Desidia - Desidia Demo

01. Lúgubre
02. Agorafobia / Tumba De Cemento

Desidia is a band of Buenos Aires, his style varies from the darkest doom, the most violent crust, and increible sludge trips as seen in 'Simbolismo De La Division' (you can listen on their bandcamp page) six minutes of a single trip, it is impossible not to recall the glorious band Ekkaia when you listen. His lyrics are as important as their music, lead anyone to re-consider their thinking. 'Agoraphobia / Cement Tomb' is another song from his Demo highly recommended to all fans of Ekkaia, Tragedy, Fall Of Efrafa, Avitacion 101 and many other bands.

Reviewed by Yura.

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Maumelle - 1997

01. Exposed
02. Three Thirty
03. Rest
04. Thankful
05. These Walls
06. The Only Way Out

I want to keep a reputation for full disclosure while writing for this site, so in that interest I'm going to say right out of the gate that this style of screamo/emo isn't really my thing. That said, this is executed really well, and fans of this style will find a lot to like here. The opener 'Exposed' leaves the vocalist just that - exposed. The track starts out with what I am interpreting as guitar volume swells (please correct me if this is incorrect). A clean guitar a picks out some somber sounding chords for a few bars before the vocalist speaks his lyrics, not totally unlike recent offerings from Old Gray. The vocals grow in intensity until they are almost screamed, though the instruments stay sparse, which creates a cool dynamic. By the time that the noodly guitar at the beginning of 'Three Thirty' kicks in, you're fairly aware of what you're going to get here, though instead of off key warbling, the vocalist jumps right into shouting. It's a little strange at first to hear such intense screaming over calm guitar riffs, but it eventually settles into the norm and doesn't seem so out of place. 'Rest' breaks up the pacing of the album with another introspective picked guitar and spoken word piece. They get really close to overdoing it with the spoken word stuff, however the last three songs are largely intense and feature full instrumentation, creating a suitable balance for the EP.

Reviewed by Justin.

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Old Gray - Everything I Let Go & The Things I Refuse To

01. 359 Pine
02. Resonance
03. Winter '11
04. Six Years

For those who only became aware of Old Gray via this year's wonderful LP 'An Autobiography', the recent repressing of 'Everything I Let Go and the Things I Refuse To' serves as a convenient and pleasant addition to the band’s discography. Having been released before the full length, this EP foreshadows what we could come to expect. All the key elements that make Old Gray great are here: dramatic spoken word sections placed on top of reverb soaked clean guitar, impassioned screams over heavy driving passages, and a sincere honesty permeating the entire release. The minimal instrumentation and spoken word of '359 Pine' serves as a good introduction to this short collection of songs, leading directly into the screams and heavy drums of 'Resonance'. When the record is flipped over, 'Winter '11' continues the intensity at first before breaking down to a single guitar. This serves as a wonderful short introduction to the band for those unaware, and is a great companion piece to 'An Autobiography'.

Reviewed by Justin.

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Mini Post #22

Charlotte Light And Dark - Strewn Red & Sinew

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Charlotte Light And Dark is a noisy four-piece that combine jagged honesty with spasming violence. Truly interesting band, check their latest stuff out!
[ listen on bandcamp ]

Fiesta Minor - Time Spent Breathing

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'Time Spent Breathing' is an unrelenting, emotional four-song EP that ties influences from hardcore, screamo and post-rock into an impressive and well presented record.
[ listen on bandcamp ]

Edhochuli - Edhochuli

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Edhochuli is four dudes from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, US and they play really great mathy music. The end of 'Pizza Party At The Castle' is epic, listen to it now!
[ listen on bandcamp ]

Half Milk - Down Endings

01. Cooper Cannon
02. By The Sea 6 (Like A G6)
03. Our Chart
04. Skye Brynjelsen's Big Break

This record is wild. There's no better sentence to start this review than that. Half Milk will use quieter, slower passages to lull you into a sense of security, and then a fast, technical mathy riff will pop out of nowhere. This band seems to do what so many other bands of the Cap'N Jazz worshipping emo revival have been trying to: be insanely technical, but still make the riffs catchy. And that's not all. When these guys dig in, they really dig in. The middle of 'Our Chart' is a screamed, chaotic mess, and when the vocals end the instruments all careen back to center and vamp on a scorching riff, and then all of that gives way to a light drum roll and some plucked acoustic guitar. I know for a while it seemed like there were a lot of bands attempting to do this style (and there probably still are), but few have immediately impressed me with their melding of virtuosity and just plain listenability as much as Half Milk did on first listen. If you love any combination of noodles and math, chances are you'll really like this record.

Reviewed by Justin.

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Grinding Halt - Brito Split

01. Grinding Halt - Rechtsmensch
02. Grinding Halt - Op Recept
03. Grinding Halt - Omslag
04. Grinding Halt - De Rekening
05. Brito - This Is Where The World Catches Up On Us
06. Brito - Generations
07. Brito - We Kill Giants
08. Brito - A Revengers Tragedy
09. Brito - Now And Then

Mark from De Graanrepubliek Records was cool enough to send me the mp3's from this killer split LP featuring new material from Groningen, Netherlands based Grinding Halt and Brito. Grinding Halt play a facemelting style of music that incorporates hardore, punk, grind, and emo-violence within their sound. On their side of the split, Grinding Halt offer up four devastating and chaotic songs that pick up where the band left off with their split 7" with Daighila. On the opposite end of the screamo spectrum is Brito. On their side of the split, Brito offer up five new songs that aren't too far off on their 2008 LP 'This Wave Is Only For The Goohearted'. Brito takes cues from 90's and early 2000's emotive hardcore made popular by bands such as Shotmaker, Bread And Circuits, and Yaphett Kotto. Brito would have fit in well on record labels such as Level Plane or Ebullition Records. At other times, the band takes cues sonically from post-hardcore bands such as Fugazi or Twelve Hour Turn. Overall, this is a phenomenal split and both bands offer up top notch material.

Reviewed by Chris.

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Reservoir - Bicycle Ride Split

01. Reservoir - Grown Apart
02. Reservoir - Over Under
03. Bicycle Ride - At The End Of The Day

I'm going to start with Reservoir saying that they're a midwest emo band that sounds nothing like most of the bands of the same genre that came out on the late '00s. They actually have a really strong American Football-ish vibe and it also doesn't sound like they're ripping off any emo band of that era. Basically, kind of the same goes with Bicycle Ride's only track on this split. I actually hadn't heard of Bicycle Ride before but I'm definitely going to check them out even if I prefer Reservoir’s side. Bicycle Ride's track is a lot more ambient and has a post-rock feel. Their vocals are kind of lethargic, I'm not saying this as a bad thing, and they fit well in the whole vibe that their track gives. Finally I'd like to say that I really enjoyed this split and I hope you do the same.

Reviewed by Thanos.

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Solemn League - Different Lives

01. What If
02. Semiotic Dreams
03. Magnificient Liar
04. Bad Weather
05. Choose Your Weapon
06. Good Ideas On Fire
07. Nervous Breakdown
08. Black Water

Solemn League is a four piece band from Berlin and Hamburg, Germany who formed in 2006. Solemn League features ex-members of German hardcore band Kurhaus and Just Went Black. Solemn League plays a style of music that incorporates elements of emo-punk, indie rock, and 90's discord style punk within their sound. 'Different Lives' is the band's first LP, which was released via Kids In Misery records on April 13, 2012. Overall, Solemn League's sound covers a wide variety of influences. At one end of the spectrum, I hear influences ranging from Rites Of Spring, to 90's bands such as Q And Not U, to more modern bands such as Hot Water Music, as well as other European bands such as The Falcon Five, Shokei, and Mock. 'Different Lives' makes for an energetic and infectiously catchy listen. Enjoy!

Reviewed by Chris.

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Eyrie - Eyrie Demo

01. Cows Came Home
02. The History Of A Sleepless Night
03. I've Been Taking Prescribed Medicine For Three Weeks And Still No Effect
04. How I Spent This Summer
05. To The Ground

When I open an album full of songs which don't peak over two minutes, generally I don't expect to be greeted by soft, minimal, jazz-like bass playing that echoes across the tape. Or do I expect - oh wait. This is the thing: Eyrie doesn't wait. Their vocal-chord-wrenching guitar-screeching drum-smashing mangled emoviolence-screamo hits so fast and unexpectedly that 'wait' really isn't a thought prominent in my mind. Perhaps some of the most intense screamo I've heard this year, at times it almost resembles demented fast-paced industrial, with screeches and occasional snarls of feedback noise, so knotted and mangled is the production here. The effect is something incredibly dense, but uniquely so. It's an incredible demo, and very promising for Eyrie's next release.

Reviewed by Beth.

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Mini Post #12

Bocanegra - Bocanegra

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Here is a Mexican band created by former members of Human Plague. Their music incorporates elements of hardcore, punk and screamo. Highly recommended stuff!
[ listen on bandcamp ]

Punk Girls - I'm A Little Bit Lonely These Days

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'I'm A Little Bit...' is the first record of the screamo/punk band named Punk Girls. The sounding of the songs is a bit lo-fi and noisy, but this a truly promising demo.
[ listen on bandcamp ]

Sparhawks - Demo

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Sparhawks is a four-piece instrumental band from Allston, Massachusetts, US. They play the nice mixture of post-rock, math-rock with a little jazzy and emo influences.
[ listen on bandcamp ]

Moths - Moths

01. Jupitari
02. Gold Ghost
03. Transit
04. You've Reached Marshall
05. Asteral
06. Perseids

The fact that this band is a three-piece is pretty impressive. All of the instruments are ducking and weaving nearly constantly, and all three band members are singing over it. The drum beats on 'Gold Ghost' make it seem that Alex Blanchard is engaged in a super long fill. The mathy cacophony that erupts in 'Gold Ghost' is set up perfectly by 'Jupitari', which is an almost dreamy post-rock influenced instrumental track. The coolest part of this release to me is that the moment you get settled and think you know what to expect, Moths throws your expectations out the window and dives into something else. The nimble riffing jumps into thick and heavy breakdowns effortlessly, and higher post-rock riffs recall the dreamy introduction, but now the dreams are crushing. The ten and a half minute long 'Perseids' closes out the record, showcasing all of the various facets of Moths in one tour de force track. The flow of this record is one of its greatest strengths. Each song flows into the next, and quieter instrumentals link the heavier songs and create a vibe that encompasses the entire release. This was most certainly meant to be digested whole, and it is better for it.

Reviewed by Justin.

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Bird Calls - Small Bones Split

01. Bird Calls - Confidence Tricks
02. Bird Calls - Fortnum And Mason
03. Small Bones - Dissin' The Blue
04. Small Bones - Catch Me If You

An interesting split 7", with bands with seemingly little in common. Bird Calls from London makes bouncy indiemo with dancing drum lines and interplay between bass and guitar - whereas several thousand miles away in New Orleans, Small Bones makes more traditional, riff-driven emo which substites melodic bounce for abrasive kick. Most interestingly of all, it works. Both varied and intertwined: Bird Calls are just low-end enought to be willing to be discordant; Small Bones are just poppy enough to make clever structure a little catchy. Both bands deliver in their own distinct styles to create four solid tracks for this 7" split.

Reviewed by Beth.

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Ted's Approval - Red Dream

01. Burn And Rage
02. Samantha
03. Golden Gate
04. Barry Bonds
05. Children In Churches
06. Enredadera

The drums are tinny, thin and battered, and the guitars sound like a demented electric shaver at times - but that's a very good thing, on 'Red Dream'. Ted's Approval play with snarling messy hardcore as well as more drawn-out, early-era emo passages, moving between the two seamlessly, giving the record variety and time to cool down between the fiercer tracks. Low, clear bass tones cut against the DIY untidiness of everything else, break out between sections and rumble beneath the raging storm of guitar and drums, acting as a great leveller. In total, the Californian outlet have made a ragged, angry record, unafraid to mix things up whilst still undeniably raw punk - musically and lyrically.

Reviewed by Beth.

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Mini Post #11

Pjaro - Why Is No One Here

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Charming, mostly instrumental duo from Sheffield, UK. It is not easy to categorize them, but I love the whole EP, and you should listen to 'Why Is No One Here' now!
[ listen on bandcamp ]

Flyktpunkt - Demo

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This is the first demo of Flyktpunkt, a four-piece emo/punk band from Berlin, Germany. Let's listen to these five catchy punk songs, they deserve your attention.
[ listen on bandcamp ]

Absent - What I Had & What I've Lost

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Absent is a Windsor, Pennsylvania, US based screamo/ hardcore/punk band influenced by bands like Defeater, Suis La Lune, Funeral Diner and City Of Caterpillar.
[ listen on bandcamp ]

Righteous Cycles - At Rest

01. Hamburgled
02. There's No Hope For You Here
03. Untitled #9
04. Relativity

'At Rest' is, in parts, four solid songs which which fit closely into pre-existing styles of emo - jangly guitar lines, or post-rock influenced tracks echo with fuzz, or warm chords and spoken word breaking into screaming intensity. Patterns seen often before, but when assembled together, with a raw, aching voice to join them, Righteous Cycles have made a rather unique record with a much-appreciated pinch of variety. The vocals are terrible in the best kind of way, half-growling-half-screaming-half-shouting, and not willing to hold back lyrically, either. Take the very first few lines, for instance: "All your friends are lying / they don't love you / they just keep laughing / laughing at you." No, it doesn't relent after that. A great debut, in total.

Reviewed by Beth.

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Gifts - Gifts

01. Poem
02. Music
03. Keep You From Everything
04. That's Better
05. Wring Me Out
06. In My Grasp

Gifts are a three piece from Montclair, NJ. All there members are very talented I'm not denying that and I'm not saying that other people won't dig this but I have some problems with this one. For me, this self-titled release is pretty much only area of emo I dislike. As the instrumentation? I love it, nothing better, really relaxed, wonderful chord progressions, but these kind of vocals just grate on me from the very beginning. That whiney American voice is really not one I particularly like, over pronouncing words and pushing them out in desperation, it's just not for me at all. To be fair to the guys in Gifts, the vocals do get less irritating as the release goes on and it ends up not making me want to cringe. I never go to review a release with the intention of disliking it, but for me, if this one was an instrumental album it would get my vote towards it. I'd love it, it'd be so relaxing and incredible beautiful, but I hate to be horrible, the vocalist just ruins it for me. One more thing that annoyed me was the fact their is self-titled record of theirs is on bandcamp for $5. That's just for a digital download and to me that's a really weird move by the band. With about 250 likes on Facebook, I didn't feel like it was a very great way to market their band, but that's up to them I guess. However! Just because I'm not into it, doesn't mean that you won't. Like I said before, they're all very talented. People should certainly go and make up their own minds on this one. You might even thing the $5 price tag is worth it.

Reviewed by Steven.

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Ulises Lima - Waiting For The Summer

01. Remember
02. The River
03. Ashes
04. Waiting For The Summer
05. Old Habits
06. Silver
07. Kids Are Still Kids
08. The Dolphin And The Lion
09. A Thousand Words
10. I Shot Them All
11. Easy Chicks
12. First And Last Time

Since I've started doing these reviews/features I have been introduced to some great foreign bands, and the Spanish three piece from Madrid, Ulises Lima are certainly one of them. Their emotion brand of punk is both catchy and easily to listenable. There are only a couple of bands like this that I listen to however as it's not really my thing. One of those bands being Nottingham's Plaids. I really get the same kind of punk vibe from this band as I do from them, so check out both of those bands. Ulises Lima's first LP 'Waiting For The Summer' is full of great sing-a-longs (yes, sing in English, which is a lazy plus for people like me) and catchy hooks for sure. I'd probably say my favourite track on the LP would be the title track, which is pretty classic punk to tell the truth, however the powerful, rough, shouty vocals really give it the kick it needs to be branded by the band. This record is full of twists and turns, fantastically thought out songs and real emotion in the lyrics and delivery of the vocals. It's well worth a listen and a download, if you want emotion, punk riffs and tangents, then this is for you.

Reviewed by Steven.

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Christopher Walking - Smooches

01. I Used Three On My Nazghoul
02. Gerald Has Exceptional Kneecaps
03. CYL
04. I Can't Do Archery, Get Over It
05. Citizen Snips (Fresh Beats)
06. Chris Finebeard

Sometimes I think I'm wasting my time staying up for hours every night searching the "emo" tag on Bandcamp but once in a while I'm massively rewarded by coming across a band like Christopher Walking (great name). These guys are a 3 piece from Philadelphia that play an infectious all-singing, all-screaming style of twinkly emo/indie/pop music that, over the course of the 6 tracks on this EP, marks them out as definite ones to watch in the scene. Not only is the music amazing, but the song-titles and lyrics are excellent also, case in point being the second track, 'Gerald Has Exceptional Kneecaps' with lyrical highlights such as "Now my shorts smell like cigarettes, from being around your dad too much, which sucks" and "and I pray to God you hear me, cus I won't come back here anymore" this song, like the whole EP, reminds me of Glocca Morra and Algernon Cadwallader, which if you like either of those bands should be enough to have you racing to their Bandcamp page, where you can download this amazing EP for the princely sum of... nothing, completely free! Enjoy!

Reviewed by Gary.

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The Saddest Landscape - Redefining Loneliness

01. Redefining Loneliness

I'm a huge fan of The Saddest Landscape and have been following the band since they started out playing as The Last Forty Seconds. The Saddest Landscape is a band with most members residing in the northeastern part of the United States who formed in the early 2000's. Prolific is an undestatement when it comes to The Saddest Landscape's recorded output. The band has put out numerous splits with bands ranging from The Pine and Funeral Diner to more current bands such as Pianos Become The Teeth and We Were Skeletons. 'Redefining Loneliness' is the band's latest 7", released via Topshelf Records back in December. On 'Redefining Loneliness', The Saddest Landscape continues with their dark, powerful, and emotional, style of '90s influenced hardcore/screamo. 'Redefining Loneliness' is raw, passionate, gut-wrenching, and chock full of emotion. This is the way emo should sound, and as always, the band does a fantastic job bridging the gap between emo and hardcore. Highly recommended! Enjoy!

Reviewed by Chris.

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Wolf Shaped Clouds - Black Hourglass Split

01. Wolf Shaped Clouds - The Bridge. The River.
02. Black Hourglass - VII

It's not the noise, nor the screams, nor the chaos which mark this Hungarian hardcore/screamo split 7" apart for me - it's actually the dynamics. Wolf Shaped Clouds and Black Hourglass have an understanding of shifting texture, tempo, and dynamics that outdo quite a few modern post-rock bands. Beginning with intense hardcore insanity, DIY-level recording in tow, the first single, 'The Bridge. The River.' gradually moves to more stop-start riffs - and eventually cuts out all together. The effect is magical. From crazy hardcore you've moved to the lightest of acoustic tracks, with light chanting and eventual screams built on top before fading away again, and it's incredible how a movement of such extremes can be so affecting, as well as the more subtle ones later. Black Hourglass's 'VII' mirrors this, moving from a slow build up with an occasional pounding chord piercing the quiet, to full-on heavy fast-paced guitar work, shifting dramatically from heavy to light then on to great effect. It's through these contrasts that the harsh passages become very threatening, and the calm becomes rather haunting, making this split a really superb 7", and one that took me entirely by surprise by how fantastic it really was. An unexpectedly superb piece of work.

Reviewed by Beth.

This is only a two song release, but that in no way means it should be overlooked. Wolf Shaped Clouds start this album off with their song 'The Bridge. The River.', and it explodes right out of the gate. The song's opening is well organized chaos, bringing to mind a darker Ampere. The song continues heavily until the mood drastically changes around the 2:25 mark. The blasting gives way to clean picked guitar that builds to a melodic passage with sung group vocals that continues until the end of the song. Black Hourglass start their side of the split out in the same mood that Wolf Shaped Clouds ended theirs. Clean picked guitar starts out 'VII', with drums and distorted guitar accenting parts but not playing a major part until the song gets heavy almost two minutes in. The vocals are moody and passionate, and are definitely a highlight of the song. Black Hourglass balance dynamics expertly, switching back and forth between the heavy all out attack and the picked clean guitar riff to create tension and mood. While not entirely dissimilar, both of these bands' differences shine through well on these songs, creating a split that flows together well while not becoming stagnant.

Reviewed by Justin.

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