Mathcore – Page 7 – Wonderbox Metal

Climates – Body Clocks (Review)

Climates are from the UK and play Hardcore.

This is melodic Hardcore mixed with a bit of Metalcore for good measure.

The vocals are a mixture of screams and cleans, alternated in the usual style for a band like this. The screams are passionate and the cleans well performed. I like the fact that they’re not high enough in the mix to dominate everything, which gives the music the chance to take centre stage.

The songs are enjoyable cuts of lean Metalcore with good energy. They’re the kind of band that wouldn’t have looked out of place on the old Trustkill roster back in this style of music’s heyday, which is a pretty big compliment really.

Angular riffs are thrown out quite frequently and it’s good to see the band not always taking the easy route by using tired or recycled riffs. Instead, they offer up their own take on the genre and some of the riffs are atypical and quite inventive; some even having a bit of a Mathcore twist to them.

There’s a good amount of diversity on display on Body Clocks and the band are confident enough to explore quite a few interesting ideas in the songs. More power to them for this.

This is a quality release from a band who are not only sounding very good in the here and now but are also showing massive potential for the future if they continue to embrace their personality and stamp their identity on their music even more.

A recommended listen. Play loud and get swept away in the pit.

In Love Your Mother – The Great Ape Project (Review)

In Love Your Mother are from Switzerland. The band play short blasts of heavy Metallic Hardcore that takes parts of bands like The Dillinger Escape Plan, Meshuggah, System of a Down, Mastodon and Tool; Mathcore meets Progressive Metal.

Most of the songs here are angry and heavy but they also have a Progressive Metal edge to them so occasionally branch out into softer areas where clean vocals replace the harsher shouts; all of which is compressed into songs that are typically about the 1 or 2 minute mark, on average.

Although the album is 30 minutes long, the changeling nature of the tracks and the fact that there are 18 of them mean In Love Your Mother are a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it kind of band. Although you could probably make a similar claim for countless Grindcore bands, the difference here is that In Love Your Mother are a much more varied proposition.

It’s an enjoyable release that benefits from a loud volume and thorough listen.

It’s heavy, it’s good, it rocks. Give them a try.

Brutal Blues – Brutal Blues (Review)

Brutal Blues are a Grindcore band from Norway and this is their first release.

The band play ferociously aggressive Grind that feels unhinged and dangerous. The music seems refined to the point of Mathcore and the musical assault is relentless.

The vocals are demented and inhuman, sounding as if someone is strangling a murderous clown in someone else’s nightmare and the howls and screams are bleeding through into your consciousness.

Coming across like a more maniacal mix of Discordance Axis and Association Area with a hint of early The Dillinger Escape Plan; Brutal Blues provide a hypnotically mental 15 minutes of inventive, interesting and effective Grind.

I haven’t heard anyone really play this style of music that became quite popular in the early 2000’s for quite a while. I’m reminded of bands like Botch, Luddite Clone, Uphill Battle, etc. only more extreme. It’s a welcome reminder of something I was heavily into at one point, always seeking out the latest band at the time, and I’m very happy to see that the style is alive and well in the hands of Brutal Blues.

A blast from the past and a warning shot to the future.