THE BINDING

Band: THE BINDING
For fans of: The Love And Terror Cult, (early) Cave In, Weak Wrists, O'God The White Whale, Converge, I Hate Sally, Back When, Botch, Lockslip, and A Needle Under The Nail.
Genres: Punk / Post-Hardcore / Metalcore / Metallic Hardcore / Mathcore / Screamo / Skramz / Grindcore

Related artists: ?.
Country: U.S.A.
Years Active: 2004-2005

Label(s): Imagine It Records

     I downloaded THE BINDING's EP earlier in 2024 and was for some reason under the assumption that it was also released this year. I had it on my list as the best EP of 2024. So I was surprised to find out that this thing came out nearly two full decades ago, making it that much better as the relevance this band holds in terms of sound is mindblowing. It's also noteworthy that NONE of these tracks were on Youtube so I rectified the fuck outta that.

     The band played a volatile mixture of metallic hardcore and mathy metal, melding the two to the point where I don't know what I'd call them if I had to choose one of those descriptors, as perhaps chaotic hardcore is the best description here.

    The band's only release spans five songs in about 17 minutes. For an initial band comparison I'd go with Closet Witch (partially because of those venomous screams) but with a more melodic injection and longer songs. I'm hesitant to say grind meets metallic hardcore but technically I just wrote it so fuck let's roll with it. Opener "Keep Walking Empty Eyed Man" has massive metal chops in those licks, but the entire thing is something to behold and I can't recommend it enough. "Insanity in Numbers" and "Shoot the Shooters" follow the same trajectory of chaotic, stop-start, metal-influenced hardcore not unlike early Cave In and Converge, with the former housing a ridiculously sassy riff post 1:20 and the latter is wild and unpredictable throughout its 4:16 runtime. The band also display instrumental chops in "Addenda" which reminds me of Edhochuli and Harris Hawk's offspring, really gorgeous for a bit, and then massive later on. Often instrumental tracks seem to be an afterthought or just plain boring, but this is anything but a throwaway track as it's probably my second favorite jam on here because it's done expertly.

     Damn, really wish there was more material but at least we have this fuckin' fire.

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DISCOGRAPHY

2024 - The Binding digital EP (stream/donate/download here)

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(2005) THE BINDING - "Insanity in Numbers" (from 'The Binding')

https://youtu.be/QM1MFzQKOHU

(2005) THE BINDING - "Keep Walking Empty Eyed Man" (from 'The Binding')

https://youtu.be/feb8JeBStIA

(2005) THE BINDING - "Addenda" (from 'The Binding')

https://youtu.be/0UHVF5FdFE0

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THE BINDING additional links

Bandcamp

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*** PODCAST #152 Party Hats ***

    I caught up with PARTY HATS aka Ethan, Johah, and Chris from Denton, Texas prior to their ZBR Fest run. Besides asking them to play the fest, I've helped release 'Fatima' on cassette via Tomb Tree so they've been on my radar since then. Twinkly/screamy emo/screamo for the few readers who may not have come across this band yet, but I think they're kind of a mix between The Exploration and D'Amore. Some things discussed amidst awesome music: ripple effects of Warped Tour, laptops as babysitters, Mojo Haiku, the need for output, Dave's small net, Venus Twins' love, excitement for ZBR Fest 2024, destroying a house, Terry Green exclusive premiere, where the 'Autobiographical Autopsy' songs came from, the new 4-way split, etc. Bands played in this podcast: Fake Pollocks, Make Me, The Plan, Sinatra, Terry Green, and Zona Mexicana. Listen to podcast #152 which is available to stream and/or download for free via this link.

PARTY HATS

Bandcamp

1 Thick'n'Sick Screams

MAKE ME "Hello Moon" (Chris)

SINATRA - "Do You Want Me to Save Dude?" (Dave)

2 Deconstructing Party Hats

ZONA MEXICANA "Waking Up Dedicated" (Ethan)

THE PLAN "3x3 Lines" (Dave)

3 Selling Out and Playing Corporate Offices

FAKE POLLOCKS "A Busy City Street" (Jonah)

TERRY GREEN "Blur" (Dave) *** Exclusive Premiere ***

~Dave

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PODCAST #152 linked here

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*** USURP SYNAPSE exclusive song/video premiere ***

USURP SYNAPSE

"Jaw One"
exclusive song/music video premiere

For fans of: Lower Automation, Whores and Jeromes Dream

     New USURP SYNAPSE. More info soon.

(2024) USURP SYNAPSE "Jaw One" official music video

https://youtu.be/_6NVhyL33lE

*** PARTY HATS + VS SELF + KNUMEARS + CATALYST split premiere/order link ***

CATALYST + KNUMEARS + VS SELF + PARTY HATS

"Split"
exclusive album premiere

CATALYST

Bandcamp

KNUMEARS

Bandcamp

VS SELF

Bandcamp

PARTY HATS

Bandcamp

LARRY RECORDS

Bandcamp

ORDER LINK ---> order link goes live at 9am PST / 11am CST / 12pm EST <--- ORDER LINK

     I am fucking ecstatic to be the one bringing you the exclusive first premiere of the entire 7" 4-Way split featuring four of the hottest screamo bands around. Larry Records had this to say about its origin:

"This split was heavily inspired by the 4 way split series ZBR did a few years ago. I wanted to take my 4 favorite new screamo bands and throw'em together for a super split. I’m very happy it worked out, and maybe I’ll do a second volume if you guys like it!"

You heard it! Pick this sucker up so we can get another incredible 4-Way Larry split 7". In a few weeks @milkcrate_merch will be doing t shirts too!

12" Split breakdown: 900 copies total
-200 on half neon violet half black (vs self)
-200 on half neon green half black (knumears)
-200 on half neon yellow half black (catalyst)
-200 on half neon pink and half black (party hats)
-100 on black wax with an alternative cover (larry exclusive / pre-order here after 12pm EST!!!)

https://youtu.be/8XIqBFt7Wqo

CATALYST "Yesterday's Apology"
KNUMEARS "no count"
VS SELF "tide and swell"
PARTY HATS "Today's For Sale"

     CATALYST kicks this thing off with the exceptional "Yesterday's Apology", which carries an air of impatience before sliding nicely into a groove section followed by some dark-ass panic chords and a spoken word section, as well as mixtures of the aforementioned styles. KNUMEARS is next and their pretty lengthy jam of "no count" clocks in at 4:07 and is the heaviest/fastest song on the split. The song creates an excellent mood before catapulting into what is almost a mixture of Senza and Ostraca, I shit you not, and it is glorious. VS SELF begins the second half with arguably their strongest song to date, melding together D'Amore-esque screamo with the emo noodlings of The Exploration. Their grasp of making the softer stuff pop whilst continuing to take the sound into darker territory is very fun to watch in realtime. Closer "Today's For Sale" by PARTY HATS also falls into the noodlier category, but goes both more ramen and screamier than the splits previous band, teetering between the two extremes and showing off why they are playing ZBR Fest 2024.

ADDITIONAL LINKS & WHATNOT

VS SELF podcast

.22LR

Band: .22LR
For fans of: Frail Body, Othiel, Gil Cerrone, Youth Funeral, Crowning, Brahm, Elle, Beau Navire, and Heavenly Blue.
Genres: Punk / Emo / Screamo / Skramz / Emo-violence

Related artists: Less Dead, Low Before The Breeze, Noisy Sins Of The Insect, Stevan Filopovic, Tara Tarama, and Jornada Del Muerto.

Country: Atlanta, Georgia U.S.A. + Istanbul TURKEY
Years Active: 2024-present

Label(s): Tomb Tree / Mevzu Records

     After releasing such an incredible debut I felt it necessary to try and push it a bit more through this blog, cuz goddamn why aren't more people talking about how awesome this is?

     Born from the ashes of Less Dead and Low Before The Breeze, the origin of the band is traced by their members in this exclusive Idioteq.com piece that you need to check out if you dig this release. Essentially their final member if from Turkey but has been frequenting the U.S. enough for him to be included in the fold, and has spent time in a few bands including the most notable Noisy Sins Of The Insect and Jornada Del Muerto.

     The bands' sound is rooted in fast, short, violent bursts of screamo but manage to hit the slow motion button and insert some incredible nuances, frills, and melodies not unlike Frail Body, Youth Funeral, and Othiel. It's almost like screamo on speed then diced up with post-hardcore. 36-second opener "Once/Always" teases a lone guitar before pulverizing the listener with lightning fast instrumentals and a buncha vocalists screaming. "Sinking" shows the band showing a firm grasp of soft/hard and slow/fast dynamics with hella atmosphere that teeter into black metal territory but bring it back to pulsating screamo at the one-minute mark. Continuing the heater trajectory, "Alone" blazes through its first 30 seconds before planting firmly into some slower, very accessible, emo/post-hardcore instrumentals that showcase the band's aforementioned ability to balance a feather with an anvil. "Too Late" follows in a similar path (aka fire) and then shifts into slightly slower, but this time to a much heavier, cathartic, and sinister second half with the best vocals on the entire EP. "Gratitude Denied" and "Golden Calf" both show the band gravitating toward the emo/post-hardcore/screamo sound I mentioned earlier with injections of both beauty and chaos. Closer "Epilogue" is an instrumental number but not the throwaway kind, rather the epic-closer kind.

     I can't recommend this EP enough. I think it's fucking stellar, bias be damned.

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DISCOGRAPHY

2024 - .22lr cassette EP (listen/download/buy here)

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(2024) .22LR - "Too Late" (from '.22lr')

https://youtu.be/Jkg_MB6PTZM

(2024) .22LR - "Alone" (from '.22lr')

https://youtu.be/4hCBoaX7fRc

(2024) .22LR - "Golden Calf" (from '.22lr')

https://youtu.be/XPNvsVbJc3U

*** VOW exclusive song premiere ***

VOW

"Die Silent"
exclusive song premiere

For fans of: Undying, Rotting In Dirt, Pathos Departure, (early) Left Behind, Advent, Brothers and Xibalba

releases April 16th on Tomb Tree

     VOW is a new band from Chicago and holy fuckin' smokes this 'Demo' hits like a concrete slab. Vocalist Andy Klingensmith has done a bunch of drone/noise and acoustic folk but when he sent me this four-track debut I couldn't believe my ears. Pummeling yet dynamic, heavy yet melodic, this band's release comes out on cassette via Tomb Tree on April 16th. The band is generally influenced by a lot of classic 90s metallic hardcore and early 2000s metalcore bands. Citing influences Xibalba and Undying as guitar influences as well as Renounced, Falling Cycle, and Boundaries regarding the vocal/lyrical approach.

      The band started with Andy (vocals) and Aaron (guitar) bonding over heavy music at work. Andy recollects:

"I specifically remember he had sent me the song "Wasitaratisaw" by Kicked in the Head By a Horse in April of 2023 and we started talking about potentially working on something together. He wrote the music for our demo shortly after and we were practicing by that summer. There wasn't really a "why" though, we just wanted to bring stupid heavy, emotional music to the city in a style we felt a lot of other bands here aren't doing and do it well."

(2024) VOW "Die Silent" (from 'Demo')

https://youtu.be/Iuv_5jrfcBE

     The third track wastes zero time and goes directly for the jugular with a lightning intro that battles against devastating vocals for a mere 20 seconds before shifting into second gear. The vocal dynamics are on full display with gutteral growls, higher shrieks, and spoken word all going down in less than a minute. The spiral descends until the 1:30 mark when the moshpit will open up in your brain and shit gets fucked up. Seeing this part live would be a very dangerous experience lol. The song moves through a few more segments (all fucking sick) before trailing off into a beautiful piano outro drowned in a downpour.