - Breag Naofa split 12"LP (purchase here)

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(2014) MONUMENTS COLLAPSE - "Pathos" (from 'Breag Naofa' split)

(2013) MONUMENTS COLLAPSE - "Out Of Darkness" (from 'Monuments Collapse')

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MONUMENTS COLLAPSE additional links

Bandcamp

Facebook

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TETOLA93

Band: TETOLA93

Genres: Punk / Noise Rock / Grind / Emo-Violence / Hardcore / Metalcore / Screamo / Experimental / Thrash
Related artists: Atari, Agak and Totsugeki Sensya.
Country: 足利市, JAPAN
Years Active: 2003-2014
Song: "腐敗の一死報国 Dying For One's Corrupt Country"
Album: "Tetola93"
Year: 2014
Label(s): Zegema Beach Records / Meatcube Label / Echocanyon Records / ASLY Records
This post's artist is from the May 2014 Mix. This is track #8.
You can download the May 2014 Mix#5 right here or get the new June Mix#6 here.
For fans of: Killie, Louise Cyphre, Apoplexy Twist Orchestra, Tristan Tzara, MNWA, Heaven In Her Arms, Ampere, Orchid, Gas Up Yr Hearse!, Yaphet Kotto, Converge, Melt Banana, Envy, Spazz and Protest The Hero.

TETOLA93 were introduced to me when one of my partners in crime, Ryan from Meatcube Label, sent me their demo tracks for their new and final self-titled record. I immediately fell in love with band's ability to mesh caustic chaos with melody and interesting samples. This final album, I should mention, has all newly recorded versions of some of their old songs. Although the song titles are the same I can attest that they are sometimes completely different, making for a completely new experience. Not only that, but the recording quality of all the songs is way better.

TETOLA93 is truly the sound of the upcoming apocalypse. Not in any silly religious context, but the blindingly destructive path that we've set ourselves on as human beings that follow this insane idea that the "economy" is what should drive our species. This isn't growling with metal or doom music, this is chaotic and screamy with bursts of noise, beauty, clean singing, movie samples, the odd melody and a whole lot of aggression. The anger and passion are palpable. The best I can think of is a mixture between Killie, Yaphet Kotto and Melt Banana. Actually, that's pretty accurate.

As the band is very versatile, just checking a song or 2 on bandcamp isn't the best idea. The first track "Nagasaki Nightmare" is an acoustic-only track that leads into the short and crushing "take away the life there is no right" may cause your skin to burn due to it being abrasive and toxic as fuck, as it needs no more than a minute to leave the listener pummeled into submission, not unlike the following track "Falsified Habit". "Dying For One's Corrupt Country" was the song released early on Zegema Beach Records' Zampler #2 and is the best indication of the band's varying styles and overall sound. The song has some really good singing that compliments the sheer craziness and screaming from the other vocalist. This one-two vocal punch is part of what sets the band apart from others doing this style, as generally bands pass over a decent singer and opt purely for harsh vocals. "OVID" is on the longer side but never lets up for a minute. At times it reminds me of Refused and Phoenix Bodies, but it really jumps all over the place. My favourite part is from 2:04-2:40 when the band goes bananas. The vocals on many of the songs are absolutely unrelenting. This isn't light listening, that's for sure. "Meritocracy" is another great track that has heavy Yaphet Kotto influence on the vocals and instrumentals alike. "Someone" literally sounds like the soundtrack to a child's nightmare, with an Eminem-esque (say that 3x fast) beat and freaky Nintendo-core notes that sound like raindrops on the song. Very cool. Next up is "Anti-Japanese Newspaper" which has a woman crooning over a few keyboard notes before the instrumental section rears it's ugly head and builds a quick but epic finish to the song. "Sinks In Marsh" has some seriously deep and demented vocals that dominate the last half of the song and must emanate from a different vocalist, because its

I find myself walking around the house daily just humming this very simple yet very catchy melody.
The instrumental song/movie clip that is "R. vs. Hippie"  the Japanese man cries and screams in anger right before the next track "Funeral Procession", that has a little girl speaking over a calming piano movement. Pretty engaging for a movie sample that I can't even understand and a simple piano melody. The song then is catapulted into epic, almost blackened, caustic screamo. This whirlwind of styles continues throughout the album, and some notable tracks are "Falsified Habit" and its really caustic vocals, "Dying For One's Corrupt Country" with its balance of melody and chaos, "take away the life there is no right" for its unrelenting pace, "OVID" breaks the 3-minute barrier and the epic monster that is the closer, "Funeral Procession".

Takatori, the bass player, has a distro called The Scythe Will Rust Away that can be found here. He imports a crazy amount of emo-violence into Japan.

So if you dig any of the bands mentioned above in the for fans of section, chances are you will really enjoy this new/final record by TETOLA93.  Order from Zegema Beach Records here. If you live in the US pick it up from Ryan at Meatcube here. At the time of this post both of labels give you the option of getting the special edition LP which includes a cdr of the songs. If you'd like to read an interview that Ryan had with the band, check out this page and click on the pictures of the zine to open each page.

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DISCOGRAPHY

Click )==>here<==( to download the band's out of print discography in mp3 form.

2008 - 非常事態宣言 1st Demo cdEP
2008 - Phone / Ao 3-way split cdEP

2010 - 2010-11-14 2nd Demo cd

2012 - Visyaaa split cdLP (order here)
2012 - 3rd Demo cdEP

2014 - Tetola93 cd/12"LP (stream here and order here)

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(2014) TETOLA93 - "腐敗の一死報国 (Dying for One's Corrupt Country)" (from 'Tetola93')

(2014) TETOLA93 - "改竄された習性 (Falsified Habit)" (from 'Tetola93')

(2014) TETOLA93 - "OVID" (from 'Tetola93')

(2014) TETOLA93 - "take away the life there is no right" (from 'Tetola93')

(2012) TETOLA93 - "改竄された習性" (from 'Visyaaa' split)

(2010) TETOLA93 - "The Habit Was Tampered With" (from '2010-11-14' 2nd Demo)

(2008) TETOLA93 - "World of Satan village" (from '非常事態宣言' 1st Demo)

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TETOLA93 out-of-print discography mp3 download / additional links

Stream the new LP here

Out of print discography here

Their amazing Japanese distro here

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***SECRET SMOKER exclusive interview***

Band: SECRET SMOKER

Genres: Punk Rock / Screamy Hardcore / 90s Emo / Post-Hardcore
Related artists: Billy The Living, We Are The Living, The Human Record, The Jenaset, Code Duello, Brown Leaf Vertigo, Four Square, Sad Idea, Whimee and Girl Scout Heroin.
Country: Baton Rouge, USA
Years Active: 2010-present
Song: "Mt. Failure" (unmastered)
Album: "Alarms And Controls split"
Year: 2014
Label(s): Zegema Beach Records / Protagonist Records / Adagio830 / Hungry Ghost Collective
This post's artist is from the May 2014 Mix. This is track #27.
You can download the May 2014 Mix#5 right here or get the new June Mix#6 here.
For fans of: 1.6 Band, 400 Years, Bear Vs. Shark, Lincoln, Current, Cursive, Braid, Small Brown Bike, Hot Water Music, Q And Not U, North Of America, Hoover and The Exploder.

SECRET SMOKER seems as much like a temple frequented in order to transcend genres, negativity as well as preconceived notions and ideas about music as it is a band has been around for 4 years now. They put out a killer record last year entitled 'Terminal Architecture' that is a textbook for honest, intelligent, engaging and passionate punk music.

The band has 2 new releases coming out before the end of the year; a split 7" with Alarms And Controls (that I/Zegema Beach Records will be helping put out) as well as a new full-length on Protagonist Records. They have already recorded 4 new songs which I've been jamming for a few months and are the perfect extension and continuation from what they did with their last LP. I've also heard a demo from the forthcoming LP and it's ridiculous.

Okay, let's quickly talk about 'Terminal Architecture' before delving into Billy Thompson's SECRET SMOKER interview, linked below. First, these guitar riffs are in a league of their own. They're not necessarily laden with solos or insanely fast, but they are beautifully constructed, original, catchy and dissonant all at the same time. The end of "Volume Diss-course" is a prime example with swirling guitars that border on something you might have heard on the legendary City Of Caterpillar LP. The vocals are at the forefront as well. The lyrics are excellent and eloquently discuss topics from different perspectives and don't sound cliched in the least. Billy really hits a lot of different styles, including full on screaming, gruff yelling, crooning and whatever you would call "Hot Water Music"-singing. The last half of "Sight In Sound" is an excellent example of the band's ability to sing with emotion, not necessarily perfection, as Mark takes the vocal lead on this song. The track is the winner for best sing-along and really brings bands like Hot Water Music, Cursive and Bear Vs. Shark to mind. Expanding on that, I think SECRET SMOKER could be likened to Cursive in the fact that they are putting a very new and fresh spin on punk and rock, as well as emotive hardcore and screamo. The bass riffs rarely copy the guitars and do their own thing, making the music fit together very nicely.

I have yet to read a negative thing about the band, so chances are you (whoever you are) will like this. Check'em out! If you're still on the fence read this interview I had with Billy (vocals/bass) of SECRET SMOKER. He also has started recording his own solo material under the moniker Billy The Living, which you can and should listen to here. He's one of the most honest and inspiring people in punk right now. Here's an excerpt from the interview:

OMSB - Which bands would you recommend checking out?
BILLY - All of them. Listen to everything open and without ego.  If you don’t like it now, come back to it later and retry. I still shudder to think that I missed so many great records when I was younger because I wanted them to fit into what I wanted at that time. This was great a mistake for me when I was young. I wanted music to reflect who I was which is a consumerist self centered unenlightened vacuum.  There is no change or dynamic when one approaches music that way.  Now I try listen to everything open. There is no product identity associated with it. There is no genre identity attached to it. My preferences are always changing.  I like honest music.

Click here for the

***SECRET SMOKER Interview***

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DISCOGRAPHY

2012 - Virginia On Duty / We Are The Vulture / Nothing! Nothing! Nothing! split cassette

2013 - Terminal Architecture 12"LP

2014 - Alarms And Controls split 7"

2014 - NEW 12"LP (currently untitled)

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(2014) SECRET SMOKER - "Mt. Failure" unmastered (from 'Alarms And Controls' split)

(2013) SECRET SMOKER - "Volume Diss-course" (from 'Terminal Architecture')

(2013) SECRET SMOKER - "Bench Drop" (from 'Terminal Architecture')

(2013) SECRET SMOKER - "Sight in Sound" (from 'Terminal Architecture')

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SECRET SMOKER additional links

Bandcamp

Facebook

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