Meleeh - Another Low A New Hollow

 listen to Godspeed by Meleeh

Meleeh (website) is a Swedish band that blends melodic Post-Hardcore with melodic Hardcore (punk), which obviously makes for some very melodious music. the vocals are just perfect. the best I've heard in a Hardcore band ever since. very heartful and tormented, which once made the bands foundation in a more screamo/post-hardcore scene (touring with bands like Suis La Lune etc). since this release (somewhere in 2005) they have been constantly evolving. their follow-up to this record had even more atmospheric build-ups and their most recent release displays the best of their melodic style with brilliant input from a more Metalpunk Hardcore sound (like Cursed or Rise And Fall) so check for those if any of that could appeal to you. until then, here's their first ever released record that would give you a good idea from where they built their sound up.
Last fm tags as screamo, post-hardcore, hardcore, swedish,emo 
What can I say. I love these guys. this was the first band I ever organised a show for, without any help from other promoters or anything and did 2 other gigs for them ever since. it's still my favorite band I've worked with musically, but trough working with them they have become my favorite people in music as well.

click the image above to buy some of their merch or their latest record!

Reflections Of Internal Rain - Last Flood

 listen to Sunset Of The End by Reflections Of Internal Rain

so finaly a post of a band that's not from West-Europe, in or around North America or Melbourne Australia. this is Reflections Of Internal Rain (Myspace), from Serbia!
Since I noticed the explosion of screamo-influenced bands in the crusty punk/hardcore scene, this band is the first to get me really excited about that certain phenomena. the brutality of (granted the more melodic variant (I'm not saying neocrust)) dark hardcore and crust punk with the passion and intensity of screamo. since the declining of that last genre, there is no better place I could have hoped for it to re-emerge in than the anarcho squat-infesting punk scene, and with bands like this it could very well surpass its glory days.
Last fm tags as: neocrust, screamo, hardcore, dark hardcore,crust 

the record is available through this website, but my Serbian is a little off so I wasn't able to figure out just HOW to purchase it. just check these guys out, keep an eye out when they're anywhere near you and just get it straight from them!

Kerouac/The Long Haul split

 listen to Porcelain, my new favorite song by Kerouac

Everything on this makes sense. I did not know Brittish band The Long Haul  (Facebook) before, but their sound in combination with Kerouac (older Kerouac post) works. as does the brevity of the record. 3 songs per band compliments their styles. don't get me wrong, I loved Kerouac's full album... but this split is short and sweet, which makes for a sweet variation between both records (aside from another band's input). The Long Haul's song impressed me on first listen with a very refreshing approach and Keroauc seems to have pulled out all the stops, as if they're tapping from a well that isn't long from drained.

Last fm tags as: chaotic hardcore, hardcore, screamo, british, ukswell, hardcore, uk, southampton, ukswell, seen live

click the above picture to purchase the record from their label and thereby support it

Vultures - I Don't Blame You

        

 listen to Pipe Dreams by Vultures

Appreciation for music should not rely on artist's nationalities. nor should the posts on this blog. yet it's been a while since I posted an Australian band (any recommendations are always appreciated as well!). so I present to you Vultures (band's Facebook), from Melbourne. a band that is a harmonious compromise between the breeds of modern passionate hardcore and dark metallic hardcore sound. the vocals are intense. unlike anything I've experienced since first listening to Dead Swans and perfectly compliment the haunting lyrics.
check this out!

Last fm tags as: hardcore, melodic hardcore, punk, australian hardcore, melbourne hardcore

click the image above to buy stuff directly from the band

Way Down - Ghost Please Die + split with Lasting Traces

2009 EP

2010 split (with Lasting Traces)

 listen to Our Curse by Way Down

I can not get over the brilliant hardcore bands sprouting from the hardcore scene in Germany (past and present). expect to see more bands like Way Down pop up, here. Way Down (Myspace) is a defunct band that played heartfelt  and profound hardcore punk. their stage presence was awesome and I have only rarely heard a band play songs so accurate and thight, almost like listening to the recordings. let alone in a small venue. I don't know if I would ever have noticed them if I hadn't seen them play, but I'm glad I did and want to share that experience with all of you wonderful faceless people.
Last fm tags as: melodic hardcore, hardcore, modern hardcore, hardcore punk, germany

click the picture above to buy the split from Lasting Traces' site and support them!

Light Bearer - Lapsus

 listen to Lapsus by Light Bearer

After the few promo songs by this band, I present to you Light Bearer (bandpage) their first record, released simultaneously with an EP or one sided (the other side with a silk screen picture) 12" named Beyond The Infinite, The Assembly Of God. which will most likely end up here as well. lately, this band has been outspoken about not wanting to be associated with the vocalist's past music project all too much. which is understandable. The elements and influences on this record come from such a broad spectrum of all down-tempo and/or atmospheric music, it is exhilarating to hear this band succeed to keep it in a single consistent mass. this is not the extent of a single influence xeroxed and hyped, nor is it a copy/paste clash of many incompatible spin-offs. this sound holds its own as the groundwork to something entirely unseen. while I can not agree to every single input to this sound, I embrace it in its entirety and long for as many people as possible to at least do just that.

Last fm tags as: post-metal, experimental, post-rock, hardcore, sludge

click the image above to support this band's record label by purchasing this band's merch or records. 

pretty please, with sugar on top.

The Spectacle - I Fail

there may be some time between this post and the next. I'm fairly new to this, and I am still reaching around in the dark when it comes to estimating wether or not this blog is getting picked up. every post so far has been posted daily at 18h00, because I queue every blogpost to do so. there's quite a few waiting in line, ready to be queued themselves. the next could be tomorrow at 18h00 Central European Time (that's UTC/GMT +1h) or any other day at that hour.

 listen to self and other by The Spectacle all the way through. 

it may take until the very end of the song to sink in, like it did with me.

The Spectacle (Myspace) was a Norwegian band on the fabulous anarchist recordlabel Crimethinc records!
still unmatched in all slow tempo music in the crusty scene, these guys played profound and passionate hardcore/ crust punk with the most breathtaking Godspeed You Black Emperor -esque atmospheres in their looooong build-ups and intermezzo's. I can not praise this release enough, for anyone that appreciates post-rock influences in hardcore music from afar. the lyrics are heavy and thought-provoking. mostly against capitalism, but always very profound. mayor plus, if you ask me! the revolution never sounded so good!
Last fm tags as: hardcore, screamo, norwegian, crust, punk

Makiladoras - Discography

 listen to Dagelijks brood by Makiladoras, as a preview

Makiladoras (website) was a dutch crust band, that has still found no equal in musicianship. this metalpunk is a vulgar display of power, with unimaginable sweet drums and the tightest metallic riffs the genre has seen to date. the kind that makes your hand do this, while you're enjoying it :

most people's first impression is the awkward vocals- so did I- but after you get over that, no one could think of any vocals that would do the band's sound more justice. usually when someone tells me I need to get used to vocals I don't like, I tell them they're full of shit and the vocalist just sucks. so far, this band is the only exception with awesomeness to spare.

I added some demo songs that normally aren't on the discography. dunno why, but now they are to make the Discography complete (so it's the disco cd +in eigen hand 12"+ niemandsland LP in one file). enjoy!

Last fm tags as  crust, crust punk, hardcore punk, hardcore, female vocalists  

click the picture above to check where you can buy anything left of this band's merch

We Had A Deal - The World Owes You Nothing + Three Songs

the world owes you nothing (2009)

three songs (2011)

 listen to Pianoman by We Had A Deal, as a preview

German band We Had A Deal (website) is the most exciting upcoming band, today. that's why I'm posting two albums. hands down, their mix of modern hardcore, classic screamo and a broad spectrum of punk rock sounds revitalising. finally another band that built its sound from the ground up, in place of adapting another's sound. and with succes. from heart-moving to haunting melodies, thorough lyrics and energy to spare this band's three releases so far give me high hopes for whatever's to come.
Last fm tags as: hardcore, screamo, hardcore punk, real screamo, melodic hardcore (confusing eh?)


We blackmailed the pianoman
With pictures we took Of him and elderly women
Playing doctors and nurses,
We blackmailed him not to play us another song
But to pour us another drink,
For a song we could sing ourselves.

click the picture above to support this band

Shikari - discography tape 1999-2004

 listen to Nieuwe Politiek 2 by Shikari, as a preview

this is a post  of Shikari's Discography Tape. other than the discography CD, this tape also includes songs from their split with Louise Cyphre and Ação Direta. which include my favorite songs by this band. 

Shikari (Website) is a band from Holland, from which members went on to form Grinding Halt (click for an older post with one of that band's releases). This band put a mark on how people look back on ye olde screamo/hardcore 'scene', while I dispute wether they had such an impact during the time they were active. I couldn't know. I was not there. needless to say, they deserve it all and more. the combo of lightspeed-fast music and overabundance of passion/emotion makes for the hardest hitting heartbreak music, like suicidal black metal songs sped up into under 2 minutes synopsises. the lyrics really make you think, check that out on their website as well!

they went on a hiatus, from somewhere in 2004 until they reunited a few years ago. 

I think it was for Cry Me A River Fest 2009 or something.

Last fm tags as  screamo, emo violence, real screamo,hardcore, emoviolence

click the above picture to see what little merch Shikari has got left.