Labels: The Ghost Is Clear Records/Zegema Beach Records
Formats: Vinyl/Digital
Release Date: 10 May 2019
Tracklist:
1. Life In Vacuum - Nine To Five
2. Canyons - Storing Light
3. Crowning - Visceral Ghosts
4. Hundreds Of Au - Out In The Streets/Elevator Music
I've spent an hour or so this morning just taking stock of what I've been sent to review recently and trying to do some organising of my schedule for the coming weeks. I didn't quite appreciate how good releases have been over the last few months. I've still got catching up to do but that's a constant.
As the seasons here become more autumnal it's post-hardcore that I feel myself reaching for and so to kick off this Sunday, here's the first split 7" (sub-titled - Bond) from a series called "Meditations In Affinity". The series will feature five four-way split 7"s featuring twenty bands and is a collaboration between The Ghost Is Clear Records and Zegema Beach Records. Each band contributes one song and here they are Life In Vacuum (Can), Canyons (USA), Crowning (USA) and Hundreds Of Au (USA).
Life In Vacuum’s contribution Nine To Five seems to be influenced by UK Indie/Brit Pop to start with, as it’s angular riffs and clean vocals lead the way before the trio explodes into the more usual post-hardcore sounds. It’s more accessible due to the varied musical application that the trio exhibits. Really creative punk. Canyons are equally as angular and off-kilter on Storing Light, but the sense of foreboding that’s enveloped within their mid-paced post-hardcore is palpable. More bass-heavy and containing harsh vocals from the get-go, there’s no light that shines through.
Crowning’s Visceral Ghosts is the closest you’re going to get to the sassy-grind/emoviolence sound on this split. It threatens to explode in a fireball of technical instrumentation and crazy tempos, but the band holds-off from that and instead creates a hardcore song that’s as mesmeric as it is unnerving. The split’s closer is reserved for Hundreds Of Au and Out In The Streets/Elevator Music is a combination of typical heaviness and cinematic post-rock, held together by solid instrumentation and caustic vox. The way they transition from Out In The Streets to Elevator Music leaves no time for a pause and their raging final bars make for a fitting end to this release.
This split series is a fantastic way for people to discover bands that they otherwise would not have. I appreciate that all of the participants have probably already been confirmed for this series but it got me thinking; being based in the UK, I’ve always felt that native post-hardcore/screamo bands have been under-represented on releases like this. It would be great to join together with a label (or labels) to seek out a new band or two from the UK for a release. This is a spark of an idea, so write to me if you think it could be a grower.
You can stream "Meditations In Affinity Vol.1" and purchase it digitally below:-
Life In Vacuum - https://www.facebook.com/lifeinvacuum/
Canyons - https://www.facebook.com/canyonsband/
Crowning - https://www.facebook.com/crowningband/
Hundreds Of Au - https://www.facebook.com/hundredsofau/
Physical copies can be purchased from the labels below:-
The Ghost Is Clear Records - http://theghostisclearrecords.limitedrun.com/categories/tgic-release
Zegema Beach Records - http://www.zegemabeachrecords.com/zegema-beach-releases
The Ghost Is Clear Records - https://www.facebook.com/TGICRECS/
Zegema Beach Records - https://www.facebook.com/zegemabeachrecords/
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