Today (or tonight, if you're reading this in the UK) sees the release of the brand new split tape featuring US bands Apostles Of Eris and Encarsia. If you're familiar with this blog, you'll know about the post-hardcore/screamo sounds of Apostles Of Eris already. Encarsia is a new name to me and plays proggy/djent-like screamo. Despite giving myself nowhere near enough time to do it, I'm proud to be able to bring you a special release premiere and a review!
The split is being released on tape via Zegema Beach Records and it's available as a run of 110 copies. 75 will be on swirl, 25 on brick and 10 on mystery swirl, along with 5 test-dipped tapes with matching swirl cases. Check out all the variants below (apologies for the upside down photo three too, I can't rotate it!):-
Labels: Zegema Beach Records
Formats: Tape/Digital
Release Date: 24 Feb 2022
Tracklist:
1. Apostles Of Eris - A Battle To The Death In The Ring Of Stupidity
2. Apostles Of Eris - Accursed Nature
3. Apostles Of Eris - Shiy-za Manelli
4. Encarsia - All These Bodies
5. Encarsia - Prog Is For The Children
6. Encarsia - The Wiseman Who Knows Nothing
I promised I’d write a few words about the split so here goes. Both bands have contributed three songs to it with Apostles Of Eris on the a-side and Encarsia on the b-side (fun fact: on ZBR’s bandcamp page, Encarsia’s songs are first!). Also, Sammy from Warren Of Ohms provides extra vocals for AOE too. So, after a heart-stopping moment where no sound whatsoever was coming out of my speakers, AOE opener ‘A Battle To The Death In The Ring Of Stupidity’ sparks into life with the melody-filled post-hardcore that’s synonymous with the band. Vocals are harsh and emotive, while the percussion and guitars are off-kilter but also authoritative, if that makes sense?.
‘Accursed Nature’ is a lot heavier with the semi-spoken-word vox and screams of Dave Norman (and Sammy) nestling within, and towering over the instrumentation in equal measure. The instrumentation is more aggressive here and it matches the overall feel of the song. It’s definitely closer to hardcore for sure. The humorously titled ‘Shiy-za Manelli’ rounds out the AOE side with a bit more introspection, albeit only briefly. The musical ability that Jesse has keeps on growing with every release and it’s no exception here. It’d be so great to be able to sit back and read Dave’s lyrics along to the music, which is certainly something I’m going to do when I have more time! One final thing to mention is the volume of the recording, which is pretty damn loud here. It shows AOE in it’s best light.
Encarsia is a new name to me, but if they’re working with ZBR then they must be worth checking out. Their opener ‘All These Bodies’ on the b-side is very much a song of two halves. The first being made up of slower-tempo drums and guitars, while the second half is full-volume screamo with plenty of intensity. Their proggy side is encapsulated on the aptly titled ‘Prog Is For The Children’, which has some great djent-alligned time signatures without any of the tried and tested-to-death breakdowns. If their opener was a short taster, then this is a proper eye-opener to what they’re capable of. I’m loving it so far and you will too, I’m sure.
Split closer ‘The Wiseman Who Knows Nothing’ follows immediately on and that continuation is great because it means that Encarsia lose no momentum. Again it’s off-kilter and proggy in all the right places, with truly caustic vocals reigning over the top. Angular and meaty at times, there are some nice melodic touches that make you forget that you’re listening to a dissonant, heavy band. What a great find these human beings are. Both AOE and Encarsia are perfect together. The music jolts and swirls very much like the split’s cover art. What a time to be alive!
Now, I can't let you go without giving you the bandcamp link to this split. You can stream and digitally download it below via Zegema Beach Records:-
Apostles Of Eris - https://www.facebook.com/thegoddessprevails
Encarsia - https://www.facebook.com/EncarsiaMKE
Zegema Beach Records - https://www.facebook.com/zegemabeachrecords
Physical tape copies are available via ZBR below too:-
Zegema Beach Records CAN/INTL Store - http://www.zegemabeachrecords.com/zegema-beach-releases/aoe-encarsia
Zegema Beach Records USA Store - https://zbrusa.com/collections/zbr-releases/products/aoe-encarsia