Sunday 27 August 2017

FLESH BORN

BandFLESH BORN aka Elesh Norn
GenresPunk / Hardcore / Emo / Screamo / Skramz / Emo-violence / Noise
Related artistsTwo Knights, Father Figure, New Science Projects, Plunge, Chokey, Swine Flu, Joy Sores and Mimisiku.
CountryDenton, Texas U.S.A.
Years Active2013-present
Song: "My Thoughts"
Album: "4-way split"
Year: 2014
For fans ofMoonasiмищаEyeletFather Figure, Deers!, Yusuke, Arse Moriera, Marcy, Innards, Old Soul, Vampires, Amygdala and René Descartes aka PROPER SCREAMO.
Label(s): Self Released / Skeletal Lightning / Dingleberry Records / Friendly Otter Records / Middle Man Records / Epileptic Media / Fall Into Void Recs / Guard / It's A Trap! Records / Ozona Records
This post's artist is from the August 2017 Mix. This is track #3.
You can download: the August 2017 Mix#8 right here or get the new September 2017 Mix#9 here.

FLESH BORN is a killer band from Texas that I have witnessed destroy my face on two separate occasions. They also play in many other bands including the much discussed Two Knights and Father Figure.

Being quite sporadic in terms of releases per year, FLESH BORN's sole release in 2013 was the EP titled 'All the Pain I've Built Up' is a screamy and dreamy affair that was also their only release to be produced under the moniker ELESH NORN, which was changed the following year. Like all of their recordings, most songs are between one and two minutes and blast back and forth between shrieking chaos and chill beats...with shrieking. The longest and most interesting track nears the end as "Dead" is over three minutes of driving instrumentals and screaming that take over a minute to let up, at which point things get hella epic as they simultaneously bust out the jams. Overall it sounds like a mixture of Yusuke and мища.

2014 was a busy ass year for FLESH BORN, as they dropped an 8-song tape/12", a split 12" and a split 4-way 10". The 4-way split with Coma Regalia, Mothlight and Marcy contains three tracks of dirtier, darker and violent screamo with obvious metal overtones with my favourite being the pulsing and vibrant guitarwork in "My Thoughts", as well as those back and forth screams at the end. The split 12" with Cara Neir also houses three tunes, all of which kick serious ass. "They Fear It, Only to be Comfortable" is 1:29 of screechy hardcore and emo. "Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc" is pretty goddamn insane for the first half and then at 53 seconds they drop a bomb. Closer "Unforgivable" doesn't even make it to a minute as the song is so intense that it exhausts itself before then, and it's also the best track here. The EP that could probably be an LP titled 'Han' is the most cohesive and best work ever released by FLESH BORN, according to my brain. The balance of sheer madness and melodic anchors is remarkable. A rerecorded version of "Unforgivable" opens with the faaaaantastic "Destroy the World of Men" second. "Lament" is a blast to chest that will knock the wind out of you but still get your head bobbing quickly by the end, while "Gloom" lives up to its name as for the entirety of the 2:15 length the band trudges through a swamp rank with evil. "The Fever of Feeling" is very cool, so much so that it ends a little too quickly. "Empty" is a more typical FLESH BORN number along with the 29-second nugget of gold that is "Body System" is contrast to the experimental hardcore closer "The Other Side of Despair".

In January of 2015 I saw the band at Austin Blood Alliance Fest (review here) and filmed four songs (linked halfway down the page here) of FLESH BORN just tearing shit up. In the summer of 2016 I saw them again, this time at Swamp Fest II in Richmond (review and five videos here) where they played a Slipknot cover and banged a keg with a baseball bat (linked here).

In 2017 they split with the much beloved Ostraca with songs more akin to that band than anyone else, as their five tracks are are the darkest, heaviest and most distraught stuff released by FLESH BORN, and considering there were three years in between this and their previous stuff it isn't all too surprising, especially considering Parker and Miles likely get their softer, emo side out with bands like Two Knights and Mimisiku. The deep and vicious vocals are abundant on songs like "Unredeemable" and "Of the Same Earth". "Many Ports" is pretty nutty until the midsection twist that gives birth to some great bass work, while "Existence, Our Exile" boats an unreal opening and closing riffs by Parker and a sick switch 42 seconds in. The final song "Nothingness, Our Home" is a very different beast in that the vocals are nice and clean for the first minute as they take on what sounds almost like a monk chant. This, of course, evaporates quickly once the unrelenting vocals come in with a four-second climax at 1:22.

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DISCOGRAPHY

2013 - All The Pain I've Built Up cassetteEP (stream/buy here)

2014 - Han cassette/12"EP (stream/buy here)
2014 - Cara Neir split 12"EP (stream/buy here) [buy from ZBR on sale here]
2014 - 4-way split w/Coma Regalia, Mothlight & Marcy (stream/donate/download here)

2017 - Faces of the Moving Year (split w/Ostraca) 12"LP (stream/buy here)

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(2017) FLESH BORN - "Existence, Our Exile" (from 'Faces of the Moving Year')

(2017) FLESH BORN - "Many Ports" (from 'Faces of the Moving Year')

 (2016) FLESH BORN - live from Swamp Fest II

 (2015) FLESH BORN - live from Austin Blood Alliance Fest

(2014) FLESH BORN - "Body System" (from 'Han')

(2014) FLESH BORN - "Destroy the World of Men" (from 'Han')

(2014) FLESH BORN - "My Thoughts" (from '4-way' split)

(2014) FLESH BORN - "Unforgivable" (from 'Cara Neir' split)

(2013) FLESH BORN - "Dead" (from 'All The Pain I've Built Up')

(2013) FLESH BORN - "Irreplaceable" (from 'All The Pain I've Built Up')

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FLESH BORN additional links


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2015 Blood Alliance Fest review here

2016 Swamp Fest II review here
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