Sunday 28 August 2016

Botch


Botch were a four-piece hardcore/metalcore band from Tacoma, Washington that formed in 1993 and broke up in 2002. They are considered to be one of the most important and influential bands in "mathcore", which is basically a really technical form of hardcore with a lot of odd time signatures and other progressive shit. A lot of their influence can be credited to their magnum opus, 1999's We Are The Romans.

This was their second and final full-length, and it's the type of album to knock you on your ass. Very few albums capture the level of intensity that Botch brought on this. The riffs are very intricate but still definitive, they're heavy as hell, and the instrumentation is tied so tightly together that even the most technically complex passages seem to flow smoothly, while still hitting hard. The performances here are clearly far from rehearsal. The band is fully equip to devastate, displaying some incredible musicianship and tightness within the group. This isn't all that shocking, considering this group of fantastic musicians all would go on to be a part of other incredible and well-known bands such as Minus The Bear, These Arms Are Snakes, and Russian Circles. The vocals bellow with ferocity churning out very interpretative lyrics that can be taken as either a personal catharsis or a social commentary. We Are The Romans is an absolute classic, and an essential listen within the realms of hardcore and metalcore.


Of course I can't let the remainder of their discography go unnoticed, since it's solid all around. There's a few things to note about the releases down below. The first is their debut LP, American Nervoso in 1998. The version below is a remastered version from 2007 that includes demos and such. The same goes for We Came The Romans, which was also remastered in 2007 and included a bonus disc of demos. The EP An Anthology Of Dead Ends was their final recorded material, released just after the band broke up in 2002. Unifying Themes Redux is a reissue of a compilation they put out in 1997, The Unifying Themes Of Sex, Death and Religion. The original featured all the songs on their two released EP's. The reissue features the same songs, plus all their material put out on splits, as well as some unreleased stuff. Finally, 061502 is a live album that was recorded at their last show (take a wild guess at the date). That's about it really, Botch are a phenomenal band, and one of aggressive music's best outputs. Enjoy.

1. Hutton's Great Heat Engine
2. John Woo
3. Dali's Praying Mantis
4. Dead For A Minute
5. Oma
6. Thank God For Worker Bees
7. Rejection Spoken Softly
8. Spitting Black
9. Hives

1. Stupid Me
2. Spitting Black (Extended Version)
3. Hutton's Great Heat Engine (Demo)
4. Rejection Spoken Softly (Demo)
5. John Woo (Demo)

1. To Our Friends In The Great White North
2. Mondrian Was A Liar
3. Transitions From Persona To Object
4. Swimming the Channel Vs. Driving the Chunnel
5. C. Thomas Howell As the "Soul Man"
6. Saint Matthew Returns to the Womb
7. Frequency Ass Bandit
8. I Wanna Be a Sex Symbol On My Own Terms
9. Man the Ramparts
10. Thank God for Worker Bees (Remix)

1. To Our Friends In The Great White North (Demo)
2. I Wanna Be A Sex Symbol On My Own Terms (Demo)
3. Transitions From Persona To Object (Demo)
4. Mondrian Was A Liar (Demo)
5. Saint Matthew Returns To The Womb (Demo)
6. C. Thomas Howell As The Soul Man (Demo)
7. Man The Ramparts (Demo)
8. Saint Matthew Returns To The Womb (Live In Seattle 4-21-01)
9. Vietmam (Live In Seattle 4-21-01)
10. Transitions From Persona To Object (Live In France 11-11-99)
11. Hutton's Great Heat Engine (Live In France 11-11-99)

1. Spaim
2. Japam
3. Framce
4. Vietmam
5. Afghantisam
6. Micaragua

2. Third Part In A Tragedy
3. Inch By Inch
4. The Opera Song
5. Closure
6. Contraction
7. Ebb
8. Stupid Me
9. In Spite Of This
10. End Of Discussion
11. Wounded
12. Liquored Up And Laid
13. Leavers Take On Genesis
14. The Lobster Song
15. Frequenting Mass Transit
16. Sudam
17. Untitled

1. St. Thomas Returns To The Womb
2. C. Thomas Howell As The "Soul Man"
3. John Woo
4. Japam
5. Oma
6. Frequency Ass Bandit
7. Thank God For The Worker Bees
8. Framce
9. Third Part In A Tragedy
10. Rock Lobster
11. Transitions From Persona To Object
12. To Our Friends In The Great White North
13. Hutton's Great Heat Engine
14. Man The Ramparts

1. One Twenty Two

Thursday 25 August 2016

We Were Skeletons


We Were Skeletons were a three-piece screamo/post-hardcore band from Lancaster, Pennsylvania that formed in 2007 and ended in 2013. They're equal parts aggressive and technical, and recall great bands like Hot Cross, Off Minor, and Fugazi. Their earliest works are quite chaotic and explosive, with frenzied guitars and vocals tearing over each other. By their final (and arguably definitive) LP Blame & Aging, We Were Skeletons had established themselves as one of the best screamo bands around. Their dark sound, angular chords and rhythms, blend of dissonance and melody, and tightness as a band had peaked, and the results are incredible. It's one of the decade's best output in terms of screamo, post-hardcore, whatever you want to call it. They were an amazing band, and thankfully put out a decent chunk of music to enjoy for years to come. Enjoy.

1. Accusations
2. Organs
3. Passions
4. Mistakes
5. Sewers
6. Naked As We Came (Iron & Wine cover)
7. Gravesites
8. Floorboards
9. Friends
10. Chemistries

1. 99% Of The Time The Wolves Eat The Children
2. Who Are These Children And Why Are They Calling Me Their Mother?
3. I Am Orchid
4. Merchandise (Fugazi cover)

1. Drawn From The House I've Burnt
2. Exposure To Heavy Metal Causes Whatever
3. Pudge Paws
4. It's Like Science
5. Kids
6. Her Stomach Is A Lioness
7. Bruce Willis Is Dead The Whole Time
8. This Destroys Us
9. Well, I Did Spend A Whole Year In College

1. Florence & Libby - That's Where The Feathers Came From
2. Florence & Libby - Sunrise, Atlantic
3. Florence & Libby - Worth The Drive
4. Florence & Libby - These Days
5. Florence & Libby - Eggplant Caponata
6. Kids - Tony "Rocky Horror"
7. Kids - Crow Hobble (I Got This)
8. Kids - 24
9. Kids - I'm Sorry I'm A Creepy Fuck
10. Kids - Life Is A Grave, Dig It
11. Kids - My Man, The Girl
12. Kids - Our Backlash To The PC Hysteria Is Not A Fucking Joke
13. We Were Skeletons - Moleman Punched A Cop
14. We Were Skeletons - Weekend At Molemans, Pt. 2
15. Paxton - My Fallback Career As A Professional Wrestling Referee
16. Paxton - Tecmo Superbowl
17. Paxton - Caribou Queen
18. Paxton - Positive Life Choices

1. We Were Skeletons - Wolves
2. We Were Skeletons - The Ghost Of Jean Glam
3. мища  - A Midwinter Night's Dream
4. мища - ...At Least We Got Capri Suns

1. The Saddest Landscape - Shifting My Clarity
2. We Were Skeletons - No Funeral
3. We Were Skeletons - Medication

1. Wolves
2. The Ghost Of Jean Glam
3. No Funeral/Medication
4. Moleman Punched A Cop
5. Weekend At Molemans, Pt. 2
6. Who Are All Of These Children And WhyAre They Calling Me Their Mother?
7. Summerholidays vs Punk Routine (Refused cover)
8. Dead Things
9. Merchandise (Fugazi cover)

1. Ruined/Wasted
2. Long Night
3. King Of Tricks
4. The Buried Seat
5. Blood Tongue
6. Disease Artist
7. End All Suffering
8. Blame & Aging
9. Appear, Disappear
10. Slow Death
11. Tremors
12. Pain Is Not The Cleanser
13. Haunting The Ghost

Sunday 21 August 2016

Alexisonfire


There's a few things to mention before we get into this band: first off, this will be Sophie's 500th post. Holy shit, I did not expect it to have kept going for this long. As always, I hope you've all found something you've enjoyed in this increasingly expansive catalog of free shiz. Also, a long-time frequenter of this blog is celebrating their birthday today actually it was yesterday, I'm a little late getting this post up (Happy belated Birthday Anthony), and he requested this band. I can't say no to that, plus this band is perfectly fitting to celebrate numero 500. Enjoy.

Alexisonfire are a five-piece post-hardcore band from Saint Catherines, Ontario, that formed in 2001. They called it quits in 2011, when Dallas Green (vocalist/guitarist) left to focus on his solo project City and Colour, and Wade MacNeil (guitarist/vocalist) became the lead singer for Gallows. However. they reunited the following year to embark on a farewell world tour, and played their "final show" on December 30, 2012 at Copps Coliseum in Hamilton. The band announced their return in 2015, with a headlining set at Riot Fest. Though they're not as active as they once were, they will be doing a handful of shows in Australia in 2017, so in some capacity Alexisonfire are in fact, back again.


To contextualize Alexisonfire's influence, they emerged in the new millennia, following a decade long build-up of post-hardcore in the underground. A ton of bands were pushing the envelope on traditional punk and hardcore, including more dynamics, more melody, and sometimes even more aggression. They got experimental, incorporating off-kilter rhythms and chord structures, and essentially whatever the hell else they wanted. This culminated in Refused's The Shape Of Punk To Come, which title says it all. This evolving sound broke loose at the turn of the century, when a ton of new, up-and-coming bands rode this new wave of post-hardcore. The production was cleaner, the songs had more hooks, so much so that they actually made it into the semi-mainstream. Bands like Thursday, Thrice, Glassjaw, as well as Alexisonfire can all be credited for exposing an entire new generation of people to post-hardcore.


Up here in Kanada, Alexisonfire were incredibly popular, especially around Watch Out! and Crisis. A small personal anecdote here, but I first heard "Accidents" when I was 9. That was my first exposure to any form of "aggressive" or "extreme" music, and it's obviously come a long way since then. I suppose their popular appeal isn't much of a surprise. The blend of George's howls and Dallas' VERY catchy and melodic choruses are infectious. The band not only brought an uninhibited energy, but some legitimately good songwriting. They've got the best of both worlds, so to speak. In addition, they never put out a bad album. All four of their full-lengths are fantastic (my personal favourite is their debut), and are an absolute essential for post-hardcore fans. There are some things missing from this discography, most notably some live stuff. If anyone has that, or anything else I don't, please feel free to send it to me so I can add it. Otherwise, here's the majority of their discography. Enjoy.

1. The Philosophical Significance Of Shooting My Sister In The Face: An Essay By James Secord
2. Counterparts And Number Them
3. Little Girls Pointing And Laughing

1. .44 Caliber Love Letter
2. A Dagger Through The Heart Of St. Angeles

1. .44 Caliber Love Letter
2. Counterparts And Number Them
3. Adelleda
4. A Dagger Through The Heart Of St. Angeles
5. Polaroids Of Polar Bears
6. Waterwings (And Other Poolside Fashion Faux Pas)
7. Where No One Knows
8. The Kennedy Curse
9. Jubella
10. Little Girls Pointing And Laughing
11. Pulmonary Archery

1. The Bled - Ruth Buzzi Better Watch Her Back
2. Alexisonfire - Counter Parts And Number Them

1. Sharks And Danger (Demo Version)
2. Get Fighted (Demo Version)

1. Accidents
2. Control
3. It Was Fear of Myself That Made Me Odd
4. Side Walk When She Walks
5. Hey, It's Your Funeral Mama
6. No Transitory
7. Sharks And Danger
8. That Girl Possessed
9. White Devil
10. Get Fighted
11. Happiness By The Kilowatt

1. Alexisonfire - Passing Out In America (Moneen cover)
2. Alexisonfire - Tonight I'm Going To Wash The Hippy (Moneen cover)
3. Moneen - Accidents Are On Purpose (Alexisonfire cover)
4. Moneen - Sharks In Danger (Alexisonfire cover)
5. Moneen - Bleed And Blister (Version 2)
6. Alexisonfire - Charlie Sheen vs. Henry Rollins

1. Drunks Lovers Sinners And Saints
2. This Could Be Anywhere In The World
3. Mailbox Arson
4. Boiled Frogs
5. We Are The Sound
6. You Burn First
7. We Are The End
8. Crisis
9. Keep It On Wax
10. To A Friend
11. Rough Hands

1. Thrones
2. My God Is A Reasonable Man

1. Old Crows
2. Young Cardinals
3. Sons Of Privilege
4.Born And Raised
5. No Rest
6. The Northern
7. Midnight Regulations
8. Emerald Street
9. Heading For The Sun
10. Accept Crime
11. Burial

1. Two Sisters
2. Wayfarer Youth

1. Dog's Blood
2. Grey
3. Black As Jet
4. Vex

1. The Northern (Acoustic) (Triple J Radio)
2. I'm Stranded (Acoustic) (Triple J Radio)
3. Old Crows (Live @ Soundwave)
4. Young Cardinals (Live @ Soundwave)
5. This Could Be Anywhere In The World (Live @ Soundwave)

1. The Dead Heart (Midnight Oil cover)

1. Born And Raised
2. Midnight Regulations
3. You Burn First
4. Accept Crime
5. Burial
6. Happiness By The Kilowatt

1. Young Cardinals
2. Boiled Frogs
3. Heading For The Sun
4. .44 Caliber Love Letter
5. Drunks, Lovers, Sinners And Saints
6. No Transitory
7. Crisis
8. Rough Hands
9. Charlie Sheen vs. Henry Rollins
10. Born And Raised
11. Waterwings
12. You Burn First
13. We Are The Sound
14. Keep It On Wax
15. Accept Crime
16. Malibox Arson
17. Get Fighted
18. Old Crows
19. The Northern
20. Dog's Blood
21. Accidents
22. Pulmonary Archery
23. This Could Be Anywhere In The World
24. Happiness By The Kilowatt

Otherness (2022)
1. Committed To The Con
2. Sweet Dreams Of Otherness
3. Sans Soleil
4. Conditional Love
5. Blue Spade
6. Dark Night Of The Soul
7. Mistaken Information
8. Survivor's Guilt
9. Reverse the Curse
10. World Stops Turning

Thursday 18 August 2016

Cerce


Cerce are a five-piece hardcore band from Boston, Massachusetts that formed in 2011 and broke up in 2013. They played a very raw and energetic form of punk, that was mixed in with a lot of noisy and chaotic elements. Each song is a loaded burst of aggression that takes off as quickly as it ends. The band knocks out a ton of heavy, feedback-fueled riffs topped by these screeching, charismatic female vocals. A notable comparison that tends to be drawn is to Punch, which definitely makes sense; however Cerce at their best are really in their own element. In my personal opinion they put out some of the best hardcore in the past few years, particularly their self-titled EP, which is particularly incredible. They unfortunately didn't last very long though. When they broke up, most of the members started another band called lovechild, while their vocalist went on to start Sisterwives. Enjoy.

1. P.O.N.X.
2. How To Be A Woman
3. Love, Alaska Young
4. Something About A Broken Heart

1. Cerce - D.I.D.
2. Cerce - Direct Tribute I
3. Cerce - Direct Tribute II
4. leer. - Statler
5. leer. - And
6. leer. - Waldorf

1. Weary
2. Choices
3. D.I.D.
4. Direct Tribute I
5. Direct Tribute II

1. Mare
2. Weary
3. Choices
4. Concussion
5. Libel
6. Fornication

1. I Kill Giants - (Feelin' Kinda) Weary
2. I Kill Giants - (Positive) Choices
3. Cerce - L.I.F.E. (Life Instead Of Sleep)
4. Cerce - S.L.E.E.P. (Sleep Instead Of Life)

1. Cerce - Damaged Goods
2. Cerce - Intrusions
3. Cerce - Blossom
4. Stresscase - Lonely Leech
5. Stresscase - In Her Eyes
6. Stresscase - Instrumental
7. Stresscase - Shallow Gasps

1. Untitled 1
2. Love Song
3. Slowdance
4. Untitled 2
5. Replacement Parts
6. Untitled 3
7. Surface Area
8. Sistine Chapel
9. Untitled 4
10. Life Etiquette
11. Blocked Out
12. Untitled 5
13. Harsh Consonants
14. Semblance
15. Ides of March

1. Back From The Dead
2. Fate
3. Baby Teeth
4. Kill Me
5. Ghosts
6. Bats
7. Dreary
8. Blood For You
9. Begging For Death
10. Pink Rose
11. Worthless Cheaters

Wednesday 17 August 2016

Crossed Out


Crossed Out were a four-piece powerviolence band from Encinitas, California that were around from 1990 to 1993. They put a few 7"'s and splits with some other incredible bands, including Dropdead and Man Is The Bastard. Crossed Out themselves are up there with them as well as a classic, essential powerviolence band. In 1999, their discography was released titled 1990-1993. like any good PV band should be, they're blisteringly fast, their vocals are shouted manically, and they push hardcore punk into a whole new territory. Their discography is an essential for the genre, and a gruellingly intense 45-minute listen. Enjoy.

1. Internal
2. He-man
3. Locked In
4. Fraud
5. Crown Of Thorns
6. Force Of Habit
7. Crutch
8. Supremacy
9. Ulcer
10. Neglect
11. Suffocate
12. Selfserve
13. Homegrown
14. Crown Of Thorns
15. Internal
16. Practice Hatred
17. Pure Delusion
18. Society
19. Lowlife
20. Scapegoat
21. Vacuum
22. No Truth (Christ On Parade)
23. Fraud (Demo)
24. Letch (Demo)
25. Never Forget (Demo)
26. He-man (Demo)
27. Suicide Of The Species (Demo)
28. Selfish Achiever (Demo)
29. Advice? (Demo)
30. Locked In (Live)
31. Fraud (Live)
32. Ulcer (Live)
33. He-man (Live)
34. Internal (Live)
35. Suffocate (Live)
36. Supremacy (Live)
37. Force Of Habit (Live)
38. Homegrown (Live)
39. Selfserve (Live)
40. Crown of Thorns (Live)
41. Neglect (Live)
42. Jihad
43. Protester
44. Pure Delusion (Live)
45. Lowlife (Live)
46. Nightstalker (Live)
47. Practice Hatred (Live)

Friday 12 August 2016

La Quiete


La Quiete are a five-piece screamo band from Forli, Italy that formed in 2000 and are surprisingly still around now. though they haven't released anything since 2008. Their name should be already known to most, since they're one of the biggest screamo bands to emerge this century. They also share members with another very noteworthy Italian band, which is of course Raein. A few notes on their discography: they've only released one LP, which came out in 2004. It's a skramz essential, so don't pass that up. Between 2001 and 2005, they released a slew of splits and such, all of which are compiled on Tenpeun. Two self-titled 7"'s followed, both of which are included on 2006-2009. The splits with Louise Cyphre and Phoenix Bodies weren't included on any compilation, so I included the actual splits down below. La Quiete are a defining band for European screamo/hardcore, and simply one of the best bands in their genre, so enjoy.

1. Raid Aereo Nel Paese Delle Farfalle
2. Metempsicosi Del Fine Ultimo: Nevrastenica Oscillazione Fra Poli Estremi
3. Notte Dei Cristalli A Rue Des Trois-Frères
4. Ciò Che Non Siamo, Ciò Che Non Vogliamo
5. Il Destino Di Un Ombrello
6. Super Omega
7. Merce Cunningham
8. Uncaged
9. La Fine Non È La Fine

1. La Quiete - Fai finta di non girarti
2. La Quiete - Cosmonauta Gigarin, non volarti indietro
3. La Quiete - Tutto Lasciato A Meta
4. La Quiete - Al citofono era Anthony Hopkins
5. Louise Cyphre - Revolver AKA Schall und Rauch
6. Louise Cyphre - For those about to destroy pigs
7. Louise Cyphre - In the end... everyone dies alone
8. Louise Cyphre - Your punk rock, our friendship
9. Louise Cyphre - Felicità

1. Mandorle Amare Al Traguardo Della Mille Miglia
2. Greyskull
3.  Musica Per Un Giardino Segreto #3
4. Lettere Che Avevo Intenzione Di Scivere
5. Fobbeo
6. Fiori Neri Per Ilich
7. Musica Per Un Giardino Segreto #1
8. *
9. Teorma Di Peters
10. Helas
11. Ai Bambini Occorre Educazione
12. La Maestra Non Sa Che Illich Mi Ha Parlato Del Programma Occulto
13. Istruzioni Sul Funzionamento Della Macchina Di Arthur
14. Che Tu Sia Per Me Il Coltello
15. Riflessioni Sul Peccato
16. La Parte Sinistra Del Corpo
17. Mancanza Di Originalità
18. Una Vita Veloce
19. Alle Foglie

1. Phoenix Bodies - Get A Job
2. La Quiete - Animali De Fede E Di Memoria

1. Sulla Differenza Fra Un Sorriso E Una Risata
2. Giugno
3. Era Questa La Mia Prigione Di Carte?
4. Cosa Sei Dispoto A Perdere
5. Musica Per Un Giardino Segreto #4
6. Le Conseguenze Di Un Abbraccio
7. Gemelli Siamesi