Interview with Oak

How did Oak form?

The band consists of me (Robin) on bass, Carl on drums/vocals and Alex on guitars/vocals. We've all known each other for a very long time, but we started playing together in the summer 2010. Back then, I hadn't been to many hardcore shows, but we went to a one-dayer which The Chariot played and it was completely nuts. Afterwards me and Carl were so stoked about it and started to talk about starting a band. Basically all we wanted to do was the exact same thing as The Chariot. (I didn't even know how to play bass, haha.) So we brought in Alex - the real deal guitar nerd. The first one and a half year consisted of us trying to compromise three very different wills into a common ground for music writing and getting to know each other better, both musically and personally. For our debut EP (under a different band name) we brought in a loose friend on vocals, but he left shortly after the recording. Then we did a bunch of shows with a stand-in drummer and Carl on vocals, but after a lot of discussion it became clear to us that we wanted to do this thing as a three piece. So we re-launched the band with our new band name - Oak.

Have any of you played in previous bands? Links to your material?

Well, this is my first band and where I've learned to play and write music. Alex and Carl used to play in a punk band called Dagligt Intag, but if you want to check out that stuff, you'll have to find it on your own.

What inspired the band to write such chaotic music?

At first, like I said earlier, The Chariot. We were really inspired by the intensity in their live shows, and chaotic hardcore seemed the most suitable music for that kind of stuff. Then that kind of music became part of our musical identity somehow and now, as we have developed as musicians, we've started to involve more of other elements that we're into. I love more riffy old school hardcore, Carl is more into emotional stuff and screamo and Alex has a huge turn on for Botch and Converge.

Have you toured outside Sweden before?

Actually not. We've played a lot in Sweden and done shorter tours on our own and last autumn, with Black Mask and Eternal Sleep from the US. Two bands I really recommend. Great people and insane tunes. Even heavier live.

How are you all feeling about your upcoming European tour?

We're so stoked. It will be our first tour with our new record and it's gonna be really fun playing our new songs live. Also, foremost, it's gonna be amazing to play outside of Sweden for the first time and doing a longer set of dates. Personally I'm most stoked about playing a fest called Punk Piknik in Poland, in a squat in central Warsaw and playing in Berlin.

Your lyrics are beautifully written. Do you write from your own perspective or in a more prose-driven perspective?

Thanks! Both me and Carl are writing the lyrics. Some of them on our own and on a few we've cooporated. The lyrics are written from our own perspective. I'd say the theme of the lyrics for this album is rootlessness (in different kinds) and the feelings it produces, like fear, lonelyness or resignation.

Americans tend to think of Sweden as a hub of death metal bands. Is there a scene where you live for the more screamo/hardcore-oriented music that Oak plays?

There's definetely a hardcore scene in Sweden. Although, there is usually only one or a few promoters in each city and quite small audiences. However, a lot of people tend to go to shows in each others cities to see foreign bands so the whole scene is pretty united. The main focus tend to be old school hardcore, but a lot of more modern hardcore is going on and taking more room as well. For example make sure to check out On the Edge of Forever and Totem Skin!

Is there any way that American fans can order your merchandise? I tried and was told that you don't ship to our part of the world.

Our web store isn't very up to date. Before or shortly after our tour we'll update it with our new merch. However, I'm afraid overseas shipping costs will be too high.. However, you can order our LP, on black or white splatter vinyl, from our labels Woodhammer and Hoborec.

Woodhammer
Hoborec

Do you have any (even far-future) plans to come overseas, potentially to the States?

As for now our future tour plans only include Europe. But we all really would love to tour the States, and another dream is touring in south east Asia. However I'm doing all of our booking on my own, so at this point it seems kind of far away.

Thanks a lot for the opportunity to talk about all this stuff.

Robin & Oak.

-Brian

Oak - Oak (2014)

"Wow."

That was the first thing I said when I heard this Swedish band's self-titled debut LP, and I'm still saying it.

Artwork: The beautiful wash of color belies the fury beneath. Oak exercises great restraint in covering their album this way, because any number of darker or more evocative images could have been justifiably used instead. It is beautiful, and simple, and hints at the ideas presented within - beautifully poetic lyrics, songs that were clearly labored over at great length, energetic but technically precise performances given, all of which might be lumped in with a host of other "hardcore" album covers. If I saw this in a bookstore, I would think it was either a hip indie band or a New Age compilation.

Structure: The songs are broken into groups, which are labeled as Chapters. Chapter III is available on cassette, but unfortunately, Oak does not ship to the US. The old sedan that I drive only has a cassette player, so trust me. I tried.

Sound: Loma Prieta's I.V. meets Norma Jean's Bless The Martyr & Kiss The Child. "Chaotic" is a somewhat effective label for this album's sound, but it also might lead a potential listener to lump Oak in with other "chaotic" bands before listening, which would be a shame, because Oak's sound is a unique blend of screamo, early and modern hardcore, and early 2000's metalcore.  They tease the listener with a semblance of straight-forwardness just before launching into odd-metered riffage at 100 mph, just to cut to a solo guitar, and in and out of a hundred different dynamic changes before the record is over. The whole thing is interesting to listen to, and truly interesting, not like a strange disgusting animal. Oak is a strange but beautiful animal, who can surprise and awe like Full of Hell but brings a poetry to the table that I would identify with bands like Loma Prieta and Converge.

For Fans Of: Full of Hell, Idylls, old Norma Jean, The Chariot

Favorite Lyrics: I avoid myself
As no company hurts worse

Favorite Track: Chapter II: Haze

1. Prolouge: Modest Hopes
2. Chapter I: Torn Down/Tearing Down
3. Chapter I: Dust
4. Chapter I: Roots
5. Chapter II: Ash
6. Chapter II: Haze
7. Chapter II: Galanty Shows
8. Chapter III: The World
9. Chapter III: Each Other
10. Chapter III: Ourselves

Rating: 4.5 / 5 

Merch: BigCartel
Listen: bandcamp
Follow: facebook

-Brian

LMI - Sleepwalker (2014)

Produced by Phillip Cope from Kylesa, Sleepwalker is the product of frustration. LMI come out of the box here with a classic hardcore punk sound filled with all the angst and anger of adolescence.

Artwork: This album's artwork was done by John Santos, who has done work for big names like Lamb of God, Torche, and Kvelertak. The imagery given all pertains to addiction and vices used to numb mental pain.

Structure: Sleepwalker is ten punk songs, back to back, with no filler or throwaway tracks. Every song counts, every song has a purpose, every song rips.

Sound: Immediately this record reminded me of the early hardcore pioneers - Negative Approach, Poison Idea, Black Flag - and although there are modern elements thrown in throughout the record's length, the overall sound never veers far from simple, bare bones, old school hardcore punk. The opening of "The Web" sums up the whole deal in about five seconds, and immediately conjures images of laced up boots and ripped jeans stomping a circle in the floor a suburban basement while the cops are pounding on the door after a noise complaint.

For Fans Of: Negative Approach, Dead Swans, Gallows

Favorite Lyrics: Hours inch on waiting for it all to end
Trying to deny what I know will happen next
Another pest in the web of misfortune
Another tool for someone else’s dream

Favorite Track: The Web

1. Rats Nest
2. Gutter King
3. Sleeping Machines
4. Rag Doll
5. In The Blue
6. Waiting on Melted Wax
7. Endless Circles
8. Destitute
9. The Web
10. Take and Continue

Rating: 4 / 5 

Merch: Bandcamp
Listen: Bandcamp

-Brian

Code Orange [Kids] - I Am King

The year 2012 gave us Love Is Love // Return To Dust, the devastatingly beautiful full-length debut from Philadelphia-based four-piece Code Orange Kids. Now two years later, having trimmed their name, the genre-bending game-changing youngsters, who aren't so young anymore, are back to proclaim loudly what they have cryptically alluded to for months:

life be no longer hopeless mission

for everything or none at all

see the world with code orange vision

carve the words into your skull

I AM KING

If you watched the video, I don't need to say any more. Produced by Kurt Ballou (Converge) at GodCity, the album drops September 2nd. Be there or be nowhere.

Preorder CD/LP: Deathwish
Listen: BandCamp
Merch: Deathwish /// Cold Cuts /// All In

"That Album"

It's safe to say that every hardcore kid has "that album" - the album that originally sparked their interest in heavy music. I'm old, so I hear kids saying all the time how [Album A] from [Band A] came out way back in 2009 and changed their life, and I laugh a little inside, not at the kids' expense, but at the generation gap that exists in hardcore. Regretfully, I got into it right at the tail end of what seemed to be a golden age of hardcore, in 2005, a year after what is now my favorite album (Converge - You Fail Me) had come out. A friend yanked me out of my heavy radio-rock milieu and took me to a show at the New Brookland Tavern in Columbia (still the smelliest venue I've ever been to) to see Norma Jean, The Handshake Murders, Darkest Hour, Haste The Day, Still Remains and At All Cost. I remember nearly every detail, down to the beads of sweat hitting me from The Handshake Murders' set, and I still have the Norma Jean shirt I bought at the show (and I have to pretend the phantom smell of century-old cigarette smoke doesn't still emanate from it.)

All of this to say, "that album" for me is Norma Jean's Bless The Martyr & Kiss The Child. Not only did this album bring me into a headspace where I could understand heavy music as album-oriented and artful, instead of the violent garbage that the mainstream portrays it as, it has remained for me through music trend after music trend after cheesy music trend (there are no synth-lead dance beats or auto-tuned passages of melodious effeminate singing) to be one of the heaviest and most immersive albums in my mental catalog of hardcore albums.

So very many bands mix synth-leads and auto-tuned singing in what may be unintentional efforts to make their music more palatable, more packagable, more attractive to the average person. They straighten their hair and jog in place, they swing their guitars over their heads in synchronized fashion, they add any element of pop music that they can get their grubby little hands and throw it in their blender in order to shamelessly dilute what hardcore was meant to be in the first place - a rejection of all things mainstream. On Bless The Martyr . . ., Norma Jean kicks off the first song and doesn't stop playing until the last track is over, adding very few overdubs after the fact. The album was recorded live to tape in one hour-long playthrough and was never run through a computer until the final conversion to CD format. Every instrument sounds live and fresh, rich and full and the whole band is all over every beat, every note, every odd-metered passage. I won't go into the technical descriptions of every song, but suffice it to say that this album simultaneously showed me that heavy music can be artful and that music can be intense while not being straight-ahead 4/4 headbanging.

I go back to this album once every few months, and I imagine that for the foreseeable future, I always will. It holds a charm that cannot be matched by modern offerings, and I'm sure that there are legions of hardcore kids older than me who would laugh at getting into hardcore in 2005 when they were in it in 1995 (or 2004, depending on the person). Age is relative, and I find that the longer I go to shows, the older I feel than those around me. The local scene in Augusta used to consist mostly of people three or four years older than me, but the majority of them grew up or dropped out and now I'm above the average age by a few years, which is fine. It is being passed down, as it should be. But in my mind, it began for me in a dimly lit bar when I walked into a raging sea of bodies and The Handshake Murders were playing "Apostate", guitars and sweat flying, all knobs at 10 and a 14 year old me with my eyes wide watched, feeling at once so out of place but so at home.

"RUNNING AWAY . . ."

-Brian

Satin Sulfur #5 - Shifting Shadow

Shifting Shadow is a testament to time. A few years ago, I drew a whimsical sketch of two boys running up a tree to a treehouse. The person who inspired the treehouse sketch and I are both avid Converge fans, and the band Converge put out a record in 2012 called All We Love We Leave Behind whose cover features what amounts to a stylized chart of moon phases. After several years of friendship, during which the person and I grew a great deal, I wondered what we would be like in twenty or thirty years, even fifty. Shifting Shadow is a simple piece, featuring two friends under a passing moon, beneath the tree they played on as children. I could try to cram a profound statement at the end of this, but I won't.

Oddly enough, the fourth piece of the series is not complete yet, although this, the fifth, was complete a week ago. Plans are coming together for publication in the near future. Just a little longer.

-Brian

Satin Sulfur #3 - April, Cruel & Kind

I could talk about this piece for hours, maybe because it took several times as long as the first two combined to create. April is about conflict. It was meant to deal with the complex variety of situations that a relationship can find itself in. The two people in the relationship exist in a stormy environment that seems to shape itself around them. Their eyes are locked. The body of their love has many worn spots, so many that the wear and tear could appear as a decoration. The most important part of this piece is that the two people may be at odds but they are part of the same being - they are connected in an inseparable way and the damage that one does to the other, they also do to the relationship, and ultimately, their own self. Again, I could go on and on in circles about this piece, but the point is that no matter where the pain comes from, when there is pain in the life of one, there is pain in the life of them both.

-Brian

Satin Sulfur #2 - Meekly Toward

This second piece was less stressful and more enjoyable to create than the first, being one of those projects that comes together on its own. The idea is simple - the attention and care of loved ones can help to carry you over obstacles.

When I began working on Meekly, I wanted an ominous atmosphere to surround what would otherwise be a peaceful scene, and to have a symbolic object laid over the scene. The balloon is not something that could realistically carry a man Walter's (his name is Walter, by the way) size through the air, but the piece is meant to have a slightly whimsical feel that allows a certain suspension of disbelief.

Next up, and last for this month's abbreviated issue, the third piece.

-Brian

Satin Sulfur #1 - Waking Limb

This month, I am going to be concentrating on a series of mixed media pieces which I began in April called Satin Sulfur (Burning In The Bed You've Made) that has taken up a great deal of my time and energy. The process of creating these pieces is long and tedious but the details of that are ultimately irrelevant - I want to talk about what the pieces mean.

The series/cycle is meant to catalog the emotional cycles of personal relationships, and Waking Limb consists of the first meeting of two people, and the way people remember each other's faces.

Red around the edges was meant to serve a duplicitous purpose: to enhance a feeling of love for the person, or to give an aura of cold indifference or pain, and ultimately to bring out the vulnerability of love, that trusting another person involves being vulnerable to their actions and motives. The path from my desired outcome and the actual outcome was much different and much more complicated than expected, but the outcome itself was satisfactory, as was the second piece, which I will talk about next.

-Brian

News

Unfortunately, there will not be any new content this month, as both writers of this blog are currently moving.

Logan Riddle (1987-2011)

This month's posting had to be put off for a few weeks because of circumstances in my personal life. These circumstances of loss brought me back to the memory of a friend that I and many, many others in Augusta lost a few years ago - Logan Riddle. Everyone here knows his name but not many people knew him as a person. Logan had a heart of gold. Flipping through his facebook pictures, it seems to defy all reason that I can't just ride down the road and find him listening to Calico System or hanging out with his friends. I played in a band with him from the Summer of 2007 to the Spring of 2008, and we recorded a live set at Sector 7G on August 5th, 2007 that I recently realized, I don't think anyone besides myself and the drummer (Ryan Meadows, who also played in Midnight Society with Logan) have the demo of. The songs didn't have titles and we played the same five songs at every show. Logan's banter between songs never fails to bring a smile to my face. "All right, I'm workin' on like two hours of sleep..." has become my motto for working when I'm tired. As far as I remember, the band's last show was Sausage Fest 2008 at the Shade Coffeehouse in North Augusta. Please correct me if you remember otherwise.

When we lost Logan, we lost a friend. I want people to be able to have this primarily as a piece of Logan's life and output as a musician, but also in a lesser way to add to the catalog of Augusta bands' recordings. I encourage you to download them and share them. The link below contains the five .mp3's that were recorded that night and an album art .jpg.

Within The Gallows - Live at Sector 7G

That's all I have for this month. Next month, things will be back to normal.

-Brian

Interview With Curmudgeon

Photo credit: Angela Owens

- How did Curmudgeon form?

Krystina: Ryan B and I were in another powerviolence band called Unperson, who disbanded when our drummer moved to Canada. Ryan S had been wanting to play more guitar in general, so decided to try out the idea of bass-less PV band.
Ryan Berry: Yeah, that. Specifically, I think almost everyone wanted to call that band Curmudgeon, so when Unperson ended we decided to finally start that band before really knowing what we wanted it to sound like.

- What was your favorite part of your tour from Boston to Augusta?

K: Every show was very different and very cool in its own way. We played houses, bars and even had a day off to go to the movies and go record shopping, all before getting to Augusta!
RB: Finding two Neil Young records I look for on ebay every day!

- Are there any bands that influence you all? Did bands like Earth Crisis inspire you to start such a message-driven band?

K: I actually have heard Earth Crisis maybe twice in my life...but I’m definitely influenced by political punk bands like Crass. Punk music has shaped a lot of my political identity and exposed me to all sorts of radical ideas, so I basically have a hard time separating punk/hardcore from socio-political thought - hence, my lyrics are the way they are.

- What was your motivation for "Amygdala"?

K: I was trying to come up with a sort of “concept” for the album that would provide some ideas for artwork and also express the general tone of the record. The amygdala is the part of the brain linked to fear and panic. A lot of the songs on this record have to do with critiquing peoples reactions to things they are afraid of: powerful people who don’t identify as cis-men, one’s own privilege, problems in our own punk subculture, questions ourselves and our actions.
RB: Lyrics aside, writing for Amygdala was definitely a lot of ‘hey, we gotta have enough for an LP!’. I think the last song we wrote before any of those was Dysmorphic, which was the first to break two minutes, and we figured we may as well try to write more intentionally long (for us) songs if we don’t have a time limit, which I think gives it a pretty different sound overall from our previous stuff. I definitely remember erring on the side of as few repetitions of a riff as possible like it was a powerviolence rule or something, which wouldn’t have allowed for songs like Possess, Severed, or Unchain. I guess we just didn’t care about writing a powerviolence record.

- Each band member put a lyrical explanation to different songs. Does this coincide with who wrote them?

K: When we share lyrics writing duties, we explain the songs that we write - because even though we all agree with the general messages behind our songs, it’s important to get that direct perspective and individual’s take on a certain idea.

- How do you feel about the representation of women in the punk/hardcore scene?

K: I have to say that things are getting a lot better for women in the Northeast. Each year I see more and more bands featuring women playing pissed off, awesome, aggressive music and it's amazing. I almost feel that the issue of “women in punk” is hardly an issue where we come from, at this point. I realize that's a hugely privileged perspective, too. Where we’re from, I’d like to see this line of conversation drift more to the representation of people of colors and transfolk in the punk and hardcore community.

- Have you ever had issues in the scene based on your gender?

K: I have been remarkably lucky to encounter relatively few pigs in my time, at least in relation to doing bands. I honestly think the overt political content of our lyrics/presentation sort of weeds out the shitheads. There are always going to be mildly ignorant people who start a compliment with “I don’t normally like girl frontmen, but…” - but I’ll always welcome an opportunity to start a conversation that way and turn it into a constructive discussion.

- Have you ever had people react negatively to the messages conveyed in your songs?

K: Not really! Which is pretty surprising, honestly.
RB: Once in a great while there will be meatheads at a show who look over our records or whatever on the merch table, get put off, and don’t talk to us. I know that sounds pretty sick, but I guess you could call it a negative.

- Are there any bands local to you that you think our readers should know about?

K: Everyone should listen to Ancient Filth and No Sir I Won’t, who are two of my favorite Boston bands at the moment. Completely great music with thoughtful lyrics about things that actually matter - this seems to be rarity in 2014!
RB: No Sir, I Won’t is the best punk band in Massachusetts. Draize is the best hardcore band.

- What do we have to look forward to from Curmudgeon? Any upcoming projects?

K: We are hoping to tour Eastern Canada and possibly Europe or at least the SW of the US this year, any/all of which would be great and exciting.
RB: And hopefully a new record!

-Sammy

Curmudgeon - Amygdala (2013)

The last six or seven years in hardcore have seen some major changes and divisions. It seems like on one hand, you can yell about how hardcore you are and how you're better than the hardcore kids around you because you're so hardcore. These bands tend to be younger. On the other hand, you have bands that don't care about their image, how many Xibalba shirts they can wear at one time, or how many hours spent practicing stage moves in front of a mirror it takes to get that jump-kick just right - but rather, they come bearing a message. Curmudgeon is a band that is planted so far in the second group that no listener could hear this record and mistake them for the first, and it is hard to listen to them and not be educated or at least turned on to social injustices and driven to radical change. They come with purpose, and they don't pull a single punch or dilute a single verse. If there was ever a scripture for the hardcore community's highest social ideologies, this is it.

Artwork: The cover art as seen above is interesting and gritty, but where this release - and all other Curmudgeon releases - outshines many of its companions is in its physical form. The one-sided LP version of this album sings of dedication and passion, as it is made of several layers and inserts. There is a band around the entire package with a triangular logo that you can buy a patch of at their shows, and the outer cover that you see above folds down around the whole works, coming most but not all of the way up the back, because the record sleeve bears the album name at the top so that you can see it from the outside. The inside of the outer cover is a beautiful print of a design that Curmudgeon had at their 30 December show in Augusta at Vice Versa Skate Park. The best part, though, as with all other Curmudgeon releases, is the lyric sheet, with lyrics on one side and explanations from a particular band member for each song. The look and feel of the album is consistent through each part of the whole package. Amygdala's packaging gets an A+.

Structure: This album is seven separate songs, each tackling a certain theme either pertaining to an issue in the hardcore scene or in the society and culture that we live in. Seven songs, pick one, mosh a hole through a wall. Next song, find another wall.

Sound: Curmudgeon isn't just pissed off - they are pissed off about something. The songs are fast, aggressive, often involving sporadic changes in tempo and rhythm, and the defining characteristic of each one is the way that the message of the song and the phrasing of the lyrics lays over the music - once you hear a song a few times, you will think of it as "the song about the idea of family" and not just "that one fast song."

Significant Facts: Curmudgeon stopped by Augusta on December 31st of 2013 with Mourning Cloak and several others.

For Fans Of: Discourse, Earth Crisis, Weight of the World

Favorite Lyrics: I thank you for my existence and I give thanks for nothing else: addiction, abandonment, abuse. This legacy won't live on. Discarded and now you regret but it's too fucking late. I refuse this bloodline - sever these familial ties that bind and cause a stranglehold.

Favorite Track: Severed

1. Tied Hands
2. Shrew
3. Severed
4. Ordination
5. Possess
6. Systemic
7. Unchain

Rating: 7 / 10

Merch: sourtapes
Download: Bandcamp
Other: Not Normal /// Nervous Nelly Records /// SuperFi (Europe)
Follow: facebook /// tumblr

-Brian

Sector 7G's Last Show - 2/22/2014

Photo Credit: Evan Grantski

On February 22nd, 2014, the music venue that I have both played at and gone to for the past nine years had its last show. It was a bittersweet afternoon that became an impassioned night, because everyone knew that when Veara got offstage, Sector would close its doors for good.

There were over 100 people there, maybe 200, and I'm sure every one had a story of their first time at Sector and how much the old laundromat-turned-punk-venue meant to them. I went to my first show at Sector in December of 2005 and throughout my high school career I went to every show I could to see every band I could. I went with friends, I went alone, I played shows to 10 people (almost all members of other bands playing), I played shows to 150 people. I went when I was 15, I went when I was 23, and I went during all ages in between. I went to Sector over and over for so many different reasons and also, always for the same reason, over the years, that it came to be a significant place for me, as I'm sure it did for countless other people. Where else could I cite having seen Whitechapel before they blew up, or Despised Icon all the way from Canada, or Architects from the UK before they blew up, or played a show with Born of Osiris (oh, wait . . . they cancelled both times I was supposed to play with them), or play a show with The Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza which the guitar player would remember me for 4 years later when I would meet him on a bike in another state outside a Domino's drive-thru? Sector facilitated a novel's worth of lifelong memories for me, and its closure is all the more saddening because it doesn't look like there is another laundromat waiting to take its place. Sector is over - as a place, and as a time in my life.

I'm going to do my best to gather up all of the photos I can find and get permission to use, and put them here, so that anyone wanting to relive last Saturday night can do so in one place. If you have photos, please send them to roughpatchreviews@gmail.com . You will get photo credit. I will update this after today as often as I find pictures.

One more thing - Evan Grantski took some incredible pictures that night and has his own website, so check that out first.

BANDS:

Panic Manor
A Brighter Life
xAcutex
Ironwill/Virulence
Lastcall
Roselyn
H803
xMeet My Crewx
11 Spirits
Mudbrute/Honkey Biscuit/Spirit Bomb
88MPH
Veara

PHOTOS:

Matthew McCarty-

Austin Skeens-

Fred Swindell-

Converge - Live at the BBC (2014)

There is a room at the BBC called Studio MV4. This studio has recorded the likes of Napalm Death, Carcass, and even The Cure. Back in 2010, Converge walked through its door to have their own sounds committed to tape. However many songs they actually recorded, they recently announced a 4-song 7" from that session, featuring three songs from 2009's Axe to Fall and one rare treat from 2004's You Fail Me. Maybe I'm just one of those Converge fans, but what caused me to nearly wet myself when I saw this 7" announced is that "Hanging Moon" (my 2nd favorite Converge song) is performed electrically, where the original recording was performed with acoustic guitars.

This record is quite simply Converge ripping through four of their songs in a live setting with no aftereffects or backing tracks added. As per Converge standards, each performance is flawless and each member is all over their instrument. From the moment you put this beautiful record on, the energy of Converge's live show pummels its way through your speakers with calculated reckless abandon, creating the same emotions given on their studio recordings but with the urgency and immediacy of their in-person experience. Each song feels like its studio rendition, but somehow different - it is clear that the band has played these songs untold numbers of times on the road, and that repitition has made them more comfortable blazing through each one in their own unique style. It's almost - almost - like they're more relaxed performing these heart-wrenching, pulse-pounding songs than they might have been previously. How anyone could get used to playing Converge songs, I have no idea.

Also, the artwork and packaging for this 7" is beyond beautiful. The cover design is classic J. Bannon design taken up several notches in technicality, being more layered and having more depth than some of his more iconic work. The actual 7" cover features a lovely metallic tint that gives the wonderful design even more life. You need to hold this in your hands to experience it (buy the damn record!)

If you've never listened to Converge, I would strongly advise finding the studio recordings of these songs before checking this out, but to even the casual Converge fans reading, this needs to be a part of your collection.

1. Dark Horse
2. Axe to Fall
3. Damages
4. Hanging Moon

Rating: 6 / 10

BUY 7"/Merch: Deathwish /// KingsRoad

-Brian

All Teeth - I Am Losing (2009)

All Teeth wasn't cool, and it's a shame, because when this album came out, it stood out as an honest work of art in a sea of cut-and-pasted copycats of bands who would quickly become hardcore has-beens.

Artwork: This cover brings to mind art from bands like More Than Life and Dead Swans. It is simple, but functional, like every song on this record.

Structure: There are 13 songs here, most averaging just under 2 minutes, and each one deals with a different personal subject. Most are angry and straightforward, and each one has a definite point and direction it wants to take you.

Sound: This is where All Teeth really shines, taking the ferocity of Dead Swans and mixing it in equal parts with the momentum and emotion of American Nightmare. No frills, no fancy technical work - just straight ahead breakdown-free hardcore that will get stuck in your head instantly. The production is clear but raw, and every song is packed with aggression and meaning. Augusta friends - if you listen to Ironwill, listen to this.

Significant Facts: David Kelling (singer) has cerebral palsy, but can still mosh harder than you.

For Fans Of: American Nightmare/Give Up The Ghost, Trash Talk, Dead Swans, Modern Life Is War

Favorite Lyrics: If I knew the words
If I knew the right words

Favorite Track: It's Just A Smokers Cough

1. Intro
2. Dead Man
3. Murder
4. Rattlesnakes
5. Fuck What You Know
6. Kids Like You
7. Miss Moon
8. Bridges
9. May Days
10. California Sons
11. Calloused Tongues
12. I Am Losing
13. It's Just A Smokers Cough

Rating: 8 / 10

Follow: facebook

-Brian

Compromise - Yesterday Was Everything (2001)

If you've ever listened to Misery Signals' "The Summer That Ended In June" you've heard of a person named Jordo. Compromise was on tour with 7 Angels 7 Plagues (4 members would go on to form Misery Signals) when their van fell behind Misery Signals' in the night and tragically, a drunk driver collided with the van, killing Jordan Wodehouse and Daniel Langlois. Jesse Zaraska did vocals for Compromise, and after the accident, the two bands would combine to form Misery Signals, minus 7A7P's vocalist. With all the years-too-late hype that Misery Signals has been getting lately, I feel it is important for people to know about this band.

Artwork: Unlike most metalcore releases of the early 2000's, Yesterday's artwork has a somber vibe, lacking any paint-splatter designs or skulls. The artwork does not belie the music, because the emotions presented through the music are fittingly somber and reflective.

Structure: This album is essentially an EP, made of 4 songs that were most likely written around the same time. The overarching themes are betrayal and fractured relationships, referred to in each song repeatedly. There is not a story woven through the songs - they're just four songs, here you go.

Sound: Compromise mixes early 2000's melodic hardcore with a dash of late 90's hardcore and the more poetic lyrics of early screamo. The production here is standard for its time. Nothing fancy but delivering everything necessary for a solid album.

Significant Facts: If you listen to Weight of the World, check out the artwork for Compromise's self-titled for a laugh. Also, if you watch the video for The Year Summer Ended In June, you can see several live clips of Compromise as well as a dedication to the band.


For Fans Of: Misery Signals, 7 Angels 7 Plagues

Favorite Lyrics: So now I ask, why lie?
Why the disguise?

Favorite Track: My Best Wishes

1. Completely At Its Mercy
2. These Wings Once Possessed
3. My Best Wishes
4. The Rise and Fall

Rating: 7 / 10

Compromise's Discography: mediafire

Blog Post From Jordo's Mother: BlogHer

-Brian

Grief (2012)

I took a 2-Dimensional Design class a few semesters ago and was assigned to choose a word from a long list (I chose "grief") and make a simple logo-type design to represent it. After drafting the design, I used colored cardstock to avoid the weird gradient I sometimes get when shading with ink, and tried to keep the design as simple as possible to maintain the immediacy of the emotion in the image. More than ninety percent of the art I make is done with pen and ink, so this successful attempt at branching out encouraged me to try new things . . .

. . . like a peanut butter and Nutella sandwich, which is wonderful if you haven't tried it.

-Brian

Black Mask - Lost Below 7" (2014)

Black Mask is from Pennsylvania, and they're not happy.

Artwork: The graphics offered here are much more complex than their previous release (self-titled 7"). Where the first release's artwork was simple in its ferocity - a pretty gnarly wolf/hound, angry past the point of reason - this one is much deeper and requires at least a few more seconds to take in. The sadder, grimmer feel represents perfectly the progression of the sound of the band from their first release to this one.

Structure: Each of the seven songs deals with a different subject, and while Lost Below is not quite in concept album territory, there is a strong theme of struggle throughout. The songs are easily identifiable by as individual songs. Oh, and if the end of Torment doesn't make you want to stomp a hole through a cement wall, check your pulse.

Sound: This is where Black Mask shines through - or rather, envelopes all light in a poisonous shroud of blinding darkness. I have heard more discussions about this band's guitar tone than about any other band, ever. The wall of high-gain distortion ripping through every song is enough in itself to gain a listener's full attention, but that combined with breakneck drumming and nasty vocals spewing every hatred and insecurity a modern hardcore kid could have, and it's all over. The incredible speed of their self-titled is still present, but the overall tone of the album is much more ominous, more brooding, and somehow more vicious than before. Each song taps into a vein that every person listening to it would identify with - and then digs in hard. The sadness is real, the struggle is real, and this is the album to let it out to. The tightness of their self-titled is also still present. Every transition, every passage, every thrashing beat is dead-on, straight-ahead, no apologies whatsoever. This thing starts, and it goes straight through anything in front of it, because it is simply pissed. Overall sound gets an A+.

Significant Facts: PRE-ORDER ENDS FEB. 4TH! That is three (3) days and there are not many left. Link is at the bottom. You're welcome.

For Fans Of: Narratives, Axis, Nails, Full of Hell

Favorite Lyrics: I let my anguish devour me
My way out
Forsaken, forgotten, this cannot be true
I'll let my hatred devour you
I am digging my own grave

Favorite Track: Tormented

1. Extinction
2. Tormented
3. Loss
4. Hollow Soul
5. Judgement
6. Profound Illusion

Rating: 7 / 10

Pre-Order (ENDS FEB. 4TH): Cold Cuts Merch
Merch: StoreEnvy
Listen: Get This Right Records /// bandcamp
Follow: facebook

-Brian

Interview with Black Mask

- How long has Black Mask been a band? Have any of you played together in previous bands?

Black Mask formed in April 2012, but we've all come from previous bands. Tyler, Mike and Justin all played in the band Deadhorse at one point or another, and Matt came from Indiana where he played in the band Chin Up. Mike and Justin we're also in STS and Tyler played in xRepresentx for a while.

- It seems like the self-titled 7" you put out in 2012 was very successful. How do you feel it was received? Were you satisfied with it?

We really had no expectations when we put that record out. We recorded it basically as a demo and didn't know how far we would even take this band. But Get This Right showed interest in the album and decided to put it out on a 7" in October 2012 and we think it did really well for being a relatively unknown band. We're almost sold out of our second pressing of it, and that exceeded all our expectations by far.

- I noticed that the 7" doesn't include a lyrics sheet. Was that an artistic or financial decision?

At the time we didn't really think about including a lyric sheet with the record, we were just excited to put the record out.

- Do you feel like that 7" is still a good representation of Black Mask, as you prepare to release Lost Below?

Yeah, I think the 7" is a solid beginning for us, we still play almost that whole record in our set. Lost Below picks up where the self titled left off, but we tried to add some more elements and make a more diverse record this time. But we all still love those songs and they seem to be received well when we play them.

- How excited are you guys for the East Coast tour you have planned?

We always love touring the east coast, we get to play a lot of our favorite towns and see some good friends that we've made. We made this tour a little longer than we usually do on the east coast to try to play some new places. Also it's always good to get out of the winter weather back in Pennsylvania.

- Reflections Records put out an LP for Black Mask in Europe. How did that come about?

Reflections came to us right as we were planning our European tour and offered to put a record out for us over there. Initially we just wanted them to put out the 7 inch for us but since we didn't have very much distro over there we decided to combine the first record and the second as a Euro exclusive full length.

- I looked at buying one but they are very expensive to ship to America. Do you have any plans to release the LP stateside or is it a European exclusive?

Yeah, Get This Right Records is planning on having a limited amount of those records available in the states on their webstore in the near future.

- I hear people talk about your guitar tone, and how you supposedly use Sunn amps. Most pictures I see of you live, though, you're playing Marshall amps. Care to end the confusion?

We've used a few different guitar set ups since we started the band so I can see why there would be some confusion. But we have a pretty consistent set up now that we're played on the past few tours. The heads we use now are a Peavey VTM 120 and a Marshall JCM 900.

- Are there any particular bands that you take influence from individually or as a band?

The only band that consistently influences us is Tegan and Sara.

- How do the four of you typically write songs?

At the time we wrote the last record we didn't have a full line up so it made the writing process a lot more difficult. And we were in a bit of a time crunch to record so Justin ended up writing most of the record. A few of us live many hours apart so getting to sit down and write together can be a little challenging, but we're looking forward to being able to write together for the next release.

- I read somewhere that you may have gotten your name from a Batman villain . . . ?

Yes, we're all nerds.

- Before we wrap up, are there any bands local to you that you want to give some recognition to?

There are a lot of young bands coming up out of our area, and we are excited to see what they will do in the future. The band Killing Thing out of Pittsburgh has been consistently awesome every time we've seen them, and hope that they keep doing what they're doing.

--

Be sure to catch Black Mask on their East Coast tour.

-Brian

"Loser" - Jerry Spinelli (2002)

I play in a band called Loser, so when I saw this at a local bookstore it caught my attention. Being a children/teen book, it was only 120 or so pages, and my first thought, "Why would you read a kid's book?" was overridden by a second, "How long could it take?" So I sat down one rainy afternoon and read it, enjoying page after page of Mr. Spinelli's simple yet poignant writing.

Loser is a short novel about Donald Zinkoff, a strange boy who just never fits in, beginning in kindergarten and continuing through middle school. Anyone reading this blog would probably identify with him. A combination of his behaviors and character traits led me to believe that his character may have suffered from a form of Autism, but that aside, he tries for eight years to make friends, having a blast the entire time, never realizing that most of his peers don't like him. He rarely understands that he is being made fun of. A lot of inspiration lies in the ways he responds to negative situations, though - he never gets angry, he never loses his temper. He simply glides through life in a way that I wish I could. Donald bumbles and stumbles through the first 80 pages, embarrassing himself and others, but when a crisis comes, he spends the remainder of the book proving himself an absolute hero with no regard for himself.

This book is absolutely worth the time and modicum of money that it requires to enjoy. Jerry Spinelli has written many children/teen books, some bearing titles such as Who Ran My Underwear Up The Flag Pole? and Tooter Pepperday, but this one, I believe to be one of his most mature works, because it speaks both to the level of a grade school kid and to an adult, like the Looney Toons episodes that contain adult references that kids don't understand while still enjoying the show. Loser sticks out in a weird way, just like Donald Zinkoff did, and ends with its head held high, just like Donald Zinkoff did.

Favorite Quote: "As with all discoveries, it is the eye and not the object that changes."

Rating: 4 out of 5 patches

Buy: BAM! /// Kindle /// Your local bookstore!

-Brian

Why "Willow" Is Better Than "The Legend of Zelda"

Put your head back together and consider: 

The Legend of Zelda series is considered one of the greatest video game series of all time, but how many of the internet's die-hard Zelda fanatics have actually played the original, and underneath the fan-worship of today, how does it actually stand up to the competitors of its time?

To put things in perspective, in 1989 there was no PlayStation or N64, or even Super Nintendo. There was no internet, so TV ads and word of mouth were the only ways an average gamer could hear about how good or bad a game was. Nintendo was putting loads of money into advertising for big name games like Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda, but this meant that armloads of wonderful games went largely unnoticed during the NES's heyday. Today, I am giving an overlooked gem of a game its moment in the limelight. Or drab-greenlight, whatever the background of this blog is.

The Legend of Zelda (further referred to as "Zelda") came pre-packaged with a large map and enemy guide, along with the standard instruction booklet. Some of the first cartridges made were shiny gold (not the actual element Au), and in the game's advertisements, much was made of the intrepid adventurer, Link, who would restore peace to Hyrule through his feats of bravery in perilous lands and dark dungeons. The game featured hum-able tunes to accompany its simple but representative graphics. There were heart pieces scattered across the land to increase the hero's health capacity, and certain weapons could be found throughout the game that would make him more formidable in the face of Gannon, the game's frightful antagonist. Zelda came early in the NES's lifespan, and the beginning of the NES-era marked a shift from the earlier Atari-era, where games typically consisted of one screen and were not meant to be "beaten" but to be played until a high score was achieved. Zelda came heavy and hard with several hours of gameplay for new players, a sizable map to unlock and not one but two items that could be carried simultaneously. Given all of this grandeur and wonder, what more could a kid want?

The above description of Zelda describes what the game was advertised to be, but it fails to denote the game's flaws. While playing the game, the first thing I noticed, which continued until the end of the game, was the oversimplified instruction given to the player. Not one sequence of dialogue in the game goes over two lines, and each line contains less than 30 characters. After each instruction, I thought, "Why am I doing this? Why do I need to get the flute? Could you not at least make up a reason?" The game feels like the most fun busywork assignment you ever got in school - no matter how fun it is, it's still just busywork.

Willow, on the other hand, came out without much ado. There was little advertising and the game simply came in a box with an instruction manual, no frills or send-away offers. Immediately after inserting the game and turning the console on, though, the trickle of emotion began that the game would continue to pull from me, with its rich dialogue, multi-layered characters, detailed environments, and action-packed gameplay, all backed by one of the best soundtracks on the NES. The music of Willow is sweet and nostalgic, where the music of Zelda is action-RPG fare, for sure, but annoying after an hour of play, and after I put ten non-consecutive hours into the game, it sounded rudimentary to the point of being childish.

Willow is fairly standard action-RPG material; a lone hero equipped with sword and shield sets out on an adventure to restore peace to the fantastic land he lives in. He gains experience for each enemy killed and levels up on a challenging but reasonable basis. The game combines elements of Final Fantasy with oddities like StarTropics and The Battle of Olympus, with smooth animation and swordplay that make Zelda feel choppy and clunky.

The most important part of any game is how it plays, and this is where the two games stand most certainly apart. In Zelda, the player is given brutishly simple instructions and guided exactly where they need to go. In Willow, the player is guided through intelligent level design, landscaping, and only very general advice by the characters Willow (main character) talks to. The game guides you in a hands-off fashion, allowing for much exploring and adventuring. I could talk about this for several more hours, but let me wrap things up here:

1. Willow's music is far superior to Zelda's.
2. Willow controls much smoother than Zelda.
3. Willow does not hand-hold the player like Zelda does.
4. Willow's characters have depth and interest, where Zelda's do not.
5. Willow's map design allows for exploration and adventure that is rewarded by leveling up, where exploration in Zelda only results in gaining money.
6. Willow is considerably cheaper to purchase as a used game than Zelda.

The lesson here, kids, is that companies can brag on their games all they want, but the proof is in the pixels.

-Brian

"Angle of Repose" - Wallace Stegner (1971)

I found this book during my weekly perusal of the John Steinbeck section of 2nd & Charles in Augusta. I had flipped through Crossing To Safety, the book referenced on the cover, at my old job and was impressed, so I decided to invest a few dollars in a new literary adventure. For the price of a fast food meal, I purchased what turned out to be the most immersive and all-around impressive literary work I have ever taken the time to read.

The entire story is told through the eyes and mind of Lyman Ward, a wheelchair-bound grandson of a pioneer of the Western US. Confined mostly to the house that his grandmother lived in, he spends his days reading through the hundreds of letters and documents pertaining to his grandparents, Susan and Oliver Ward, and the text of this novel is made of the tape-recorded dictations of his findings. Lyman Ward doesn't just read the letters, though - he constructs an entire world for his grandparents based on the contents of the letters, and the characters, situations and locales he creates are so intimate and engaging that the reader becomes emotionally invested in each one.

Two plots co-exist in Angle of Repose, one inside the other, and Wallace Stegner's rich prose uses each to deepen and give greater meaning to the other. Lyman, so debilitated that he cannot even turn his head, shows himself to be a true descendant of his grandfather in his actions and his thoughts - if nothing else, him retrofitting his grandmother's two-story house to accommodate his wheelchair shows the tenacity and industriousness possessed by his grandfather, pioneer and mine-surveyor of the newly-founded West. The two characters are much alike but in reading the novel, the reader will find the differences between them to be a much more interesting endeavor than it might seem.

Each chapter heaves new inertia into the narrative, but the beauty of this work of literature is in the way that it combines detail with forward motion. If Charles Dickens scares you with his four-page long descriptions of landscapes, fear not - this novel combines Steinbeck-esque brevity with Stephen King-level emotion, tearing down the rough-and-tumble myths of the Wild West and instilling in their place a sense of dignity and class, blending the adventurous 1800's with the maybe-not-so-sophisticated 1970's in a way that showcases human emotion and character as an enduring, indelible facet of the Ward family tree.

Favorite Quote: "You yearned backward a good part of your life, and that produced another sort of Doppler Effect. Even while you paid attention to what you must do today and tomorrow, you heard the receding sound of what you had relinquished."

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 patches

Buy: BAM! /// Kindle /// Your local bookstore!

-Brian

Admiral Angry - Buster (2008)

Buster is this unique band's debut album, and anyone who picks it up not knowing what to expect will floored by what they find. Admiral Angry's guitarist Daniel Krauss wrote all of the band's music, and tragically after the release of this album, he succumbed to the horrors of cystic fibrosis and died in February of 2009. This obscure gem is an unbelievably punishing exercise in rage and anger, whose sound is unique and immediately recognizable once heard. In an ocean of bands trying to pull this sound off, Admiral Angry headwalks over all competitors, one devastating note at a time.

Artwork: The band has said in interviews that the artwork was meant to confuse the potential listener, giving them no idea what the music would sound like. Hearing the album, the artwork has nothing discernible to do with any aspect of the music. Maybe there is a deliberate contrast here - the mastodon is the band, and the bunny is the listener.

Structure: There isn't an overall concept to the album, and each song stands on its own. Some tracks flow into each other, but Buster is basically nine songs, simple as that.

Sound: If you say the words "Admiral Angry" in the general vicinity of anyone who has ever heard this band, you will almost certainly see them shudder. Imagine a band like Deftones, slowed to half-speed and tuned an octave (yes, a full octave) down, with impossibly thick strings playing through high-gain amplifiers, with Chino Moreno coked out and being shocked at random intervals. The sounds presented here are absolutely crushing, even the many slow single-note riffs on this album, simply due to the never-ceasing wall of sound crashing through your speakers. If you can remember the way you felt when you listened to the heaviest part of that first hardcore or metal CD you bought, the part that you played over and over and thought nothing could be heavier - each passage of this album will give you that feeling, one after another after another. A single listen to a single song will mark you for life, knowing what Admiral Angry sounds like, and give you a reason to hear other similar but lesser bands and say "Admiral Angry did it better" - because chances are, they did. The only drawback to the album is that if a listener dislikes the first two minutes, they will most likely not find anything appealing throughout the rest of it. Admiral Angry falls squarely into the "either love it or hate it" category of heavy music.

Lyrics: Buster's lyrics are printed in all caps for good reason. Each song is a stream-of-consciousness experience that moves you through a distinctly dark and mechanical or even medicinal space. The imagery presented throughout the album is very strong, evoking clear ideas of pent-up rage, some drug/medicinal imagery, and borderline insanity.

Significant Facts: The band donated all album sales and most show cuts to various cystic fibrosis research foundations. Also, they referred to Daniel as "the Admiral."

For Fans Of: Black Sheep Wall, Deftones

Favorite Lyrics: "I BETTER WATCH OUT 'CAUSE I HAVE A GUN
AND I DON'T EVEN KNOW IF I KNOW IT"

"NOBODY TAKES SHELTER UNDER A TREE STRIPPED OF ITS LIMBS"

Favorite Track: Android

1. Sex With A Stranger
2. Circling The Drain
3. Kill Yourself
4. Plastic Bath
5. Blow Down
6. Android
7. Specimen On
8. Bug Vomit
9. The Illusion of Strength

Rating: 9 / 10

Buy: Shels Music
Listen: myspace /// facebook

-Brian

"Tumor" (2012)

I drew this almost two years ago, and while it doesn't require much explanation, I wanted to share it with our readers. It is about carrying baggage; mental, emotional, physical, etc. and the idea is that some things feel like they are so cumbersome and restrictive, I/you/we can't carry on life without being hindered by them.

I wrote and recorded an album that year (HOME) and used this image for the song "Old Boy," which was about feeling like I had accumulated so much stress and disappointment at a relatively young age that I dragged it around behind me everywhere I went. A few months later, I edited the photo to use as a desktop, with surgical incision lines between the person and the tumor, to remind myself that carrying emotional baggage is a choice, and that if I don't want to, I don't have to.

-Brian