I'm currently in some weird uninspired mood and seeing as the next post on the blog will probably be on Monday/Tuesday after the "Alpinist" show, I'll throw at you a triple post. That, and the fact that these bands are quite well known, thus my "promotion" of them won't really be of huge significance. So, two write-ups, three bands, five songs.
Zann - X 7'' (2010)
If you boarded the screamo boat somewhere between 1999 and 2010 you were bound to be introduced to "Zann", one way or the other. For the past eleven years this German five piece pounded our ears with a superb combination of chaotic hardcore and (metalized) screamo, only growing and being stronger along the way. The band's unusual life span is coming from the fact that, aside of adding one more member after a few shows, there have been no lineup changes.
I remember that I first heard "Zann" a few years ago when "Three Years In The Desert" came out and honestly, I loved it immediately. It had a chaotic, splashing, deep, pace changing sound, which was really unorthodox to the screamo I was used to. They created a unique style which you can quite easily discern and they sticked with that approach on all of their releases, as well as on "X". The well known chaos still prevails here with a touch of high noted guitar and a sort of breakdownish elements. Compared to previous releases, "X" is slightly less distorted and has a bit more clear sound. On the other hand, the vocal has been blended down to fit more equally with the rest of the band, since i.e. on their 2008 four way split you have a feel that the vocal is pushed a bit in front of the instruments.
"Zann" is well known for being slow with writing new music, but that is due to the fact that they are on the road a lot. Thus, this two song, nine minute 7 inch filled with extremely well composed chaos is here just to show us that "Zann" is still strong even after 11 years of sticking together and raging across the world with their music. Hopefully they will figure out in one moment that there is this one country called Serbia which they haven't visited yet. But until then, I'll just enjoy this superb record!
June Paik & Battle of Wolf 359 - Split 2010
Time for some split goodness, this time with two amazing bands, which share an identical intrusion into my brain. First moment I took a listen, these bands grew almost instantly in my heart and are really some of my favorite projects in the genre.
"June Paik" is a band hailing from Germany, their name a reference to the american video artist Nam June Paik, about who I actually know thanks to my girlfriend. When the tunes from their 10" struck me I was completely blown away with their dark, brooding melodies and a perfect combination of noisy explosions and quite saddening tones, "June Paik" quickly rushing up my charts. To this day I'm still amazed with their songs and really regret the fact that seeing them live eluded me for two times now. One day hopefully. Anyway, these guys bring us one new song, "Grenzwert" being a nearly seven minute behemoth of a song. Absolutely perfect song composition strikes again, the song constantly shifting between slow, mid and fast tempo, feeling as though you are watching the best thriller movie, not knowing what is going to happen on the next corner.
There is one important tidbit that I would like to add. Though I love all of their material, on their LP I missed the amount of chaos and distortion present on their previous 10'', it was too clean. I loved the LP, but it was on a lower love scale than the 10 inch and I feared that with time they will make not so good material. Well this song smacked me in the face. Though it is clean and with best possible production and not so distorted, "Grenzwert" was the kick I needed to see how they actually evolve rather than decline in quality. Beyond that there is not much I can say here, this is absolutely stunning.
Second part of the split occupied by the UK "Battle of Wolf 359". As mentioned above, took a listen to their Tour cd in 2007, instant love. That and the fact that I'm a sucker for the word "wolf" (and other forms of the word) being used in the band name. All of you who already know about this band, and I'm sure that you are many, know that BoW359 is famous for their extremely heavy and down tuned sound, nearly metallic riffs and interesting lyrics. I remember that on their Tour cd I loved how at one instance you hear a calm guitar tune and then suddenly everything explodes, a rushing and maddening melody. They stood by their composition style all this time, using a combination of mid and fast tempo style of playing and just looking at a retrospective of this band's work they just get better and better. Also one of the things that really does it for me with this band is the excellent vocal performance, which despite all the chaos and distortion you can clearly hear and enjoy.
In the end, just have to say that just now I realized that I picked three bands which are all quite dark and chaotic. Stupid me for having a sense of repeating myself while writing all this. Though similar, all these bands are amazing and great in very different ways, and have been kicking this scene for quite a while now. Respect and support very much deserved.
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