Tuesday 21 June 2022

Lora/The Ultimate Screamo Band - Split 7"


Labels: A Fond d'Cale/Desordre Ordonne/Dingleberry Records/Friendly Otter/GBS Records/KeepHope Productions/Polar Summer/Pure Heart Records/Ultimo Violence/Zegema Beach Records

Formats: Vinyl/Digital

Release Date: 21 Feb 2017


Tracklist:


1. Lora - Сны

2. Lora - Пески

3. Lora - Смута

4. The Ultimate Screamo Band - Élevé Au Porc

5. The Ultimate Screamo Band - Hypertonie

6. The Ultimate Screamo Band - Lettre Violente

7. The Ultimate Screamo Band - L'ingénierie Sociale Vs L'ingéniosité

8. The Ultimate Screamo Band - Singularité Instrumentale

9. The Ultimate Screamo Band - À Mon Père


I've got a free day today so trying be productive early doors (that's a British saying for those that don't understand it, which relates to getting somewhere earlier than normal and I think it refers more to our drinking culture!). Anyway, as I was saying, I wanted to be productive today so I'm starting with a review of this split from 2017, that featured Russian screamo/hardcore band Lora and also Canadian screamo/emoviolence solo project The Ultimate Screamo Band. There were 325 copies of the split pressed with three different covers. It was a collaborative release by ten labels.


This split was Lora’s last release, according to their bandcamp page. During their relatively short tenure, they also released an EP in May 2015. I’ve always found Russian bands to have a raw yet melodic approach and Lora are certainly no different here. ‘Сны’ is a fierce opener from them, featuring intense emoviolence. ‘Пески’ leaves no time to regain breath as it instantly takes over from the opener. It’s grinding, off-kilter approach is joined by chaotic guitar and swirling, anguished screams. It’s really good, despite the fairly short running time. Their final song ‘Смута’ is menacing at first, before Lora launches into their final tome of blistering screamo madness. These three songs really hit hard.


The Ultimate Screamo Band follow Lora with six songs, though two-thirds of those don’t pass the minute mark. ‘Élevé Au Porc’ opens TUSB’s side in slightly bizarre fashion, with an intro that kind of sounds like it belongs in a poorly dubbed Japanese martial arts movie. What follows is a barrage of everything that makes screamo so good. I guess that’s what the band set out to do in the end! ‘Hypertonie’ provides a truly dramatic soundscape during it’s brief playing time, with very short moments of introspection before ‘Lettre Violente’ comes into view. It starts off gently, before a stop/start layer flows into music that gets faster and faster, before silence.


During a brief pause in the music at this point, I thought it would be great idea to scratch my forehead (literally) but because I’m a Brit and because we’re not used to the sun being out ever, I remember that my face is sun burnt. What follows is a seemingly lingering burning sensation. That previous bit of verbal diarrhoea has absolutely nothing to do with ‘L’ingénierie Sociale Vs L'ingéniosité’ though, which is pretty much over before you know it. Bloody solid though. ‘Singularité Instrumentale’ sees a shift in TSUB’s sound, with an instrumental song that has more of a calm atmosphere, albeit for a short while as split closer ‘À Mon Père’ puts pay to any sort of relaxing finish as one final blast of screamo/emoviolence bursts through the speakers.


The split 7” format does is again! Bringing together two bands from different corners of the world, drawing in new listeners and offering an enthralling listen. Neither band is active now (as far I know) but this is still a very worthy body of work, if you can track one down!


For Fans Of: Loma Prieta, Systral, Tenure, Portrayal Of Guilt & Infant Island


You can stream both sides for the split via Lora's and TUSB's respective bandcamp pages below, where both sides are also available to grab as a name-your-price downloads:-




Most of the releasing labels have either sold out of 7"s or closed; however, a small amount of remaining copies can be purchased from Friendly Otter below:-


Friendly Otter - https://friendlyotter.bandcamp.com/album/fo-85-split-7


A Fond d'Cale - https://www.facebook.com/afonddcaleprod

Dingleberry Records - https://www.facebook.com/Dingleberry-records-and-distribution

Friendly Otter - https://www.facebook.com/friendlyotterrex

GBS Records - https://www.facebook.com/GBS-Records

KeepHope Productions - https://www.facebook.com/KeepHopeProductions

Polar Summer - https://polarxsummer.bandcamp.com

Pure Heart Records - https://www.facebook.com/pureheartrecords

Zegema Beach Records - https://www.facebook.com/zegemabeachrecords

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