Label(s): Middle Man Records This post's artist is from the May 2017 Mix. This is track #10.
You can download: the May 2017 Mix#5 right hereor get the new June 2017 Mix#6 here.
HUNDREDS OF AU (aka HUNDREDS OF ASTROLOGICAL UNITS) dropped their debut EP with absolutely zero warning, and it was awesome. Tom Schlatter posted that he enjoyed the extremely quick turnaround time of releasing digitally with a tape to boot, if necessary, in the future. Quickly following the digital release, Middle Man Records dropped a truly stunning looking cassette. The transparent blue tape with has a slightly darker sticker on it, surrounded by the same dark blue j-card with light blue lettering...it's fucking beautiful.
Oh yeah...the music. The EP smashes heads from the get-go with the unreal and What Of Us/Capacities-esque "Runneth Full", boasting an unstable, thunderous and pummeling 1:44 that ends with amazing back and forth screaming. "Past Due" is a goddamn screamfest for the first 30ish seconds and then chills out NY In 64 style for the remaining two minutes. "Out in the Streets" is pretty straightforward hardcore but has that Tom Schlatter spin that injects screamo blood as well as a deeper, darker, hardcore sound. Track four's "Interlude" is cool and obviously, again, very NY In 64. It's post-hardcore/instru-metal affair that lends itself to some slower and spacier riffs. "Part of the Club" is perhaps the most expansive of the tracks and delves into quite a few nooks and crannies that the band doesn't generally focus on, including some single string guitaring, clean singing and a nice juxtaposition of heavy and soft parts throughout. Closing up shop is, my favourite, "Post Truth Days", the most epic and devastating chunk of hardcore on here. Although it isn't as chaotic as "Runneth Full", the balance and flow of the song creates an extremely engaging listen that pays off in full by 1:05 following a fantastic spoken word midsection of, "Pass it on, pass it on, pass it on!"
So there's that. Killer. EP. And it's super limited to 30 copies, so definitely pick one up. Cannot wait to hear what's up next from these three friends.
Label(s): Mum Says; Be Polite Rec. This post's artist is from the May 2017 Mix. This is track #9.
You can download: the May 2017 Mix#5 right hereor get the new June 2017 Mix#6 here.
In March of 2017 Nico from the German band MIRA sent me their first EP titled 'Mira' that was released on cd out of 150 and is inspired by 90s emo. It begins with "Trembling", which opens like a track off of Eyelet's 'Nervewracker' LP with some sick dual screaming that is very comparable to They Sleep We Live's short run of material, although the song slows down and focuses on a light, emo crooning that is very German sounding. Next up is the chillest of the songs, as "Among Stars" sounds a lot like I Hate Sex ("This Floating World" in particular) with a slow groove and lots of clean vocals. "Abyssal" is the finale and it's quite possibly the best of the three. With introductory instrumentals that sound a heck of a lot like Saetia, Eyes Of Verotika and Off Minor, "Abyssal" begins its ascent and once those screams are tacked on to the build, woah nelly, In anticlimactic fashion, the song recedes and pulls itself back like a wave before gathering more power on the second swell, which climaxes at 2:27 with more Eyelet and They Sleep We Live-esque screamo that I'm all a-fucking-bout. An excellent debut.
Label(s): Henry's Finest Recordings This post's artist is from the April 2017 Mix. This is track #4.
You can download: the May 2017 Mix#5 right hereor get the new June 2017 Mix#6 here.
When I visited Swamp Fest 2016 and met Marilyn Necci for the first time, I bought quite a few fine records from her vintage, personal collection. Among them was the split 12" for Vade and JOUGH DAWN BAKER. I bought it because Vade is most of The Blood Brothers pre-The Blood Brothers. I explained that I loved Vade and couldn't believe she had it, to which she responded, "I don't think I ever listened to that side. I had it for the JOUGH DAWN BAKER side." And now I know why she said that. Taking equal influences from early Botch in the metalcore department and Majority Rule from the emo/screamo crowd, they concocted a violent and scatching metallic/emo hardcore style that is closer to early Botch, Bleeding Kansas and Curl Up And Die than anything else, but definitely provides a unique twist on the formula.
There are four compilation tracks that were released before a self titled 7" and split 12". I think the earliest track we've got here is the 1996 'The Excursion Compilation''s "Bridgework", which is very emo/hardcore and reminds me of Portraits Of Past and Inkwell. In 1997 they released the amazing, violent and very screamo sounding "Muttonfist" on the unreal Botch, Nineironspitfire and Slowsidedown split' 7" called 'Brewing' as well as a Rage Against The Machine cover of "Freedom" which is titled "Five Twenty Four" aka the track's length. Judging by the sound of what we should aptly name "untitled", I would say it was recorded before or around the same time as the 'Vade split' 12", but with crustier and darker overtones, not unlike old PG.99 and and newer bands such as Lamantide and I Am Your Curse.
My favourite JOUGH DAWN BAKER release is, by just a narrow margin, the self titled 'Jough Dawn Baker' 7"EP that was released on Henry's Finest Recordings. I find this to be the perfect mix between the older, screamier emo and the metallic and dark hardcore found on the final two releases. Released in 1999, it was soon followed by the 'Vade split' 12" that was the catalyst for this post. The three songs contained on this wax/1000 are fantastic. The evolution to chaotic, dark, mathy and moshy hardcore is exemplified on the phenomenal "Boise Cascade". This thing is epic as fuck and reminds me of the mathy metalcore done in the 2000s by bands such as Llynch, Enkephalin, The Setup and The Minor Times. "Mannequin 2" is so fucking Majority Rule it's crazy, especially the final 30 seconds which could be rounded out by saying it sounds a lot like PG.99, too. "Let Off Some Steam, Bennitt" is still noteworthy as it includes some of the rawest screaming and a repeating breakdown that lowers itself like a circling vulture.
After researching for this post I came across the 2012 "release" of their unfinished LP via the Pungent Sound blog. Only some of the songs have vocals and obviously the thing is not complete, but the 9 songs are really good and showed where the band was headed. I have included it in the complete discography download located here and numerous other places in this post. This 'Unfinished LP', as we shall refer to it as, has the band careening off (gracefully, I should add) into uncharted waters with a fuckton of confidence, all of which is 100% warranted. The instrumental opener "Track 1" brings to mind instru-metal post-hardcore, while the next song sounds as if it was supposed to have some pretty heavy ass vocals and is reminiscent of the split 12" material. "Track 3" is my personal favourite, cuz...goddamn! That spiraling and evil bass riff attracts some additionally awkward guitar wails and blood curdling screams, with the entire thing coming off sounding like a very experimental and brooding Curl Up And Die. Tracks "4, 6, 7 and 9" are also instrumental and I truly wonder how many of them were supposed to be, if any. "Track 5" and "Track 8" also contain vocals, with the latter packing the most punch, as it drips with the darkness of a sludgy, subterranean stream. After another listen this final LP has a ton of Botch influence but considering the timeframe they were almost step for step with the seminal math-metal love of mine.
A forgotten gem? I'd say so.
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DISCOGRAPHY Click )==>here<==( to download the band's complete discography in mp3 form.
1996 - The Excursion Compilation cdLP (contributed "Bridgework")
1997 - Brewing 4-way split 7"EP (w/Botch, Nineironspitfire and Slowsidedown)
1997 - All About Friends compilation cdLP (contributed "Five Twenty Four")
