This podcast was recorded on Saturday January 28th, 2017 in Dave's living room after a fantastic Egyptian/Lebanese meal. The podcast came about because I found out that Adrian had never seen Terminator 2, to which I lost my marbles. We decided to do half of the podcast and then watch T2, after which we would conclude with the second half of the podcast. Stream/download it here.
Also worth nothing for folks in the Canadian province of Ontario, or should I say Toronto, more specifically, is that TERRY GREEN is playing a show at Smiling Buddha on Friday February 3rd, 2017. The show is for Stresser but also features TERRY GREEN, Wimp City and Keylime which you can click on here for the event page and contact info.
Label(s): Magic Bullet Records / Robotic Empire / Handstand Records This post's artist is from the January 2017 Mix. This is track #11.
You can download: the January 2017 Mix#1 right hereor get the new February 2017 Mix#2 here.
Fuckin' CRESTFALLEN, goddamn. This widely underappreciated metalcore/screamo/grind band released some ridiculously good raging, screamy hardcore from 2001 until 2003 on labels such as Robotic Empire and Magic Bullet Records. The general sound of Machina Genova spliced with grind of Clancy Six and the piercing shrieks of Oktober Skyline should be right up readers of this blog's alley. Featuring a member of PG.99 and Pygmy Lush, the band released a split with similar sounding Waifle in 2001, the quintessential LP called 'Streaks of Terror' in 2002 and then in 2003 they dropped 'A Date With Elvis' (which includes covers of Minor Threat and The Cramps) and was later included with the excellent 2003 'Crestfallen' EP.
The previously mentioned 'Crestfallen' EP and the 'Streaks of Terror' LP are where you'll find CRESTFALLEN at their best. It was the 2002 LP that initially peaked my interest back in 2004 with songs like "Nine to Five RSVP" and "Never Say Never!", but "Scouring for Any Signs of Life" is faaaaaantasitc, with its melodic intro that softens even further at 1:40 but injects some talking/screaming. All of that culminates at 2:15 and rides that wave until three minutes when shit gets real dirty and eventually leads to the climax at 3:55 that is fucking ballistic. This bleeds into anguished screams of, "This pulse will beat again despite being forgotten!" which you'll find yourself repeating during the day. The final track, "Disappearing Act", is another epic jam that also clocks in at over six minutes but sheds the melody for panicked chords and raging vocals, although there is that groovy middle section that explodes into a killer riff at 3:45 that Lentic Waters must have studied extensively.
Their 2003 EP is violent, dark and metallic and is over much too quickly. Opener "Backlashed" brings to mind early The Minor Times with those demonic screams over metal influenced hardcore, although CRESTFALLEN speed it up quite a bit, bordering on grind territory although perhaps not quite reaching it. Let's be real here, "Rogue Rodeo" is the shit. Holy smokes this beautifully constructed piece of death is awesome. With its menacing demeanor, amazingly screamy vocals and chuggy/mathy hardcore instrumentals, its a sick mix of Oktober Skyline and Machina Genova.
To quickly sum up, if you like your hardcore screamy or your screamo metallic, this should be just what you're looking for.
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DISCOGRAPHY Click )==>here<==( to download the band's complete discography in mp3 form.
2001 - Waifle split 7"EP
2002 - Streaks of Terror cd/12"LP
2002 - Living Posthumously cdEP
Genres: Punk / Hardcore / Emo / Emotive Hardcore / Screamo / Emo-violence / Skramz Related artists: ?. Country: Budapest HUNGARY Years Active: 2015-present Song: "Wernicke’s" Album: "4-Way split" Year: 2016 For fans of: I Hate Sex, Saetia, Amygdala, Nayru, Inkwell, Autarkeia, Tristan Tzara, The Apoplexy Twist Orchestra, Louise Cyphre, The Truth About Dreaming, Under A Sky So Blue, This Cage We Call A Chest and Eva Ras aka PROPER SCREAMO.
Label(s): Self Released / The Burden Of Reflecting Records This post's artist is from the January 2017 Mix. This is track #9.
You can download: the January 2017 Mix#1 right hereor get the new February 2017 Mix#2 here.
PEPI RÖSSLER, named after a TV Chef (no joke, read the interview below!) began sending me their material for review as soon as the band began in 2015. I followed them for almost two years, as now they are on hiatus due to members' schedules and whatnot. They play dark and brooding screamy hardcore/emo-violence from Hungary and were discussed on an earlier OMSB podcast with Jimmy from Old Soul (linked here).
With a heavy nod to late 90s screamo/emo-violence such as The Apoplexy Twist Orchestra, Saetia and Tristen Tzara, PEPI RÖSSLER also injected some great, epic and atmospheric instrumental passages that work wonders by giving the songs a lift or providing breathing room. Some prime examples are "Interlude", "Global", the opening of "Wernicke’s" and "Untitled", as well as the beginning and ending of "Vehicle of Confession". Their final 10" '4-Way split' is very interesting, as it houses the aforementioned "Wernicke’s" along with the acidic and very Inkwell sounding "Anomic" as well as the extremely chill "Global". From the 'Demo', "Womb" gets pretty powerviolence sounding a third of the way through while the swirling and driving ending gets me salivating every time I hear it. "Prologue" is another screamy and heavy song that reminds me a bit of Under A Sky So Blue while "Shape/Distance" isn't all that different, but has deeper roots in the late 90s Ebullition sound. Although I definitely dig the 'Demo' and the '4-Way split', that Camp Koala split is my fucking jam. "Uncross" is unreal and summons the sounds of Amygdala and Tristen Tzara. There's also the screamy "Windows and Trees" that reminds me more of early Saetia than anything else, especially those screechy vocals.
Since I've been in contact with the band for a few years, I recently asked Erik to answer a few questions about PEPI RÖSSLER. The interview follows.
We are pepi rössler from Budapest, Hungary
and we have existed for about two years.
2) How did you become interested in punk/hardcore/screamo music?
I guess we all have been listening to
various kinds of metal, punk and hardcore music for a long time and just like
anybody else in this scene you arrive at these kinds of bands for the same
reasons, their message and the emotions their music carries just falls in line
with how and what you feel on the verge of adulthood.
3) What influences did you bring to Pepi Rössler? Well as I said we all listen to a wide
range of music, but there are many overlapping genres. We all like bands like
Darkthrone or classic screamo bands like Orchid or Saetia so we drew
inspiration from bands like that whilst trying to add our own sound and
songwriting ideas.
4) What do you think Pepi Rössler sounded like?
Once we played with a band called Materic
from Russia and after the show they said we sounded like Tristan Tzara. Also,
shrieking guitar feedback was a major part of our stuff I guess.
5) What does the band name Pepi Rossler mean?
Pepi Rössler is a TV chef from WS Teleshop.
We were fascinated by his work so we borrowed his name for our band.
6) How did Pepi Rossler change over the course of your releases?
After we recorded our demo our bassist,
Dimbes joined us. I think over our releases we started writing our songs more
consciously and developed a sound for ourselves. Also, touring and playing
shows resulted in turning just a bunch of songs into an actual consistent piece
of sound.
7) What was the best Pepi Rossler show?
I guess we all experienced them in very
different ways and so I can't name the "best" show. For me personally
it was the show we played in Darmstadt for the one guest that came to check us
out. It was by far our most emotional show we ever played. Also, both shows
that we played in Klagenfurt with UTFETH were amazing.
8) Why is the band on hiatus?
😎 One of our members is currently traveling
abroad so we don't have rehearsals, but we might record some songs or play some
shows in the future. The band isn't officially defunct, we are just doing other
things at the moment.
9) What are your opinions about the world in general?
Well that question is not easy to answer.
The world is really complicated and for that reason everybody has different
views of it for sure. I guess no scenario exists in which everybody on earth
will be equally happy and have equal rights. At the same time this unstable
nature is what keeps everything moving, inspires human relationships and urges
everybody to do shit.
10) What are you doing now?
Most of us have other bands besides pepi
rössler so we work on those and they might or might not come up to the surface
at some point in the near future.
Label(s): Stickfigure Records / Guevara Entertainment This post's artist is from the January 2017 Mix. This is track #2.
You can download: the January 2017 Mix#1 right hereor get the new February 2017 Mix#2 here.
ME AND HIM CALL IT US were an amazingly original and mindfuck of a band from Atlanta that recorded between 2004 and 2006. The panicked, screechy, pulverizing and simply overwhelming grindy hardcore continues to heavily influence chaotic screamy hardcore and emo-violence bands around the world (although perhaps primarily in America), such as .gif from god, Letters To Catalonia and SeeYouSpaceCowboy. Seeing this band live back in the day must have been physically and mentally taxing.
All six albums (I'm not counting the 'Analogue Demo's' as an album) are blown out and almost excessively explosive, 'The (C:) Drive of Love Stories', 'Loss' and 'Friends Applaud, The Comedy is Over' are the audio equivalent of professional temper tantrums of the most brutal nature. The first two are very emo-violence and grindcore driven while the latter sounds just like Destroyer Destroyer. When my friend from Google+ showed me this band during the first few months of this blog's existence, ME AND HIM CALL IT US used to be too much for me most of the time, but now it's exactly what I crave. Some recordings are a tad more controlled and dare I say relaxed (comparatively speaking, of course). It ended up surprising me how many of my favourite tracks were generally from their demo material, most notably the very precise 2005 'Meadow Drive Sessions', with unreal songs like "Pallbearer", "Craig #2" and "Craig #1", although "New Song" and "Tragedy" are excellent jams, too.
There has been a recent resurgence in discussion of ME AND HIM CALL IT US, most likely due to the band being a primary influence for .gif from god. Their 'Defragmented...Reformatted' LP could probably be condensed into a clip that would sound just like the final breakdown in "Innocent Bystanders Watched In Horror As Peter Jennings Drew His Murder Weapon" aka the ultimate ME AND HIM CALL IT US track. Stop reading and jam that crazy ass song right fucking now.
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DISCOGRAPHY Click )==>here<==( to download the band's complete discography in mp3 form.
2004 - The (C:) Drive of Love Stories cdrLP
2005 - Meadow Drive Sessions EP
2005 - Demo's EP
2005 - Self Recorded Analogue Demo's EP
2006 - Loss cdLP
2006 - The Blue Letter split cdr/7"EP
2006 - Friends Applaud, The Comedy Is Over EP
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(2006) ME AND HIM CALL IT US - "Innocent Bystanders Watched In Horror As Peter Jennings Drew His Murder Weapon" (from 'Loss')
(2006) ME AND HIM CALL IT US - "P.S. I Love You" (from 'Loss')
(2006) ME AND HIM CALL IT US - "The Anticipation is Killing Me" (from 'Loss')
(2006) ME AND HIM CALL IT US - "Greener Grass" (from 'Friends Applaud, The Comedy is Over')
(2006) ME AND HIM CALL IT US - "Sincerity is Hard to Come By These Days" (from 'Friends Applaud, The Comedy is Over')
(2006) ME AND HIM CALL IT US - "Frostbit" (from 'The Blue Letter' split)
(2005) ME AND HIM CALL IT US - "The Weight" (from 'Demo's')
(2005) ME AND HIM CALL IT US - "Pallbearer" (from 'Meadow Drive Sessions')
(2005) ME AND HIM CALL IT US - "Craig #1" (from 'Meadow Drive Sessions')
(2004) ME AND HIM CALL IT US - "There Is No Question Mark Button On This Computer" (from 'The (C:) Drive of Love Stories')
(2004) ME AND HIM CALL IT US - "Infrared Light; Don't Talk to Me About Quantum Physics" (from 'The (C:) Drive of Love Stories')
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ME AND HIM CALL IT US out of print mp3 discography download
Label(s): Self Released / Kyeo Speaks / This post's artist is from the December 2016 Mix. This is track #6.
You can download: the January 2017 Mix#1 right hereor get the new February 2017 Mix#2 here.
I slept on this band for too long. Luckily I had enough sense to grab their discography back in early 2016 before they dropped their unreal final release 'Ten Thousand Leagues'.
With the band starting in 2010, that same year they released their 'Demo' that may or may not have also turned into a split with a band called Archetype but I'm not sure if that idea was fully actualized. The five songs are all good but none really stand out as favourites, most likely because it seems like TEN THOUSAND LEAGUES were still figuring out who they were. I think some bands more akin to the early work would be Lautrec, Flashbulb Memory and Dream Caste. "Timepiece" has a part at 1:30ish that sounds (especially vocally) like the spastic and paranoid sounds of Desiderata the while "Blank Scripture" gets pretty fucking heavy at 1:22 and foreshadows the violent material to come on later releases, as does "Forfeit This Routine".
In 2011 they released a 'split with John Cota' which is pretty decent but the opener "Burning Victim" takes the cake with very impressive dark, bassy and screamy hardcore. In 2012 the band embraced their anger and got crazy heavy and chaotic. A prime example of this, much like the aforementioned "Burning Victim", is opener "Robin Scherbatsky". This little ditty is devastating but does take quick breathers here and there to gather more steam for another explosive tantrum. A few tracks on here are demos from the 2016 album which I should move on to now...
The powerful, surging nature of TEN THOUSAND LEAGUES was perfectly captured on their final 'Ten Thousand Leagues' full length. This self title annihilates the listener with cathartic and draining screamo not unlike Level Plane Records' Joshua Fit For Battle and my friends in Endamori. Tracks like "Bern", "Prat", "Jennifer" and "Canada" are fantastic songs that make me fucking giddy as hell every time I jam them. It's also worth nothing that this release was my #8 LP of 2016 and the proceeds from online sales went straight to Standing Rock. Although it was released in 2016 it was technically written from 2012-2014 and recorded in 2014. Why the wait? I dunno.
Players: Shahman (release party), Slow Mass, Fond and The World That Summer
Genres covered: punk, experimental indie rock, shoegaze, emo, post-hardcore, post-metal
THE WORLD THAT SUMMER
This was our last day of "tour" (hah!) and it was a blast. We got to play Soybomb a second time as THE WORLD THAT SUMMER before its (most likely) untimely demise in January of 2017. Getting to the venue from Montreal (show review here) was no sweat but getting home afterwards wasn't so easy, as we came across some flaming wreckage coming into Mississauga. I think we played pretty well, albeit fast and angry because it took us forever to get things ready cuz of a borrowed amp wiring fiasco. Nonetheless we just cut one song and blasted through as quick as we could, but what came of it was us enjoying playing even more. Especially Jesse, cuz he was frustrated. An angry Jesse means an awesome drummer for the night. Here is the first song on our upcoming 10" split with Nionde Plågan that we should have in our hands in February. It's called "What is Dead May Never Die" and is a high five to Game Of Thrones and a massive middle finger to people in power.
Here are the first two FOND videos from the band's (ex-Animal Faces) very first show. This logical progression from the final three Animal Faces releases, it is the same two on guitar/bass with Rob from Shahman on drums. The songs are generally post-rock/emo shoegaze with a dreamy, hazy garage rock twist. I've got more videos from their show on November 30th in Hamilton so those will be posted in a week or two with the Shahman interview.
I'd never even heard of SLOW MASS before, but holy fuck they blew me away. Ten seconds into their opener "Dark Dark Energy" I was digging hard, with perfectly placed plucking and a soft/loud dynamic that has hit single written all over it, although I'm sure that won't be the case :( The band plays an amazing mixture of Cursive, Worst Gift and perhaps even Weezer inspired indie rock with some thick, hammering cuts mixed in with the ultimate groovy songs. Check out the opener below but be sure to jam "Nice But Not Kind" as it is very different but just as amazing. Their 12"LP 'Treasure Pains' was an accidental exclusion from my top albums of 2016 because I somehow erased their name when compiling my list. God fucking damn it.
SHAHMAN is the collective effort of brothers Pete and Rob who reside in Toronto. They have been making music for a long time and it shows. This was their release show for the "Fragments of a Distant Light" tape LP (which I have in stock here, as well as their last two 12"s here and here). It awesome. If you like dreamy, weaving and intoxicating atmospheric indie rock then holy moly this is for you. They also run Art Of The Uncarved Block (a label). Look out for an extensive interview with the twins in the next two weeks!
Label(s): Fashion Machine This post's artist is from the January 2017 Mix. This is track #4.
You can download: the January 2017 Mix#1 right hereor get the new February 2017 Mix#2 here.
ARKATA recorded a handful of releases from 2000 to 2002 in a violent yet subtely melodic clusterfuck of hardcore, metal and screamo. The Toronto band sounded almost like a The Bled, Loftus, Weak Wrists and The Assistant conglomerate, but the closest and fairest comparisons would be Cold Craving and Loftus.
Their early work certainly does not pale in comparison to their later work, and literally everything by the band is worth checking out, even if demo versions seem to pop up regularly. The debut EP 'Box' was created in 2000 but mostly rerecorded for the 2001 'Your Lack of Attendance', save one song, the relatively chill "What's My Number?". Despite being the predecessor to an excellent sophomore album, they still retain their punch and are an interesting listen even after hearing the fleshed out and tightened 2001 material. Speaking of the 2001 material, 'Your Lack of Attendance' is seven songs of perfectly balanced metallic and screamy hardcore. Four of the songs were rerecorded and three others are brand spankin' new, including three of the best songs, "We are the Faithful", "Own Private Chaos" and "Money Calls It". "Own Private Chaos" is my personal favourite which juxtaposes dreamy and soft instrumentals (see Old Soul) with the danceable but heavy as fuck breakdowns of Loftus. The intro is intricately woven clean instrumentals and screaming (think Swan Of Tuonela or maybe even Saetia) until 1:08 when the first catchy-ass breakdown hooks hard. "The Absence of Truth" is the closer and packs a fucking wallop not but 14 seconds in, as you've got the first avalanche of menacing breakdowns followed by some passionate screaming of, "It's all that I have!" and closing with the audio equivalent of death at exactly two minutes in.
2002 was the final year for ARKATA, but the Toronto band recorded a bunch of songs (14 over 3 releases, to be exact) before their demise. The first was the 'Fabric/Portrait' two-song EP which is good but doesn't match the beautiful balancing act of the much aforementioned 'Your Lack of Attendance'. The next four-song EP titled 'The Last Dance' is excellent and is a worthy continuation of the 2001 release. The songs "Atmosphere" and "Diminutive" are killer tracks, as the former is really fucking dark (those dual vocals and stop/start thing they got going at 42 seconds in are stupid good) while the latter houses some of the most epic and melodic passages ARKATA ever concocted, a prime example being the section beginning 36 seconds in and again at 1:25. The final release is a collection of the demos from a session for 'Where & When' that contain a total of 8 tracks and may or may not have been intended for a final LP. The demos range in quality, with some vocals sounding just a bit off at points, but songs like "Down With Pants", "Weiners n' Tang" and "The Trunk of My Car" are fucking bangers. "The Trunk of My Car" is my personal favourite on this final recording even though it's just the new demo of "Atmosphere". It seems pretty noticeable at this point that ARKATA had shed most of their early screamo tendencies and immersed themselves more in their metallic post-hardcore sound. This shift is kind of like listening to 'Hugs and Drugs' era Loftus followed by early Curl Up And Die.
I've only just discovered this hidden gem. Bask in this with me, it's awesome.
2001 - Your Lack of Attendance EP (stream/donate/download here)
2002 - Fabric/Portrait EP (stream/donate/download here)
2002 - The Last Dance EP (stream/donate/download here)
2002 - Where & When demo EP (stream/donate/download here)
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(2002) ARKATA - "Atmosphere" (from 'The Last Dance')
(2002) ARKATA - "Diminutive" (from 'The Last Dance')
(2002) ARKATA - "Down With Pants" (from 'Where & When demo')
(2002) ARKATA - "Weiners 'n Tang" (from 'Where & When demo')
(2002) ARKATA - "Fabric" (from 'Fabric/Portrait')
(2001) ARKATA - "The Absence of Truth" (from 'Your Lack of Attendance')
A late addition to the show, this (I think) 7-piece came in as a 3-piece (guitar, violin and vocals/flute/additional guitar) which made so much more sense after I found out that they were short four members. The songs had moments of clarity and sections of awkward space, and I think the video linked below is a prime example. The first five minutes is fantastic and I love the lullaby of earthy, womby tranquility it provides, but the final four minutes seems to lack cohesion (likely due to more than 50% of the members being absent) and wandered to the point of me turning off the camera to conserve battery. I would love to see them fully formed.
We played with IN THE NAME OF HAVOC the month prior at this show and we were impressed, plus the members were nice people. Buuut what the hell, at this show we were not impressed, we were fucking blown away. Not only did the locals play newer material, they also sounded great and were tight as fuck. I was especially blown away by the drumming, dear lord.
This was a very fun show. We had a sound person so the videos sound more powerful than usual, I'd say. Although we chose a very sweet intro from Mr. Robot for the beginning of "What is Dead May Never Die", I've chosen our song "No Hugs for Lucas" from the upcoming 2x12" titled 'Eight Feet Under' that is currently at the plant. A million thanks to Max and Kenny for helping set up this show for us, it was an awesome night!
I knew Jonathan, the vocalist of the now defunct Nous Étions, before seeing CARCAJOU and I'd also heard the band's first demos from over a year earlier. Neither of those things prepared me for what was to come, because CARCAJOU fucking owned. Seriously I was blown away. The epic songs ranged from a few minutes to 10 and included storytelling, enough genre shifts to tilt a camel, amazing individual instrumental work (ranging from metal/hardcore to screamy jazz) as well as a commanding vocal presence by Jonathan and his myriad of screams, yells and growls. It should also be noted that all four videos below are good, but I just happened to not film the best two or three songs, so in all honesty these don't even do the band the justice they deserved from that night. Look the fuck out when these fine folks release their next record cuz it's going to floor you.
Label(s): Self Released / Ebullition Records / Excursions Into The Abyss This post's artist is from the December 2016 Mix. This is track #1.
You can download: the January 2017 Mix#1 right hereor get the new February 2017 Mix#2 here.
"Throw out all your Thursday records, this record is the true emo jams" is the quote I was greeted with on Interpunk by a single buyer review back in the day when they stocked the "0100101110100011100100100" 12"LP by PORTRAITS OF PAST. This long lost review will forever live in my mind, as the subsequent purchase of the LP opened up my ears to the groundwork laid for future screamo bands sharing the same members (Funeral Diner) as well as a plethora of other bands, most notably the recently reunited City Of Caterpillar and the Swedish powerhouse Vi Som Älskade Varandra Så Mycket.
Although the foundation was put down, there is literally no band that sounds like PORTRAITS OF PAST. They had such an unmistakable sound to them. The guitars had a metallic (not heavy metal), clangy and industrial tweak to them which made the band sound like they plugged in their guitars to some kind of bizarre musical factory assembly machine. That might sound like an insult, but it definitely isn't, as I don't think I could ever get PORTRAITS OF PAST mixed up with another band. I also love the shit out of their discography. The instrumentals aren't too far from Indian Summer's dreamy and intoxicating material, but are certainly on the heavier end of the spectrum. The vocals are top notch and screamed like someone recently stabbed in the leg with a jagged and possibly acid-dipped record shard. Aside from the emotionally charged screams there are a few sections with serene and distant clean singing.
Early PORTRAITS OF PAST, aka the 'Demo' tape and 'Bleed split' 7", was abrasive and raw with a fair amount of screechiness to it all, not unlike The Encyclopedia Of American Traitors, Inkwell, Makara and early Saetia.
The emotionally jarring wall of dark, driving, epic and screamy post-hardcore was perfectly encapsulated on '0100101110100011100100100', one of the most important screamo records of all time. A mindfuck of an opener, "KQED Equals Volvo" is 1:37 of raging, chaotic hardcore complete with frantic and dissonant instrumentals, ravenous vocals and general violence that are reminiscent of the unheralded greats Ruhaeda. "Bang Yer Head" is my go-to PORTRAITS OF PAST song. It opens much more optimistic than any other song on the record, but by 27 seconds the band has lost interest in simple melodies and opt for batshit crazy hardcore that sounds as if City Of Caterpillar were way less patient and much more upset. This chaos ensues although it dips back in to accentuating the scattered fragments of atmospheric post-hardcore, and does so beautifully, for the entirety of the song's 7:13 duration. "The Control Freak" is relatively short for the band at 2:57 and includes some of those aforementioned clean vocals, with the entire ordeal packing quite a punch. "Inspirations of a Sinkhole Mentality" is a builder, complete with cracked, deserted stretches of barren landscapes as well as powerful, focused and stimulating sections of screamy hardcore. "The Outlook is Bleak" begins like most early Funeral Diner songs, with guiding winds that suddenly amalgamate into a massive, swirling tornado. This intro is one minute in length but completely mesmerizing as it bleeds in to the proceeding section as it saunters through the soft/hard dynamic until 3:30 when shit gets real dark and devastating but closes post-four minutes in classic PORTRAITS OF PAST style. "Snicker Snicker" is the longest outing, clocking in at 7:46, followed by my now favourite PORTRAITS OF PAST jam "Something Less Than Intended", which is another lengthy number at 6:08 that closes this masterpiece. The slow but methodical introduction to this is awkward, expansive as well as engaging and soon bows out to usher in the passionate, unrestrained, explosive energy that made PORTRAITS OF PAST one of the most important screamo bands of all time, cuz this shit is just mindblowing, plain and simple.
In 2008 the band announced a reunion which led to shows and a new EP titled 'Cypress Dust Witch'. I was relatively skeptical at first, but "Fire Song" is a very promising start to generally shitty post-decade reunion material conjured by most bands. It is quite noticeable that PORTRAITS OF PAST kept their unique sound but added an uncountable amount of tweaks and micro evolutions. "Cypress Dust Witch" is probably the closest thing to what the 1996 LP sounded like, although the increased production and general songwriting skills are enhanced. "Thought to an End" is the best song on here which boasts some killer riffs and deathbed cries. "Cypress Dust Witch II - Bridge" is another incredible song and follow up to track three, as it rocks like an epic extension of the final ...Who Calls So Loud albums.
Haven't heard PORTRAITS OF PAST? Throw out whatever fuckin' emo jam is in your hands and come back with me to the beginning. Know all about'em? Well I'd strongly suggest listening again because this review sparked a fire in me for the band that I haven't felt since I picked up their quintessential LP back in 2002.
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DISCOGRAPHY Click )==>here<==( to download the band's complete discography in mp3 form.
1993 - Demo cassetteEP
1994 - Bleed split 7"EP
1996 - 0100101110100011100100100 cd/12"LP
2009 - Cypress Dust Witch cd/12"EP
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(1996) PORTRAITS OF PAST - "Something Less Than Intended" (from '0100101110100011100100100')
(1996) PORTRAITS OF PAST - "Bang Yer Head" (from '0100101110100011100100100')
(1996) PORTRAITS OF PAST - "KQED Equals Volvo" (from '0100101110100011100100100')
(2009) PORTRAITS OF PAST - "Thought to an End" (from 'Cypress Dust Witch')
(2009) PORTRAITS OF PAST - "Cypress Dust With II - Bridge" (from 'Cypress Dust Witch')
(2008) PORTRAITS OF PAST - Reunion show full live set
(1994) PORTRAITS OF PAST - "Journeyman" (from 'Bleed' split)
(1993) PORTRAITS OF PAST - Demo (full album)
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PORTRAITS OF PAST out of print mp3 discography download
