Like Pigs on Embers – Demo 2014

Julu 23, 2014 • self-released

Another hardcore punk demo today, this one from France's Like Pigs on Embers. To be honest, I'm a bit ambivalent about it, but at the same time I'm still not a huge fan of modern crusty metallic hardcore in general, so take this review with a grain of salt.

The songs have a relatively modern-sounding hardcore punk style, with less of the pure aggravated fury and a little more introspection, with an overall slower chugging slam sound. The riffs themselves are usually of the old-school three-chord variety—simple, but they get the job done. Of course there's still intensity as it is needed, with some blasting and chaotic fast riffs, and I have to admit that these sections (such as most of "Peacefull Knight") are when the band is at its most interesting. On the other hand, this kind of variety is sorely lacking in a lot of hardcore, so I can't really complain.

So I'd say Like Pigs on Embers isn't totally unique or groundbreaking or anything like that, but they're not bad and the demo is certainly worth a listen if you're into this kind of music (at least a little bit).

Atif X Aslam – Lund Na Khao

November 14, 2014 • self-released

I barely have time to write anything as this seventy-two-second EP blitzes by, but I think this might actually be my first time hearing a band out of Pakistan (they're from India too but that's a tiny bit more common in my experience). Admittedly, there isn't anything particularly south-Asian about this band's sound that I noticed, but it's a good sound—the sort of raw, underground, DIY punk ethos applied to some hard-hitting powerviolence. Special mention goes to the excellent drumming; it's technically impressive and does a great job of gluing up the guitar and vocals.

There's really not much to say about this band yet with just this EP, but I'd definitely be interested in some more stuff. Keep it up!

Cannabis Corpse, Mammoth Grinder, Inanimate Existence, Artillery Breath

December 18, 2014 • Ace of Cups, Columbus, Ohio

Concerts this year were sadly slim. It looks like things might pick up next year, though. Anyway I was excited to finally hit another death metal show—as I've said before, I think death metal is one of my favorite genres to watch live, if only for the sheer insanity some bands bring out on stage.

Artillery Breath

The token local opener, and pretty decent stuff to get the show started at that. They're kind of like a death-metal-oriented Kvelertak—lots of heavy grinding extreme metal with old-school high-energy hard rock riffs, with that same sort of high-energy performance and silly and fun attitude. They're not really the kind of thing I'd spin very often on my own, but they were definitely good to watch and a great opener.

Inanimate Existence

The obligatory second band playing that I'd never heard of but wound up liking the best. (Weird how often that happens.) As I soon as I saw them breaking out the seven-string guitars and warming up with some jazzy lines, I could tell it was going to be good. This band falls much more into the brutal/technical death metal side and have a much more serious stance than the other bands playing, but what they were playing was ridiculous—the kind of complicated wall-of-sound riffing where the drummer is somehow the sanest one playing. I did my best to keep up with what the guitars and bass were doing, but the complexity and fluidity was too much, as if they were just waving their fingers over the fretboards at random but still having something awesome come out. This sort of very-long-form through-composed material isn't for everyone and it can be tough to get through at a show, but in this case I don't think I ever found myself anything but engrossed. So yeah, they're good, very good, if you can stomach the wall of intensity.

Mammoth Grinder

This band was the primary reason I went to this show, as they were the only one who I'd heard before. As it turns out I don't really like them at all. I'd listened to their 2009 album some time ago and forgotten about it, and now I know why. Their particular style of modern metallic crust punk isn't really my thing at all. There are some good bits here and there, but most of their music is pretty flat and to be honest they aren't really that fun to watch, either. Oh well. If they're already your thing, it's probably worth it to check them out, but don't stress about it.

Cannabis Corpse

It's been ages since I heard any Cannibal Corpse, but if I remember them right, these guys are (musically) by far the better band. They're pretty traditional death metal with a little bit of groove metal fusion going on, and clearly with a lot of songwriting talent. On the other side of the coin, though, I'm not a stoner, and unfortunately most of their fans are, and we don't get along. I am not a real big fan of moshing, but at many shows I wind up standing right where people want to open a pit, which is usually in a prime spot for, you know, just watching. So I was forced to stand in the back where I couldn't really see, and at that point you might as well just go home and listen to it on YouTube. Usually the audience at metal shows I go to here in Columbus is pretty reasonable, but not this time. Shame, because the band themselves seemed like pretty cool guys. Oh well.

Idylls – Prayer for Terrene

March 30, 2014 • self-released

Finally, some mathcore I can really get into. I'm usually of the opinion that the genre is too messy and incomprehensible to be that enjoyable, but Idylls are doing something really cool here.

Sure, the album has its share of chaotic blasting, but it always feels like they still keep some sort of rhythm going so the listener doesn't ever feel lost. Plus, it's often glued together with some solid sludgy chugging sections, which I always tend to enjoy. There's even a bit of great melodic sections like "Fagged Out on the Beach" (probably one of my favorite tracks) to break up the crazy grinding. That's not to say Idylls doesn't do crazy grinding well—they definitely do.

Aside from the staggering seven-minute opener, almost all of the songs all clock under three minutes. But every one of those minutes is totally packed and Idylls squeezes everything they can out of their time on this album. I also have to give props for the production—I love the squealing saxophone that pops up every once in a while, and the growly, dirty bass sound is really great.

My one misgiving is that I don't get the weird tangents they sometimes go off on, like the bizarre bluesy thing they do for part of "PCP Crazy" or the weird surf thing on "Crashing Boar"—it breaks my immersion a lot and simply isn't in a style I like. At least they don't dwell on it for long.

Anyway, even though I haven't been following grindcore much this year, I'm glad this album crossed my path. It's definitely one to take a taste of for anyone into that sort of music or is looking for anything a little on the aggressive side.

Trap Them – Blissfucker

June 10, 2014 • Prosthetic Records

Trap Them got pretty successful with their last album Darker Handcraft (which was, admittedly, pretty good) and the followup shouldn't have surprised me so much. They put together a pretty solid album, though.

This album is the same sort of blistering, raucous, metal-tinged crust punk we know them for. Lightning-paced punk rhythms, buzzsaw guitars (probably the most appropriate time I've used that word so far), the occasional foray into slow stomping sludge rhythms, the rare grindcore blast. It's got it all, and they do a good job at what they do.

The downside is that this album feels far too long. Trap Them doesn't offer much in the way of giving the listener a break, and when it comes to punk in general forty-five minutes is usually just too much. I find myself getting exhausted about halfway through, which is unfortunate because this album has a lot of good songs on it, especially near the end like "Former Lining Wide the Walls". Maybe I just ought to listen to it in two chunks or something.

But it's good. Not fantastic, but more than listenable for sure; not punk-of-the-year, but something to throw on casually now and again when I can't think of something else to listen to. I won't say if they topped Darker Handcraft, but it's still worth checking out, of course.

7 Inch Grab Bag, part 3

In case you missed my recent haul post, I got a grab bag of ten randomly-selected 7" records. Here are my thoughts on the final four!

Bevil Web / 3 Dream Bag – Split

1995 • Simple Solution Records

Lo-fi rock from the hazy days of the mid-'90s. It's a bit too slow and uninteresting for me, though I have to admit Bevil Web can gloom it up with the best of them. It just feels a bit too sloppy and unrefined to really be of any excitement. Both bands are basically the same thing, though 3 Dream Bag is a bit more acoustic and nasally. Neither are really that great. Oh well.

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Destroy! – Burn This Racist System Down!

1992 • Havoc Records

Yes, finally, more grindcore! This is old-school stuff, too, from the early '90s. Songs are short, to-the-point, growly, razor-sharp; there's also a couple really long meandering ones in there too which is interesting. It's hard to expand much on what makes a grind EP good, so just take my word for it that these guys had their stuff down. Totally recommended (just don't cut yourself on those edgy lyrics...).

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Digression – Controlled

1996 • Surprise Attack Records

Early metalcore, and a very kind of primal version at that. Very aggressive, lots of chugging breakdowns, but also with this lo-fi punk aesthetic. It's probably not something anyone would consider "good" from a purely artistic standpoint but it's interesting to me because, for all the awful DIY punk I hear, I never have really heard any DIY metalcore, and it feels unique just for that. But that's just me, and this still isn't that great. Maybe. "Diary" is pretty good.

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Love + Respect – Deep + Heartfelt

1989 • Penultimate Records

I still don't like garage punk and I don't really like Love + Respect, but there's definitely worse out there. I don't like how most of it is just kind of dumb; I guess Love + Respect is at least tongue-in-cheek about it but that doesn't help that much. The music is just too simple-sounding to hold my interest. I dunno. At least "If I Only Had a Brain" has this neat noise rock thing going on that is a bit different from the rest of the tracks; I like that one.

7 Inch Grab Bag, part 2

In case you missed my recent haul post, I got a grab bag of ten randomly-selected 7" records. Here are my thoughts on the next three!

Humanbodyflawed / The Jan-Michael Vincent Car Crash – Split

2001 • Obtuse Mule

Grind! Grind! Grind! At least I think that's what's going on with the Jan-Michael Vincent Car Crash. It's crazy, technical, mathy stuff, and a great big mess of it. Weird growly bass, oppressive angular guitar, muffled screams make for a bizarre and alienating listen. Humanbodyflawed is similar but, somehow, even weirder; the extra guitar fuzz tries to mask some truly strange musical forays that go from Dillinger Escape Plan to Pig Destroyer to god knows what. This is an EP worth seeking out, for sure.

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Big Meat – Botulism

2003 • Sit on My 2-Faced Bitch Records

Not sure what I'd say this is. Hard rock with a punk edge? Garage rock, maybe? Probably. Anyway, I'm not totally thrilled by it, though it's not awful. Just kind of generic aggressive rock, very indicative of its time (early 2000s). Worth one listen, and then I forgot all about it. "Thundercleese" is a little catchy, though.

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Play Your Own Theme Song

1999 • Mortville Records

I hate reviewing splits, but at least this one has the unique premise that all four bands are recording theme songs for themselves. Kinda neat, kinda silly.

• The Chumps – Awful garage rock. Cheesy, unoriginal music, bad vocals, goes on way too long. Not even worth thinking about. Please move on.
• The Commies – Snarly pop-punk kind of stuff, a big anthemic song. Also cheesy but at least they seem to know it.
• Los Tigres Guapos – Something like horror punk maybe? It's also a little silly but these guys are actually kind of good. Not much to say about a one-minute track, though.
• Reclusives – More straightforward old-school hardcore punkabilly. I'm not a huge fan, but I can tell they're not a bad band.

7 Inch Grab Bag, part 1

In case you missed my recent haul post, I got a grab bag of ten randomly-selected 7" records. Here are my thoughts on the first three!

Medicine Man – Céad Míle Fáilte

1993 • Thrashing Mad

I wasn't expecting this at all. From the cover, it looks like some kind of cheesy folk rock, but in reality it's more like old-school hardcore punk, Minor Threat style, with a bit of a hard rock / heavy metal feel at times and not-very-good vocals. The riffs are a bit dissonant and not particularly memorable, but there's some really nice bass work going on. All in all, I kinda like it. Not something I can see myself getting super into, but it's pretty good stuff.

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The Rumour – Frozen Years / All Fall Down

1979 • Stiff Records

Cheesy '70s pop/rock, as I had suspected. Sort of an XTC feel with the spacey synthesizers and acoustic guitars, but not as carefully composed or expressive and it's a bit too repetitive for me. The B-side "All Fall Down" is definitely a bit better with an interesting dub feel, but it quickly gets too silly. Nice guitar soloing, though.

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DCOi! – DCOi

2008 • xTruex Records

Nice and crusty! Fast, modern-sounding west coast punk (well, it was 2008), and it's some really good catchy stuff, switching between noisy blasting and crunchy, driving rhythms. I won't say it's the best modern hardcore I've heard and they're certainly not unique or anything, but it certainly gets the job done well for when you're in the mood to break stuff.

Cerce – Adieux

June 14, 2014 • Mayfly Records

Adieux is a compilation of various songs from three-ish years of Cerce's career as a Boston punk band (they've since renamed to "lovechild" for some ungodly reason). The tracks are a nice blend of hard-hitting, blazing-fast hardcore punk with a heavy dose of modern powerviolence mixed in. It's nothing terribly original, but they definitely do it well enough. There's also some more experimental stuff going on too—slower crusty sections, some noise, spoken word, and field recordings.

What's interesting about Adieux in particular is that it doesn't really feel like a compilation; the tracks are arranged in such a way that "normal" songs and noise interludes and experimental pieces follow one after another. I don't have any prior experience with this band so maybe that's just the way their stuff was presented before, but it does manage to stay pretty interesting throughout, though it does drag a little at the non-punk parts when not a lot is going on.

But it's short and sweet. Something to put on when you haven't heard any good hardcore in a while (I've been listening to a ton lately, so maybe that affects my opinion of this particular release). And, you know, it's free. A good send-off for a talented band.

Everything Wilts, Arrows in Her, Gatherer, Fossil, Until We Are Ghosts

July 21, 2014 • Fairfield Christian Church, Baltimore, Ohio

Having a concert in a church was real weird. On one hand, the standing room was weirdly organized and it was a little cramped. On the other hand, it didn't smell awful and there were no annoying drunkards (in fact, everyone was really nice). Totally worth the half-hour drive out of town to check out some amazing bands.

Until We Are Ghosts

These guys have a metalcore sound to them, with a bit of modern hardcore punk and post-screamo thrown in. I'm not sure how I feel about their music in and of itself (it was a bit too much metalcore at times), but I can't deny that their performance was pretty impressive. Good technical skills, incredible passion for their craft (especially the vocalist), and a little showmanship. Good stuff.

Fossil

Leaning more towards the lighter post-hardcore side, with a heavy dose of standard screamo. While they certainly performed well, the songs themselves weren't terribly thrilling. Not that I found myself bored or anything, but there wasn't much about them that really set them apart. Nice to watch anyway, especially given the slightly silly dancing about. Fantastic drumming, too.

Gatherer

More traditional-type screamo plus post-hardcore with a very dark feel to it (at least, in comparison to the other bands). The rhythms were really good and they did switch up the formula quite a bit with lots of changeups and different styles (including a tiny bit of blasting). The set in general was great; very fun to watch. One to check out for sure.

Arrows in Her

I can die happy now. These guys have been a top band for me ever since Leaving came out almost two years ago. Since they haven't come up with much new material since then (though a full-length is apparently almost done) the set was packed full of amazing songs. I'm still impressed by the guitarist's ability to do those intricate clean riffs and sing at the same time. Gatherer's drummer filled in and he did a fantastic job as well. So glad they finally made it here.

Everything Wilts

Half of this band was in Maumelle, a crazy coincidence I didn't realize until the show was over. Anyway: pretty upbeat (almost pop-punk) screamo, the vocals are a bit too intense for the music (kinda like Maumelle). But the band was doing some pretty interesting stuff, with some good guitar effects and different textures going on. They've got a way to go, but it's a great start.

Reproacher – Nothing to Save

June 11, 2013 • self-released

Gotta have more of that delicious modern sludgecore? Reproacher delivers. These guys are among the filthiest and heaviest bands of their genre—detuned guitars, pounding rhythms, grimy production, and man are they angry as all hell. They lean a bit into the hardcore punk side at times, so when the band isn't bringing some crushing doom they're pretty fast and jumpy, but it's always suitably heavy and they never feel out-of-control. Although Reproacher aren't really bringing anything particularly new to the table just yet, they're certainly good at what they do. A band to keep an eye on.

Alpha – Burn Down Your Neighborhood

May 16, 2014 • self-released

Alpha delivers the kind of punk that's more in line with the old-school approach of doing whatever you want, as long as it feels right. It's not the pretty, slicked-up hardcore we get these days—which can still be good in its own way, but I still enjoy this kind of stripped-down DIY punk and I'm glad it's still popular enough nowadays. Burn Down Your Neighborhood (great title, by the way) feels like it should be playing on a ratty old cassette tape in a basement party.

Anyway, the music: there's a mix of traditional '80s-style punk, some high-speed powerviolence, some crusty chugging breakdowns, raw screaming vocals, and lots of screeching feedback. Just about everything you need in minimalist punk, and nothing more.

Alpha might be a bit too oddball for this release to be something that will top my 2014 charts but for right now it's really hitting the spot.

(And yes, if you want it to be, anything can be an instrument. Even mayonnaise.)

Puig Destroyer – Wait for Spring

November 19, 2013 • self-released

Grab your ballcaps and gloves, kids—it's opening day.

Puig Destroyer is essentially a baseball-themed grind band in the vein of Pig Destroyer (big surprise), which should be enough to tickle one's fancy. They're a bit rawer than Pig Destroyer themselves but have a pretty similar style otherwise, with maybe a bit of Agoraphobic Nosebleed influence here and there; more on the punk side of grindcore than the metal side but still very abrasive.

I heard their first EP some time ago and though I don't have it in front of me to reference, Wait for Spring is pretty much on par with what I remember (apologies for more references to sports than is probably healthy). Not a lot has changed since, although there's quite a bit more downtuned, filthy production and some slow sludgy sections to break up the blasting. Unfortunately (like the first EP) it feels like it's over before it even starts, but I guess that's grind for you.

Anyway there's really no reason not to check this out—these guys are still good and their music is still free. Keep catching those fly balls, and stop fucking bunting.

Gridlink – Longhena

February 19, 2014 • Selfmadegod Records

Third albums are always interesting in the average bands' life cycle. You have the brilliant debut, the oft-disappointing and samey second effort, and then the stylistically-different third release that determines whether the band lives or dies. Okay so in this case Gridlink's second album was perfectly fine, and I'm happy to report that with their third effort the band's future is looking good.

Most noticeably, Gridlink seems to be bringing grind to a new level of technicality, if that was even possible for a band already famous for just that. Longhena is all about rapid stop-start riffs, wild lead guitar lines, crazy drum fills. There's less sheer brutality—not to say the album isn't brutal, because it definitely is—but Gridlink seems to have shifted focus a bit to seeing just how far they can push their playing abilities and grindcore's boundaries.

And it's about time, too; not that I ever found the genre to get too stagnant, but it's rare to see any grind band step too far out of line. But here we have string quartets and some clean guitar ("Thirst Watcher"), a couple different vocal styles, layers of tremolo picking, shades of death metal, a few major-key riffs... there's so much going on. For a band that played things relatively straight and simple on their first two releases, this one comes as a bit of a surprise the first time around.

But it's a welcome surprise, for sure; like I said grindcore isn't a genre that we see a lot of experimentation in. Compared to metal in general, Longhena really isn't that experimental at all, but it's very satisfying to hear Gridlink evolving in this way. Even though I've stepped a little bit away from grindcore lately, I'm glad I have Gridlink to come back around and remind me just how fun and exciting it can be.

Blank – Susperia

December 12, 2014 • This Charming Man Records

Blank is a modern-style crust punk band through and through, with a dark and gritty aesthetic and a sound that is quite dense and often complex. They also can comfortably move from crust to blastbeats and there are also some good atmospheric parts (like "Society of Glass"'s and "Lich un Eisen"'s intros and endings). So there's a good amount of different things going on in their songwriting, which is nice to hear from a modern hardcore band where diversity is often sadly absent.

I'm not totally sure how I feel about Suspiria, though. Blank has definitely laid down a solid foundation, but the songs seem to go by too quickly before they can really hook the listener. But there are still a lot of good ideas and some great riffs and I like where it's going, and maybe the fact that it's just an EP and not a full album has something to do with it.

So while this release is definitely a fine listen, especially for people already into this scene, and I am liking it, there is still a lot of untapped potential to be exploited yet. We'll see; I'm probably going to keep my eye out for future material from these guys. Blank feels like they are probably a great live band, at the very least.

Ruined Families – Blank Language

March 11, 2013 • Adagio 830

More and more interesting punk bands have been making their way towards my inbox lately; the latest is Greek experimental hardcore group Ruined Families. While Blank Language's sound should be right up my alley, I'm not totally thrilled with them just yet, although this album is still an enjoyable experience.

Ruined Families has a pretty unique and interesting sound—while it's rooted somewhere in hardcore punk, there are quite a few many other things going on as well. It's incredibly noisy, dense, and sometimes atmospheric, with elements of crust and maybe even black metal with lots of dissonant guitar lines and intense blasting sections. The more standard melodic-punk riffs are very good and meld well with the more abrasive and noisy side of the band, resulting in an interesting contrast between the two conflicting aesthetics.

It's also an album that is a bit difficult to really get into, because of its sound. The songwriting is a bit complex (one might call it "progressive", even) and the songs tend to wander around a bit from riff to riff, making the album come off as a steady stream of hardcore aggression without much structure to it. Sometimes that works and sometimes it doesn't; I'm not sure if it does here. It's not bad, but I never like when an album is hard to follow.

Blank Language is a good album—not a fantastic one, but definitely a good one, though it's somewhat niche. But I can tell that Ruined Families would doubtlessly be awesome to see play live, and I'll probably keep an eye out in case they ever make it out this way. In the meantime, if it sounds interesting, Blank Language is an album worth checking out.

Sangharsha – Bayou

February 8, 2014 • Alerta Antifascista Records

I don't think that, before this week, I'd ever heard any music from Nepal before. It's not a country you really hear much about, especially when it comes to contemporary popular music. But of course it's always good to expand one's horizons. Sangharsha plays modern hardcore, and although there really isn't that much about them that sounds at all Nepalese to me, they're still definitely putting out some quality stuff.

Bayou was actually recorded in the United States with Converge's Kurt Ballou helping out, so the album is definitely Western-sounding and you can definitely feel a bit of the Converge sound in there. But Sangharsha is a band all their own; at its core Bayou probably falls under "crust punk"—they alternate between D-beat, blasting, and heavy, sludgy chugging sections. There isn't a whole lot in the way of technicality, but the riffs are plenty great as it stands; I especially love the breakdown sections like at the end of "Muslo". There is the occasional almost-post-rock-like bridge as well (see the longer tracks "Aseena" and "Kachuli") where their intense sound lets up temporarily, keeping things interesting and diverse, always a good thing.

It's a short album, but I think that is probably best—the quality doesn't let up throughout and I don't feel like there are any moments where the band coasts along on a dull riff or filler track. Short and sweet, like good punk should be. These guys are definitely on the right track with Bayou; I'm looking forward to hearing more from them.

The Atrocity Exhibit – What Time the Hidden Death?

November 6, 2012 • Grindcore Karakoe

Just a quick and dirty review today: Grind band The Atrocity Exhibit has been around for a while, though I don't know much about them aside from this EP from a few years ago. Although after writing this review, I realize I really need to look into them a bit more, because what they're doing is really darn good.

On the surface, their music sounds like relatively standard modern grindcore; it's easy to make comparisons to bands like Rotten Sound or maybe Wormrot. But there's no lacking in originality here, and even if there was, they more than make up for with the quality of their material. It's all too easy to make boring or bad grind, but these guys manage to keep things really interesting. Their approach to structure and riffs reminds me a bit of Discordance Axis (an endorsement right there if you ever needed one), with a surprising amount of technical stuff going on. But there's also a bit of old-school thrashy stuff (like closing track "13 Fingers") or the occasional busting down into a slow sludge- or crust-punk-like groove. No two songs are too alike.

Like most good grind releases, it does what it needs to quickly and thoroughly, then gets out of the way. I like that in an EP. And this one definitely goes above the call in providing some really awesome material.

(oh and that shit's free, yo)

Wet Brain, Checkmate, Torgo

December 17, 2013 • Ace of Cups, Columbus, Ohio

Just popped out to see a small show last night, some obscure punk bands I'd never heard of.

Torgo

Terrible. Some sort of noise-rock-meets-punk-aesthetics, but in a bad way. Most of their stuff sounded like they were just messing around. Occasionally they'd set up a decent industrial/Swans-ish groove but it would always be ruined by the guitar goofing off with this random atonal improv. I get the feeling they were just playing for their drunk friends; the inside jokes and general stupidity was kind of embarrassing to watch.
3 • Most Ineffective Concrete Block for the Kick Drum Award

Checkmate

Local hardcore punk. A rehash of the old-school three-chord style, there's nothing particularly original about them, but they do what they do quite well. Very energetic and fun to watch, but a bit amateurish (they had to restart a few songs)—though I think they're a very new band, so I'll cut them some slack. Would see again.
6 • Just Tilt the Mic Down Instead of Standing On Your Toes Award

Wet Brain

(Baltimore. Not to be confused with the one from LA or the one from Massachusetts or the one from Cleveland, whom they're playing with the day after, which is interesting.) I haven't listened to much riot grrrl (maybe two bands total) but I liked what I heard, and these guys continued the trend. Their sound was pretty standard but with a tiny bit of a blues/surf influence in some songs. They also roll with one guitar and two basses (one high, one low, Ned's Atomic Dustbin style) which was pretty cool and is still fairly unique, especially for punk. They had the tendency to kind of meander and let the songs go a bit too long, but it was still a fine show. Worth checking out.
6 • Best Nose Rings Award

Burning Bright – Domesday

December 15, 2012 • self-released

I found this band on Bandcamp (of course) some time ago and finally got around to actually checking them out. I've heard more than my share of crap in my mission to find the world's best crust punk, but Burning Bright is definitely one of the better bands so far and this, their debut, is certainly worth the time.

Domesday is a pretty simple album at its core: a straightforward fusion of melodic hardcore and crust punk, like a skatier version of Tragedy. Unlink a lot of other crust punk, though, the production is pretty clean most of the time (and you can easily hear that awesome bass guitar sound) and the melodies are, well, more melodic than usual (almost power-metal-esque on a few tracks, and there's even trumpet on the final track). I quite like the approach, actually; it's a very accessible album and easy to listen to as far as hardcore goes. You don't always have to get bogged down in the dirty, dank sound most crust albums have, and I appreciate that here.

Burning Bright can definitely do some quite catchy rhythms, although many of the songwriting and riffs lean more towards the average side, playing off on a single note or really basic chord pattern that doesn't stay interesting very long. There are some nice exceptions, though—"Vitriol", as an example, has a nice proggy-sounding bridge to it and some really great guitar interplay with the solos; a few of the closing songs bring a great sludgy sound missing from the rest of the album.

So no, it's not a particularly challenging or mind-expanding release, or one that I'd eagerly push on everyone I meet, but it's still a fine album for those days when you just want to rock out and have your brain numbed by some heavy hardcore sounds. Definitely recommended for hardcore fans—and it's free, too!

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