Thursday 24 May 2012

Shotmaker

Shotmaker were a three-piece post-hardcore/emo/screamo band from Belleville, Ontario (a small town about an hour and a half outside of Toronto) that were active from 1993-1996.

I think Shotmaker are one of those bands that were not heard by everyone, but had a profound effect on those that did (in terms of 90's post-hardcore, of course). They certainly had an interesting and innovative sound. Their songs seem to have this dissonant, rolling rhythm that pulsates at incredibly intense levels (kind of like later Black Flag, but in the most insane way). The drums beat ferociously while maintaining a certain technical ability, and the guitar just pours out these sloppy, jagged, distorted chords in a furious frenzy. The bass lines are incredible, and play an integral role in this band's sound. The three of them are an incredibly tightly-knit group, and produce a sound much larger than one would expect out of three people. The songs use very unique structures, with changes in tempo and time played with a perfect flow to them. Moments go from pure tension to sweet release, and vice versa. And of course, the throat-shredding vocals that foreshadowed pg.99 to top it all off. Just great stuff, what more needs to be said.  Shotmaker are certainly aggressive and intense, yet still had a melodic side. It just wasn't as blatant as their contemporaries. Overall, these guys are an incredibly solid band who are highly recommended for anyone even remotely into the whole 90's post-hardcore thing.

In 2000, they released a two-disc discography on Trouble Unlimited titled The Complete Discography: 1993-1996, which compiled the band's recorded material (which consisted of 2 LPs and a few EPs). However, a demo and certain songs from an early split are missing from it. The last six songs on the discography are also missing, but this is because I haven't been able to track them down yet (both in physical and digital form, though I'm always on the lookout). If anyone happens to have these missing songs, I would be incredibly gracious if you send them to me. Update: found them.


Disc 1
1. Sky
2. Shortwave Radio
3. Uninhibited
4. Untitled
5. Bailer
6. Now And Then
7. Failure
8. Reconstructing Barriers
9. Controller.Controller
10. Driver
11. The Game
12. Archaeologist
13. Blocks And Channels
14. Untitled
15. Spark Lights The Friction
16. Newest Sound System
17. 7:14
18. Pilot

Disc 2
1. Satellite Screens
2. Security
3. Drifting
4. In Motion
5. 10/22/94
6. Curve
7. Drown
8. Two Left Standing
9. Table
10. Believe In
11. Rope And Pulley
12. Add And Subtract
13. Fine Day
14. Selector
15. Public Eye Opinion
16. Finest Noose
17. Radio Sampler
18. Cut
19. One Two
20. In Betweens
21. Nick's Question
22. I Say
23. Slow Down
24. In The Name Of
25. Trough

3 comments:

  1. Great i love Shotmaker, one of best bands of 90s also you need to listen/post Three Penny Opera and The Grey (with matt deline) others awesome projects Definitely.

    ReplyDelete
  2. would love a complete discography reupload

    ReplyDelete