Labels: Bloody Sound Fucktory – By Wallace – Shove – The Fucking Clinica
Review by: Oli Saunders
Italy does not get near enough credit for its innovative and raging hardcore bands. La Quiete and Raein of course get a fair bit of attention, but there are so many others that are pushing musical boundaries. The Infarto Scheisse and Lady Tornado have intense chaotic sounds that stand out and sound unlike most other bands. I recently discovered Lafalce who were pre The Infarto Scheisse and are also pretty raging. Then there are plenty of great screamo bands such as Violent Breakfast and more recent ones such as Morning Wood and Chinese Dama. Bands such as A Flower Kollapsed also play this sound but with more noise elements. Somewhere in amongst all of this lie Gerda, playing heavy and chaotic hardcore that is so fucking awesome and intense. Apparently people who like Gerda should also like Breach, Dissonant, Violent and Hard To Swallow. I must admit I’ve not heard of any of these bands so I guess I am not the fountain of knowledge I had thought. Guess I had better check them all out.
Gerda continue their brand of chaotic hardcore along similar lines to their previous album ‘Cosa Dico Quando Non Parlo’ on this new 12”. I only labelled it as ‘screamo post metal noise’ in the abstract because I don’t really know how to define it – I saw a distro call it this and found it quite funny. The first side of this LP is much like the previous album. It doesn’t really let up at any point, the vocalist screams away like something tragic has happened and the instruments all combine together to make a noise that I greatly enjoy. To be honest it kind of all merges together and sounds the same but maybe it requires many listens to fully appreciate the chaotic beauty. I like the basic sound that is going on so am happy anyway. Bits of it remind me of Dolcim, just a little slower but just as intense. There are some similarities with The Infarto Scheisse too I think. Maybe some people will find it a bit too samey but its hard to remain ultra intense and not have parts that sound similar.
The second side of the record goes a bit more experimental. They even mellow out a bit at times. It still sounds fantastic and so should be applauded that the band are being a bit more original that their standard sound. The lyrics are said to be introspective and desperate but there is no English translation or explanations. Overall, this is great stuff and maybe you will enjoy it too.
P.S. I just noticed after writing this review that Kunal has reviewed Gerda’s first album. So check this out as well!
24th August 2009