Coma Regalia - Ours Is The Cause Most Noble 2x7"

Labels: I.Corrupt Records/Middle-Man Records/Skin & Bones Records/Time As A Color/Zegema Beach Records

Formats: Vinyl/Digital

Release Date: 03 July 2015

Tracklist:

1. The Sleeping Dragon

2. The Knight In The Squire's Imagination

3. The Architect Of The Castle Keep

4. The Artist Lacking Vision

5. The Stone Golem

6. The Leper Within The Walls

7. The Magician's Clumsy Apprentice

8. The Lich With A Heart Of Gold

9. The Undead Swordsman

10. The Thief Who Craves Capture

11. The False Healer

12. The Many Who Became One

I'm back on the ZBR trail today after another less than productive week. I'm sorry about the irregular nature of things at the moment. Ours Is The Cause Most Noble was released in mid-2015 and is the second of six (so far) full-lengths from US emoviolence/hardcore mainstay Coma Regalia. It wasn't released as a conventional full-length on a conventional 12" LP though. Instead Shawn went for a double 7" release with handmade screen-printed gatefold covers, limited to 500 covers. I'm not sure if this is a concept album of sorts, as there is a medieval/castle theme throughout and Shawn did perform on and help to release a tape for a project called Knights Of Ganymede in 2018, so who knows!

If you’re at all familiar with Coma Regalia (and if you’ve visited this blog at all over the last few years, you should be!), then you’ll know that the band essentially plays fast yet musical hardcore/screamo. That formula though has alway been tweaked by Shawn and the end results sometimes come as a surprise. The album’s opener ‘The Sleeping Dragon’ acts as a short intro yet there’s a full-band approach that leads into ‘The Knight In The Squire’s Imagination’. The thing that strikes with me with Coma Regalia whenever I listen to them is the guitar melodies. They’re always really epic and here, they take centre stage while clean singing can be heard deeper in the mix. There’s a build-up in the middle before a dramatic latter-half, where the harsher vocals and drums kick in again.

The other thing I love is Coma’s ability to create intense and instantly enjoyable songs, like the more punk influenced duo ‘The Architect Of The Castle Keep’ and ‘The Artist Lacking Vision’. Both have really driving rhythms and catchy riffs, with the latter of the two containing some chaotic emoviolence for good measure. ‘The Stone Golem’ highlights how good the band’s longer songs are. The song-writing that goes into them shows a level of care and thought, that carries on through the rest of the album.

I can’t put my finger on what other bands this reminds me of, so I’m not going to try and pluck names out fo the air. That distracts from the music and is lazy filler sometimes (something I’ve been guilty of in the past). ‘The Leper Within The Walls’ seems to have slight undertones within it’s riffs, being darker somehow. The feedback at the start of ‘The Magician’s Clumsy Apprentice’ is an audible reminder of the band’s DIY ethos, though that doesn’t mean it’s a lo-fi song. It isn’t, as the recording seems to be so full. Off-kilter rhythms take the lead on ‘The Lich With A Heart Of Gold’, which help to give it a proper old-school emo sound alongside the melodic guitar and the harsh/clean dual vocals. It’s fantastic! 

There’s a move to longer songs during the album’s second half and though that might not be by design, it’s certainly no hardship listening-wise. ‘The Undead Swordsman’ is much more instrumental, with the vocals taking more of a sensitive position in the song. It’s atmosphere is amplified because of that as well. ‘The Thief Who Craves Capture’ is more traditional in it’s nature (in screamo terms I guess). It still has plenty of punk in and tempo changes aplenty. Penultimate song ‘The False Healer’ is a beautiful piece of music, complete with calming violin from Ari Quinn Decker. It’s short but it leads neatly into album closer ‘The Many Who Became One’, which provides a passionate and emotive ending. 

Coma Regalia is a band with such a broad and extensive discography. Like the rest of that discography, Ours Is The Cause Most Noble should be explored and enjoyed in it’s full glory.

You can stream and purchase Ours Is The Cause Most Noble digitally below:-

Shawn and his family are facing a tough time right now, as they've been told they have to vacate the property they've lived in for the last 22 years. You can help them by picking up releases from the Middle-Man Records bandcamp page above or from the online store below:-

https://middlemanrecords.storenvy.com

Also, a Gofundme page has been set up here - https://www.gofundme.com/f/decker-family-moving-fund.

Coma Regalia - https://www.facebook.com/comaregalia

Copies are also available from the labels below:-

Time As A Color - https://timeasacolor.com/

Zegema Beach Records - CAN/INTL - http://www.zegemabeachrecords.com/

I.Corrupt Records - https://www.facebook.com/icorruptrecs

Middle-Man Records - https://www.facebook.com/middlemanrecords

Time As A Color Records - https://www.facebook.com/timeasacolor

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

Gay Panic Defence - Snowflake Powerviolence Vol 1

Labels: Skin & Bones Records

Formats: Tape/Digital

Release Date: 07 Dec 2017

Tracklist:

1. Child Abuse (Ft Nick Waller)

2. Typical Man

3. Your Sash Looks So Fetch

4. CNTRL-ALT. RIGHT-DELETE

5. Respect Existence (Ft Graham Caldwell)

6. Let Down

7. Please Stop

8. You Just Look Silly (Ft Fernie)

9. All Wrong

10. It's Not For Me

Scottish powerviolence band Gay Panic Defence were one of the first bands that I interviewed in 2018, so no idea why it's taken me so long to get round to reviewing their album. They released their first self-titled EP in September 2016, which was swiftly by their second EP "II" and then a split with Colombian PV band Terco in May of last year. "Snowflake Powerviolence Vol 1" was released in December 2017 by the band and on tape by Skin & Bones Records too. It features guest vocals by Nick Waller (Insufferable), Graham Caldwell (Endless Swarm) and Fernie, who mixed and mastered the album. Their political message and all-welcoming persona has seen them play London Pride and Dreadfest in Leeds this year, amongst a whole heap of other shows. There's more coming from them soon too!

Album opener Child Abuse is more punk than powerviolence but ends with a blast of screams from both Mathew and Nick. The anti-religious message is clear and while it’s unlikely that you’ll be able to make out the lyrics, the samples at the beginning and end tell you all you need to know. Child Abuse could be considered long, as Typical Man goes from mid-paced to bass-laden fast in just over thirty-seconds. They take a swipe at The Orange Order on Your Sash Looks So Fetch. The second-half of the song is where they truly take aim with a crazed delivery and higher-pitched screams. CNTRL-ALT.RIGHT-DELETE is self-explanatory and it’s blink-and-you’ll-miss-it aesthetic is GPD’s attempt at giving the alt-right as little air time as possible. 

The technical and off-kilter grind of Respect Existence is awesome with the dual screams of Mathew and Graham making it all sound even more violent. GPD fits a lot into Let Down, which is a more straight-forward PV song with plenty of punk attitude for good measure. There’s a slight hint of humour to Please Stop, though it’s message is serious and music even more so. There’s some great time changes in You Just Look Silly, where it gets a bit funky at times. POTUS isn’t safe from their fast attacks either, as you’ll hear on penultimate song All Wrong. Closing song It’s Not For Me blasts with one last barrage of intensity before stopping on a dime. This socially conscious fastcore is becoming even more relevant in the current climate that we have to endure. Gay Panic Defence is doing it right and you should listen to them!

You can stream and download "Snowflake Powerviolence Vol 1" for free below:-

You can buy physical tape copies from Skin & Bones Records here - https://skinandbonesrecs.bigcartel.com/

Gay Panic Defence - https://www.facebook.com/GayPanicDefence/

Skin & Bones Records - https://www.facebook.com/SkinAndBonesRecords/

The interview I did with Mathew can be found here.

10 Questions: Gay Panic Defence

This new interview series is slowly starting to gather a bit of momentum. This instalment features an interview Mathew Webster, vocalist from new Scottish fast band Gay Power Defence. Thanks go out to Mathew for taking the time to answer my questions. Hope you all enjoy reading his answers as much as I did.

Who is in the band and where are you from?

Freddy plays the drums, Mathew (me) plays the voice, Ben plays the guitar but is living in New Zealand for the next year or so, so we have our bestie Red playing the guitar when we play down south. Red lives near Nottingham and we are all from Kirkcaldy in Fife.

What is the history of Gay Panic Defence? When and how did you form?

Well in short, I got pissed off with shit that was happening in Kirkcaldy. So I wrote some poems/lyrics and thought they would make some good tunes. I wrote a bunch of riffs and recorded them onto a shitty 16 track recorder and asked Freddy to drum over them. Basically that's how we did the first two demos. When it came to playing shows we asked Ben to play guitar and he became a permanent babe in the band. We have released a split with Terco from Columbia, been on a 10 day UK tour, released a tape on Skin and Bones records, done a sweet wee tour with our besties Endless Swarm and Lugubrious Children, played a cool Pride Punx squat show in London and just played Dreadfest in Leeds and we aren't slowing down. 

Have any of you played in previous bands and are you any other bands currently?

Ben played in a band called Blackmirror who were fucking sick and a band called The Ghost Train who are a cool 80s band. Freddy plays drums in Pedigree and Chums who are silly good and he plays keyboard in a funk cover band called Spliff Richards. Freddy and I both played in a band called SKELPED who were just fast hardcore noisy shit. I play in a band called Woollen formerly known as God Never Did Anything For Us. I also played in Our Smallest Adventures, Ernest, WHIV and Couch. Red plays in Let It Die, Ithaca and Mori Lucrum.

Who write’s the lyrics/music? Is it collective? 

I write the lyrics and the riffs. Freddy writes all the drum bits. We round the tunes out together but we would love to be more collective in future writing.

What subjects do you cover in your lyrics?

Aw jings, from veganism to stupid macho pricks. Loads of things mean a lot to us so we have lots to shout about. The whole reason for the band starting was because I needed somewhere to vent my frustration at the homo/transphobic attitudes of some folk in Kirkcaldy that we call friends. So we cover homophobia, transphobia, animal rights, feminist view points, racism, religion, macho bullshit and Westminster.

Are there any bands that have influenced you?

Far too many bands to mention but I grew up listening to The Smiths, Nirvana, Bjork, Whitney Houston, Fall Out Boy so I would say those bands have. I can only speak for myself but folk influence me more. People standing up for shit they believe in makes me want to do more in this band to highlight things that need to be highlighted. 

What are your favourite albums/EPs at the moment?

I'm well into the last Basement album, the Lugubrious Children tape “Oblivion” is unreal, the last Car Bomb album is great and I have recently become obsessed with the second Brockhampton album. I’m really looking forward to the Ona Snop album, Groak album and the Endless Swarm album. 

What is your favourite gig/tour story?

When we were on tour last October we spent a day in Leeds with our pals Beige Palace and that was really fucking good. We also got really into watching traveller call out videos and listening to Darkthrone albums on that tour too. We really don't party or that so we just like to hangout and go eat somewhere awesome. If you are ever in Glasgow you have to go to In Bloom for a vegan snowball because they are shit hot. 

What is your local heavy/punk scene like and who should we check out (band-wise)?

There isn't really one in Fife but Scotland has a really awesome bunch of bands making unbelievable music. Bands to check out are Bratakus, Defacer, Insufferable, Boak, Endless Swarm, Stonethrower, Kaddish, Please Believe and loads more. 

What are your favourite tipples?

Barr's limeade is a classic and club mate is a rarity but also up there. I don't drink so I'm probably the worst person to ask haha. 

You can stream and purchase downloads of all of Gay Panic Defence's music via their bandcamp page, including their latest release "Snowflake Powerviolence Vol 1", which has been give a physical tape release by Skin & Bones Records:-

Gay Panic Defence - https://www.facebook.com/GayPanicDefence/

Skin & Bones Records Store - http://skinandbonesrecs.bigcartel.com
Skin & Bones Records - https://www.facebook.com/SkinAndBonesRecords/