Bloody Phoenix S/t
Released in 2003 on 625 Thrash records. Blistering grind with blast beats, low tuned guitars, dual vocals great release super crusty riffs especially in Ugly Inside. Harsh Introductory is by far their slowest tempo song, starts with simplistic guitars and drums then flows into dual vocals that sound like they are screaming back and forth to one another. With the beat staying at a nice slow pace in comparison to the rest of the songs. Good release sparks my interest in the band that much more.
Cast Aside "Overcome"
Awesome release by hardcore band Cast Aside, with the first things said being "Die you MOTHER FUCKER!" They waste no time with subtly, with blasting drums, and chuggy riffs in unison with the vocals, and it only takes about 20 seconds before they have the chanting vocals. All you could really want out of hardcore release. While this might not fit for a lot of people this definitely appeals to my nostalgic side of oldschool style hardcore. This was release in 2008 but I’m pretty sure it is already out of print; the packaging is ok the front unfolds in opposite directions to present the mucky gray 7". My favorite track in Say goodbye which starts with super low tuned guitars then incorporates a sense of chaos in the beginning then flowing in to the chugs with call out shouting "I WILL NEVER FALL" a few times with a breakdown. Although Cast Aside was not breaking any new ground with their east coast tough guy hardcore, they were a band I always enjoyed.
Pelican “Ephemeral”
Pelicans first release on Southern Lord Records in the form of an ep, with 3 tracks this is a great release for Pelican. When hearing that Pelican was making Southern Lord their new home a few thought crossed my mind, what a loss for Hydra Head, what a gain for Southern Lord and knowing the overall feel of southern lords roster this might mean Pelican will be bringing back the heavier influences, well in that aspect I seemed to have hit right on the mark with the 2 new songs introduced on this ep there is definitely reminiscence of there older material. And with doing a cover of Dylan Carlson’s band (Earth) you can not go wrong, especially when he plays in the song himself.
On another note I am a sucker for packaging and for a cd they really went all out this. This is one of the few times I like the cd packaging more then the vinyl, a lot more then the vinyl as a matter of fact. With only 1000 made, and being released only on the Isis tour I made sure to pick one up, the cd is wrapped in this charcoal gray cardboard folder that you have to unfold to retrieve the cd, when you open it up its beautifully laid out with letters from the album title in 3 dimensional look with an incredible amount of detail. The other has more of the letters printed in a pitch black on the charcoal sleeves with a cluster of wings, insect limbs, horns, tentacles flowers and a lot more, also its all screen printed. So great music, great packaging = great release for Pelican & Southern Lord.
Oceans “Nothing Collapses”
Post rock is a genre that seems to produce bands a dime a dozen anymore coming and going leaving no impact and no trail to follow. Oceans does and does not make me feel that way though with their first track “Lit up Under Streetlights” they seem to accomplish the fact that they know their instruments fairly well and play together pretty well too, I enjoy several parts of the song, from its simple inception with just a guitar then a guitar and a drum, its not too much to take in at once with meandering guitar tones and almost a march band like beat it smoothly transitions me into the rest of the instruments when they arrive with a gentle but noticeable force. With what seems a credential in being a post rock band Oceans does not follow the typical layout having only one song that breaks the 10-minute barrier (only by 8 seconds). I did have some less favorable parts as well everything was going pretty good until they added vocals, and on track 4 when they introduce them the first time around its not half bad the guy singing seems to be able to carry a tune decently then a couple minutes he repeats the chorus and I hear another voice which sound like a guy in the background yelling the lyrics out of tune and it ruins it, but that’s not all then at the end (I assume it’s) the whole band decides to start chanting along and it sounds like a group of drunk men trying there best to keep in unison with the other, but failing. While I felt distraught and a little awkward I still felt ok. Telling myself everyone makes mistakes luckily it was only on one track then like a slap in the face, they do it again on the ending track so unfortunately for me, my experience with this album ended on a bad note. As they say a first impression always last, in this case the last impression is the one that stuck with me and I could of done without.
