V/A - Leave Nothing But Footprints, Take Nothing But Photographs: Chapter 1 7"

Time As A Color Records is a small DIY label/distro from Munich, Germany. Label owner Daniel contacted me a long time ago now about reviews and I've been an idiot and overlooked it, which I am very sorry about. Time As A Color has been releasing great screamo records since 2007 and with a staunchly DIY ethos, including screen-printing his own record sleeves and putting on gigs in Munich.

Amongst the releases, Time As A Color has been putting out a special split series called Leave Nothing But Footprints, Take Nothing But Photographs, which aims to bands sharing a record and to help get their music out to more fans. This is the first edition, which was released way back in 2011 and features songs by German bands I Found Myself In Austin, Texas and Bail, being joined by US band Her Breath On Glass. All three bands play hardcore/screamo.

Tracklist:-

1. I Found Myself In Austin, Texas - Too Late
2. Bail - Traverse Pt.1
3. Bail - Traverse Pt.2
4. Her Breath On Glass - Deprecious, It Will Be Like We Were Never Here

As regular readers and friends will know, I love screamo and in fact it makes up most of my LP collection alongside a large proportion of hardcore. It’s not something I review too often on here though, but I’m looking to write about more in the coming months. This is my first listen to I Found Myself In Austin, Texas too and I’m excited by the. The melodic indie-like guitars on Too Late and the vocals that sit back within the mix make their sound pretty engaging. A great first impression for me.

Fellow Germans Bail are up next with two songs, their sound is more laid back and more angular. Starting with the short Traverse Part 1, they air more on the side of Indie with nice clean guitar, subtle pace changes and vocals which progress from singing to screaming as the music gets faster. Traverse Part 2 follows on with a harsher sense of urgency and is more frenetic. Bail still maintain their indie roots though and the treble is still present amongst the guitar. I always find it a positive experience listening to music like this, as bands always put genuine emotion and passion into their music. Bail are no different.

Boston two-piece Her Breath On Glass will probably be the most recognisable band on this split to most readers and the sound they create is again a varied one. Despite all three bands frequenting the same genre/sub-genre they all have their own unique sounds and Her Breath On Glass feature some of the most jarring screams I’ve heard in a long time on Deprecious…. The music maintains a contact rhythm, which riffs that hold things together even when the screams are at their harshest. 

Though brief, this split it great and has opened my eyes to two bands I was unfamiliar with, which is the purpose of these types of records. It’s great to see that Europe can still hold it’s own when it comes to screamo, but also that there is such a cooperation between bands from different corners of the globe. I’m definitely check out the two newer chapters in this split series and will write about them soon.

You can stream and purchase a digital download of this split here - 



You can buy the physical 7" from Time As A Color's webstore here - http://timeasacolor.com/shop/product-category/split-7/.

I Found Myself In Austin, Texas Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/ifoundmyselfinaustintexas
Bail Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/bail.cologne
Her Breath On Glass Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/HerBreathOnGlass
Time As A Color Records Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/timeasacolor