Today is promotion day and this time we have "Fan the Flames Records" on the platter. The label hails from Minnesota, Minneapolis and is of course an independent one. Born in 2011, "Fan the Flames" is still a very young record label, having only these two releases under their belt, but that fact is not to be underestimated simply because the records deliver a serious punch to the ears. Before I review the bands, I'd just like to point out a fact which I read on the label's facebook page, which you can find here, and that is that only recycled material is used for packaging, quite a cool and useful thing if you ask me. So without further ado, let me introduce you to "YOUWRETCH" and "Lord Green".
YOUWRETCH - YOUWRETCH (2011)
Coming from "Fan The Flames" neighborhood, "YOUWRETCH" is a quintet formed in Winter 2009 and hitting the scene with shows in Summer 2010. The very beginning of 2011 saw the release of this debut EP through collaboration work between "Fan The Flames" and "Forward!" Records.
In any case, the sound of "YOUWRETCH" has been described as "ambient hardcore punk" and upon listening to the EP I can definitely say that the genre tag is well justified. When I saw the list of tracks and the duration of the release, four songs with somewhere around nine minutes of music, I thought that this will be quite fast and chaotic. Believe me when I say that it is in fact like that, but there is also something unique here that doesn't dip this band into the plain hardcore punk bucket. First of all, despite the songs being rapid and short, they possess buildups of sorts which are highly diverse per track. For instance, there is a post rock/sludge-ish intro to the "The Rider", while "Failure and Worship" has a near "Electric Wizard" on speed like beginning. This was a really interesting composition maneuver by the band, since they throw at you fast and explosive outbursts of sound, but each with its own little twists, making you feel like you are listening to more songs than there actually are on this EP. Also, there are many interesting things happening in the songs apart from their intros, with many crescendo like moments, sudden tempo and volume drops, rushing and pounding hardcore riffs, all actually contributing in such a way that there is really an atmospheric trait to their music. Everything is molded very well into one whole, so despite all these various ups and downs in the tracks the flow is excellent, thus you listen to the EP in literally one breath.
As for the very sound and the quality of this release, nothing to say but praise. This is just one of those records when every tone is where it should be and nothing is astray. The sound has some crunchiness and a buzzing, brooding trait, so sometimes you have to concentrate a bit to discern guitar and bass playing, but here it simply didn't bother me. This is probably due to the fact that the EP just grabs your attention instantly and takes you for a turbulent ride and there is no getting off the roller-coaster until the damned trip is over. I would, however, like to praise the vocal a bit, since at times it reminds me of the vocalist of "Fall of Efrafa" and I have "Efrafa" raping my speakers these last couple of days almost nonstop. Basically, Jordan, the vocalist of "YOUWRETCH" has a raw, coarse scream and it goes exceptionally well with the instrumental section.
Overall, I really enjoyed this EP and it came as a very nice surprise. Currently the band is writing songs for an upcoming full length and I am very eager to hear in which direction they will take their music. The EP definitely has an experimental notion to it and it was great to listen to what the band is capable of creating. So until their next release sees the light of day, you can check out "YOUWRETCH" on their bandcamp page here or get in touch via their facebook page here.
Lord Green - Last Demo (2011)
Here is another band under the care of "Fan the Flames", though this one is rooted in Quad Cities, Illinois. There is not much information on the web about this trio, other than the fact that this is actually a re-release of their demo and it came out in February 2011. Ok without anything left for me to say in the introduction, let us get right to the point.
Wow, just wow! Much like to "YOUWRETCH", the amount of amazement came as a great surprise, so officially this day is an excellent one, two completely stunning bands discovered in less than an hour. In any case, "Last Demo" packs eight songs into thirty minutes of tunes, quite a long release as you can see. It comes natural actually, since they play a combination of stoner, hardcore and even some psychedelic rock on top of it all. The way you are introduced to this amalgam of genres is just superb, coming in the form of the song "Spitting Blood (Resuscitation)" which I first heard on their website found here, the song actually not featured on "Last Demo". It starts off with a stoner like tune, quite slow and dragging, the guitar playing with the distortion, the bass kicking the groove a bit and some background drumming to spice it all up. So you sit there and just chill out for the first minute of the song and then in the moment when you just completely relax everything picks up the pace, the screaming ensues, shit goes completely nuts and you are just shaken up with speedy, rending hardcore riffs. And once the hurricane of sound passes right by, you are left listening to some amazing instrumental parts, the band providing near improvised tunes and you feel like in the midst of a storm. This type of unexpectedness in their tunes is almost omnipresent and for the duration of this near half an hour trip you literally never know with what you will be faced next. The skill of the band when it comes to song composition is just excellent and it takes you quite a lot of listens to actually remember songs, simply because they have a very turbulent soundscape.
The fact that we are dealing with a trio here really adds certain compliments to "Lord Green", since they manage to create quite a lot of chaos and energy coming from only the basic band instruments. Much like "YOUWRETCH", they also have a certain dose of buzzing sounds and distortion filled tones, so the sound gets splashed around you in all directions. A similar thing is happening to the vocal, which is extremely raspy and chaotic, so it fits with the rest of the band in a great way. The recording quality is perfect and that "splash" effect of the sound is superbly captured.
Needless to say, I enjoyed "Lord Green" as much as the previous band and I can already sense that it will be spinning in my player a lot in the future. I am unaware what the band is up to recently, but as much as I see on their official page they have a show coming up which means they are still alive and kicking. Definitely looking forward to hearing more of their work, there is some heavy felt potential here. Until then you can also get in touch with them via their myspace page found here.
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