ZEGEMA BEACH RECORDS Fest
Show #1 / Friday June 2nd, 2017
RESPIRE / THE ULTIMATE SCREAMO BAND / COMMUOVERE / MASSA NERA / TERRY GREEN / SARIN / GROWING FINS
You can also find a plethora of phenomenally filmed videos by Brandon Douglas who also tapped into the mixer with vocals for videos that sound much better than the ones I filmed. I have linked his videos as *BD* after my videos.
GROWING FINS
This was the final band added to the fest after Coma Regalia had to drop due to passport issues. The band is local to Toronto and play a mathy mix of twinkly emo and hardcore with two primary vocalists, and the drummer and bassist sprinkling additional singing throughout. I would compare their style to I Love Your Lifestyle but with more screaming and less vocal melodies, as well as spreading out the instrumentals to cover more soft and heavy sections, with an obvious leaning towards the heavier. The band got really into the set and eventually the guitarist (Ben) on the right lay down his guitar and just started singing into the mic, with Connor jumping around in the centre. I am extremely thankful that Connor (guitar/vocals) got in touch with me about playing because they were great and D-Beatstro was pretty packed right from the get-go. They recently went on a short Canada stint with fellow comrades Terry Green, who played fifth this night and can be viewed further below in this post. GROWING FINS recently released 'Oakcrest' in late 2016.
SARIN
I fucking love SARIN. The six-piece (keyboardist hidden in the videos) also hail from Toronto/Brampton and have been on my radar ever since I heard their previous EP ‘Burial Dream’ and subsequently asked them to play The World That Summer’s split cassette release show back in April of 2016. On July 25th, 2017 the band will be releasing their debut 12”LP ‘Darker Lakes’ on my label Zegema Beach Records in conjunction with Arkan Records, Dead Punx Records, RIP In Peace Records and Dingleberry Records. They have released a music video and digital stream for two songs from the forthcoming record including “Ice Wrought” (video linked here) and “Amber Guide” (song/post linked here). Their obvious Isis influence has been honed over the past two years and with new members they sound better than ever. I recorded their down-tuned, new version of “As Well As the Body” from their ‘Burial Dream’EP and the instrumental “Embers Circling Downward” from the forthcoming 12”. Both guitarists and the gang are always very fun to watch live but they definitely had additional energy this show with Dave (my very good friend/guitars/vocals) looking downright menacing and letting the driving, epic sound fuel his imposing and intense movements around the floor. By far the best set I’ve ever seen them play mixed with beautifully balanced work by the sound tech Forest at D-Beatstro you’d be silly not to jam these two videos, especially the huge “Embers Circling Downward” that are rooted and led by Brett’s 80s horror synths (think any John Carpenter movie). I should also state that I am very honoured to be the record label taking the lead on ‘Darker Lakes’ because it’s fucking fantastic, with six incredible songs, beautiful artwork and snazzy blue vinyl.
COMMUOVERE
Let’s be real, since COMMUOVERE played that show (linked here) back in April of 2017 with La Luna and Foxmoulder at D-Beatstro, Toronto (and a lot of the internet, too) has been salivating over this Quebec band. The spastic, screamy three-piece doesn’t even need a bassist and they come off sounding like either dreamy emo or caustic emo-violence, depending on the song. Gabriel (drums) and Jean-Christophe (guitar) both played in Lonely Animals, another, now defunct, screamo band that had the honour of playing the only Crydome show in existence back in December of 2014 (linked here) but COMMUOVERE takes their awesomeness to new heights. The band is extremely passionate while playing and all three members handle screaming duties at one point or another along with Marie (vocals) that creates a endless web of cathartic, controlled chaos. The band recently released their latest three-song cassette titled ‘Du besoin de disparaître de soi’ (which you can pick up here) and hinted during their April Toronto show that they were writing for an upcoming LP that I was sure to add my name to the label hat assuming that they want help from Zegema Beach Records. If you haven’t heard this band yet or you’ve just been fast asleep, I’d recommend checking them out asap as they are blowing up quick. My highlight of their set? Marie not getting dubbed by Jean-Christophe into the wall mid-set like the last D-Beatstro show ;)
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Buy: new tape / 5-way split tape / Jeromes Dream comp
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Buy: new tape / 5-way split tape / Jeromes Dream comp
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THE ULTIMATE SCREAMO BAND
Let’s start with the obvious. THE ULTIMATE SCREAMO BAND is one you likely have a predisposition for loving or hating, and the hate seems to stem from the band name, which is fucking ridiculous. The point of the band name was a joke, as THE ULTIMATE SCREAMO BAND began as Arch’s solo project and only recently morphed into a full band for live settings. I’ll repeat that, solo-fucking-project. It’s a joke. Arch is a wonderful human being who started creating Orchid influenced screamo back in 2015 with the release of the ‘La saison du champignon’ on EP via a run of just 70 7”s (I’ve got like two left, so pick one up asap here). I managed to capture the entire set in a string of 8 videos all linked below, spanning the first EP and the second release, a split 7” with Lora from the Ukraine. The set was extremely intense, tight and happened to include Arch downing a full jar of kalamata olives between songs. Alex from the now defunct post-hardcore/post-metal/screamo band Nous Étions played guitar and a fill-in drummer Robin played fantastically to create a whirlwind of noisy, intense screamo/emo-violence that also included one instrumental jam. Man, I fucking love THE ULTIMATE SCREAMO BAND and hope to help release literally everything he/they do in the future.
TERRY GREEN
TERRY GREEN are my boys. I love the music. I love the band. I love the people in the band. I even love their significant others (Andie Bee, I’m looking in your direction). Along with the Sarin 12”LP coming out soon, the TERRY GREEN ‘LP’ 12” will be released shortly thereafter on Zegema Beach Records, RIP In Peace Records, Zilp Zalp Records and UpWind Productions. I would expect the full thing to be streaming in August with an official release date later that month. The six songs housed on the 12” have been perfected over the past three years and are a testament to TERRY’s love of emo, screamo, post-hardcore, grind (although not very obvious) and even black metal. They had to cut one song due to time this night, but they tore through tracks “I”, “II”, “III” and “IV” with their always energetic jumping around, flailing, screaming and bloody hands (Matt!). I would call them screamo/post-hardcore but TERRY is adamant that they are a post-hardcore band who screams. Considering I’ve sold them a ton of screamo stuff from ZBR and the distro I’ve got to include that word once, despite Adrian’s likely headshake at reading this. In addition to filming “I”, “III” and “IV” (aka Instant Relief) which you can view below, I have been lucky enough to premiere two of their songs on the most recent Zamplers, with “I” being on #8 ‘I’m Doing My Part’ (linked here) and “II” most recently on ‘You Don’t Approve? Well, Too Bad’ (linked here). It was surreal and saddening to know that this was likely the last time I’ll see the band play in a live setting, as they have no scheduled shows before I leave and the 12” release party will definitely happen after I’m in New Zealand. No other band has played anywhere close to as many Zegema Beach Records shows as TERRY GREEN. I’m gonna miss you lot.
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The sole U.S.A. band of the night was MASSA NERA, playing their first show outside of the country to this point – actually, their only show outside of their home state of New Jersey. A very interesting and important note to keep in mind (although you can’t tell in the slightest) is that a few months prior they lost their bassist and had the incredible Fred step in on bass, but also had their primary vocalist quit mere days before they left for this Fest. Their amazing set, as well as upcoming 12”LP, speaks volumes about their talent as most members are in their very early 20s. They play a beautifully intricate style of screamo in the vein of their primary influence Off Minor but manage to counteract the lack of jazz with complex layers of guitars as well as some behemoth moments, most notably from 1:30 to 2:30 in live video #4. I filmed their set in its entirety, with our boy Adam getting right up and cozy with the band and rocking the fuck out which inadvertently and unintentionally captured the minds of almost everyone in attendance. Tom Schlatter from What Of Us pointed out the next night that it was crazy to see a young, new band from New Jersey’s shirts been worn by a ton of audience and band members the following evening. The upcoming MASSA NERA 12” will be released in the coming months via Zegema Beach Records, Middle Man Records, Dingleberry Records and All Sounds Records. I’ve just seen the artwork by the stupidly talented Connie Sgarbossa of SeeYouSpaceCowboy fame for it and the entire thing is going to leave you with strained jaw and bruised chin after it drops to the floor.
Buy: split tape / sticker
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MASSA NERA
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Buy: new tape / t-shirt / patch #1 / patch #2 / Jeromes Dream comp
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Closing out the night was my good friends in RESPIRE. This was a very special show as Emmett (trumpet) is no longer in the band due to prior commitments and other musical endeavours but he played nonetheless and the entire thing was breathtaking. Also present was their other trumpet player and newly added/permanent violinist Eslin which truly filled out the band’s sound. Their debut 12”LP ‘Gravity and Grace’ was heralded as album of the year by myself and many others. Not surprisingly the first press is pretty much sold out (with the exception of a few ZBR copies on both black and white vinyl) and a second press (on clear vinyl) has recently been released by Zegema Beach Records, Narshardaa Records and the band. I filmed the end of “Ascent”, all of “Waltz”, the medley of “Eternal Light” to “Eternal Nothing” and the closer “Evening. Melancholy II”, all of which are linked below, although I was unable to nab the intro to the never played “Nox” that is exclusive to the band’s ‘Demonstration’ EP. RESPIRE just finished a tour of Europe with their friends Love/Lust which I was lucky enough to watch and record in Munich, Germany while on my non-мятеж tour. In addition, we did a video interview in one of the rivers there with four members from RESPIRE and two from Love/Lust which will be posted in the coming months. My wife and I also won the screamo/post-hardcore/black metal lottery on June 5th as we were invited out to Toronto to see a RESPIRE practice, during which they played us three new songs that will likely be recorded in 2018. Without a doubt one of the best and most interesting bands to ever come out of Toronto. I love you all. <3 br="">
Buy: new tape / t-shirt / patch #1 / patch #2 / Jeromes Dream comp
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RESPIRE
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