*** PODCAST #190 Damian (Life, letterstoyou, Sadness, etc.) ***

    I've been hooked on Life since hearing "Ametic" a few years back. Since then I've been an avid Damian fan and his related projects, so when I asked him to join me on this podcast I simultaneously asked if he was the brains behind letterstoyou, to which he answered "yes" for both. So here's the podcast where I literally lose my mind and shovel out more compliments than perhaps ever before. Some things we touched on in this podcast: playing in East Avenue + RPG'97 + Border Abomination + Evocative Atmosphere + Avelyn + ser + I Will Always Remember + Trhä + Left Alone + Sadness + Life + Youreyesinmine + letterstoyou, the screamo god, work ethic at six years old, finding Dragonforce, the self-sufficient guitar, social isolation to social integration, best Baltimore band, backyard festivals, stupid spotify regulations, Dave shits his pants over letterstoyou, rhythm changes are the best, gettin' schooled on Canadian geography, perspectives on Life, back when music was elusive, On The Might Of Princes praise, etc. Bands played in this podcast: Congratulations, Expiration Date, Flora In Silence, Kiande Amedha, Thesamedeepwaterasyou, and Yarbo. Listen to podcast #190 which is available to stream and/or download for free via this link.

LIFE

Bandcamp

LETTERSTOYOU

Bandcamp

YOUREYESINMINE

Bandcamp

SADNESS
Bandcamp

1 The Most Active and Amazing Person in the Scene
FLORA IN SILENCE "somuch of mylife thinking" (Damian)

THESAMEDEEPWATERASYOU "marsretrograde" (Dave)

2 Letterstoyou Breaks Dave's Brain

KIANDE AMEDHA "An Impossible Weight" (Damian)

YARBO "Anthem Shit" (Dave)

3 Life After Life

EXPIRATION DATE "Faye" (Damian)

4 Screamo AI and The Future

CONGRATULATIONS "Aren't You Frightened Skinny Scary Skeleton" (Dave)

~Dave

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PODCAST #190 linked here

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*** COUP D'ÉTAT cdEP release show w/A Recorded Dawn + Mourn Recif ***

\COUP D'ÉTAT/

\A RECORDED DAWN/

\MOURN RECIF/

@Influence Board Shop in Victoria on October 24th, 2025

Live Show Review

     Back in December of 2024 I was able to play a show with Victoria's COUP D'ÉTAT for their debut album release show in the fuckin' half pipe of a skate shop. It was incredibly sick (and linked here). Fast forward almost a year later and I'm doing it again, this time with our Victoria screamo brothers A RECORDED DAWN in tow for the COUP D'ÉTAT sophomore EP release show. A buncha people dressed up 1) to have fun and 2) to save money on the door, so you'll see from the videos that it was a very animated and interesting night, with the highlight being when the The Man with the Yellow Hat accidentally amputated Curious George in a wild pit frenzy (this can be found in the first MOURN RECIF clip).

MOURN RECIF

     This was probably our favourite show thus far. Half pipes already start a band on third base, and we came to have fun so our set was pretty lively and we unveiled a new song alongside three other unrecorded jams. If you've been following us at all you'll likely notice a much heavier sound poured over our previously melodic-driven screamo, cuz we like our breakdowns and panic chords...mmmmmmmm.

(2025) MOURN RECIF "My Favourite Oxymoron is Partial Ceasefire" (currently unreleased)

https://youtu.be/szRO8gbCIf0

For fans of: Orchid, Crossed, Black Nail, and A Paramount, A Love Supreme

Instagram

Buy 'Mourn Recif' cassette here

extra video: Saint Catheter

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A RECORDED DAWN

     As Elle from Coup D'état said during their set, A RECORDED DAWN is arguably the best screamo band on Vancouver Island, I couldn't agree more. Their transformation from decent emo/slowcore to this dark, brooding screamo/post-hardcore/metallic hardcore has been one helluva fun journey to behold. This is their newest song and it fucking rules, as does that Mulholland Drive intro.

(2025) A RECORDED DAWN "Outlive the only certainty" (currently unreleased)

https://youtu.be/NKIllkZyvso

For fans of: Ostraca, Process//Sleep and Crowning

Bandcamp

Buy 'A Recorded Dawn x Mourn Recif split' cd here

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COUP D'ÉTAT

     The first Vancouver Island screamo band I heard about once starting Mourn Recif was COUP D'ÉTAT as at least two members were singing their praises before I ever heard or saw them. When I jammed their EP I was interested, but after seeing them live and hearing their masters of '?' I was like...holy fuck, they've only been a band for like six months! It's been about 18 months as of writing this, so these new songs showcase the band's progression and the new EP is awesome. In addition to catching "On Staying Put..." on video, I also snagged their new song titled "Survivorship Bias" which is a fucking banger and already one of my fave from the band.

(2025) COUP D'ÉTAT "Survivorship Bias" (currently unreleased)

https://youtu.be/izmBax1YRWA

For fans of: Alexisonfire, The Names Of Our Friends and Coma Regalia

Bandcamp

Buy 'Coup D'état' cd here

extra video: On Staying Put

^\/`~~~~---------------00oOo00---------------~~~~'\/^

 

~

*** MASSA NERA exclusive song premiere ***

MASSA NERA

"Avalon Cove"
exclusive song premiere

For fans of: Meth., Detach The Islands and Andthecanaryfell

Bandcamp

Bandcamp pre-order

Persistent Vision Records pre-order

Deathwish pre-order

     It's kinda nuts to have been around to see the majority of New Jersey's MASSA NERA journey, as I played a show with them back on August 9th of 2016 (linked here) and was blown away at the band's talent. Zegema Beach Records then helped release 'Los Pensamientos De una Cara Palida', their four-way split 12"s, two cover songs, and 'Derramar | Querer | Borrar'. The band also played a string of five straight ZBR Fest performances, with their most recent 2024 appearance being their most visceral and soul-cleansing set I've set from them yet. This is an extremely long-winded way of saying "I know them well," lol.

     Okay so with that said, it's with extreme excitement that I get to share the band's final single from their upcoming October 31st, 2025 full length 'The Emtpiness of All Things' on Persistent Vision Records via 500 records, 250 White & Blue Galaxy + 250 Coke Bottle w/Black & White Smoke with additional help from Deathwish. You can also check their previous premiere with Get Alternative for the song "Lavender" here and their music video for "Mechanical Sunrise" here.

This song was inspired by AvalonBay Communities, White Desert Antarctica, whale deaths, the documentaries of Werner Herzog, the musical stylings of late-period Scott Walker, and Pg.99's "'Living in the Skeleton of a Happy Memory.

(2025) MASSA NERA "Avalon Cove" (from 'The Emptiness of All Things')

     After seeing Meth in 2022 and 2023, it seemed that my friends in MASSA NERA were very taken witht he band's music, and even told me after their sets, "we need to sound more like that." And here we are. This album is definitely heavier than its predecessor, but the underlying unease of it all - the darkness, the anger, the unnatural silence as well as the explosive meltdowns. The song begins with an eerie and unsettling opening that hints at an oncoming nightmare. The monster is finally unleashed just before the two-minute mark in a brief but terrifying rampage before the song then dips back into a subdued and jagged midsection that keeps it quiet (but manages to sneak in at least one faux-build). At about 3:10 the song fully detonates, ripping shards from the members in a display that when witnessed live must be one helluva spectacle. Halloween is a fitting release day indeed. Fuckin' wowza.

*** FAINTING DREAMS exclusive song premiere ***

FAINTING DREAMS

"Disappearing Act, Pt 1 (feat. Midwife & Allison Lorenzen"
exclusive song premiere

For fans of: Ethel Cain, Nicole Dollanganger, Skullcrusher, and Lingua Ignota

Bandcamp

     I am extremely stoked to bring you the final single from the upcoming FAINTING DREAMS album "Disappearing Act, Pt 1" which features members from Midwife, Athousandangelsandseven, Endless/Nameless, as well as Allison Lorenzen. This third track (out of six) is exceptionally honest and brutal in its beauty. It is both simple and complex. Gorgeous but crushing. Uplifting but dark. The piano really helps accentuate the soaring, choir-esque vocals, wrapping the song in a comforting, soft, ethereal blanket, not unlike Ethel Cain and Nicole Dollanganger's "Observatory Mansion". If you enjoy this jam, you'll be sure to like the full album!

(2025) FAINTING DREAMS "Disappearing Act, Pt 1 (feat. Midwife & Allison Lorenzen)" (from 'You Can Be Anything')

https://youtu.be/IUnaGwbt9aI

“You don’t say a word

I talk enough for the both of us

If I’m not being seen or heard

Will my body turn into dust

The silence, it scares me

The fears it brings I don’t know what they mean

If someone, just loves me

Just touches me then it might cure this disease

But somehow 

I feel 

So much more alone 

With you here too

What do you want me to say

What do you want me to do 

I’ll bleed a little more 

If it pleases you 

I’ll let you hide me away 

In an old motel room 

I’ll be the lover in your closet

I won’t tell anyone about it 

What do you want me to say

What do you want me to do 

I’ll bleed a little more 

If it pleases you 

I’ll let you hide me away 

In an old motel room 

I’ll be the lover in your closet

I won’t tell anyone about it”

ADDITIONAL LINKS & WHATNOT

Everything Is Noise premiere of "House of The Sacred Sisterhood"

NSIXHUNDRED

Band: NSIXHUNDRED
For fans of: Hayworth, Rex Kwon Do, Gxllium!, Me And Him Call It Us, The Number Twelve Looks Like You, Kiowa, Antarctica, The Great Redneck Hope, (early) .gif from god, and Thank You Driver.
Genres: Hardcore / Metallic Hardcore / Mathcore / Screamo / Skramz / Math Grind / Chaotic Hardcore

Related artists: deparmefrombearisland, aplacewevealwaysbeen, and jimmy h doolittle.
Country: Los Angeles, California U.S.A.
Years Active: 2024-present

Label(s): Self Released / Zegema Beach Records

     Someone posted this band in a mathcore group and listed Hayworth and Me And Him Call It Us in the for fans of section so I immediately checked it out. They were spot fucking on. This is righteous, sassy, explosive metallic hardcore with grind, screamo, and metalcore elements thrown in at just the right doses. Right from the get-go, their first EP and subsequent split knocked me on my ass, and the new demo just makes me salivate even more at what's on the horizon.

     The band's debut EP 'and longing for the truth i say…' houses five absolute bangers and the band really comes out of the gate with precision and confidence. You'll find earth-shattering breakdowns in nearly every song, but the band plays around with a lot of higher end instrumentals like Antarctica, Hayworth, and The Number Twelve Looks Like You. My choice picks are the opener/title track and closer "well guess what?!", both of which go off like nuclear bombs at the end with multiple vocalists just losing their shit.

     The following year (aka this year) the band released their best songs to date on a 'Dance Of The Second Crow split' with "Mr. Noob" whose last riff is some tasty shit, "The Duel" which is like a swarm of bees delivering devastating shockwaves, and closer "Return of the Shirt" that boasts more than just an awesome title, as it throws blow after blow to the brain and even swings into a bit of The Great Redneck Hope territory - and is arguably their strongest track. 2025's 'two song demo' continues the aural assault, as "let's have a ball!!!" and "santiago's big day", the latter of which unravels by the end in a sea of ear-piercing shrieks and breakdowns, as the band leans into an even heavier, more pulverizing direction. Gxllium comes to mind, and that's a helluva compliment.

     Aight I've spoken with the band and we'll have a physical release of all this material late 2025/early 2026 with some unreleased tracks on Zegema Beach Records. Fuckin' bam, cuz that split is top 5 EPs of the year for me.

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DISCOGRAPHY
coming soon to the Zegema Beach Records Bandcamp page!

2024 - and longing for the truth i say… EP

2025 - Dance Of The Second Crow split ?

2025 - two song demo EP

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(2025) NSIXHUNDRED - "Return of the Shirt" (from 'Dance Of The Second Crow' split)

https://youtu.be/VMApqWvfz-k

(2025) NSIXHUNDRED - "The Duel" (from 'Dance Of The Second Crow' split)

https://youtu.be/HzBAX4pp7Y8

(2025) NSIXHUNDRED - "santiago's big day" (from 'two song demo')

https://youtu.be/TpNngqwhc10

(2024) NSIXHUNDRED - "well guess what?!" (from 'and longing for the truth i say…')

https://youtu.be/R_4Wyhzl_mQ

(2024) NSIXHUNDRED - "and longing for the truth i say…" (from 'and longing for the truth i say…')

https://youtu.be/pP2ahjCVffU

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