Hardcore – Page 53 – Wonderbox Metal

Interview with Spinebreaker

Spinebreaker’s début album Ice Grave is a muscular, thrilling ride through Hardcore-infused Death Metal that’s a vibrant and energetic take on the sub-genre. Make sure you’re wearing appropriate spinal protection and let’s dive in to the world of the breaker of spines…

For those who are unfamiliar with your band – introduce yourself!

Elliot: I’m Elliot and I riff and I sleep with an HM-2 under my pillow

Alex: I’m Alex and I do vocals and call people cowards in Spinebreaker

Give us a bit of background to Spinebreaker

Elliot: Alex and I wanted to start a death metal band so we did. Put out a tape and grabbed our friends to play with us. That’s pretty much it. All of us come from punk and hardcore so starting another band was just something we all wanted to do.

Alex: We are 5 hardcore dudes playing death metal with as loud and fucked up of a sound as possible.

How did you decide on the band name?

Elliot: We wanted to be so heavy that you wouldn’t just bang your head, you would bang your whole spine. Spinebreaker. Perfect.

Alex: It took us a long time to come up with one, so one day me and Elliot were hanging out and imagined what one of our friends looked like when he would head bang and get into a band that he likes, and came up with the name Spinebreaker.

What are your influences?

Elliot: Pentagram, Sleep, Saint Vitus, Discharge, Black Sabbath, Repulsion, Unleashed, Grave, Oi and punk music, and the mighty HM-2 of course.

Alex: My influences consist of mostly Scandinavian death metal bands like the obvious Entombed, Dismember, Unleashed, Grave, etc.
And then bands that don’t really show up in our music like my Slayer, Morbid Angel, Merauder, Hatebreed, Disembodied, etc.

What are you listening to at the moment that you would like to recommend?

Elliot: Gatecreeper, Outer Heaven, Vorum, Rixe, Crown Court, Vamachara, Bad Times Crew, Scalped, Funerals, Violent Reaction, The Flex, Lower Your Head, Midnight

Alex: The new Cruciamentum album from this last year was incredible, I can’t stop talking about it. Gatecreeper also rules, they’ve got a split with Homewrecker, Scorched, and Outer Heaven (which I recommend you all check out) coming out soon. And I’m always listening the my friends’ badass bands, Bad Times Crew, Vamachara, Funerals, Runamuk, Subtle Violence, and Scalped.

How do you feel you fit into the Extreme Metal scene in 2016?

Elliot: Sonically we fit but we’re all a bunch of hardcore and punk dudes so we stand out a bit. We all heavily support extreme music, we just have our roots in punk and hardcore.

Alex: I think we fit, just in our own way. We’re all hardcore dudes and act like hardcore dudes, running around and jumping on stage unlike most metal bands. But you know I think people can get used to that because that the way the music makes us feel. It doesn’t make me wanna stand there with my arms crossed when I like a band.

Give us a bit of background to Ice Grave – any particular concepts or ideas you want to discuss?

Elliot: We just really wanted something diverse. I like to throw in doom riffs every once in a while as well as some really dark and gloomy acoustic pieces to transition between songs. As far as concepts the only thing I really wanted to portray was heaviness. That’s it. Plain and simple. Filthy, loud, riff heavy death metal.

Alex: My lyrics range from death metal gory horror themes to just plain outrage about ignorance in topics about racism, sexism/feminism, homophobia, transphobia, police brutality and the black lives matter movement. Things that are out in the open to some but are still hidden in the dark to others.

How do you go about writing your songs?

Elliot: I sit in my room and crank my amp to 11 and just riff. That’s about it

Alex: Lyric-wise I think of a theme then a song name or a single line that I think can describe that theme I want to talk about but not be so obviously that the song is given away before you actual listen to it.

How did the recording process go?

Elliot: It was hectic but it always is and we expect that so working around problems isn’t an issue. We are all about being a DIY band so we record everything ourselves since our other guitar player Cole is an audio engineer. We love how all his stuff comes out so we trust him when it comes to the whole process. The only real speed bump was Alex having his awesome little girl right before we needed to record vocals but other than that it wasn’t anything more then what we are used to.

Alex: We recorded just about everything with our guitarist Cole in our other guitarist, Elliot’s living room and recorded the drums in one of our good buddies garage. Luckily Cole is an awesome audio engineer or we’d sound like garbage.

What’s your favourite song on the album and why?

Elliot: River Of Pain, Slithering Tyrant, Internal Bleeding, Withering In The Blizzard, and Fractured Existence. Why? I just like how everything fits together, just like it did in my head when I wrote the riffs.

Alex: Either River of Pain or Slithering Tyrant. Simply because those are my favourite lyrics I’ve written and they have the gnarliest fight riffs.

What does the future hold for Spinebreaker?

Elliot: No clue. Hopefully festivals and one off shows in areas we’ve never been. We all work full time and Alex has a child so big tours any more than a week isn’t really plausible.

Alex: No big tours or anything like that yet. We’ve got a fest in Van Nuys, CA. called Standing Hard Fest on January 30th. We’ll probably play some short tours of about a week at a time or less, some one off shows, and we’re always down to play fests whether it be metal, or hardcore.

Spinebreaker – Ice Grave (Review)

This is the début album from Spinebreaker, a Death Metal band from the US.

This is ugly Old-School Death Metal born bloody and ragged from the Hardcore scene. This means that the band combine the purity of their Death Metal heritage with the fire and energy of their Hardcore bloodline.

My, what a sound they have! Boasting a Swedish Death Metal guitar tone that their spiritual forefathers would be proud of, this is presented in a filthed-up package that fuses the feel of the era and style with a Hardcore edge and a touch of At the Gates and Carcass in the vocal department.

The end result is a savage demonstration of the fact that A) you don’t need to be Swedish to wield a chainsaw and B) there’s life in Old-School Swedish Death Metal yet; it’s not necessary for a band to simply rehash past glories.

Spinebreaker manage to successfully inject vitality and vibrancy into a rather stale, (but still very enjoyable), sub-genre. The inclusion of a Hardcore edge to some of the riffs adds a blood-pumping energy and the harsh screaming growls are a thing of gory beauty.

Whether ripping out giant grooves or pounding heaviness, Spinebreaker make everything sound dark, nightmarish and nasty, just as it should be. The spectre of At the Gates looms over the faster sections, (prompted for me by the vocals, but bleeding into the guitars too), and it’s a joy to hear this encapsulated by such a dirty Swedish delivery.

A very enjoyable 38 minutes.

Prolefeed/War All the Time – Split (Review)

This is a split between two UK Grind/Hardcore bands.

Prolefeed start us off with 15 tracks of pissed-off Hardcore, tearing it up straight away with fast beats and a razor-sharp guitar sound.

Even though the songs are all short, sometimes they do slow the pace down and give vent to their groovier side. Apart from this, it’s all Hardcore-fury as the band play fast enough to vent their rage but rarely enter blast beat territory.

The riffs are full of confident swagger and attitude, embracing their heritage and really going for the throat.

The vocals are high shouts, angry and harsh, just as we like it.

It’s a more Hardcore/Punk take on the style as beloved of Extreme Noise Terror and early Cripple Bastards, mixed with an Old-School influence à la Minor Threat and the like.

After this we have War All the Time, who contribute the final 11 tracks to this violent split.

War All the Time have an uglier, fuzzier, filthier production than Prolefeed’s sharpness, and benefit from a rounder sound in this regard.

Other than that there are a lot of similarities between the bands; short songs, (although on average slightly longer for War All the Time), Punk fury, swagger, attitude, fast but-not-blast-beats, etc.

The singer has a deeper shout than that of Prolefeed; a throaty snarl shouting belligerently across the tracks.

Like their partners on this split, it’s an enjoyable listen. On balance, I think I prefer Prolefeed’s contribution though as there’s a little more variety in attack, but both sides hit the spot for a bit of grinding angry Hardcore violence.

Have a listen.

The Rodeo Idiot Engine – Malaise (Review)

The Rodeo Idiot Engine are a Hardcore band from France. This is their third album.

After enjoying their previous work this is an album which was gratefully received and devoured hungrily.

This is a band that excel at fusing chaotic Hardcore’s violence with Post-Hardcore’s intricacies and Screamo’s passion. The atypical rhythms, nasty semi-melodies and absolutely caustic vocals are an aural treat for any fan of extremity.

I love this kind of modern, violent Hardcore and there are a lot of bands that do it well, with the king of the genre being the mighty Converge, of course. The challenge for any band playing in this sub-genre then, for me, is to do it in such a way that stays true to the foundations of the style while avoiding sounding like a Converge-clone, which is easier said than done.

Suffice to say, The Rodeo Idiot Engine avoid this easily, (otherwise I wouldn’t be having this discussion), and the music on Malaise is both of-the-genre and very much their own at the same time. Exploding out of the speakers with pure fury and venom, this is an album that is resolutely its own beast.

At 38 minutes in length with 9 tracks, this shows the band’s evolution to, (on average), longer songs and more-involved displays of songwriting. They still absolutely rip, tear and burn through the playing time with ease, but they now do it with greater complexity, inventiveness and moments of deeper reflection and introspection.

I’d also say that Malaise is darker than their previous work. Not that they were ever shining beacons of sunlight, mind. Full of emotive intensity and compelling rage, this is an album worth repeated visits.

So, three albums in and The Rodeo Idiot Engine have produced their best work yet.

Nice one guys!

Rash Decision – Headstrung (Review)

Rash Decision are from the UK and play Crossover Thrash/Hardcore.

Picking up from where Seaside Resort to Violence left off, Headstrung features 17 minutes of up-tempo violence.

The songs are short, simple and take a hearty chomp out of the musical landscape. This is a band who aren’t concerned with the subtleties of things and just want to Thrash it out with short songs and immediate impact.

Shouted vocals with a Hardcore tilt to them are well-performed and his voice is nicely hoarse.

The band have a good energy to them and sound like they’d be really good live. On their last release I liked the inclusion of Thrash influences without a stupid retro/ironic-vibe and this remains true of Headstrung – these tracks know when to be Hardcore and know when to be Metal and pay due respect to both genres.

It’s brief, but satisfying. Check it out.

https://rashdecision.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/rashdecision/

Sealclubber – Stoical (Review)

Sealclubber are a UK Sludge band and this is their début album.

Sealclubber play abrasive Progressive/Post-Sludge Metal that takes in elements of Crust and Hardcore to produce a lively and gritty 44 minutes of music.

The sharp Hardcore energy of some of the riffs is also alive in the harsh shouted vocals, which are full of both threat and feeling.

This is juxtaposed against the slower, more atmospheric parts that have a dirty Post-Metal sheen to them, like something struggling to be born whole out of a world of filth.

Add to this the emotive Sludge elements that the band seem to pull out of nowhere when they need to and you have a very well-rounded release that shows Sealclubber to be an uncompromising and multifaceted band who are capable of many moods throughout these six songs.

This puts me in mind of the old Cave-In and Botch releases where both bands really pushed what it meant to be a Hardcore band. Sealclubber have similar ambitions it seems, only coming from a Sludge angle and delving deeper into both, (quite divergent), Hardcore and Post-Metal routes at the same time. This split focus shouldn’t work, but it really does, marrying what little common ground there is between the two styles with a murky Sludge Metal coverall.

With divergent influences, comes great risk, but with great talent, comes great reward.

Loved it.

Attan – From Nothing (Review)

Attan are from Norway and play Hardcore/Post-Hardcore. This is their début EP.

Coming across as an unholy mix of bands like Vision of Disorder, Will Haven, Converge and Neurosis, Attan are heavy and intense.

This music is dark and visceral, containing a primal rage and destructive intensity. The songs are passionate exemplars of heaviosity that pay tribute to their influences while making their own way down the ill-lit avenues of dark Hardcore; Continue reading “Attan – From Nothing (Review)”

Chronoboros – Dialing up the Cutter (Review)

Chronoboros are from Greece and play Sludge-fuelled Hardcore. This is their début EP.

Chronoboros play a mix of Sludge/Hardcore that shares some features of Alternative Metal and Noise Rock in its sideways approach. It reminds me of the early-to-mid-90s style in some ways, albeit with a modern delivery and a distinct personality all of its own.

Combining elements of bands such as Fudge Tunnel, Association Area, Kowloon Walled City, No Anchor, Helmet, The Dillinger Escape Plan and a plethora of others, this is an interesting and enjoyable release that shows that a band can be inventive while still having the capacity to rock out hard.

The music is complex and involved. It has a lot of depth and layers to it meaning that although these songs are quite short they make a good impression. Heavy sections compete for space with less-conventional parts and there’s a lot of good ideas on this EP that are barely explored before the band hop off once again on another exploratory trip into their unusual world.

The vocals combine harsher screams with more unusual semi-spoken vocalisations. It works a treat and is thankfully the right side of quirky.

There’s a lot of talent and promise on this release. It’s only 15 minutes long, so what excuse do you have for not checking it out?

That’s what I thought.

Mantric – Sin (Review)

Mantric are a Norwegian Progressive Metal band. This is their second album.

Mantric play modern Progressive Metal that favours a combination of atmospheric sections and more aggressive technical parts. Sometimes these parts are separated and sometimes they merge into one another.

The vocals consist of soft cleans and harsher screams. The cleans have a wistful, tender feeling to them while the screams are more Hardcore in nature. The cleaner vocals tend to, (unsurprisingly), correspond to the more atmospheric parts and the harsher ones to the more aggressive parts.

Mantric’s Metal hides a lot of complexity behind the atmospheric veneer that it cloaks itself in. I can imagine that it will be a bit hit-and-miss for a lot of people due to the rather unusual style they play, which combines a rather ethereal feeling of atmosphere with a more rugged technicality that is a strange combination in some ways.

I like its unconventional charms though, and Sin does have the feel of a special record due to this. It’s certainly not perfect and does have a few unpolished moments, but overall the odd feelings it creates remind me of a strange amalgam of Poison the Well, Enslaved and Drowningman.

Works for me. Check them out.

The Nepalese Temple Ball – Arbor (Review)

The Nepalese Temple Ball are a UK Post-Metal band and this is their début album.

Combining elements of bands such as Neurosis, Light Bearer, (who they share a member with), Isis, Converge and No Anchor, The Nepalese Temple Ball have created over an hour’s worth of exploratory, expansive music on Arbor.

This is a diverse album that’s full of different influences and styles, all collected under the widely variable Post-Metal umbrella. Doom, Progressive Metal, Hardcore/Post-Hardcore, Sludge, Psychedelia…even a hint of Black Metal…these are all gathered by the band and melted down to form the songs on Arbor. They have a wealth of skill at doing this, it seems, and Arbor is much more accomplished than it probably should be for a début album.

Lots of different moods and feelings are covered, but the overall impression for me is one of a strange apocalyptic landscape where the world is drowning a chaotic, messy death.

This is music that’s non-standard, atypical and not afraid at all to do its own thing. The band are clearly walking the path that they want to and should be commended for doing this and exploring such rich musical possibilities. This has resulted in a quality album full of interesting areas to explore, with plenty of diversity and depth to attract and hook the listener. This is assuming you like challenging, interesting music of course. If all you’re after is more of the same, then move along now.

Highly recommended.