Genres: Punk / Hardcore / Screamo / Skramz / Emo-violence / Powerviolence / Bremen Hardcore
Related artists: Mörser, Minion, Rusty James, Meat and Systral.
Country: Bremen GERMANY
Years Active: 1995-1997
Song: "Pandemonium"
Album: "Stack split"
Year: 1997
For fans of: Union Of Uranus, Acme, Systral, Mörser, Metöke, One Eyed God Prophecy, Converge, Virginia On Duty, Drift, His Hero Is Gone, Ruhaeda, The Flying Worker, Zann, Never Better, Mohinder, Love Lost But Not Forgotten and Acheborn aka PROPER SCREAMO.
Related artists: Mörser, Minion, Rusty James, Meat and Systral.
Country: Bremen GERMANY
Years Active: 1995-1997
Song: "Pandemonium"
Album: "Stack split"
Year: 1997
For fans of: Union Of Uranus, Acme, Systral, Mörser, Metöke, One Eyed God Prophecy, Converge, Virginia On Duty, Drift, His Hero Is Gone, Ruhaeda, The Flying Worker, Zann, Never Better, Mohinder, Love Lost But Not Forgotten and Acheborn aka PROPER SCREAMO.
Label(s): Per Koro / Summersault
When I first met my мятеж bandmate Chris Story, one of the first things that I noticed was a large CAROL patch on his hat. After talking more music with him, he introduced to me Bremen Hardcore while we were on our first tour. During our second I managed to pick up a copy of CAROL's debut recordings on a 7" that I will never, ever sell. Along with associated acts Mörser and Systral, as well as other violent, German, metallic hardcore bands Acme, Stack and Metöke, their collective sound is one of absolute fury trapped in a whirlwind of nightmares, and it's fucking ridiculous. I can't believe how much CAROL and Bremen Hardcore partially resemble what bands are trying to accomplish today but were recorded back in the mid-1990s. I'm also still astounded how much better they are than pretty much all of the newer bands. And lastly, how the fuck did I sleep on it all for almost two decades?
The band's debut 7"EP is titled 'Prefabricated' and it's amazing in every possible way. First, the name and logo chosen for the cover are ace. Second, the artwork is basic but really fucking appealing. And lastly, these three songs are top notch. It begins with "Try", a dark and gloomy ride through pulverizing instrumentals and destroyed screams that peaks at 1:15 with that bass-heavy spiral into a nightmare that Converge likely had a few years later. "Apathie" is a bit longer, clocking in at 3:05 but it begins chill, builds and then culminates in a massively heavy part around 2:05. This song in particular must have been studied by bands like Ruhaeda because the similarities are astounding...and awesome. Almost hitting four minutes "Beyond Belief" revolves around one thing in particular, the instrumental stop and subsequent, lone, evil riff bearing down on you before everything kicks back in, especially those anguished screams.
When writing this review I stumbled across the track "Raw Abstraction" from the 'Cry Now, Cry Later Volume 4' 2x7" compilation released in 1996. This exclusive track is typical CAROL, featuring multiple destroyed vocalists spewing death over punishing, unrestrained, metallic hardcore. It's a killer tune with an apocalyptic finale, and for some reason isn't usually included in the band's discography downloads, but is in mine 😁, linked here.
The final CAROL recording is "Pandemonium", the single track from their 'Stack' split'. After 40 seconds of toying with you, the band lets loose in its most aggressive and violent form, shifting and attacking like an onslaught of wave after wave of self-aware, medieval maces. The song takes a progressive and interesting shift from 1:15 to 1:45 with the guitars...and then goes ballistic again. And then it goes back to the almost post-hardcore sound before reaching its unstable and volatile conclusion.
In 2015 or so news was made public indicating that an unreleased CAROL 12"LP was recorded back in the 90s but never saw the light of day. A song popped up in 2017 on the Heart Circle Part II digital comp, with "Dark Side of Genius" likely being taken from said LP. ????
I've also included this in the audio discography download but I boosted the mp3 volume by about 8 decibels as the mix was crazy low, making this download far superior to others online. Modest, much?
Good goddamn, CAROL was amazing and will always be my gateway into Bremen hardcore. Thanks, Chris.
This post's artist is from the May 2018 Mix. This is track #7.
When I first met my мятеж bandmate Chris Story, one of the first things that I noticed was a large CAROL patch on his hat. After talking more music with him, he introduced to me Bremen Hardcore while we were on our first tour. During our second I managed to pick up a copy of CAROL's debut recordings on a 7" that I will never, ever sell. Along with associated acts Mörser and Systral, as well as other violent, German, metallic hardcore bands Acme, Stack and Metöke, their collective sound is one of absolute fury trapped in a whirlwind of nightmares, and it's fucking ridiculous. I can't believe how much CAROL and Bremen Hardcore partially resemble what bands are trying to accomplish today but were recorded back in the mid-1990s. I'm also still astounded how much better they are than pretty much all of the newer bands. And lastly, how the fuck did I sleep on it all for almost two decades?
The band's debut 7"EP is titled 'Prefabricated' and it's amazing in every possible way. First, the name and logo chosen for the cover are ace. Second, the artwork is basic but really fucking appealing. And lastly, these three songs are top notch. It begins with "Try", a dark and gloomy ride through pulverizing instrumentals and destroyed screams that peaks at 1:15 with that bass-heavy spiral into a nightmare that Converge likely had a few years later. "Apathie" is a bit longer, clocking in at 3:05 but it begins chill, builds and then culminates in a massively heavy part around 2:05. This song in particular must have been studied by bands like Ruhaeda because the similarities are astounding...and awesome. Almost hitting four minutes "Beyond Belief" revolves around one thing in particular, the instrumental stop and subsequent, lone, evil riff bearing down on you before everything kicks back in, especially those anguished screams.
When writing this review I stumbled across the track "Raw Abstraction" from the 'Cry Now, Cry Later Volume 4' 2x7" compilation released in 1996. This exclusive track is typical CAROL, featuring multiple destroyed vocalists spewing death over punishing, unrestrained, metallic hardcore. It's a killer tune with an apocalyptic finale, and for some reason isn't usually included in the band's discography downloads, but is in mine 😁, linked here.
The final CAROL recording is "Pandemonium", the single track from their 'Stack' split'. After 40 seconds of toying with you, the band lets loose in its most aggressive and violent form, shifting and attacking like an onslaught of wave after wave of self-aware, medieval maces. The song takes a progressive and interesting shift from 1:15 to 1:45 with the guitars...and then goes ballistic again. And then it goes back to the almost post-hardcore sound before reaching its unstable and volatile conclusion.
In 2015 or so news was made public indicating that an unreleased CAROL 12"LP was recorded back in the 90s but never saw the light of day. A song popped up in 2017 on the Heart Circle Part II digital comp, with "Dark Side of Genius" likely being taken from said LP. ????
I've also included this in the audio discography download but I boosted the mp3 volume by about 8 decibels as the mix was crazy low, making this download far superior to others online. Modest, much?
Good goddamn, CAROL was amazing and will always be my gateway into Bremen hardcore. Thanks, Chris.
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1995 - Prefabricated 7"EP
1996 - Cry Now, Cry Later: Volume 4 2x7" compilation (contributed "Raw Abstraction")
1997 - South of Hessen - Welcome to Bremen split (w/Stack) 7"EP
2017 - Heart Circle Part II compilation (contributed "Dark Side of Genius")
(2017) CAROL - "Dark Side of Genius" (from 'Heart Circle Part II' comp)
(1997) CAROL - "Pandemonium" (from 'Stack' split)
(1996) CAROL - "Raw Abstraction" (from 'Cry Now, Cry Later: Volume 4' comp)
(1995) CAROL - "Apathie" (from 'Prefabricated')
(1995) CAROL - "Try" (from 'Prefabricated')
1996 - Cry Now, Cry Later: Volume 4 2x7" compilation (contributed "Raw Abstraction")
1997 - South of Hessen - Welcome to Bremen split (w/Stack) 7"EP
2017 - Heart Circle Part II compilation (contributed "Dark Side of Genius")
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(2017) CAROL - "Dark Side of Genius" (from 'Heart Circle Part II' comp)
(1997) CAROL - "Pandemonium" (from 'Stack' split)
(1996) CAROL - "Raw Abstraction" (from 'Cry Now, Cry Later: Volume 4' comp)
(1995) CAROL - "Apathie" (from 'Prefabricated')
(1995) CAROL - "Try" (from 'Prefabricated')
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CAROL out of print MP3 discography download
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