Black Hole of Calcutta - S/T #2 (2012)

For the past couple of days I've been stuck with music which is somewhat outside of my usual norm. I guess that I get distracted way too easily, like a dragon and shiny objects. Needless to say, you should thank this band for putting me back into my rightful place, since if it weren't for them who knows when I would muster the will to write for the blog again.

Today on the blog there will be nothing but despair, rage and violence. "Black Hole Of Calcutta" comes crawling forward from Portland/Seattle, spreading darkness and chaos. As much as I've seen on the internet, there is various information regarding this project, so I'm uncertain what is the exact year of its birth, but presumably it is somewhere during 2010. Thus far the band already has an impressive amount of releases behind its back, including splits with names such as "Wojczech", "Human Error", "Lycanthropy" and "Bloody Phoenix", to name a few. Given that the band is still somewhat young, their already lengthy discography definitely deserves praise. Additionally, a little bit of info that will surely tickle your interest is that both Ian and Jesse, the strings (vocal and otherwise) and drum players respectively, also contribute to the project known as "The Makai". Aside of them, I'm not sure who else is in the band. The record sheet says that they are a duo, but elsewhere online I saw that they have four members. For the sake of the review, this is one pissed off two-piece.

So as I said in the intro, I've been distant from my music lately, but "Black Hole Of Calcutta" was just the kick I needed to push me back into my usual habits, with a complete frenzy might I add. This release is interested in nothing else other than punching you in the gut and leaving you on the ground either fighting for air or smearing yourself in your own puke.

The opening track "Myth Of Progress" starts off the album with a sludge-like rhythm, dragging around and spewing a nasty melancholic mood. One minute and some seconds into the song you are faced with a rather sharp turn in the dark corridor, since the band jumps at you and starts beating your ears into a pulp. What follows is an angry thrashy hardcore, powerviolence, crusty, dear mother I can't breathe monstrosity. From that moment on, it's all about extremely fast riffs, pounding drums and exerting your lungs to their maximum. Imagine "Masakari", "Enabler" and "Wojczech" having a tea party, then in the midst of it comes "Black Hole of Calcutta" to smash everything.

Once the five minute opener is done, you are continuously faced with short, violent outbursts of madness until the very end. Only two songs barely manage to exceed the two minute mark, so everything happens fast and you have no idea what just hit you. Basically it took me a couple of hours to take a listen to the entire record, since I kept replaying each song a dozen times due to all of them being so catchy and energetic. The thing that really caught my ear is that, despite complete mayhem going on around you, the band manages to insert an exquisite amount of jammy melodies and even flowing, melodic punkish tunes. Shortly put, this band is a whirlwind and at times you are given less of a beating, depending on where the wind throws you.

This record has been released by mutual efforts from two different labels. Release and distribution for Europe was handled by "I Feel Good Records", while "Give Praise Records" took care of the USA. You can check out both of these labels on their websites here and here, respectively. The design is simple, yet effective, as you can see from the cover. The back of the record is done in a similar manner, black with white letters showing the names of the twelve tracks. I have to say that I loved the insert from the very second I saw it. Two drawings are present and they are done in an interesting style which goes so well with the font used for the lyrics. The said font is also really plain, hand-written, but it looks so damn good. A very interesting and appealing record all around.

"Black Hole of Calcutta" managed to throw at us one truly powerful record. Excellent composition, superb production and just a massive sound featuring so much uniqueness, thus I sincerely have no flaws to attribute to these guys. I do feel sorry that I discovered them so late after many of their records, but I will definitely keep an eye out for them from now on. Check them out on their bandcamp page found here and shower them with support, you will definitely not regret it.

Masakari & Tempest (2012)

Replenish Records bandcamp

This review was supposed to appear a few days ago, but I sadly got sidetracked by listening to some random music on youtube. Quite shameful yes, especially since this release is a really important one and should be payed much attention. 

The split about which you will read below has been floating around the internet for a couple of days now, thus most of you are probably familiar with it. Although people are massively downloading it, I noticed that not everyone is aware of the whole story and the actual cause of the split, so this really needs to be corrected, especially since that is the thing that immediately made a wish in me to have the release posted on my blog. The fact of the matter is that this record is the only material in more than a year's time that I handpicked to post, a release which was not previously requested by a band to be reviewed, so I guess that that alone is enough to say how much I was thrilled with this.

Back in December 2011 I did an interview with "Masakari", which you can read here in case you missed it, and one particular question was addressing the band's love for dogs and pit bulls in particular. This record comes as a further explanation and materialization of their, and that of the band "Tempest", infatuation with these wonderful creatures, the split being a benefit for two organizations fighting for and supporting a truly noble cause. All of the money, a complete 100%, collected through this split will be donated to "HugAbull Advocacy & Rescue Society" from Vancouver, BC and "Wiggle Butts Bully Rescue" of Cleveland, Ohio. The wish of both the bands and the record label is to not only support the people associated with these organizations, but to also increase awareness about breed specific legislation and general awareness regarding animal cruelty and ways of how we, as humans, should treat our non-human friends. This is the kind of action through music that definitely deserves full attention and admiration, thus I would appreciate if my readers would check out this split and help the cause if they can. Even if you are not fond of these bands and this label, pay heed to what they are trying to do, since it is truly applause worthy. Also, please visit the websites of the above mentioned organizations for any further information or ways to get involved and help. You can do so on the following addresses:

- "HugAbull Advocacy & Rescue Society"

- "Wiggle Butts Bully Rescue"

Concerning some technical information about the split, it comes in the form of a 7'' EP and is limited to 500 copies with a double-sided fold-over jacket. You can grab it on the website of "Replenish Records" found here or you can just take a listen and download it for free on the above posted bandcamp page.

First in line on the split is "Masakari", the band deciding to contribute with a song called "X. Pain Conceived As A Tool". Press play and get pulverized in an instant, the Ohio quintet opening with full aggression and no remorse for your ears. The song lasts less than two minutes, but it is absolutely enough to set you in the mood perfectly and blow your mind away in the process, continuing with the speed and energy for which this band is well-known for. Ripping out a perfect mixture of hardcore and d-beat/crust, this song definitely heats up the excitement about the upcoming "Masakari" summer tour in Europe. This split also shows what kind of mayhem and chaos one can expect at their show, since the two tracks on their side are actually the same song, one as an "unreleased" and the other as a "live" version. So the live version, track two, comes with a very neat explanation of the song and what this split is about basically. Add to that the fact that the band literally slayed with the way they performed the song and the overall excellent quality of the recording and you get a real time-bomb of a record side.

"Tempest" holds the second half of this split and they hold it firmly. To be honest, I have never listened to this band before, since they are hanging out on my rather long "to-listen" list due to the fact that I'll see them live a couple of times this summer. I saw that people are really saying amazing things about the band on the internet and this split showed me why. Formed in 2007 in British Columbia, Canada, this five piece band charges and tramples over you with a superb combination of dark hardcore and screamo, reminding me of an amalgam consisting of "June Paik", "Danse Macabre" and "Zann". So far I have just listened to this split, thus I don't know what their previous material sounds like, but I can definitely hear a lot of tones influenced by the famous German wave of chaotic screamo. The song on this split, called "Death Rattle", is a purely excellent piece, being overtly aggressive while bearing an amazing atmospheric trait. It paints a rather complex image in the head of the listener with a lot of various shifts in melody, interesting bridges and an omnipresent wave of massive sound crashing on you. Similarly to "Masakari", "Tempest" brought two versions of a single song on this split, one being a remaster and one a live recording. And again they have devastated the audience with the second track much in the same fashion as their split mates. A clean recording where the bass playing really comes as being fantastic, a tidbit I found quite amusing. 

Overall, this is a fantastic split, both because of the bands and their performance, but also because of the action they took with the label to help the lives of others who can't fight for their rights. I myself will definitely be buying this release and I respect anyone else who will do the same, be it for the love of the bands or for the love of our furry (or otherwise) friends. Check it out and thank you.

Cara Neir - Stagnant Perceptions (2011)

http://caraneir.bandcamp.com/

The last review was definitely a wake up call, since I felt really good for finally posting something here. Also, the submission stack keeps piling up and growing, a fact which I am really thankful for, so I am really eager to spread the word about all you girls and boys who keep sending me material, despite the blog moving at the slowest pace thus far. I have the best readers and I love you all.

I have already seen this band on several other websites and blogs, so this might come as old news to some of you. In case you are unfamiliar, "Cara Neir" is a two-man project coming from Dallas, Texas, formed way back in 2008. Garry and Chris started writing the music for this particular release in early 2010, namely March, and slowly progressed to the completion of the album which came in July 2011. "Stagnant Perceptions" officially came out on November 11 2011 and it was self-released by the band. 

For a duo, these guys managed to unleash a really vicious monster onto our senses. This eleven track critter comes roaring with sounds of black metal and crust, with some splashes of hardcore and post rockish screamo. From start to finish, throughout all 45 minutes of music, it is constant mayhem, chaos, extremely fast playing and just an overtly rushing sound, paused only by a minimal addition of slower grim intersections which give a brief atmospheric feel to everything. Truth be told, "Natures With No Plagues" is not a blog famous for its black metal reviews and I am quite young, so to speak, when it comes to the genre, so my knowledge of this particular field might not come as well suited. But on a personal note, as everything on this blog actually is, the thing that really managed to set "Cara Neir" apart from other similar bands is cleanness of the recordings and the overall high production of the release. Usually there is a dose of crunchiness, crackling and general dirtiness of black metal/crust bands, yet here everything is really clean and precise. Don't get me wrong, I loved this kind of "approach" very much, considering it a total merit and bravo-ing the band, but I presume that a lot of listeners of this genre might be repulsed by this. But, to not stray away into discussing tastes and a definition of being true or whatever, I'll continue with my own thoughts. This type of production really aided the band, specifically because their style of song composition is quite interesting and deserves to be heard in such a fashion. There are certain riffs and melody shifts which are somehow so precise and complex that they border on being called technical or even adding a certain "math" tag on their list of genres. As a whole, the songs are melded together really well and your entire experience with this release comes in a single breath. Literally every time I was listening to "Stagnant Perceptions" it seemed as if it was just one song and, for a 45 minute release, this is quite intriguing. Also, it is really cool to note that all those genres do get their time under the spotlight and, despite the melding of tracks mentioned above, songs have attributes which set them apart from one another. This might be due to a number of songs which feature guest appearances, so you get to hear backing vocals from Rachel in tracks 1, 4, 5, 8 and 11, as well as those from Dorian on songs 3, 4 and 5. He also contributes with guitar playing in songs "Dethroned and Leprous" and "The Bridge of Despise". There is just a ton of things going on in all eleven songs and I really consider it to be foolish to try and describe their flow. It is just a release which you definitely have to check out for yourselves to get a proper opinion. I, for one, loved everything I heard.

The above posted bandcamp link provides a download link for "Stagnant Perceptions" and you can also buy their cd, which is by the way limited to 50 copies. I don't know what is currently going on with the band, but for all of you who have a facebook page, check them out on theirs and find out, located here. All in all, definitely check them out, I promise you will enjoy their music!

Gig review: Nux Vomica, Helltard

This was supposed to be written and posted yesterday, but I was under so many impressions and emotions about this gig that I just couldn't sit down and scrabble some words for a review. Yes, I was so blown away by what I saw and heard that I really needed to take some time and recollect everything appropriately.

The concert took place two days ago on Friday 13th (evil date for a crust gig, fuck yeah) in the "small club" of  "Akademija" ("Academy"). I already mentioned this club when I wrote the review for the "Went" gig, so you should be familiar with it and my feelings for it (if you didn't check out that writeup, you can check it here). I'll repeat myself a bit as far as the club is concerned, since I really hate the place for its bad sound and horrible acoustics. When I remember the "Went" gig, the very venue crippled the band quite much and I was hoping that the same won't happen to this show. Luckily it was the exact opposite, but I'll get to that later.
Anyways, me and my mates got at the club somewhere around 10 PM, on time just in case it actually starts on time. Unfortunately, the gig was extremely late, beginning around 11:30 or something like that, I can't quite remember since I was just dying to get inside. Once we got in and managed to grab a fine spot amidst a fair number of people present at the show, "Helltard" kicked off. I was talking a bit with my brother and his mates at the time, so I sadly didn't pay much attention to the band (yeah, I know, I suck at local band support sometimes), but from what I managed to hear they play a combination of thrashy grindcore and punk. Quite frantic and fast tunes within extremely short songs, so their part of the gig wasn't very long. Their music was interesting, though I think that I wouldn't really enjoy them at home if you know what I mean. Needless to say, they were good live, despite attracting some audience hate with random jokes between songs. Don't do that shit guys, just rend next time. You can check their tunes out on their myspace page found here.

When "Helltard" finished, I grabbed the chance and went to the distro section and drooled a bit before actually buying a shirt and the 2x LP "Asleep in the Ashes" from "Nux Vomica". I'll say it now, if you love their tunes definitely buy their merch! The design of the shirt is great (and yes, my cat already succeeded in destroying a part of it). But oh my, the "Asleep in the Ashes"... whole different meaning of the word "awesome". Beautiful artwork, colored vinyl, great package, just amazing. So, as I said, support the band, they really do an excellent jobwith their releases, you'll be doing yourself a huge favor!

But back to the gig... After a short pause, "Nux Vomica" took their instruments and literally killed the audience. I have to say it right away, this is the best concert I have ever watched and listened, without a single doubt. Up until this Friday, the "In Flames" gig I attended was my number one show, but now it definitely shares the first place with "Nux Vomica", simply because both shows struck me in two quite different ways. "In Flames" performed superbly and the show was full of energy, me and my friends just dancing, jumping, screaming, moshing and making fools of ourselves constantly for the duration of the gig, a really beautiful memory in my mind. But with "Nux Vomica" it is completely the other way around. They managed to impact hit me so hard and I just remained pinned down in one place, totally stunned and in a catatonic state. I was just standing there amidst everyone and just stared and absorbed every visual and audio stimulation coming from the band. Somehow, even the venue obeyed and aided their music, since the sound was so powerful and chaotic, but every instrument remained decipherable. Never before did I attend a show where the band succeeded in creating such a massive sound, you literally feel swallowed by it. Everyone was so close to the stage, since the club is small, so the sound just bounces off of you, as if you can feel it materialize on your skin. This all probably sounds like a load of bull to the readers, but I still can't believe nor explain what I experienced that night. Even now while writing this and looking back to the show I get shivers at how amazing it was. Every second of their performance was just perfect, full of energy and radiating with passion. The ambient went along well with the music, since there was a minimum amount of light, everything was dark, so the movement on stage was visually entertaining.
Their repertoire contained two of my favorite songs, "All The Clocks Have Different Times" and "Room Silencer", amongst many others. I thought that those two will be the peak of the show for me, but the band surpassed even those expectations with "Walk Through The Ashes". The song itself is an epic piece with a clash of gentle and highly aggressive tones, but the way it was performed live... completely outstanding. With the additional drums being played by the singer, they created such a monster sound, every note just stomping you to the ground and this was definitely the climax of the show. Each song just furiously pounded toward the audience and witnessing that was sensational, the sound engulfing everything in its path.

I guess that this amount of flattery on the band's account is quite enough for you to realize that this really is the BEST fucking show. It was my initial thought to provide a more technical, rather than emotional, review yet somehow I'm unable to do that due to me still not being able to believe that I witnessed something like this. I was so frantic after the show, that I had to approach the singer and tell him in person how much I was impressed. Even this amount of praise seems to little to express my feelings for "Nux Vomica", they completely sealed my liking for their work with this performance.
In the end, let this review be a reminder for all of you who follow "Natures With No Plagues", if you ever get a chance to see this band play live, just go. Don't think about it, just go. This will be a truly loved memory and I sincerely hope that I will get to see them again sometime in the future.

Things I missed and a report

While I wait for the interview answers from Vestiges (so excited about that!), I thought I upload some recent stuff that I missed reviewing due to interviews and what not. Probably all of you have these releases already, but just in case I wanted to have them on the blog.

I just want to inform you all that the buttons are long gone, packaged and sent, now it's up to the post-office to do the rest. There will probably be more buttons made in the future, but we will see about that. Currently, I'm planing many things that I need to set up that diy workshop at my place, I really hope that it will bare fruit in time. I managed to find an online writing job and it's slowly starting to consume my time, but if nothing else some of the money will definitely go on that project. Have a bunch of stuff I need to review and post, but the job kinda kills the blog writing mood, so please be patient with all of those.

Before we move onto the download links, I just want to draw your attention onto a band that was hosted here a while ago. Jakuzi's Attempt is the band and they recently recorded a sequence shot video. Check it out here.

Alpinist - Lichtlærm (2010)

Downfall of Gaia - Epos (2010)

Envy - Recitation (2010) *

Sed Non Satiata - Self Titled (2010)

The Saddest Landscape - You Will Not Survive (2010)

My oh my, 2010 is a good year.

*Big thanks to Behemoth Skin blog for the link, I have shitty net for uploading stuff bigger than 100mb.

Vestiges - The Descent of Man (2010)

Download

Ok, this post has been provided by my extremely urgent and abnormal wish to share this masterpiece. I was introduced to this band yesterday by my friend, moments after the previous post was done, saying that I should take a listen to Vestiges "who sound very much like Fall of Efrafa". Needless to say, I have been entranced since yesterday with this band. Combined elements of crust, screamo, black metal, hardcore and postrock, this project is a behemoth just waiting to be unleashed in the form of a 40 minute monster crashing down and choking you. Heart-stopping, atmospheric tunes, backed by inspiring and breathtaking lyrics...just perfect. This here is what FoE should have evolved into after their first release.

This is complete nonsense that I have piled up and wrote, just random words due to the fact that they absolutely stunned me beyond words. I have asked them are they willing to do an interview, since writing a plain writeup is just not good enough for such a release. Despite waiting for their answer I just couldn't sit in place and not share this. I urge everyone, even those who don't like crust or black metal or postrock, I urge you to check this band out. The band itself offers this download from their site found here. Please, just take a listen.

Gig review: Failed Suicide Plan, Fast As We Go Far

What you are about to read is part gig review, part band writeup with download links. Basically, I enjoyed the show quite much and it deserves to have some words typed down about the subject, plus the fact that these bands are not so common on other blogs (especially the latter one, since they are very young), so I guess the support is appreciated.

The show was held two days ago, namely 23rd of September 2010, in a Belgrade club named "Ciklon" (translated to Cyclone). I have never been to this venue and in fact I didn't know it even existed up until the gig. Needless to say, the venue looks pretty good, a small complex bellow street level with narrow corridors and one room with a "stage", decorated in quite a cool way and a low amount of light. Also, as I look in retrospect, the venue had an amazing sound quality with a focused sound instead of being splashed around and overtly chaotic or bad, the most important thing for the gig space. Moving on, the show was due to start at 10pm, but as much as I figured the first band, "Fast As We Go Far", was running late (native band, but they are not from Belgrade), so much in fact that in the end they played second and the show actually started and ended rather late.

So by a twist of fate, "Failed Suicide Plan" played first, kicking it off at around 11pm. FSP are a quartet hailing from Erfurt, Germany. What they play is pretty hard to describe, the genres they could fit in literally changing with every tune, screamo, punk, crust, grind, hardcore. The songs usually begin with a slower pace followed by pounding speed rhythms, occasional breakdowns and chaotic crescendos. "Failed Suicide Plan" started the gig with the song "Magic Mirror" (if I remember correctly), the song opening with a sample, so it all began very calmly only to explode after a few seconds. First thing that I must say is that while now I listen to this band at home and recapitulate the gig I feel like I'm listening to two different bands. This bands recordings are great, no doubt about it, but experiencing them live is where they excel at. Just witnessing the raw power and chest beating tunes brought to their maximum is on a whole different level then listening at home, the band getting a new dimension of chaos inserted in their melodies. On top of the audio spectacle, they are very energetic while playing with constant movement during songs. And I have to say it immediately, for the duration of their act my eyes were glued onto the drum player, the man's skill is insane! Fascinating precision and speed, followed by the perfect sound of the venue, made his performance astounding. The drums are probably the most chaotic and tempo/melody shifting part of the band, being quite a back bone of it all and luckily this guy knows how to follow through the task at its best.

As I said above, "Failed Suicide Plan" started with an audio sample, which they continued to do for several other songs during their playtime. Though not featured on the actual release, these samples really added an extra something to the songs and they fit quite well. As for the mentioned release which I will post at the bottom of this post, it came out in March 2009, containing seven songs with around 23 minutes of tunes and you should definitely check it out. From the said release many songs have been played, like "Player", "Eisbär", "Fruhling"... Moving on with the show, FSP played for about half an hour or so (maybe even more, can't actually remember), also playing a bonus song since the crowd cheered for more.

After a small break and some moments setting up, "Fast As We Go Far" took the stage. Honestly, I'm not THAT much into the music they play, but I'll try and write a few words nevertheless. FAWGF are a four piece originating from Novi Sad, Serbia, playing some rad (Californian) punkrock. Before the show I only took a listen to their song "Queen of the World" (found on their myspace page here and btw "Failed Suicide Plan" myspace found here) and I liked it, but as far as other material is concerned I had no input, only after the show did I find their EP release. Their performance was superb, very energetic and very fast, with great riffs, drumming and amazing singalongs, a really flowing act where time speeds past you. Though I really enjoyed the half hour during which they played, I actually can't enjoy this at home, since as I said, I'm not very much into this kind of music. But with certainty I can say that anyone who likes this type of music will absolutely love FAWGF. If you can, definitely check them out, they are a young band with just one release under their sleeve, they need support.

Overall, this was an excellent show. The venue was excellent for this type of music, with superb sound and enough space. I'd just like to thank Marko from "Scarz of Culture" (gig org found here) for organizing the whole event. Hope you enjoyed the review!

Failed Suicide Plan - Fast Suicide Plan (2009)

Fast As We Go Far - The EP (2010)

Endless howling X and a rant

Just a regular stash of old links bearing some sweet tunes, but I also wanted to use this post as a report of sort. Plus I'm out of things to post so I'm buying some time, hehe.

Ok, so first thing, kinda bad. I'm seeing a lot of my links being just taken away and put onto other blogs without being asked about it in the first place. I don't know, but it kinda pisses me off. Every link I post is uploaded by me, despite bad net connection and other possible web difficulties, and I generally frown when I post a link which is uploaded by someone else. Even when I do that sort of thing it's either because I was asked to do that or because my internet sucked so bad that I couldn't upload shit, both times followed by me at least saying thanks to the uploader. I'm not trying to give myself credit here or some random thing like that, it's just that these blogs are connected to music which is diy and running these blogs is itself a sort of diy thing. If you can't use half an hour (or more or less) a day to upload something or at least write "hey I took this from blog/person xyz, thanks" then you are either extremely inbred or you are a blogrunner who is doing this shit just so you can say that "you are a dewd from a kewl skramz blogzor" and not because you love what you do. This is not about prestige or glory, it's about passion, diy, friendship. If you can't put an ounce of effort into it then fuck you. At least do yourself some good and learn some ethics, you don't go and steal shit from someone.

...So... now that that is out of the system, the point of me saying this is that from now on, all future uploads on this blog will be password protected or I'll be inserting a notepad file into an upload, haven't decided yet. I know it sucks and it's boring shit, but try to understand why I'm doing that.

Onto some good news. Interviews were well received from people who commented and shared thoughts about them, so they will be a regular part of the blog. I'm thinking of possible bands who I'd like to interview, so stay tuned for more on that.

And also, quite a nice thing, I'll be doing a small number of buttons dedicated to the blog with the moth logo. Two sets will be done, one with black background and one with a white one. I wanted to do a new design, but I had no time, hopefully in the future. I'm really excited about that and I'll keep those who are interested regularly updated. Don't know how long they will take to make, but I'm guessing not too long, probably at the end of this month I will have the buttons ready.

One other cool tidbit, there is an amazing gig coming up here, featuring the amazing "Alpinist" from Germany as well as local support "Reflections of Internal Rain" and "Conviction". So be prepared for an event review.

Enough of writing, check out these tunes!

Reflections of Internal Rain - Demo (2005)

Reflections of Internal Rain - Last Flood (2009)

rha. - ep (2009)

Radio Burroughs - The Principles of Hope or Hybris (2009)

Reaching Away - 3 song "demo"

Rosa Parks - EP (2010)

Melete 7''

Honesty from the start, it never really crossed my mind to do a review of this release. I have some promised records I have to do write-ups for, but I didn't had an idea to do it for this one, despite having it in material form for a few days now. Things tend to change apparently and in quite a rapid rate I might add, so here I am with an immeasurably vast wish to spill my thoughts about this 7''.

Writing about this is going to be hard. Not because it's a bad release, believe me, it's far from that. Nor because I don't know what to say. My hardship with this is the sheer state of being stunned by something I haven't really felt in a long, long time. Let me elaborate that a bit. "Melete" I know for about a year now, first introduced to them through a show in Belgrade. One of the first impressions was pure amazement, since they sounded so powerful yet in the same time so emotional while they played their music. I particularly remember a part of one song they played ("Rhodonea..." I think, but I'm not sure since that song was featured on this release and not on the tour ep, but nevermind), when they stopped playing and just screamed the lyrics as one. The amount of passion was brilliant and I was completely blown away and moved in those few moments. Also, I remember that the singer talked about the meaning before every song, discussing homophobia, racism, people who "make money from hardcore" and other things that plague the scene, as well as human minds in general. On a whole they seemed like good musicians with a few interesting statements.

But let's get back to this release. After the show, I quickly posted their tour ep on my ex-blog, "Skream Your Lungs Out", and due to my correspondence with Luka, singer of Melete, he told me he was so thrilled to see the release that he wanted to give me their new 7'' as a "thank you" present. Fast forward quite a long time in the future, namely a few days ago, I receive the 7''. I browse through it, great cover with interesting art, a small non-stapled booklet, completely diy and looking excellent. And today I'm sitting here at my desk, studying, when my gaze falls onto the vinyl again and I remember that I haven't read the booklet.

But wait a second, let's flash backwards to the gig they played on Sunday (review found bellow). They played and again there was talk of all the bad things crawling into other people's brain and into the "scene". And after the show, during a break between "Melete" and "Shades of Gray" I had a very interesting conversation with one of my mates who just heard "Melete" for the first time. "They talk of homophobia and that all cops are bastards, but they present their songs in a chaotic non-understandable way. How can I get a point out of their songs when I can't understand what he is singing about?" while another mate (who is out of the whole underground music thing, so basically he should be ignored) "All that talk is major poseur crap, just for show." I continued onto the first mate's statement and defended "Melete" in saying that you simply cannot GET the point out of the lyrics at the first show, if nothing, simply because you actually can't hear the lyrics as a whole, nor do you have the time to study and explore every part of the band. If you get attracted by their performance, you then explore them inside your home, where you can find out the "point" the band is trying to achieve. And while I was actually stoic in my statement, it made me wonder: are they like that beyond the "stage"? Don't get me wrong, I'm not asking do they go home and listen to "insert random mainstream brainwashing mass consumerism act" and indulge in fascist activity. No, I'm asking is it all just for talk, or is there some work being done without the instruments and microphone in hand? Of course, even if they do, they wouldn't be the first to do stuff like that, but it's just that I don't know them in person and it just tickled my interest.

Returning to today and me opening the vinyl package to get to the booklet and read it. In all my life since I have sentience and interest in music I haven't found something that moved me so much. Something so small and plain, with only typed words, yet so strong that after reading it I felt like standing in a field after a thunderstorm. Stunned, deeply inspired, by a thing which came and went in ten minutes time. Eight pages filled with lyrics, two fiction stories, one sort-of essay on hardcore, several pages of the band saying thanks and one blank page. The amount of passion from the pages shocked me. Honesty literally exploded into my face and brain out of these typed lines. The excitement and happiness of being a part of such a band and writing about it in the booklet inspired me, for I would most definitely share the same feelings if I was a part of something like that. A single blank page left so that the one owning the record can give his personal insignia onto it, making a unique record for himself, contributing and not being just a consumer. After reading everything, I felt like some unknown force was hidden inside the pages and it raised and punched me straight into the chest. In that single moment, all those questions and doubts were answered and wiped away, for "Melete" is a band working through and through, with both instruments, voices and pens. They stand for things which they are proud of and brave enough to show in every way possible.

The amount of thoughts rushing through my mind at the moment were swirling around and I was instantly inspired on writing and dedicating something for them. And that is why this is hard to write about, as I said at the beginning of this review. The sheer quantity of thoughts and impressions and consternation makes me want to say a million different things, but unable to pick the right ones. I honestly hope that I have accomplished at least a bit in the task of sharing those thoughts in the proper way. For some of you, this may seem stupid, lame, a bit too emotional, a bit too carried away, or just plain retarded. Accept this review and these words however you like (and this band's work for that matter), but I will tell you just one thing. I love quite a number of bands, but what "Melete" earned from me, aside of love, is RESPECT.

And since this seems to be more of a band review, I'll get a bit technical about the record. Three completely new songs, composing of eleven minutes of screamo, emo, hardcore or whatever you want to call it, it matters not. Trust me on this and contact "Melete", buy the record, visit their shows. Bands like this deserve all our support. Contact them via their blog here.

For the end of this review I would just like to share one part of their lyrics to the song "Rhodonea....", most likely my favorite song.

Yesterday I had sex with

a girl with no left arm.

Today I have a date with

a boy who has no legs.

Tomorrow I will marry a

deaf dog. And friends

keep asking what's

wrong with me. I say,

"Nothing, you're just full

of prejudice."

Gig review: Melete/Shades of Grey

I promised to do a review of the gig I attended on Sunday, so here it is. My honest prediction is that, well, this is kinda gonna be short. I'm still tired from the gig and I haven't slept quite much from then, so my brain is working on minimum supplies. I'm writing not just to keep the said promise, but also wanna do this whilst my impressions of the show are still fresh, despite the fatigue. Nevertheless, I will try and write this to be understandable and enjoyable as much as I can.

The gig was scheduled to start at 8:30 pm in "CK13" (short for Crna Kuca or Black House in english) a club in Novi Sad (second biggest city in Serbia). The club was running as my most favorite gig space in Serbia, so next to the happiness of hearing the announced bands I was quite excited that the show was in said place. And yes, I said that it was my favorite, since that slightly changed since Sunday, but I'll get to that later. Anyways, my friends and I were planing this trip quite a while and we were in Novi Sad around 3 pm, roaming and hanging out in the city. And although we had an amazing time, the time before the gig showed on everyone and we were quite tired, since we basically covered the city twice on foot. We got to the club a bit late because of a food hunt before, but lucky for us (?) the gig didn't start on time.

Things went pretty much downhill from there, at least as far as my opinion about the club is concerned. First of all, while my friends stayed in the courtyard (since it was obvious that the gig didn't start) I went in to see when is the first band starting to play. On route I met a mate of mine from Novi Sad who hit me with a sledgehammer statement that "Reflections of Internal Rain" won't play the show. Yeah... As he said, "new policy of the house" that a show can't contain more than two bands, so ROIR had to be cancelled. To make matters worse, several of my friends who came on this trip hopped on board just to see the said band play. And to make matters even more worse, the show was late so much, that the club could have hosted four bands, let alone three. The most hillarious thing (I'm suppresing myself to write "and to make matters even more more worse) is that on June 19th, Reflections... will be playing a show in CK13 with two more bands! What. The. Fuck. A bunch of bureocratic bullshit if you ask me.

So after I had to present the sad news to my gang and live through several whining moments from a few of them, the show started with sounds comming from "Melete" along with additional material in the "this club starts to suck" basket. "CK13" was my favorite not only for interior looks, but also because it had the best sound quality I ever heard on a gig and that changed as well (at least in my opinion, didn't really discuss that with all of my friends after the show). Either I became an old man or haven't been to a gig for a long time, which I haven't actually, but the instruments were just to damn loud, so the instruments and vocals melted into an amalgam of noise. You could hear and recognize parts of the songs, but mostly you ended listening to something you just can't understand. Despite that, "Melete" was such an amazing pleasure to watch and listen. The small stage was exploading with movement and the passion literally oozed from the speakers through songs such as "Rhodonea...", "Mother's Love" and "Bizniscore". I won't be talking about "Melete" a lot in this review, since I keep material about writing about them in a post yet to come.

After "Melete", followed a small break during which one of my friends agreed with me on the "bad sound" thingt. Anyway, "Shades of Grey" played soon after that. I'll be completely honest and say that I'm not a huge fan of SoG. Not that I don't like their tunes, which I do in fact, but I only ever got to listen to their selftitled release from 2006. So yeah, a lot of the songs I didn't recognize, but damn do they know how to fuel up the atmosphere! The crowd did it's share of dancing and the stage was very impressive to watch. Also, despite the bad sound quality, the vocals were superb and quite powerful. I really regret the fact that I don't know a lot of their songs, since I'm quessing that that would enhance the experience. Either way, they were astonishing to behold and the crowds screaming and clapping granted us one additional song!

It all ended around midnight and after the show I get to meet in person several of my "online" friends (which was actually quite funny since one I know from myspace, one from Last.fm and one over e-mail correspondence) among them being Luka, singer from "Melete" who happens to be one of the friendliest people I have ever met. Talked to them a bit, then joined the rest of my friends in the courtyard, after which ensued the most tormenting 5 hours (literally) of train waiting, whilst being half wet from the rain. But despite all the bad things mentioned in this (very boring, yes) review, I was quite happy. I hope that the bands had a great time as much as the crowd did and that they will come again to play here.