Hordes-Abarognosis(Review)

Abarognosis is the debut EP from SoCal lads Hordes, released on King Of The Monsters Records. Hordes unrelenting breed of Powerviolence infused, dark, metallic hardcore bludgeons its way through ten punishing, to the point tracks. Roaring, bestial vocals are set over a backdrop of blast beats, menacing riffing, and punchy, simple breakdowns. The bass on this release is very audible, giving it a full sound, and leaving very little room to breathe. The guitar work seamlessly rips through searing PV parts, but isn’t afraid to slow down and get sludgy when it needs to. The drumming is solid, and the vocals sit somewhere between yelling and growling. This is the type of music that gets me pissed and ready start a warzone in the pit. If you’re a fan of Hardcore, Powerviolence, or Sludge metal this would be worth giving a listen, and is available to stream on their Bandcamp, or on ToxicBreedsFunhouse. I thoroughly enjoyed the misanthropic soundscape of this album, and look forward to hearing more from Hordes in the future!

Rating:8.5/10
FFO-Nails, Full of Hell, Low Places

~Alex Beegle

Show Review: Thou, Sun Spells, Lux Carentes (Ithaca, NY 10/3/11)

A few nights ago I had the pleasure of having my head smashed and my neck destroyed by the awesome power of Thou live. In a small, nearly basement sized space in the warehouse of a whole foods store no less. No way that this couldn't have been anything less then stellar, which it was. The place was crawling with people before the show started, a lot of them of course checking out Thou's incredible merch table which was covered in records, books, CD's and shirts. They even had and a couple excellent distro box's filled with obscure hardcore and black metal records. I bought all the Thou stuff I could.
Two local bands also played, Lux Carentes being the opener. Black metal-ish music with a lot of genuine rock influences. I've seen these guys a handful of times, every time the sound being not to my liking. This time probably was probably their best sound wise. The bass was still very, very up front and the guitar was barely audible, but compared to the other shows I've seen this was better. Some technical problems with the bass head stopped the set for a few minutes too, shit happens.
Sun Spells were next. They play instrumental drone with a lot of guitar effects and noise. This was the second time I've seen them, this time with noise loops replacing a drummer. Again, sound mixing was an issue. I could see them fiddling with pedals and knobs and such, but the low end bass frequency was so overpowering that it pretty much drowned everything else out. It was enjoyable, but I always thought bands like this would be more effective if the room was completely dark and you couldn't see anything and you could only hear the music.

I should point out at this point that I was not a huge fan of though going into this show. I liked them sure, but I wasn't a legit "fan". Never the less I was still incredibly excited from the to start playing. The lights went off and the crowd got in reallllllllly close(there was no stage by the way), and then the music started. The whole front row commenced headbanging in time with the pummeling, dense skull-fuckingly heavy riffs. The sound was so thick and bassy, I could feel my legs and chest vibrate.
I guess they didn't have a planned set-list, so their set didn't have a seamless flow. The pauses were filled with genuinely funny banter between the band members. Highlights of the set were "Smoke Pigs", which is my current favorite song of theirs and the cover of Nirvana's "Aneurysm" which got the crowd kinda moving(the guy next to me was jumping around at least). I came in a casual listener, but left a devote fan. The band had a blast, so I hope to seem them around here again soon!

~VII

Kylesa-No Ending/110° Heat Index

I ordered this two song e.p.(four songs on the CD version) after hearing Kylesa's excellent albums Static Tensions and Spiral Shadow. When I played this record for the first time I was taken back at how different it sounded than the aforementioned albums. If I would have heard this record and not known that it was Kylesa, I wouldn't have even known who it was. Unlike the Kylesa I was used to this album didn't feature the dual drumming attack, the melodic guitar playing, and many other signature sounds that Kylesa is known for. The singing is also a lot different and more raw. The first song "No Ending" is my favorite song on the album. It begins with some cool trade-off vocals courtesy of Phillip Cope and Laura Pleasants, it then goes into this more laid-back part that sounds like the modern Kylesa, this part doesn't last long and it goes back to the pummeling drums and trade-off vocals almost immediately. Up next is "A 110° Heat Index", which begins with some cool guitar playing, and then goes into into the dual vocals. I'm not really a fan of the vocals on this song, but the music makes up for it. Overall, this is a pretty solid release, and I am looking forward to hearing more of the old Kylesa.

My copy came on solid white vinyl and includes a lyric insert. This is also some of the best packaging of a 7" that I have ever seen, the artwork is a amazing and the Kylesa logo is stamped in gold foil. Also thanks to Luke Kegley who drew the amazing picture of Laura Pleasants, you can see more of his artwork here. Expect to see a lot more original artwork to accompany my reviews.

~Andrew Lipscomb