Genres: Punk / Hardcore / Screamo / Skramz / Emo-violence
Related artists: Healing Powers and Cavalcades.
Country: Leeds U.K.
Years Active: 2016-present
Song: "pillar of smoke"
Album: "you breed like stars"
Year: 2016
For fans of: Off Minor, Ostraca, Kilgore Trout, Coma Regalia, We Were Skeletons, Massa Nera, Eyes Of Verotika, Frail Body, Sleeper Wave, Moss Rose, Old Soul, Eyelet, Old Guard and Youth Novel aka PROPER SCREAMO.
Related artists: Healing Powers and Cavalcades.
Country: Leeds U.K.
Years Active: 2016-present
Song: "pillar of smoke"
Album: "you breed like stars"
Year: 2016
For fans of: Off Minor, Ostraca, Kilgore Trout, Coma Regalia, We Were Skeletons, Massa Nera, Eyes Of Verotika, Frail Body, Sleeper Wave, Moss Rose, Old Soul, Eyelet, Old Guard and Youth Novel aka PROPER SCREAMO.
Label(s): Adorno Records / Callous Records / Dog Knights Productions
This post's artist is from the December 2017 Mix. This is track #4.
You can download: the December 2017 Mix#12 right here or get the new January 2018 Mix#1 here.
PERFECT BLUE are from Leeds in the U.K. and they've dropped three EPs and an LP in less than two years! That's some serious dedication and I fucking love it. The dark, technical and brooding screamo can easily lull you in to a sense of relaxation only to spin your hammock like a skipping rope. Most songs hover around one to two minutes but with their latest LP they've upped the times to two to four minutes, with a noticeable maturation in songwriting, as well as constructing an album instead of a collection of songs. I'm also a huge sucker for themed album art, which they've done with all four releases, accumulating beautiful paintings from the very talented Rebecca Robson.
So we've gotta start with 'a week of fires', which is one hell of a debut release. Opening with the cataclysmic "palisades", the listener becomes well aware of what to expect from PERFECT BLUE. "altered state" is slower and manipulates the listener into believing, "aww yeah, this is chill" until they are smashed over the head and pummeled with lightning drums during the second minute. "~" is a very short instrumental/ambient track that uses one of my favourite audio clips from Mulholland Drive, and in fact I used the exact same quote in a The World That Summer track (linked here). "solitude/absence" also combusts before the first minute is over, but closer "shattered skin" lingers for 2:21.
A mere five months later PERFECT BLUE dropped 'you breed like stars'. A truly exceptional EP, it opens with the insanely awesome "pillar of smoke", which boasts some very jazzy, Off Minor sounding instrumentals. "so shines a good deed on a weary world" has killer dual vocals that bring to mind old Kilgore Trout (aka Ostraca) and "neurasthenia" is groovy as all hell. It should also be noted there are no weak tracks here.
In April of 2017 the band was back at it again, releasing the 'unto souls whose wellsprings fail' EP. "anomalous refraction" is an unreal first song, getting everything across in just 34 seconds with no frills or empty space, just ass kickin', screamy hardcore. "wellsprings fail" is a dreamy interlude with a bit of spoken word, likely from an audio clip but I'm not sure. "crystal rain" is my fucking jam with intense screaming and very playful instrumentals. "...or run defiled" is another instrumental jam/interlude that leads into "celestial body fades", an intricate and less intense number that is one of the strongest songs that the band has recorded to date. Finale "your breath's as hard as kerosene" is the longest song PERFECT BLUE has recorded, clocking in at 3:52. The first 50 seconds are a dark and dreary trek though lush atmospheric soundscapes that are briefly erased during a 30-second screamo onslaught. It then recedes and is replaced by a new jammy section (led by an unreal bass transition at 1:23) that plays out beautifully until 3:04 when the song shifts into its final, isolated guitar movement. Goddamn PERFECT BLUE. Goddamn.
Released just a few days ago, 'crystalline in gorgeous imperfection' will be released on Dog Knights Productions, I do believe. Nearly gone are the noodley/jazzy bits as the band opts for about lush layers and evolved songwriting which in turn has led to most songs bearing past the two-minute mark. Opener "with wings of feather and bone" boasts this mature sound right from the get-go, securing footing somewhere between epic screamo and brooding hardcore, although post-1:30 it gets much mathier and heavier. Next up is my personal favourite "temple of heaven", as it bounds back and forth between driving post-hardcore and some thick-ass chugs with an awesome guitar transition right around the 50-second mark. "to draw blood from a machine" is the longest track on the LP, clocking in at 3:43 and venturing through almost every sound the band had in its repertoire and creating new tangents by experimenting with fuller, lengthier instrumental passages as well as some menacing dual vocal work. "auburn" is the chillest and most atmospheric of all of the songs, without meandering into boring instrumental territory as well as including decent vocals to help the song along, while "pharmakeia" is the shortest track at 54 seconds. "phoenix forgotten" is a dissonant slap in the face with more chugs, growls and beautifully lush instrumentation that leads to the closer "now you wear skin like iron", an unreal song that gives track two a run for its money. Seriously, this is one fantastic record.
Well there you have it. One of the most active recording bands around producing awesome releases and dropping them on a biannual basis. I expect another EP and LP in 2018, my friends 😏
PERFECT BLUE are from Leeds in the U.K. and they've dropped three EPs and an LP in less than two years! That's some serious dedication and I fucking love it. The dark, technical and brooding screamo can easily lull you in to a sense of relaxation only to spin your hammock like a skipping rope. Most songs hover around one to two minutes but with their latest LP they've upped the times to two to four minutes, with a noticeable maturation in songwriting, as well as constructing an album instead of a collection of songs. I'm also a huge sucker for themed album art, which they've done with all four releases, accumulating beautiful paintings from the very talented Rebecca Robson.
So we've gotta start with 'a week of fires', which is one hell of a debut release. Opening with the cataclysmic "palisades", the listener becomes well aware of what to expect from PERFECT BLUE. "altered state" is slower and manipulates the listener into believing, "aww yeah, this is chill" until they are smashed over the head and pummeled with lightning drums during the second minute. "~" is a very short instrumental/ambient track that uses one of my favourite audio clips from Mulholland Drive, and in fact I used the exact same quote in a The World That Summer track (linked here). "solitude/absence" also combusts before the first minute is over, but closer "shattered skin" lingers for 2:21.
A mere five months later PERFECT BLUE dropped 'you breed like stars'. A truly exceptional EP, it opens with the insanely awesome "pillar of smoke", which boasts some very jazzy, Off Minor sounding instrumentals. "so shines a good deed on a weary world" has killer dual vocals that bring to mind old Kilgore Trout (aka Ostraca) and "neurasthenia" is groovy as all hell. It should also be noted there are no weak tracks here.
In April of 2017 the band was back at it again, releasing the 'unto souls whose wellsprings fail' EP. "anomalous refraction" is an unreal first song, getting everything across in just 34 seconds with no frills or empty space, just ass kickin', screamy hardcore. "wellsprings fail" is a dreamy interlude with a bit of spoken word, likely from an audio clip but I'm not sure. "crystal rain" is my fucking jam with intense screaming and very playful instrumentals. "...or run defiled" is another instrumental jam/interlude that leads into "celestial body fades", an intricate and less intense number that is one of the strongest songs that the band has recorded to date. Finale "your breath's as hard as kerosene" is the longest song PERFECT BLUE has recorded, clocking in at 3:52. The first 50 seconds are a dark and dreary trek though lush atmospheric soundscapes that are briefly erased during a 30-second screamo onslaught. It then recedes and is replaced by a new jammy section (led by an unreal bass transition at 1:23) that plays out beautifully until 3:04 when the song shifts into its final, isolated guitar movement. Goddamn PERFECT BLUE. Goddamn.
Released just a few days ago, 'crystalline in gorgeous imperfection' will be released on Dog Knights Productions, I do believe. Nearly gone are the noodley/jazzy bits as the band opts for about lush layers and evolved songwriting which in turn has led to most songs bearing past the two-minute mark. Opener "with wings of feather and bone" boasts this mature sound right from the get-go, securing footing somewhere between epic screamo and brooding hardcore, although post-1:30 it gets much mathier and heavier. Next up is my personal favourite "temple of heaven", as it bounds back and forth between driving post-hardcore and some thick-ass chugs with an awesome guitar transition right around the 50-second mark. "to draw blood from a machine" is the longest track on the LP, clocking in at 3:43 and venturing through almost every sound the band had in its repertoire and creating new tangents by experimenting with fuller, lengthier instrumental passages as well as some menacing dual vocal work. "auburn" is the chillest and most atmospheric of all of the songs, without meandering into boring instrumental territory as well as including decent vocals to help the song along, while "pharmakeia" is the shortest track at 54 seconds. "phoenix forgotten" is a dissonant slap in the face with more chugs, growls and beautifully lush instrumentation that leads to the closer "now you wear skin like iron", an unreal song that gives track two a run for its money. Seriously, this is one fantastic record.
Well there you have it. One of the most active recording bands around producing awesome releases and dropping them on a biannual basis. I expect another EP and LP in 2018, my friends 😏
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DISCOGRAPHY
2016 - a week of fires cassetteEP (stream/download here)
2016 - you breed like stars cassetteEP (stream/donate/download here)
2017 - unto souls whose wellsprings fail cassetteEP (stream/donate/download here)
2017 - crystalline in gorgeous imperfection 12"LP (stream/donate/download here)
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(2017) PERFECT BLUE - "temple of heaven" (from 'crystalline in gorgeous imperfection')
(2017) PERFECT BLUE - "to draw blood from a machine" (from 'crystalline in gorgeous imperfection')
(2017) PERFECT BLUE - "now you wear your skin like iron" (from 'crystalline in gorgeous imperfection')
(2017) PERFECT BLUE - "crystal rain" (from 'unto souls whose wellsprings fail')
(2017) PERFECT BLUE - "your breath's as hard as kerosene" (from 'unto souls whose wellsprings fail')
(2016) PERFECT BLUE - "pillar of smoke" (from 'you breed like stars')
(2016) PERFECT BLUE - "so shines a good deed on a weary world" (from 'you breed like stars')
(2016) PERFECT BLUE - "altered state" (from 'a week of fires')
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PERFECT BLUE additional links
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