Labels: Slave Union
Review by: Andy Malcolm
Whole bunch of bands on this here compilation. Doesn’t appear to have a theme, just a bunch of bands on a record. Which is fair enough.
We kick off with Death of Anna Karina, who are from somewhere in Europe. They do a pretty solid screamy emo type effort, with a blend of grooving bass and “oh oh ohhhh”wavering vocals. It’s not proper emo of course because it has a keyboard, but it is an enjoyable track, albeit nothing out of the ordinary. Rats into Robots I have heard before and they aren’t my cuppa to be honest, kinda metallic screamo along the lines of things like Orchid and the like. On the flip of the first disc we are treated to Kodan Armada (OMG!), who are dishing out some more of their emotional chaos. Lots of flailing, “bunch of kids in the Star Wars trash compactor” vocals and a whole lot of good. This band continues to impress. Nice breakdown with crying parts too. If It Doesn’t Kill You dutifully follow in the Armada’s wake, sounding a little out of place with their nice and pretty melodic intro, before they shed the pleasantries and screech. Spirit of Versailles type shenanigans. I am guessing they are still new to writing songs, it’s a bit messy and doesn’t flow that well, especially from the distorted noisy parts into the clean sections, but still this is interesting none the less.
Platter number two is initiated with the Assailant (not the Assistant). They play metal, this is not remotely the kind of music I enjoy. Never mind. Luckily they are followed by the ever excellent La Quiete, the Italian masters of frantic emo. They keep putting out comp tracks lately, come on and do that LP! This song is let down a bit by the totally buried vocals, and is not the best thing they’ve done but it is good. Coming down the home stretch, here we have Phoenix Bodies, who play intense and explosive hardcore with harsh screamed vocals. Not bad but a bit too noisy for my frail ears these days. Rounding things off is the mighty Die, Emperor! Die! who close out a good record with another stunning slice of gorgeous emo. Twinkly build ups ahoy, distant crying vocals, slow and mournful sounds that build up gently into repetitious riffs and the tumultuous finale. There’s a mutual love of Indian Summer and a style comparable to that which Breakwater had on their essential 7″.