Labels: ruined smile
Review by: Joao
I have here the Masada demo tape released by Ruined Smile. Matt continues on his quest to release
quality bands from all over the place, using incredible packaging, while in Australia. He must be really
bored over there because this is really elaborate (just kidding Matt, i love it – more bands should put
this much effort into making shit like this).
The first song reminds me of early 00’s emo/screamo bands from Central Europe. Kind of like a more frantic Belle Epoque with a heavier guitar sound. I would say this is the prevailing sound throughout the tape with some added variety such as the clean vocals in the second song or the more upbeat guitar melodies and rhythm in the third song with even some chugs going on at one point. The guitar sound is even very reminiscent of Euro-screamo bands from Germany ten years ago.
It is cool to see a band playing this utterly outdated style of music in 2015. They seem to care about DIY and i am sure their hearts are in the right place.
Maybe it is just that I have listened to this sound a bit too much (if you could somehow log overall time listening to 00’s Euro-screamo I would likely be in the top 10 worldwide – not a good thing.) but in the end it all sounds a bit generic. I hope to see some more interesting ideas in future releases – I certainly hope they keep going as there is promise in this for sure.
All in all, a pretty good demo if a bit generic sounding to my ears, but would suggest others give it a listen
and judge for yourselves really.