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200 Words Or Less

Dark Days

How Have We Done This
Independent (2009)

Dark Days is a new band from the Bay Area of California and this is their five-song demo recording. It was printed on both cassette tapes (limited to 50 copies each with a different cover) and CD-R. Musically, I'd compare them to Trash Talk. They make use of short fast blasts of chaos and then let things hang with slower … Read more

200 Words Or Less

Iron Rain

Demo
Independent (2009)

I got this demo while I was in Chicago recently. This one was being given away outside of a show. Normally when bands do this, it's a waste of their money and my time. But I figured it was worth looking into because of the show I was attending. Iron Rain offer up two tracks of metallic hardcore that brings … Read more

200 Words Or Less

Nowhere Bound

Demo
Independent (2009)

Nowhere Bound is a new hardcore band from the Chicago area and this is their four-song demo. They've got an Eastcoast flavor going on over these songs even though they hail from the Midwest. "Faith of the Faithless" is a bruising opener with crunching riffs; the solid breakdown makes this a great opener. "No Recourse" and "Joys of Winter" are … Read more

200 Words Or Less

Arms Aloft

Comfort at Any Cost
Dead Format (2008)

Hailing from Wisconsin, Arms Aloft are quite a surprise with their 7" debut Comfort at Any Cost. This four-song EP follows up a demo recording released last year. The four-piece outfit have concocted an upbeat mixture of punk and rock and roll. Arms Aloft has a definite Hot Water Music sound, but with a bit more of a rock feel … Read more

200 Words Or Less

Hope Lane is a Dead End

Illuminate
Independent (2009)

Metalcore has been an interesting genre over the years. Initially bands like Integrity, Earth Crisis, and Unbroken were labeled as metalcore for their metal influences in the hardcore sound. Since then, bands like Cave In, Botch, and Poison the Well have been labeled as such, all while developing their own styles within those bounds. Additionally the term has been bastardized … Read more

200 Words Or Less

Heads Held High

So Say We All
Crossface (2009)

So Say We All is the full-length debut from Clevelanders Heads Held High. These five gentlemen have been kicking around in the city for a few years now with a couple of self-released EP's under their belts. For their debut full-length the band has continued to belt out high-octane melodic hardcore, not exactly the norm for the city that spawned … Read more

200 Words Or Less

One Win Choice

Define/Redefine
Jump Start (2009)

Don't you love finding new punk bands? I sure do, which is why I was stoked to find out about New Jersey's One Win Choice who have just put out a new 7" with five adrenalizing new songs. There's not really a lot to say about this band because they sound very similar to a lot of other melodic hardcore … Read more

200 Words Or Less

Miseration

Your Demons ~ Their Angels
Lifeforce (2008)

Former Scar Symmetry vocalist Christian Älvestam has left said band to focus more on his other project, Miseration. Miseration is also a melodic death metal band, like Scar Symmetry, only they take a more straightforward approach rather than a technical/progressive one. The band's debut album Your Demons ~ Their Angels may satisfy fans of melo-death but their overall sound is … Read more

200 Words Or Less

Charged

Summer 2008
Melotov Cocktail (2009)

Charged is a hardcore band from southern California, playing a pretty straightforward style. The vocals are probably the strongest part of this band, reminding me a little bit of Verse or even Cut the Shit. The music ranges from fast-paced punk beats to slower breakdowns, and brings in a decent amount of melodic and singing parts, akin to Stay Gold. … Read more

200 Words Or Less

Tommy Keene

In the Late Bright
Second Motion (2009)

New release from this accomplished singer/guitarist finds him continuing to offer us great songs, which are really hard to come by these days. Keene handles the majority of the instruments here, save for longtime mainstay John Richardson on drums. "Save this Harmony" features a laid back groove and a fantastic melody to carry this one home. "Tomorrow's Gone Tonight" has … Read more

200 Words Or Less

Longwave

Secrets are Sinister
Original Signal (2008)

So much going on here it's hard to know where to begin. But if you like bands that prefer atmospheric overlays on their songs versus sparse settings, this band is for you. Fans of The Church and Echo & The Bunnymen will most likely appreciate the sonic depth presented here. "No Direction" should be a hit, I'm surprised I haven't … Read more

200 Words Or Less

Sleepies

Join the Shark
Doom Song (2008)

Cranky, off kilter rock from this Brooklyn power trio. Best lyrics on this EP (I guess it is an EP; it's seven songs clocking in at under sixteen minutes) are "Body cast but you ain't speaking / Drunk and grinding on your gun / That's how you ruined Surfer Rosa" (from "You're Still An Owl.)" Best song title - "Napolean … Read more

200 Words Or Less

Mitch Easter

Dynamico
Electric Devil (2008)

Excellent debut solo record from the former Let's Active mastermind. Of course, the sound quality is killer, considering it was recorded in his own studio. Power pop with cool guitar licks throughout makes this a consistently rewarding listen. "Time Warping," "Dusky Lair," and "Why is it so Hard?" are my favorites here. But this record is bursting at the seams … Read more

mewithoutYou

It's All Crazy! It's All False! It's All a Dream! It's Alright
Tooth & Nail (2009)

The title for Philadelphia act mewithoutYou's fourth album comes from Parable 518 of Bawa Muhaiyaddeen's The Golden Words of a Sufi Sheikh where he writes, "It's all false, It's all a dream, It's all crazy, It's all over, It's all right, Let's see what's next." Perhaps better than any others, these words mirror the band's evolution from their screamish [A->B] … Read more

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