Labels: Dream Comes True – Pure Heart
Review by: Oli Saunders
Gattaca (named after the fairly good sci-film film I presume) hail from the Czech Republic and contain members of Dakhma and Lakmé, two underrated bands that have both now broken up but who did some interesting things with punk. I always found the concepts and lyrics of Dakhma and Lakmé interesting to read, and there is definite crossover in the sounds that the three bands have. The music of Gattaca is in crust territory, but song foundations are very different to typical crust, which all starts to sound the same to my ears after a while. And this is what makes me really like Gattaca; they play music that contains melody but is pretty angry sounding in a way that I haven’t heard before. The songs are reasonably fast (but much slower than typical crust) but also quite steady, relying on great riffs and vocals that stand out – a solid amalgamation of styles. I like the slow start to the record, with instrumentation and an audio sample, then everything drives along. There are build ups and finales, the end of the second track is especially notable. The length of the record is perfect for the band – often a full length can get tiresome but half a side works here. Fans of Lakmé. Dakhma, Alpinist and November 13th should get on this right away.
Clamant! hail from Mexico and I wasn’t sure what to expect from them – the country provides lots of obscure bands that do some pretty cool and original things, though rarely is it top notch. What we have here is more punk / crust / screamo crossover stuff, which fits in well with the first side of the split. The first song ‘Todas Esas Cosas Por Cuya Existencia Mas Entusiasmo Sentimos’ is sensational, a slow build up gives way to some absolutely quality hardcore – the best song on the split for sure – there are great melodies and numerous vocalists, including one member doing his best impression of Yaphet Kotto’s sung vocals. I fucking love that sound. The remaining two songs don’t quite live up to the first but remain solid. I would definitely also recommend Clamant! if you like the bands mentioned above.
Put out by Petr of Pure Heart records and Nico of Dream Comes true. A nice touch is that lyrics are given in Czech, English and Spanish. Worth checking out.
23rd October 2010