Obituary Interview with Don Tardy

Obituary

Obituary

Relapse Records

Release March 17^th

Interview with Don Tardy by hutch

“It’s that band member cliché, when people say, ‘what’s your favorite album?’, the fans that read that are hoping we say, Cause of Death or Slowly We Rot.” Don Tardy replies, “you’re only as good as your last album. I could not be more excited and proud of this album.” This is no token response from Don Tardy, drummer and founding member of Obituary. Thirty years ago, Tardy and his brother, vocalist, John, and, guitarist, Trevor Peres, transformed their band, Xcutioner, into the forefathers of death metal. Possessed, Death, and Morbid Angel had started the sound, and Obituary defined USDM vocals when they released 1989’s Slowly We Rot. Thirty years and nine albums later, Obituary now 

preps to drop their tenth, Obituary, on Relapse Records, on March 17^th. “It shreds,” Tardy proclaims.

Shred it does. Obituary crushes with a down-tuned, sludge drenched energy. The album is heavy, menacingly heavy. Angry riffs push fast drums, writhing in blast beats. Track four, “End It Now”, is a fierce ripper. While most of the track lies within mid-tempo, headbangers will relish the pounding rhythms. Obviously, fans cherish the early work that defined a global genre which thrives today. Part of the Morris Sound Tampa scene, Tardy and company, now joined by death metal’s legendary bassist, Terry Butler (Gruesome, Death, Massacre, etc) and guitarist Kenny Andrews, whose been on board since 2014’s Inked in Blood, represented their version of horror, blood, and vengeance. Inked in Blood alerted fans that the band’s new line up was focused and vicious. For the tenth installment of studio ferocity, Obituary wanted to get back to simplicity.

 For Obituary, Tardy reports that these veterans are honed and poised. After recording in their own Redneck Studio in Tampa, headed off to Europe for a tour, Tardy states they “handed it off to our buddy, Joe Cincotta at Full Force in New York. He mixed it. He did a fantastic job.” Cincotta’s magic helps, but it is the foundation of Obituary’s talents that shines. “The song writing, I am so proud of it. It’s a really great feeling. All pistons are firing with this band. My brother’s voice, he’s getting to be an old man. But his voice is unbelievable; stronger now than it has ever been. My feet are faster than they’ve ever been. My drumming is some of the best that it has ever been.”

Obituary is booked for a solid year, through February 2018; and talking more touring after that. Tardy turned 47 years old the prior Saturday. As his body ages, Tardy rises to the demand. “Guitar players can get away with drinking whiskey or a few drinks before show time. They’re just hands, finger, and wrists that need to function properly. Me? It’s all four limbs. It is about being in shape. It’s a physical challenge to play 18, 19 songs each night. I keep myself in check. As much as I love burgers and fries, I do fruits and vegetables as much as I possibly can. I stay active. I play drums nearly every day. I still love practicing and learning. When we get on the road, it’s all business.”

Tardy relays the health factor to be important, but sees his familial bond as the essential aspect of Obituary’s fortitude. “We’re fortunate. We’re very lucky. The band has been together for 30 years. My brother and Trevor and I are best friends, true brothers. Other bands, even extremely popular ones, the thing that breaks up bands – it’s not the physical stature of their bodies- it is relationships. It’s being in a band together, the politics of being around other human beings.” Obituary not only tours the world together, or just plays together, these three run the company, Obituary, together. “We are three great partners.” Obituary has lasted this long, in a post label paradigm, because they embrace the DIY ethos. “We are super self-sufficient. We do all the recording, the producing, managing the band, building the website, organizing the merchandise, dealing with booking agents; we do it all. We are very happy with who we are and what we have going on this day in age.”

Being a band since the 1980’s, Tardy has remained steadfast and determined. The band has adjusted with the changes which time brings. But he has gotten to maintain his habits and work traditions. Handing off an Obituary album to someone else to mix was new. Cincotto was Obituary’s live engineer and dear friend, so the transition made sense. Necessity breeds change. Obituary was headed to Europe with Exodus. And the new album had to be mixed. Another new experience for Tardy and crew was the use of technology. They have always produced in house. But, this time, they needed technology to bridge the continents and provide constant feedback. “We trusted (Cincotto). We were on the phone with him, skyping him, WhatsApping, telling him our opinions and what tweaks to make. We knew we had a deadline. We were down to the wire. We knew what the release date needed to be. What date we had to submit to the record label so that they have their four months to get the album to be pressed, printed, distributed and marketed.” The experience with this digital approach was intimidating but salvation for the band.

Obituary starts with “Brave”, a blazing fast joint with a melee of sounds; piercing riffs, venomous vocals, and full drumming. This killer sets the tone for an impressive nine new tracks (the final, tenth track is last fall’s single “Ten Thousand Ways to Die”). Obituary built their own Redneck Studio a decade ago. Their last four albums have been recorded and produced there. “Obituary is old school. We get in the same room, burn down, drink some beers, and you know, brotherhood. We write music together and record right there. If you mess up, do it again.” Tardy quickly adapted to the process, with excitement. While most of the record was finished, Andrews had not recorded all his solos before the tour. “Ken was doing some solos right from his laptop and sent that to Joe (Cincotta). Joe re-amped them in his session. I know probably many bands do sessions like that these days, but this was the first time to us. It was cool to see Ken bring his guitar into his laptop. He got to get the solos that he was hoping for. It was a cool experience. I could not be more excited about the release of this record.”

March 17^th is not only the release date for the album but the initial night of this year’s Decibel Magazine tour; which is Kreator, Obituary, Horrendous, and Cleveland’s Midnight. Obituary is anticipating nothing short of an epic journey. Tardy is a big Kreator fan. “Mille (Petrozza) is just awesome. Kreator are the kings, good songwriting executed right.” The bands play 29 shows in five weeks. “Then, the madness begins. We’ll be busy for two years touring off this album and hit every corner of the planet. 2017 is a done deal. We go back and forth three times over the summer. We hit all the fests, Bloodstock, Summer Breeze, Hellfest.” Then, the band does another tour across America again in the fall. Tardy also hopes to bring last year’s Battle of the Bays stateside, where Obituary and Obituary battle song for song.

The cover art, a dragon creature blended into the Obituary logo was done by Andreas Marschall. Compared to albums like Frozen in Time, Back From the Dead, Cause of Death, which were intricate and ornate, soaked in ghoulish scenery and blood, this album is refined. Inked in Blood had a limbless, decapitated torso with the title slashed into the bloody chest. “We are not trying to top Inked. In fact, we want to do the opposite. Andreas created a logo that is classic and basic; where the fan sits and holds the big vinyl and just stares at it. It’s classic and clean, not a bunch of color; exactly what we needed. We didn’t need to try to top Inked. We needed to go to a different realm.” The boys did that. Here is a black logo with a piece, independent and strong. The image is stripped down, simple. The logo is all impact. It appears glowing, as if freshly forged. Tardy continues, “It’s perfect. The logo is cool, but the game plan for Relapse is to have the logo embossed, the little skulls and faces raised.” Tardy roils with excitement, explaining further details. Tardy thinks of the practical applications of the image, reminding the loss of Frozen tin Time when it was scaled down. He considers the image as it will appear on the larger vinyl, the smaller CD, what transfers to a t-shirt well. “The gold and metal are rich, like a piece of pewter being pulled out of molten. This is exactly what we need. People will be proud to walk around with this on a shirt. For the tenth album, we needed clean, classic, plain, but rich looking cover. After being in a band for 30 years, we’ve learned that you’ll never please everybody. And this band is totally okay with that. People that don’t love it, you’ve got your opinion and were not mad at you. This bands not going away anytime soon. Next album, look out.”

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Obituary Website

Life of Agony Interview with Mina Caputo

Life Of Agony

A Place Where There’s No More Pain

Napalm Records

Interview with Mina Caputo

(This album has) a lot of intense great moments that speak of the past but in a more articulate way.

“The world needs a record like this; creative, explosive, heartwarming, motherly, soul-nurturing.” Mina Caputo relays her deep sentiment of the revered Life Of Agony’s new offering to the world, A Place Where There’s No More Pain. On April 28^th, Napalm Records welcomes the fifth studio album from this near 30 year old band. Born in Brooklyn in 1989, LOA has continually shaken genres. Simply, Caputo adds, “I think a lot of people can use a real flow of material from an obnoxious, paradigm shifting, punk rock band.”

Life Of Agony has consistently melded alternative, hardcore, metal, hard rock into emotional, groove-filled, heavy music. Each album has its own flavor. LOA is consistently original while always penetrating a listener’s emotional barriers. “I have always had a hard time categorically placing LOA. We always try to redefine what music means to us as a band and individually,” Caputo admits. She offers humbly, “I’m excited. It brings a smile to my face.” LOA have broken up and been reunited a few times, even having different vocalists and drummers. But this album has Caputo back on vocals, as always has been in the studio, and drummer Sal Abruscato (Type O Negative), returning to his rightful place behind the kit. Alan Robert, bass, and Joey Z, guitars, churn out thick, and textured riffs for a mighty album. 

Caputo is soft spoken and tending to her dog, fighting exhaustion after a long day of consecutive interviews. Caputo still lives in Brooklyn; other members are in NJ (Roberts), Long Island (Joey Z), and Woodstock (Abruscato). A Place Where There’s No More Pain was recorded in a few studios over time, Queens, Brooklyn, etc. The band started the process of writing well over a year ago. Caputo explains, “I was already demoing vocals last year.” The process was broken up continually as the band has been touring frequently in this resurgence, as they would go out to tour for three week jaunts over the last year. This was beneficial for the band in matters of perspective and true discrimination with what songs worked. But it was also a detriment, as Caputo appreciates momentum when recording. Regardless, the dynamic of the group was fluid. “It was extremely collaborative. We threw a ton of shit a way, too. There were no bruised egos. No bullshit,” Caputo unveils. “The process was a very open, fearless dialogue about what didn’t work. We had a priority, a focus. That was to make the best LOA album.”

Life of Agony began in 1989, released two cassette demos and appeared on the legendary, East Coast Assault, on Too Damn Hype Records with early Converge, Only Living Witness, Next Step Up, Disorder, early Merauder, Dmize and others. By 1993, Roadrunner released the iconic, River Runs Red, completely conceived as a concept album by Alan Robert writing and arranging all the music and lyrics. Having played drummer roulette, they borrowed Type O Negative’s Sal Abruscato. One song was a collaborative with Brooklyn’s surging stars of crossover metal, and label mates, Biohazard, on “Method of Groove”. Playing small to medium clubs, sharing a label with Obituary and Sepultura, touring with Madball and Dog East Dog (also on Roadrunner) Life of Agony, a ‘hardcore band’ with a keyboard and a powerfully crooning Caputo, LOA was cherished by the hardcore and metal community. The fierce exposure of depression and suicidal ideation was a blessing for all distraught kids with tracks like “River Runs Red”, “Through and Through”, “The Stain Remains”, and really the entire album front to back.

By 1996, Ugly was released with a different vibe; losing some of the fans who pined for the rage and aggression. The ferocity and isolation was still there, but with all members now writing, and Abruscato as full member now, the songs were softer and more polished. New fans from outside hardcore were acquired, bigger venues and shows followed. Certain old fans still found the isolation and depression furrowing through with harder songs like “Damned”, “Ugly”, “Lost at 22” and others. Soul Searching Sun followed in 1997 with a new drummer and hippie vibe. While the single, “Weeds” was a classic LOA song, the rest of the album was musically indulgent. Which is good for rock bands and musicians, but lost the hardcore crowd who want monolithic rhythms and execution. This was taking influences like The Beatles, and Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd. But it saw the band go worldwide and embrace many other scenes and fans. As LOA continued, other members’ writing saw the songs get slower and more whimsical. The band’s sound grew softer. Through break ups and other turmoil, and leaving Roadrunner, a solo album for Caputo (which resulted with Ugly Kid Joe’s Whitfield Crane on LOA vocals), other bands for Roberts (Among Thieves and a rockabilly/rock and roll influenced, Spoiler NYC) and Joey Z (Stereomud), Life Of Agony seemed to be what it was and left behind. Their comeback album, after a few live LPs and DVDs of reunions, Broken Valley in 2005, sounded like Stone Temple Pilots. The band seemed to rescind back again into their individual lives.  

But here, on A Place Where There’s No More Pain, a harsher, combative, heavier Life Of Agony returns. The album shows growth and the band indulging into an artistic freedom that only maturity and tenacity can birth. “This is an album of the best of Life Of Agony’s moments,” asserts Caputo. The production is big; big sound, big thick riffs, big grooves. This is the pure LOA sound. 1993’s River Runs Red is an undeniable classic, in the eyes of punk and metal fans, and in Decibel’s Hall of Fame. It was the fourth installment of the heralded honor. We get echoes of that here. A Place Where There’s No More Pain was produced my Matt Brown. Caputo exclaims, “We’ve been friends with him since fifteen. He played in and produced Sal’s other band, A Pale Horse Named Death”. After the year plus of recording, the album was handed to and mastered by Ted Jensen (Chi-Lites to Dead Boys to Alan Parsons to Billy Joel, etc) at Sterling Sound, a NYC powerhouse since 1968.

A Place Where There’s No More Pain showcases LOA’s defining attributes. Joey Z is known for his Hammett-esque wailing, piercing leads. Robert’s low end thunder and unique groove looms heavy while Sal Abruscato’s entrenched, pounding drums push songs. There are even the slower like “Bag of Bones”, where the album’s title is derived. There is a low-tuned grit to the guitars and a faster part for the bridge, finally more Anthrax than Velvet Revolver. But, there is support for Caputo’s statement of a mix of all LOA. “A New Low” embraces a dark and atmospheric thunder, a real ugly (a-hem…), gnarly sound; sludgy and reminiscent of Type O Negative, or even Corrosion of Conformity, but definitively LOA. It again gathers speed in the middle before reeling in a churning riff. Caputo boasts, “Each song has a different dynamic,” as I inquire about the lyric on “Right This Wrong”: “My wrath will come for you all”; Caputo comments, “There is anger, forgiveness, and sadness in the record.”

This the first Life Of Agony in twelve years. The elephant in the room is that this is the first Life Of Agony album with Mina Caputo, as opposed to Keith Caputo, singing on this record. Keith began his transition in 2008. His tumultuous struggle, from depression to drugs to sexual identity is reflected here. But again, all members contribute, so this is not solely Caputo’s strain exhibited on the album. Referring to the comparison of the ferocity of River Runs Red to this album, Caputo adds, “I definitely think there are bone-crushing moments, but the intention is different. This is dark lyrically, a kaleidoscope of emotions. The only thing which has changed is us; our musicianship, our experiences. I would hate to have the same tone on every record. That would be a fail.”

Again, as the intense emotions, which is Life Of Agony’s strongest trait, is addressed, with a hint of losing some edge. Caputo defies this claim ardently. “Just because I’m a transsexual doesn’t mean I don’t get angry.” The aforementioned soft spoken Mina recoils into the Brooklyn bred upstart that lies within her core. “(being transsexual doesn’t mean) I won’t want to punch you in the fucking face. I don’t follow any cliché stereotypes. (mocks a comment) ‘I don’t think that’s very womanly of you.’ Well, I don’t really give a fuck.” Mina laughs. Without restraint, she continues, slightly riled, “I can be very angry. I am a human being. I experience a slew of emotions in one day. Just because I’m feminine doesn’t mean I won’t grab my mic cord and choke you, cuz I will if I have to.”

Caputo continues her defiance of feminine clichés as she establishes her individuality in these tumultuous times, relating to everyone’s stress and gender politics. “I don’t ‘stand against’ bullying. I bully the fucking bullies, ok? That’s the difference between me and a lot of other people.” Translating that to her vocals on A Place Where There’s No More Pain, “There are a lot moments of angst of the record. Vocally, I get brutal as fuck. I out sing all the boys. And all the girls. I get as real and as bloody as emotion can get.”

As certain elements of Life Of Agony’s are gathered to this album, a new fresh feeling is portrayed here. The anticipation from fans, balanced with their own personal expectations, is cherished by Caputo as quickly as she excuses them. “People want LOA to be their own little secret. That’s sweet, that’s special. I love our fans. But, it’s nice to share things with the world.” The metal fans seem to be more forgiving of change and growth than the hardcore kids, (writer included). Hardcore and punk expect bands to stay the same, to remain niche. But Caputo thinks beyond those terms, obviously since it is 25 years since the first album. “You can’t drag the past into the present. People need to really listen with an open heart. Things are always changing, things are always new. People shouldn’t have expectations on how the band should sound. That’s obnoxious. Just because we spoke to them on one level (years ago).” But Caputo is quick to bridge the sound of A Place… to the early records, and deservedly so. This could be seen as tougher Ugly in some aspects. “(This album has) a lot of intense great moments that speak of the past but in a more articulate way. We didn’t reach every destination we tried to musically (in the past). People miss out with expectations. People are too dismissive too fast. It’s a sin. I would never do that to one of the bands I listen to, like Radiohead. What motherfucker is going to tell Thom Yorke what to do.” Caputo expands on these thoughts, relating the audacity of fans in the tighter knit, underground genres. “Time owns us. People that lack creativity don’t understand that. These songs were already written and were filtered out through us. I have some peculiar beliefs, I know. But that’s what makes me me.”

Caputo reports feeling liberated and easier to access these days. She acknowledges her quirks and spirit are sometimes shown through mood swings. She is sensitive in a world of hate and friction which impacts her easily. However, new coping skills and the appropriate body free her in a manner which past drugs and booze did not allay. “I still get depressed. I still get anxiety. Music is the best drug for me. If I don’t pick up the guitar or sit down with the piano, I get very depressed. Songwriting is my ultimate high. (All the peripheral responsibilities of music) are completely irrelevant; the shows, the tours, the interviews. I am here to write music.” The music ties in to Mina’s ability to cope with the stress of life, again, granted to her by her gender transition. “I knew it and felt it. I can feel the wholeness of me now.”

The other aspect of finding relief from depression is the drive to want to. “I care about how I feel now. I care so much about feeling good. That’s where it starts and ends. Once you focus on and hone in on that – those two feelings – you have to go for the things that bring you good feelings and fun times in life. My anxiety comes from confusion. Politicians, bombings, people trying to blow us up, all this drives people beserk. And the regular people do not get the credit for it. (But) we are holding it down and they keep on fucking things up. We are confronted with infantile people running the world. It drives kids and parents crazy. Then, parents take it out on kids and that’s how it all starts, the cycle. A lot of people don’t acknowledge how they feel so low. They ignore the pain.”

Caputo delves into the obvious trauma of her childhood. “I came from, well, I lived with my grandparents, a major generation gap. My grandparents were Italian, in Brooklyn. I lived that stereotype, right out of Raging Bull. The shit I saw as I kid, my father drugged up, falling down flights of stairs; my grandfather beating up my father, beating up my grandmother. I can’t believe I made it his far. I can’t believe I survived all those beatings. I could remember how it scarred me, changed me. It made me depressed, made me feel unworthy. Some things in my life trigger me to go back into that childhood momentum. But, you have to be your own pill, forget all the pharmaceuticals. That stuff will hurt your nervous system and your brain and your soul.”

Adding a confused adolescent to this environment must produce PTSD. Growing up around this masculinity drenched environment impacts fear and trepidation on a young kid. “I was afraid my entire life to come out to family. People knew I was eccentric. People maybe assumed I was bi-sexual. They always saw Keith with a girl by his side. But I was very feminine. I was never a masculine man. I could not cover up my femininity.

“It took my whole life to get to the point where I had to stop feeling responsible for other people’s feelings. That was my breaking point. I just can’t give a fuck what other people think or say, even if I lose my career. I’ll throw everything away to be happy. I need to be open. I was too busy dying, not living. I need a happy being. That’s when I am most productive. I’m most productive when I’m happy, for no reason, just from living.”

Caputo is frank in her realization of her struggles with gender. “I couldn’t deal with playing this male role. I couldn’t take it anymore. It sucked. I hated living as a guy.” This conflict of innate feelings and outer presentation devoured Keith and was a vortex of self-destruction. “I thought, ‘I’d rather be dead, let’s start consuming lots of drugs and harming myself’. I was not facing what I knew I had to face. I was afraid. There is no time table on when one should be expressive or transsexual or homosexual. Or even if you want to put a loop in your lip. Whatever. Expression is such a part of people’s humanity and experience here on the planet. A lot of people are living, they don’t remember their origin. We’ve been derailed. So, when someone like me pops up in their lives, it connects them to their own nature. And it frightens them.”

Caputo quickly appends these thoughts to the stress of our society. She testifies to this separation of individuals and their feelings, their realities, as significant chasm in society. “Pretty soon women will give birth to babies with a phone in their hand.” While the hyperbole is amusing, Caputo brings it back to a truth. “People are disconnected. Which I also see the other half. I think a lot of people are awakening on the planet and tasting the true mystery of why we are here. It’s not to observe and ridicule. Society has it all wrong. As do our politicians and institutions, religions, food companies, corporations. Some kid has to die cuz some CEO wants to make another 100 grand.” Her frustration is palpable and commendable.

Life Of Agony adds a significant new chapter in their history, and consequently, there present. There will be tours and festivals around the globe. As soon as the Brooklyn and Boston shows were announced, they were sold out. Fans are rabid for new material. A Place Where There’s No More Pain is vibrant and confrontational, grinding and liberating. The rage and disgust are ever present, sure to appease older fans. The sound has returned to a heavy groove. The album cultivates Life Of Agony’s best qualities and presents them from a new perspective of freedom and truth without losing the members’ intrinsic bite and snarl. 

Thanks to Mina and Jon Freeman PR for the interview

Life of Agony

Abatuar Perversiones De Muerte Putrefacta Review

Abatuar

Perversiones De Muerte Putrefacta

Dunkelheit Produktionen

Release: 17 April 2017

Abatuar is a one man Panamanian Firestarter named Cadaver. He has worked in other metal bands, but this is his baby, his shining moment. Metal-archives shows other members covering guitars, as Cadaver is a drummer. But he gets this credit for all of this, so I must assume he plays guitars on this as well. Call it black metal, but Perversiones De Muerte Putrefacta pulls in influences from grind and death. This LP is raw and ugly, confrontational. After two impressive – and sought after – demos, Abatuar now unleash their debut full, Perversiones De Muerte Putrefacta, length on Dunkelheit.

Thick, sludge drenched guitars flog with whips of razorwire. The aesthetic here is clearly the old school ethic of recording in a subterranean cave with a boombox. That’s cool. But, I do wish the production was a touch crisper with some punch. The songwriting is strong and hits like a tsunami. Drums lay a frantic foundation, constantly rolling and pounding. Guitars bandy on a riff. The time changes (check “Decapitacion Latrinal”) give some texture and variety which I appreciate. “Adoctrinemantio Colectivo Genocid” is unfettered fury; grind core speed and rage. These are the platforms for the album. “Deidades Sepultades con Restos” has a, dare I say, groove? Not really but a catchy riff and a mid-tempo beginning that moves into a 4/4 beat. Then, it moves faster. “Ordalias de Hierro Fundido” messes with time and the listener’s mind. It is a rapid beast. But it truly pushes, grinds, as it pounds forward. Some killer death metal riff embedded in it reminiscent of the Swedish 90’s sound.

 Perversiones De Muerte Putrefacta slithers unapologetically. Abatuar create a dungeoness atmosphere of belligerence and fury. Compelling riffs and tumultuous drums, adorned with ghastly vocals, elicit terror and seething acrimony in a listener. The lo-fi production beckons true black metal and grind. This LP conjures a feast of primal urges with sounds of Hell.  

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AVailable in black or red vinyl or CD: shop

New killer Abatuar LP streaming at No Clean Singing

Abatuar
Perversiones De Muerte Putrefacta
Dunkelheit Produktionen
Release: 17 April 2017

Suspicious Activities PR is pushing this new album. I have been rocking the promo for a month and its spellbinding. I have been in love with this album.

Brilliant black metal, embracing chaos and espousing damage. This is a brutal album from Panamanian one man cyclone, Cadavar. After two demos, Abatuar come with 12 tracks of raw metal. My review will be up soon.

Check out the full LP streaming at
no clean singing

Abatuar Facebook

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pick up the threat

Just like every post eventually posts, i will say this. It's been over a year. But i swear i will make a valiant effort to get the momentum back on this beast.  The reviews and interviews have been over at new noise magazine if you want to see. Also, the empty hands podcast is close to completing editing of episode one. up soon. stay tuned

Mindset Nothing Less Review

Mindset

Nothing Less

React! Records

Review by Hutch

Release Date: Jan 15, 2015

Hardcore can be criticized for being an over-saturated genre, especially with bands that stick to a simple formula. I will always and love that formula. So, even the average band will get me charged. But then there are the bands that hone that formula and play with skill on their instruments a searing conviction. Those bands rise above. Mindset is such a band. Sadly, they will be playing their final show in 2016, never to release music again.

Mindset is a current band not lost in the sweeping, dissonant, ethereal influence that is so common. They are heavy without being metal. This is straight hardcore, played exceptionally and with worthy production. This is music made to played live, with angry kids flying off the stage and sweat drenched bodies climbing over each other to vent their own strife. These five dudes, loyal to the Straight Edge, got together from the northeast, calling Maryland a central location, in 2008. Their main core of releases, three EP’s and an LP, have all been on React! Records. They have had limited tour and live releases on other labels. 

The sound is fast. The lyrics are spit quickly over unrelenting drums, riding the bass and toms as a snare pounds in 4/4 time. The guitars pause for open chords, which predictably lead into two-step parts and breakdowns. Again, though, these songs are played with such strength and rage that they defy any misnomer of cookie cutter or formulaic hardcore. There is not much to write without redundancy. That said, I have played these three tracks on repeat many times and not grown tired. This is one hell of a last statement for an amazing band.

Members of: Clear, Praise, Give, WARXGAMES, Peace

RIYL: Youth of Today, Chain of Strength, Wide Awake, Betrayed, In My Eyes, Clear, Get the Most, Down to Nothing, The First Step

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Mohicans self titled EP review

Mohicans

Mohicans

Creator Destructer Records

Release December 18 2015

Review by hutch

Mohicans fuse together obvious influences into an alchemy of unique music. Heavy, down-tuned metallic hardcore is what Mohicans play. Blatant doom and sludge adoration, but the prominent pounding drums propel a two-step hardcore punk pace. The urgency is immediate, eschewing the typical long duration of indulgent slow doom. Five tracks are below two and a half minutes. The vinyl 12 inch (available in 180 gram) fits all six tracks on one side. *(with the b-side silkscreened!).

The music is angry and raw, being spat and sweat out by this San Francisco trio. The groups is never afraid to delve into a rock sound or a searing solo. The Kyuss/Mastodon feel can take center stage, as in the album’s opener, “Eagle”, or the track, “Road”. But just as you adjust, the stool is kicked out from under you and the pummeling of frantic drums rushes forward. The production drenches the riffs in fuzz and feedback, possessing a stellar live feel. The drums are pushed up in the mix, clear and dominant. The vocals, which shred the larynx of vocalist Chris Palomarez, are pulled back which adds an omniscient, foreboding quality. His clenched fury is admirably delivered. The penultimate track, “Bixbi”, breaks down on a bouncing bass line and continues in the trios catchy waves of bobbing tones. The song then returns to thrashing.

Palmarez also recorded the drums I keep applauding. Live, the band is comprised of Justin Shearer on bass and David Sahlem on drums. Heavy thunder and destructive intensity are Mohicans’ core strengths.  This music is ugly. This music is adversarial. Melody sneaks in sporadically (but calculated). It is used sparingly to balance the down tuned dirge. Mohicans execute a sinister beauty here as precision noise and rash rants spewed over thick ass riffs.

RIYL: Wolvhammer, Spinebreaker, Baptists, Eyehategod, Black Flag, Generation Of Vipers, Black Cobra, Bison BC, Doomriders, Conan

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