Review: BURN EVERYTHING "Hollow Victory" 7"

Genre: Metal-Hardcore/Mathcore

Location: NJ, USA

Band Website: Bandcamp

Label: Dullest Records

Do you happen to know a band called Burn Everything? If not, I believe it’s about time to discover them. Cause their two previous releases might have prepared the ground and warned us about what’s coming but their new release leaves no room for doubt. It is extremely positive when you see a band evolve and improve things whilst keeping all the good elements that has previously created. The 4-track 7" titled Hollow Victory that has just came out it’s simply the natural continuation of last year's EP and the beginning of a sound avalanche that has started to 

grow dangerously and nothing seems to be able to stop it.

So complicated music and style yet so simple. Burn Everything don’t step on their technical abilities in order to create a sound effect without order and structure. They don’t overwhelm with complex riffing and numerous changes. Cause through the complexity and the “out of tune” tempos, diffuses directness and simplicity. The distance that you have to cover is full of twists and turns but you‘ll have a pleasant trip and you will never lose your way. Everything is placed in the right spot, energy and passion is present at every second and when necessary they bombard you with death-ish tunes that shake your head miles away.

Okay, I can’t neglect the fact that the “math” sign, as also the huge similarity with Burnt By The Sun, is stuck on them but their music is enriched with all the elements needed to make a difference and to make this band special. Most important is that apart from the excellent bonding between guitar riffs, tempos and changes, each moment has a story to tell and has a reason to be there, at any point of this release. Thumbs up also for the improved production and sound compared always to their previous releases. The sound has the clarity needed to reflect the complex riffing and the heaviness and volume required to make Hollow Victory a bomb ready to explode at any time.

Burn Everything no longer bear the title “promising band”. They are far beyond that. Listening to Hollow Victory you will acknowledge that this band has a great potential. My only concern is whether they‘ll manage to break free from their influences (mainly Burnt By The Sun and Human Remains) and make their sound and music even more unique. Four tracks were perfect as a starter. I look forward for the main course!

- Nikos – nikostolis@gmail.com

Review: Gacy's Threads - "The Ignorance of Purity" (Savour Your Scene Records)

Genre: Technical Metal/Hardcore

Location: Belfast, N. Ireland

Band Website: Official, Facebook

Label Website: click

 

John Wayne Gacy was a convicted serial killer and rapist, who has long ago been executed by the state of Illinois. I don't know if Belfast, Ireland's Gacy's Threads have taken their name from this creepy and fucked up character, but what I do know is that they play an awesome brand of technical, heavy as fuck metallic hardcore. I won't go as far as to term Gacy's Threads mathcore, because they have a pretty solid metallic base where their aural havoc stands, but they sure have a characteristically technical and complex sound!

I surely dig the bands who can more than play their instruments but don't forget to encapsulate the raw feeling that all heavy music should have. Gacy's Threads manage just the above by packing many elements into their sound, from shoe-gaze, discordant clean intros to slow, melancholic mosh parts, to straight on blastbeats and prototype all go no slow hardcore assaults. All this is blended nicely with off wall, off with their heads mechanical riffs that set the pace for a much more technical feel. The best thing about this album is that the band doesn't stick to one specific formula, but tends to a constant shuffling of cards - without, nevertheless, going overboard. This is the way shit should be done, period. The production sound is solid and much closer to a beastly, metallic hardcore sound as compared to the clean-metal, overproduced (and overused) mathcore/techinical deathcore sound prevailing these days.

It takes guts and knowledge to be able to belong in more than one territory, but Gacy's Threads do it very well and rather unapologetically. If we forget the specifics, we discover that this is just a very good dark/heavy hardcore band, the members of which happen to know how to use its instruments more than well. I have been playing this on repeat and all it seems to do is grown on me more and more. The solidified rhythm section attack, the discordant, angular painting of the guitars and the tainted hardcore vocals really won me over. An extra point goes out for the bleak song titles and the overall negative feeling! I am looking forward to see more from Ireland's Savour Your Scene records and Ireland's hardcore scene in general.

Record Review: BURN EVERYTHING - "Last Run Through The Ruins" EP (Self-Released)

Genre: Mathcore/Progressive Hardcore

Country: NY, USA

Band Website: bandcamp

Label Website: -

Mathcore has become a term that tends to scare a lot of people off. Important as it is to try and forget labels, mathcore is another genre of hardcore: pissed off, direct music with an understandable message. Bands which go under the mathcore moniker should have the intensity and straight forward attitude to justify the 'core' part of the term, and - luckily - this is what Burn Everything do. They give you the complete chaotic hardcore experience and then some. They may have the weird song titles and intricate song structures, but they sure deliver that relentless blow of intellectual heaviness.

This complex and technical metal/hardcore band from Rochester (NY, USA) has just released an ep containing 6 songs which will require your undivided attention and a few repeated listens in order to "get it". However, it is worth the effort. While you can initially enjoy the album for its heaviness and awesome drumming, it will inevitably grow on you and will become a more easy to listen and approachable record. This tends to be the deal with all good mathcore and technical/progressive hardcore in general: you enjoy the aesthetics while the essence creeps in.

The good thing with Burn Everything is that the singer has a nice and direct hardcore approach, his presence being the common thread throughout this recording. It wouldn't be so with another heavy hardcore vocalist and I am glad that this band cleverly avoided this pitfall. If they had a bit more catchiness to their overall sound, this could be a band to read about on next year's Metal Hammer or Terrorizer. For the time being, however, these guys stay deeply rooted in the hardcore tradition of creating a underground sound that will astound but will more likely than not stay outside the hype. Nevertheless, these guys could pull it off if they wanted. I am eager to see what they are going to do next.

Tardive Dyskinesia HD video on You Tube!

Photo by Petros Koublis

If you're like most people, then you probably spend hours on end checking out videos on You Tube. But if you're on the lookout for something cool and notoriously heavy, then there's something that will keep you interested for quite a while. It's Tradive Dyskinesia's new, HD video of their show supporting Dillinger Espace Plan in Athens (13 Nov 2010).

The Greek mathcore old timers have recently uploaded the whole show online, so now all of us can sit back and enjoy for free a hell of a performance on HD from the comfort of our home. It's about 40 minutes of blistering technical hardcore/metal shot from at least 6 camera angles. For your convenience, the show's been split into 4 equally mosh-isnpiring parts. So what else can we say? Head over to http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=279FFC4A43066C6F and start watching, or just click below for the 1st part!

Credits:

Directed and edited by Fotis Tsakos

Mixed and mastered by Steve Lado

Filmed by Manos (universe 217)

Live engineering by Alex / Unreal studioz

http://www.tardivedyskinesiaband.com

http://www.myspace.com/tardivedyskinesia

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Tardive-Dyskinesia/166396600597