Some Will Never Know*
"Digging" through my record collection is one of my favourite recreation activities. Having a collection built in the last 30 years and which consists of several thousand items, it is too often the case that I can "rediscover" an item that I haven't listened to for years or I have even forgotten owning. This was the case with the double CD compilation, Prone Mortal Form/Innocents which contains the two albums released by Only Living Witness.
Only Living Witness were a Boston band which to be honest I never understood why they were classified under the Hardcore genre. For sure they have originated and kept close ties throughout their career with a "scene" as iconic as the Boston one but their sound was actually owing more to Black Sabbath than to Minor Threat. Groovy with the necessary - for the time they were released - Grunge elements, riff and not speed based, their two albums were excellent artefacts of the 90s hard sound. Internal conflicts unfortunately led to their disbanding something really sad in my opinion as bands who can write songs like December (which was later covered by Shadows Fall) do not deserve to vanish into obscurity.
Totally thinking in an associative way I was reminded of another song named December contained in the monumental album Leaves Turn Inside You by Unwound. Never before noise rock, jazz and progressive have been so perfectly combined in another album than this. Being frequently classified in the same category as bands like Fugazi, Slint or Women, Unwound were responsible for a sound much more introspective than their hardcore/grunge contemporaries proving that sometimes you can "say" a lot more without "shouting"...
Leaves Turn Inside You is rather rare to be purchased these days and the few remaining copies are quite expensive but you can "experience" the whole beauty of it in the Bandcamp link below. An album which in my opinion belongs in the "pantheon" of post hardcore.
Playlist of this month
Kvadrat - Ψυχική Αποσύνθεση
Even though coming from Greece, Kvadrat do not follow the traditional sound of the local "scene" and of bands like Rotting Christ, Necromantia, Thou Art Lord and Varathron. Their EP sounds more modern with its usage of dissonant but also accessible melodies and that is absolutely OK in my opinion.
Borgne - Temps Morts
Less dark and more well worked than its predecessor (an album which has been my introduction to the industrial Black Metal of Borgne), Temps Morts could have benefited from a smaller duration, however it still remains a solid release.
Ad Nauseam - Imperative Imperceptible Impulse
Last year it was Ulcerate's Stare Into Death and Be Still, this year Ad Nauseam take turn into providing an album that pushes the boundaries of creativity to the most extreme limits...
AmenRa - De Doorn
Already polarising concerning its ranking within the discography of the Belgian band, however for me the real "issue" is the lack of any "surprising" element. De Doorn sounds exactly as "good' as someone who have expected it to sound and in my opinion this perfectly showcases the saturation of the genre...
*The Blog post title is taken from the same-named song contained in the album Prone Mortal Form by Only Living Witness.....
#OnlyLivingWitness #ShadowsFall #Unwound #Fugazi #Slint #Women #Kvadrat #Borgne #AdNauseam #Ulcerate #AmenRa