Labels: Inkblot
Review by: Chaz Hewitt
Picked up a few bits and pieces from Inkblot, and always been very pleased so was excited for this one. 1994 are from Lancaster, Pennsylvania and Spires are from Oakland, California.
First up is the Spires side. Don’t think I’d heard these guys properly until I picked this up, but had heard some rave reviews of their lp from my brother. Spires play slowish, heavy almost screamo stuff. Really intense, really cool. The first song on this side, “Leaving for Home’ is awesome. Nice, ambient feedback builds up with a cool drum beat, and the guitars play noisy lines over the top of each other, as shouted, screamed and spoken vocals fit on top of it perfectly. It keeps a similar pace, and treads along real nice, without feeling the need to come to some huge crescendo climax like a lot of post-rocky screamo seems to feel the need to. The guitars weave back and forth, and the build up is nice and subtle. The other two tracks on this side don’t disappoint either, especially the last track, the tempo and dynamics are all over the shop and there’s some really cool guitar work, and the vocals are nice and desperate sounding. Good shit.
1994’s side matches up perfectly. For anyone who didn’t pick up their lp, 1994 play really great mathy, noisy, emo sort of stuff. The three tracks on here are all really manic; drums and guitar riffs flying all over the place. The vocals are shouted, almost hollered over the top sporadically. Although technically impressive (the drummer really rules!) this never really gets in the way of the intensity of the songs, and the passion of the tunes comes through first and foremost. Killer band.
Another solid release from Inkblot, with two bands doing what they do really well. Comes on a nice blue wax and there’s a cool card insert with some sweet drawing on.
Recommended!