The Stella Brass

The Stella Brass were a four-piece emo/indie band from Utah that were active from 1995 to 1997 (approximately). Like many of their contemporaries, their entire recorded output exists solely in obscure 7"'s that should be lost to time, but have thankfully continued to exist thanks to the internet. Their output was actually very varied, albeit minimal. For starters, they do actually make occassional use of brass instrumentation, and throw in the odd jazz-inspired rhythm on a handful of tracks. However, the predominant influence you'll hear is the slow, somber, and clean arpeggiated guitars akin to bands like Mineral or Christie Front Drive. They still find a way to break away from that mold on more energetic cuts like "Click". Enjoy.

Demo (1995)

1. Today's Date

2. Goldenjection

3. Pistolfinger

4. All Kites Fly Away

Sketches Of Places We've Slept (1996)

1. Cower

2. Collect

Simplicity In Motion (1997)

1. Click

2. Rut

3. Nucleus

Figure Eights and Heart Shapes (1997)

1. Fine Day For The Lake

2. Learning To Swim

Pictures Can Tell

Pictures Can Tell were an emo/indie rock band from Salt Lake City, Utah that were around from approximately 1998 to 2001. In that time they released two albums, and that is the most info I can find about this band. Sonically, they're loosely comparable to bands like Mineral with the clean, arpeggiated guitars distinct to midwest emo building into soaring crescendos of melodic octave chords. Their songs typically range from 5-7 to minutes, with plenty of variety in between to accompany the rise and fall of their sound. Vocally, they're akin to early Jimmy Eat World. Both albums are definitely recommended, though Everyday might be their crowning achievement. Enjoy.

In Time (1999)

1. Wrapped In Time

2. Watch Or Wear

3. In Time

4. Only Thought

5. If I Said

6. Straight Lines

7. More Than Once A Day

8. How To Wait

Everyday (2000)

1. Everyday Disease

2. More Than That

3. The Best To Bring Me Down

4. Wash Our Hands And Walk Away

5. She Remembers

Knowing We'll Never Grow Up

Knowing We'll Never Grow Up were a five-piece screamo/emo band from Salt Lake City, Utah that were around from 2011 to 2013. This is for fans of skramz with that clean, midwestern emo-sounding guitar work, on top of the high-pitched screaming. They're pretty comparable to bands like Merchant Ships and Age Sixteen, so if you're into those you'll definitely take a liking to Knowing We'll Never Grow Up. That's about it, really. They only ever put two things out, a full-length and a split with another great band I'd suggest checking out, Treehouse. Enjoy.

I Think I Hate Myself (2012)

1. Take My Hand, And Let's Walk Through An Open Field During A Thunder Storm

2. Untitled

3. Assisted Suicide (Bangarang)

4. I Majored In Philosophy And All I Got Was This Stupid T-Shirt

5. Boy, Am I Lost...

6. Masturbate To Heartache

7. Aokigahara Forest

8. So He Sank Into The West As The Mountains Began To Eat Him

9. Don't Forget Projectile Weapons

10. Roughly 67 Miles To Freedom (Vertically)

Knowing We'll Never Grow Up/Treehouse (2012)

1. Knowing We'll Never Grow Up - Dani, You Have Cancer.

2. Knowing We'll Never Grow Up - Richard Dawkins Will Stab You In The Fucking Head/666satan666

3. Knowing We'll Never Grow Up - To Elude Life (Kick The Chair)

4. Treehouse - The Thanatron Is For Lovers

5. Treehouse - Varg Vikernes Will Stab You In The Fucking Head

6. Treehouse - Ankles x Sleep

Gaza

Gaza were a five-piece (and eventually four-piece) hardcore/metalcore band from Salt Lake City, Utah that started in 2004 and ended in 2013. In their nine years as a band, they released three full-length albums, and one EP, East. All their albums are absolute forces on their own. They take influence from all the greats who came just before them, such as Botch, Converge, The Dillinger Escape Plan, and Fuck The Facts, and push the aggression and technical prowess a notch forward. Gaza's deep, guttural vocals are the loudspeaker in which to convey their very political agenda, and the sludgy, heavy, chaotic, and punishing riffs are the orchestra to accompany their mission statements.

There's really not much else to say, all three albums are essential recommendations for anyone looking for the dark, heavy, and chaotic side of hardcore. Three of the band's members also now play in Cult Leader, who put out a phenomenal record last year. That's definitely also recommended, and already on here, so get on that if you haven't yet. Enjoy.

East (2004)

1. Kasam Rocket

2. Femur

3. East

4. Hospital

5. Cattle

6. Gristle

I Don't Care Where I Go When I Die (2006)

1. Calf

2. I Don't Care Where I Go When I Die

3. Hospital Fat Bags

4. Gristle

5. Sire

6. Slutmaker

7. Hell Crown

8. Moth

9. Cult

10. Pork Finder

11. Untitled Track

He Is Never Coming Back (2009)

1. How It Is. How It's Going To Be.

2. The Kicking Legs

3. Bishop

4. The Biologist

5. Windowless House

6. He Is Never Coming Back

7. Canine Disposal Unit

8. The Anthropologist

9. The Meat Of A Leg Joint

10. The Astronomer

11. Tombless

12. The Historian

13. Carnivore

No Absolutes In Human Suffering (2012)

1. Mostly Hair And Bones Now

2. This We Celebrate

3. The Truth Weighs Nothing

4. Not With All The Hope In The World

5. The Vipers

6. No Absolutes In Human Suffering

7. The Crown

8. When They Beg

9. Winter In Her Blood

10. Skull Trophy

11. Routine And Then Death

Cult Leader

Cult Leader are a four-piece hardcore/crust band from Salt Lake City, Utah that formed in 2013. They got started by 3/4 members of Gaza, who had just broken up in 2013 (I'll do a post on them one day, they're unbelievably good). Just like Gaza before them, Cult Leader are putting out some of the most intense and aggressive music of their time. Their debut LP, Lightless Walks is one of my personal favourite hardcore albums of the year, as it is for many people I would imagine. They've got a very dark and sludgy tone going on, but still play at breakneck speeds, and are spearheaded by some insane guttural vocals. They're 3 parts angry and 1 part depressive, which is the perfect mix for an aggressive band. On their LP, they break up the beatdown sessions to give way for some slower, moodier songs, which sound incredibly haunting and unsettling. These are some of the highlights of the album, since it shows they have more to offer than the blistering speeds so many other bands purely rely on. Cult Leader stay just as ferocious and intense when they slow things down, kind of like an animal about to attack its prey. Sometimes the anticipation is more gruesome than the attack. Or something like that. Enjoy.

Nothing For Us Here (2014)

1. God's Lonely Children

2. Flightless Birds

3. Mongrel

4. Indoctrinator's Deathbed

5. Skin Crawler

6. Driftwood

Useless Animal (2015)

1. Useless Animal

2. Gutter Gods

3. You Are Not My Blood

Lightless Walk (2015)

1. Great I Am
2. The Sorrower
3. Sympathetic
4. Suffer Louder
5. Broken Blades
6. A Good Life
7. Walking Wastelands
8. Gutter Gods
9. Hate Offering
10. How Deep It Runs
11. Lightless Walk

A Patient Man (2018)

1. I Am Healed

2. Curse of Satisfaction

3. Isolation in the Land of Milk and Honey

4. To: Achyls

5. A World Of Joy

6. Craft Of Mourning

7. Share My Pain

8. Aurum Reclusa

9. A Patient Man

10. The Broken Right Hand of God

Gather & Mourn (2022)

1. END - Eden Will Drown

2. END - The Host Will Soon Decay

3. Cult Leader - Ataraxus

4. Cult Leader - Long Shadows

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