Of course, I'll begin with a band which wins my "Most Depressing Name" award. I stumbled across these guys last summer on a recommendation from Kilgore Trout's bandcamp, and they reinvigorated my taste for music in a huge way. The Pessimist Hangs the Optimist (or TPHTO if you're lazy and/or into acronyms) is a two piece from Maryland who play some intense lo-fi sludgy screamo. It's always impressive when a group with so few members can create such a complete sound, but these guys pull it off very well. The songs alternate from slow thick drawls to somber melodies, while the vocals include some fairly tame shouting and throaty shrieking. There's also a little bit of what I would consider spoken word, primarily in the song William Wilson, a passage from the Poe story from which the song gets its name ("In me didst thou exist—and, in my death, see by this image, which is thine own, how utterly thou hast murdered thyself"). I'm a huge fan of all the original lyrical content as well, which focuses on self-abhorrence, isolation, despair, misanthropy and the like. Seriously, this stuff is pretty damn bleak in theme. There's also some pervasive anti-religious undertones to a lot of what they say. To top it all off, these are some seriously nice dudes: I was in touch with them for a little bit to ask some questions regarding the release of Godless Heathen, and they were very accomodating and quite interested in how I'd even heard of them. That being said, I'm getting a tad worried that release will never come about, as it's been some time with no word or update from the band on either of their sites. I'm still holding out hope, though. Anyway, check these sad bastards out.
Crows-An-Wra are from the UK, a place I feel is often overlooked for its contribution to hardcore. They play a vein of progressive post-hardcore, with spacey elements reminiscent of recent favourite The Caution Children or even later Mass Movement of the Moth. The reason I feel they need to be mentioned is how much they've matured on this lastest album. When I first heard their self-titled, it was decent. Worth quite a few listens, but nothing phenomenal. That's why their latest, Kolapsia, is such a nice surprise. This shit is fucking tastey. Whether it's the simple yet captivating ethereal three chord progression on Perseus or the frantic scrambling on the last track, This Will Soon be Forgotten, there's something about these guys that now grips me that was absent from their first release. Another oddity on this album, for me at least, are the two tracks which funtion as a pair, Heavy Hands and Blossom. If you know me at all, you're aware I'm no fan of clean vocals. Mostly that has to do with the fact that I have the emotional maturity of a preteen, but for some reason I never got to a point where I could enjoy softer music. Those two songs, however, feature some beautiful singing by a female guest vocalist, alone on the first but joined by frantic screaming on the second. Maybe it's the eerie tune of the lead-up, but it works in a way that I've rarely encountered in this type of music. She's wonderful on her own, but her voice paradoxically compliments the manic power heard on Blossom in a way I never expected. A very pleasant discovery for someone as close-minded as myself. Bottom line: Crows-on-wra have grown impressively between releases, and they deserve your attention.
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Morla
What's a Morla, you ask? Well, I'm pretty sure the name comes from the giant turtle in The Neverending Story. My reasoning? Neverending Story was a German novel and these guys are German. And in telling you they're German, you should see where this is going: I love how the Germans play screamo. Each European country has a slightly different interpretation and lean when playing this style. Italy, France, Norway etc. all do it differently. They all do it well, but in their own way. In my opinion, though, no country has a more varied yet cohesive, original or zealous approach than Germany. Call it a remnant from Post-WWI expressionism or whatever. I don't know what it is, but Germany has time and time again blown me away. Cathartic, intense, driving, beautiful, the Krauts are experts with this shit. But I digress. The point is that Morla are German. Stylistically, they play similar to more straightforward countrymen like Kill Kim Novak or Eaves, but they have a sort of defeated vocal apprach that reminds me of Yage without the spoken parts. Nothing hugely new, but it's a tried and true formula that works as well as it ever did. Good build-ups, too. I hope you give them a chance, since I find it sad that less known German bands are being overlooked thanks to fellow Germans Trainwreck, a lauded powerhouse of the style who, if you didn't know, also have a new album. But listen to these underdogs first. You'll thank me.
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