Boy, when you're dead, they really fix you up. I hope to hell when I do die somebody has sense enough to just dump me in the river or something. Anything except sticking me in a goddam cemetery. People coming and putting a bunch of flowers on your stomach on Sunday, and all that crap. Who wants flowers when you're dead?
(Breathe Such Vows As Lovers Use To Swear) by Damages
Dude on the mic sounds like Wes Eisold, man! Damages (facebook) is a hardcore punk band with late 90’s melodic influences. Like a stripped down version of Dead Swans, or a modern version of Panic (of which they added a cover song tot his record), The Suicide File or American Nighmare, Damages keep the tempo soaring and the vocals constantly intense with personal and introvert lyrics to boot, while the total package hovers somewhere in between catchy and raw punk.
For this Three One Gee all star band, you get The Locust’s Justin Pearson signature yelp in combination with agressive and fairly straight forward hardcore guitars by Gabe Serbian (The Locust, Holy Molar, Head Wound City, Rats Eyes), Michael Crain (Festival Of Dead Deer) and Thor Dickey. the drums alternate between a punk rock and a grinding hardcore sound. For a band featuring such alumni, the noisy elements are only hinted in the blueprint to the overall sound. Sometimes in the guitar sound and only on a relative few (when you compare it to the member's other projects) occasions more in your face, in the way the songs are rarely structured in a noise rock manner. And of course the vocals are obnoxious. Otherwise it wouldn’t really be JP’s signature voice, as featured in the band’s promo.
Last fm tags as powerviolence,hardcore,grindcore,mathviolence,mathcore
click the image above to buy merch directly from them!
Listening to this release, I had a revelation!
Now this might be the champagne from the office party 15 mins ago, that’s doing the talking, but I was thinking of discussions popping up about metalcore when people speak about bands like Oathbreaker and All Pigs Must Die etc. Which isn’t all that weird because it’s a popular style that mixes a lot of metal with only hints of hardcore in a relatively new way. With the ‘metalcore scene’ being comprised of the last few deathcore and the latest hype of (equally watered down) melodic Post-Hardcore bands, beside the bands that are labelled as just metal but remain to roam only the narrow metalcore or posthardcore shows, what is really left of what we would once label as metalcore?! Note that I am not taking in to account the few active bands that represent the golden years of metalcore, now spearheading Roadrunner, E1 and EMI records with their metallic pop rock, maybe because they think there’s still some money in it (I wouldn’t know if that could be true or not).
I suggest we cut the crap, and start referring to the flavour of the week hardcore metal bands as metalcore. You know, the Holy Terror –ish and the Entombed-worshiping hardcore bands PLUS the chugging metallic hardcore and the ultra-melodic crust metal bands all collected under one divison. When people refer to this ‘wave’ of metalcore, they would say it is frontiered by the bands Anchor, Pulling Teeth, Brutality Will Prevail, The Secret and Ictus! Then, all of the sudden, you would have this dispatch of hardcore music that is more militant in its animal and earth liberation, or whatever sort of socia-political points of view, than anything the entire overlapping genre has had in... well, as long as I can remember! so nothing but positive argumentation in favor of my proposition!
...Then again, I myself am starting to believe it’s the champagne that ignited this idea, now that I’m spell-checking what’s been written above.
waiting rooms by The Burden
The Burden (their blog) is awesome. Its influences alternate between the Holy Terror kind of hardcore and the Entombed kind of metal, so basically angry as hell (especially the intense vocals) and equally groovy or melodic, supported by a sound with original twists and approaches. All resulting in a welcome addition to both styles. btw, get the lyrics here
Last fm tags as hardcore,metalcore,texas,metallic hardcore,seen live
click the image above to buy stuff directly from them!
In this wave of pop punk bands appealing to the hardcore kids, I wanted to do my part in getting Sneeze (their blogpage), featuring members from L'Antietam, Genders and Ape Up, some attention. This band has a refreshing grungy sound added in the mix, so this record oozes with 90’s appresh! When you get those grunge groove with punk rock sensibilities, it feels like you get a perfect balance of catchy music that’s just that bit less poppy and rocks out way grittier. Like a mix between Nirvana’s song Territorial Pissings, Jawbreaker’s I Love You So Much It’s Killing Us Both or The Offspring’s SMASH-era.
click the image above to buy a copy of the record!
