Book of Dead Names is red hot, your band ain’t doodely squat. Wow, this LP surprised me to be honest. I received an enquiry about whether I would be stocking it in my distro not so long ago and I replied with the typically jaded response “I don’t know if I am interested in hearing any more 1999 screamo”. I mean, that was three and whatever years ago, I thought I was sick to the back teeth of bands rehashing it in less than invigorating ways. Why would I want to go back and listen to a band that I found to be pretty inconsequential at the time? Well, I hold my hands up. I was wrong, then and now. Book of Dead Names smokes! Illegal substances probably!
If you didn’t know this band has the same singer as Song of Zarathustra and it’s probably the missing link between the SoZ 10″ and the first LP. They play aggressive, punk / hardcore emo in the vein of bands like Angel Hair, Mohinder and so forth – in other words, they absolutely rage. Everything explodes in a passion and fire that very few bands in this style capture these days. It’s a relentless assault on the ear but they don’t metal and they don’t screech in an annoying way, they don’t play many keyboards apart from here and there, rather they just yell fast and angrily whilst playing guitars with a flagrant disregard for your earholes. It is moshable, catchy and downright good. No two ways about it, this is a fucking great compilation and if you at all like bands that “go off” then you should listen to Book of Dead Names. Lots of shitty bands should listen to Book of Dead Names too, because they would learn a thing or too. And isn’t even “screamo” man, this is emo violence! Remember when people called it emo violence? It wasn’t even so long ago.
Yeah, fucking yeah. Great.