Means To An End - Winter Demo (2011)

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Woke up early in the morning today only to realize that all of my plans for the day got cancelled by other people. So the unexpected free time should be put to good use and to try and deplete my inbox which is boiling with submissions.

For several months now I have been on an extremely addictive dose of some older screamo projects from the end of the 90's and the first quarter of 2000's, more specifically bands like "Mihai Edrisch", "Orchid" and "Jeromes Dream". Listening to them, one really realizes how those bands had a certain something that sets them miles apart from today's screamo. Here and there you get to hear a brief glimpse of influence from those legendary names, but usually it doesn't get further than that. Well, "Means To An End" is one of these bands that has a strong potential of resurrecting some of that old spirit.
The five piece chaotic screamo from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania recorded this demo in the early months of 2011 and thus far this is their first released material. This project features members of "Masochrist" and "Old Accusers", which I am yet to take a listen to so I will skip talking much about that. But speaking of the above mentioned old spirit, "Means To An End" harbors a very strong taste and influence from "Orchid", at least in my ears. Amid the overall chaos, vocal and instrumental whirlwind, at times I managed to grasp something that managed to awake a certain feel of nostalgia which I connect to some already mentioned bands. I won't write much about this tidbit, since it is in fact just an "influence", so in the meantime just listen for yourself and I will mention what I have on this regard in the closing words.
Getting a bit more technical with the actual music, the "Winter Demo" brings us four tracks with somewhere around eighteen minutes of tunes. In that time, quite a lot of stuff is thrown into your lap and I personally found enjoyment in every second of it. The opening track, "The Day We've Been Dreading For So Long Is Finally Upon Us", specifically took my breath away and I actually ended up playing just that song several times in a row. We are greeted with a chaotic start, buzzing guitars distorting and crashing around the place, the bass following with its deep growl in the same pace, the drums pounding their way through all the craziness and the vocal, of course, being in the form of a raspy, stretched out scream nearly melding with the other instruments. It's all fun and games until you reach the middle of the song which really made me go "wow". Tempo suddenly drops and everything takes on a new dimension, slowly building up toward yet another explosion. This slower mid part really flung me back into the beginning of the 2000 when it comes to screamo. The guitar acquired a clear and gentle, yet somewhat saddening tone, while the bass is heard here and there, like it is hiding behind the guitar, while the drums perform a droning background melody. Tension builds up a bit more as the distorted strings hit again, still slow, with the clean tones crawling through at times. And at last it all explodes again, this time with multiple screams, all leading into an amazing end.
As you can see, quite a more detailed description for just one song, but honestly, "Means To An End" really made me ponder a bit more about their songs then usual. And like I said, they throw at you a lot of things and one just keeps discovering more aspects of their tunes with each listen. I just noticed, for instance, how this pack screaming in the second song is damn amazing. All in all, for a demo this is really great and it definitely sparks interest about their future work, especially since it will probably carry a lot better sound quality and cleaner sound. These recordings aren't bad, mind you, but you can actually sense that this is a demo, if you know what I mean. In the course of listening this release, I also noticed how the band is still experimenting with their sound, since for example you have two songs that are longer than your usual song (longer than four minutes), while the other two are quite short (less then 2 minutes or a few seconds above that) and are actually "untitled". Not only that, but the latter songs also have a different playing style, grabbing some mathy traits, having some riffs that reminded me of bands such as "Merchant Ships", though far less...twinkly. (NOTE: no, I don't call such bands "twinkle daddies", thank you very much, just that word seems quite descriptive for certain riffs) Additionally, those two songs don't have that specific melancholic or slightly depressed/angry mood like the first two tracks, so there is a big style gap in the middle of the demo.
With everything being written thus far, "Means To An End" is a very interesting band. I have nothing but praise to say about the fact that they managed to invoke the nostalgic feel in my chest, especially since those words are rare on this blog, despite me always trying to shine a light on whatever it is a certain band does best. The older screamo style is just an influence on this project apparently, but the potential they glimpsed at us is truly great and my sincere recommendations are that the band should definitely fully embrace this. They also showed potential for a completely different branch of this genre, standing shoulder to shoulder with the previously recommended one. All in all, whichever way they decide to go, their metamorphosis will absolutely be intriguing to behold. Until then, check them out for yourselves and get in touch with them on their blog found here or facebook page found here. Enjoy!