Here are three records to light up your February!
Coarse - I
TEXT: CLÁUDIA ZAFRE
Coarse - I
If you want to experience a
musical rollercoaster, Coarse would be the perfect equivalent. This two-piece
from the USA is formed by Ryan Knowles (ex-Capsize) and Brandon Gallagher (ex-Old
Wounds) and their fist release called I, is a mindblowing sonic experience of
six songs that takes the listener into a wild ride of emotions, ranging from angst,
rage and bittersweet poetic bliss.
The album starts off with Shed,
with addictive riffs, blasting drums and harmonious double vocals by Knowles
and Gallagher. It’s fast, melodic and it spirals into controled chaos with neat
guitar progression. Next we proceed with equal force to Hoax, a song that is
fueled by pure fierceness and angst with a big metalcore influence and some
hardcore thrown into it. It is serious head-banging material.
Only Death begins with a captivating
guitar riff that gives way to passionate vocals and blasting drumming. It rips directly into your soul.
After the tempest sometimes
comes a disquieting calmness, that’s what happens with Separation is survival,
a song that focuses on the more experimental and noisy side of the band. It
prepares us for another blast of fury with the song In Peril, mixing fast playing
with great technical skill. It paves the way to No Heart, a monster of a song
with frantic riffs, blazing vocals and an hipnotic guitar work. I is a great EP
for those who want to experience high technical skills and fiery hot melodies.
People's Temple Project / Sleeper Wave Split
Can music serve as therapy? Most of us, would certainly say so. It lights you up after a bad day, it makes you feel in love even if you aren’t and if your heart is aching with angst or repressed emotions, music can set it free. The Intro for this split is a short speech from a man with a stern yet reliable voice that assures you that we are about to hear something extremely powerful and he is right, so be alert! Be awaken!
This slipt joins two screamo bands from the USA that deliver ten songs filled with intensity and emotion. People’s Temple Project is a band from NYC that relies a lot on DIY ethics and their devotion in creating melodies that are instrospective and as angsty as screamo can get. They offer us a seminar on screamo. The tracks are aptly named Seminar 1, Seminar 2, Seminar 3 and Seminar 4. The first seminar is electrifying from the get go and it gets you hooked right on, we marvel through more emotional passages and beautiful guitar chords that have a voice of its own. Emotion runs raw and creates a great bridge for the second seminar that starts off with some clean guitar chords and calmness that soon erupts into a volcano of untempered feelings and some more atmospheric passages a few seconds apart. It does what screamo does best, combining melancholic instrumentals with fiery raw passion. To catch our breath there is an interlude that gives way to the third seminar with an addictive, sorrowful and dreamy instrumental passage that relies both on the drumming patterns and the guitar chords. The fourth and last seminar is for a screamo fan what honey is to a bear. The fury breaks down at some point only to become revitalized like a Phoenix that rises from its ashes. People temple’s project ends with Outro, a song whose speech wants you to wake up and be alert after this hypnotic but intense screamo voyage.
Sleeper Wave is a band from Massachusetts that play a somewhat experimental kind of screamo with creative chord progressions and composition. They start us off with Shelf Life, a song that takes us on an unpredictable ride with a few surprises on its composition base and a couple of addictive guitar riffs. After the surprise, comes the song Coward with a blasting drum pattern and an emotional duo of vocals. Some of the guitar patterns are reminiscent of mathcore but with the freshness and speed of screamo. We also have crazy and melodic change of patterns and melodies that keeps us hooked and some very interesting guitar leads and rhythms. The song that gives an ending to this bombastic split is Atrophy through aperture with addictive guitar textures and a beautiful harmony of dual vocals. There is time for some really good guitar soloing and some improvisation type playing. A band that is doing something different with the genre and can only be proud of themselves for doing so.
Cape Light - A discography
Cape Light is a band from Japan
that featured members from Komuso and this LP comprises three of their records.
Be sure to fasten your seatbelt and put on your helmet, or don’t but be aware
of the speed of this fusion of emoviolence and screamo.
TEXT: CLÁUDIA ZAFRE