Axecatcher – We Watch The Sun Burn EP

 

    If like us you thought Axecatcher’s last EP Sparks & Spears was forcibly impressive last year, and it undeniably was, than be prepared to be blown away by We Watch The Sun Burn. The new three track EP from the Irish hardcore band is exceptional, a furious and compelling manipulation of senses and emotions which not only confirms all the early promise of the band but thrusts them up onto the frontline of raw noise conjurors. The maturity bred and songwriting levels reached in the space of a year is stunning; the last release had the potential and weaponry to bring new blood and fury to hardcore, We Watch The Sun Burn realises that promise and so much more.

     Formed in 2011 and hailing from Limavady in Northern Ireland, the then trio of vocalist/guitarist Ryan Montgomery, bassist/backing vocals Colin Wilson, and drummer Danny Kane, made an instant mark with debut single The Odalisque in their first year. The well-received sonic exploration raised an attentive approach towards the band, something that Sparks & Spears turned into a more fevered appetite with its release via Belfast’s Savour Your Scene Records. Between EPs Axecatcher has kept momentum busy with their live shows and appearances, the band sharing stages with bands such as KEN mode and Rotting Out, each adding to their reputation and acclaim. We Watch The Sun Burn though takes things to another level for the band, in sound and stature. The release sees newest member, vocalist Karson Browne adding flavoursome rages to the passionately generated causticity. It is just one aspect where things have flourished over the twelve months or so, everything falling into incendiary place from an already impressive proposition.

    Opener Genghis Thrash Khan is an irresistible contagion from its first seconds. A sonic intrusion makes the first scar but is soon submerged in a rhythmic bombardment and a great vocal provocation from Browne, Montgomery, and Wilson. Once interest is enslaved, the band rampages through the ears with a fire of riffs, a deliciously throaty bass incitement, and the ever destructive might of Kane. Into its rapacious stride, grooves and viciously barbed hooks spear and seduce the passions whilst vocally Browne and the band squall with antagonistic fire and accomplished craft. The track continues to twist and evolve the deeper it entrenches itself into the passions, punk and hardcore fused into a quite magnificent predator of sound

     Easily the best thing on the release and of anything Axecatcher has written to date, the track makes an imposing benchmark for the rest of the EP, something the following Cinders handles with voracious intensity and flesh scorching spite. The opening graze of guitar only hints at the energetic bruising soon uncaged as Montgomery entwines sonic tendrils around the senses whilst riffs gnaw just as feverishly. Rhythms add to the lure with their commanding and crippling cage of sinew driven beats whilst the exhaustive and impressing vocals simply tear strips off their trapped victims. True the song fails to match its predecessor but still builds its own scintillating plateau for others to take inspiration from.

  The closing N.O.V.A. stomps and dances seductively straight away, it’s addictive grooves and discord kissed sonic spearing encased in a infectious embrace of catchy intrigue and masterful invention. Never allowing a moments respite in its psyche carving tempest until its midpoint where the heavy muscular rhythms of Kane pin the senses down by their shoulders in solitude, the furnace of passion and noise is a mouthwatering unpredictable violation and another irrepressible declaration of just how immense the band has become and will continue to grow. It is a staggering conclusion to a primal and instinctive slab of sonically and emotionally spiteful brilliance.

    There are numerous outstanding hardcore bands across the UK and Europe, but right now Axecatcher has taken a march on most with world persuasion definitely on the cards. EP of the year so far certainly, release of the year…it is right there challenging without doubt.

http://www.facebook.com/Axecatcher

http://axecatcher.bandcamp.com

10/10

RingMaster 20/03/2014

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Lantern For A Gale – Cut Throat Blues

A fire of passion and caustic might, Cut Throat Blues the new single from Irish melodic hardcore bruisers Lantern For A Gale simply takes all the great impressions and work of the band through their earlier releases to another level. There is not exactly a massive leap forward in sound or the open invention previous songs carried but there is a new depth and animosity to their ideas which you cannot help being seduced by.

Formed in the spring of 2010, the quintet from the North Coast of Ireland has earned a rich reputation for their heart bred devastating attack of hardcore spite and melodic acid as well as intense live performances. The Land More Hostile EP of last year set the band on a new stature of awareness whilst evolving the promise already in place on the previous self-titled debut EP. Released as a limited double A sided Cassette Tape via Savour Your Scene Records, Cut Throat Blues pushes the  boundaries of the band again to another compelling and abrasive level.

The instant grazing of the senses brought by Cut Throat Blues sets the scene for the maybe expected but even more intensive confrontation offered by Lantern for a Gale, the rhythmic avalanche opening the ear for the simultaneously brewing explosion of sonic and emotive maelstroms to lay their near savage embraces on to the listener. The drums of Allan Starrs pound mercilessly, each beat a resonating boulder of sound and impacting power whilst the guitars of Danny McConaghie and Richard Tweed twist around the damage with sonic flares and melodic fire. It is an intensive evocation of heart and anger which through the exhausting and coarse scowls of vocalist Paul Michael reaches deep into the senses and thoughts. The track is relatively brief which only makes its bruising presence even more potent and pervading, the intensity steering all the emotion via a tempest of aggressive purity.

Second track The Atlas Experiment immediately sears the ear with a sonic scorching with Michael again unloading his heated spite. It is a lethal entrance ensuring a painful and full submission which when it shifts into a hook laden storm of punk coated rock almost seems like the band is taking it easy on us. In fact it is another intensive if less open corruption with grooves and melodic enterprise of the strongest temptation. The bass of Jamie Thompson adds intimidation, as if the song needed it, to ensure shadowed menace is prowling every ‘lighter’ element of the again passion driven sonic toxin. It is an outstanding track and the best of the pair, though both inspire only rich acclaim.

Lantern For A Gale just get better and more powerful with each release with Cut Throat Blues undeniably their finest moment to date, though you feel it is still only a step in their evolution to something even more immense and impacting.

http://www.lanternforagale.com

http://www.facebook.com/lanternforagale

9/10

RingMaster 26/06/2013

 

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Milestones – Crutches

Irish post hardcore band Milestones have announced they have a new release scheduled for later in the summer by unveiling a pair of songs from the forthcoming four track EP. The pair of brawling confrontations simply owns the ear and senses with an enterprise and aggression which declares the band at their most potent yet whilst transforming the appetite for the forthcoming Guys With Beards Records released Blight which will be released on tape/download only, to impatient hunger.

The Dublin quintet of vocalist Peter Kealy, guitarists Jack Marmion and Rafino Murphy, bassist Keith Fish, and Keith Davis on drums, first caught our ear and passion with previous EP Entropy released via Irish independent, Savour Your Scene Records. It was a raw and abrasive assault which bred a strong focus on and greed for the band’s insatiably provocative sound. Rising from the ashes of Out of Nowhere in April 2011, the band has been no stranger to attention, their three track demo Blood earning good praise as did following tracks The Boats and Gone With The Wind upon release. Live performances alongside the likes of Bury Your Dead, Betrayal, and Stick Around only enhanced their presence as did their own impressive shows but it would be fair to say the pair of songs just unveiled find the band at a new plateau of creativity and sonic brutality. When receiving contact about the songs from Keith Davis it has to be said our juices instantly rose up but even that anticipation did not imagine the might ahead of us.

Both Crutches and Doldrums chew up ear and senses, their caustic mix of hardcore and punk blistered into a fresh and predatory sonic acid with complimentary lyrical and vocal burning. Crutches instantly stakes a claim as the best thing the band has ever brewed up in their destructive invention, the track raging with sonic spittle flying from every riff and melodic teasing whilst each syllable finds a mutual toxin of biting venom. Across its demanding gait the song unleashes a fury of energy and merciless intensity but with ease also slows it to a prowling rapaciousness at times which is arguably even more menacing and corrosive than when things reach maelstrom proportions. Kealy ravages words and senses with his expected unbridled spite but finds more expression than ever before and framed within the outstanding rhythmic attack of Davis, as the guitars and bass unleash their viciously licking flames across their bow, it is a contagious yet overwhelming ferociousness of sheer joy.

Doldrums equally sends the body into cowering shock before its demanding and shifting abuse, the bass of Fish especially threatening and absorbing with its throat tearing growl. The track into its stride is rock ‘n’ roll at its nasty best, the band employing much more than that original post hardcore tag suggests. It is a savage and invigorating onslaught which leaves the listener a wasted grinning shell, its scintillating violence seducing and sucking forth the life from their energy but igniting stronger passion.

Milestones already suggested they were a cut above the other similarly sculpted bands but these Ciaran Parnell produced songs set them well apart and sets Blight on a suggested pedestal which you just know it will rule with ease. Roll on the summer is all that is left to say.

https://www.facebook.com/milestonesdublin

http://milestonesdublin.bandcamp.com

9/10

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RingMaster 31/05/2013

 

Axecatcher – Sparks & Spears

If in a rare moment of lucid insanity you wondered what standing eye to eye with an electric paint stripper would be like once its switch was flicked Sparks & Spears from Irish sonic aggravators Axecatcher gives you the most vivid representation of the effect. Caustically malevolent and abrasively determined, the four track EP is an impressive and inciting fury with addiction causing sounds to back up its unbridled passion.

Hailing from Limavady, the hardcore driven trio of vocalist/guitarist Ryan Montgomery, bassist/backing vocals Colin Wilson, and drummer Danny Kane, has taken no time since forming in late 2011 in recruiting an ardent and passionate following for their heavy, intrusive, and merciless sound with acclaim not far behind especially with the release of their first single, the seven minute senses aggressor The Odalisque in the July of last year. The track drew strong attention their way which Sparks & Spears will only build upon and accelerate with its recent release via the excellent Belfast label Savour Your Scene Records digitally and as a limited cassette.

From the opening scrub of guitar bringing Circle Pit Roller Derby into focus, there is a sense of animosity and belligerence in the air but also a feeling of irresistible compulsion soon reinforced by the expulsion of squalling acidic vocals from Montgomery, punchy rhythms, and a groove which gnaws at the ear with immediate contagion. Bass and guitar make a vociferous call within the fiery assault, their temptation relatively familiar but extremely potent whilst the vocals continue to leave a raw and uncomfortable challenge to accept or fall before. The track has a rich breath of punk to its harsh muscular ferocity, like a mix of Cancer Bats and early Therapy?, and leaves the appetite burning for more which is soon rewarded with the following Seismic Toss.

Thrusting intense riffs and again crisp enslaving rhythms at the ear, the song unleashes an additional sonic scarring as deep and rich as the corrosive vocals accompanying it, all within a sturdy but less predatory rock confrontation compared to the punk attitude of its predecessor. As the song expands its persistent grazing it moves shuffles its gait without losing any of the passionate intensity and flesh peeling almost feral hunger, the track initially charging at the senses like a downhill aimed sinew clad missile before emerging as a doom lined rapacious prowl both with the equal result of full submission to its intent.

Methuselah is the best track on the release, a twisted conspiracy of deliciously infectious sonic fuelled grooves and a cleaner but still confrontational vocal attack this time from Wilson. The track is so brief, too short to be honest with an audible groan expelled here as it finishes its impressive presence in under a minute, but again shows the extent of imagination and even greater promise within Axecatcher and their songwriting. The track leaves the strongest lustful greed in tow for the EP and further tempests from the band, its evolving presence and ridiculously persuasive enterprise alone a reason for marking the band in the centre of one’s attentive radar.

The final song Youfinder also reveals further strength in the creativity of the band, its sirenesque sonic entrapment wrapped in an intense wash of melodic temptation and aggressive passion fired up further by the searing scourge of vocals from Montgomery, his touch arguably going to be a do or die encounter for many but certainly as essential to the heart of the sound as the excellently crafted music itself.

Sparks & Spears is a strongly impressive announcement of a band which has all the potential and suggested weaponry to bring a new blood and breath to hardcore. Axecatcher will also not be taking any prisoners in their destined ascent as shown by this excellent EP.

www.facebook.com/axecatcher

http://savouryourscenerecords.bandcamp.com/album/sparks-spears

8.5/10

RingMaster 10/03/2013

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Coilguns/NVRVD: Split EP

Everything about the new split release between Swiss sonic manipulators Coilguns and German hardcore destructors NVRVD (Never Void) is stunningly impressive. From the 10″ black & white marbled vinyl presentation through to the synapse staggering heart thrilling sounds, the release is exceptional. From previous Coilguns releases there is now a set expectation of something special with each confrontation upon the ear, but with this split they and equally NVRVD have pushed up that bar for and pleasure from violent noise driven invention.

Released through a clutch of labels in Dead Dead Dead Music, Hummus Records, Savour Your Scene Records, and Invektiv Records, the release finds two  new tracks from each band paired with a couple of live cuts from both too on the digital download version. It is a full and explosive mix of studio and live which is raw and intrusive alongside being experimental and imaginative. Each song holds down the senses to violate and abuse whilst igniting a smouldering glow within as they stand grinning over their prize, your passions. If either band has raised your temperature and heart rate before than the split will leave you simpering in your own blissful juices, if both are new than a devastating treat is in store.

First up Coilguns unleashes two caustic sonic delights in Mandarin Hornet and Dewar Flasks. With their debut

photo by Gobinder Jhitta

release, the outstanding split with Kunz and the following thirty minute brutal intimidation of Stadia Rods, the trio of Louis Jucker, Jona Nido, and Luc Hess set out their stall as one of the more inventive and twisted sonic manipulators around and this pair of tracks only elevate that standing. Opener Mandarin Hornet roughly but with reserved aggression strokes the ear with its initial presence, the riffs salty rather than abrasive and rhythms cagey rather than destructive. The opener prowl is certainly steamy if not a furnace of intensity and continually intrigues thoughts and winds around the ear with unpredictable gait and lustful intent. The bristling energies soon erupt into a torrent of antagonistic guitar and drum assaults whilst the bass chews at flesh with relish. As the track rampages it also twists through an onslaught of magnificent breaks, diversions, and sonic teasing so that the experience is as compulsive as it is a fiery corruption. The band has never sounded so good or as innovative and they were no slouches before as their previous tracks showed with ease.

Devour Flasks is a two minute scything of corrosive sonics and blistering vehemence, the guitars scorching sense and synapse whilst the rhythms just stomp the debris into the ground. It is a track which borders on painful for all the right reasons and leaves a delicious soreness in its wake. If the first song did not leave disorientation enveloping the senses this second gets the job done on all levels. It is a rabid furnace and viciously beautiful.

Formed in 2004, the Minden trio of Christian and Stefan Braunschmidt, and Lukas Heier, has been on a steady rise as NVRVD. From their debut album Watch Me Burn and through strong live performances the band picked up good responses to their sound early on whilst the following releases A Grain Thrown In The Sandbox of 2010 and A Memory Of Angst placed the band as certainly ones to watch closely if not more. With an EP in the pipeline for 2013 their two songs on the split leaves one eager for its release. Even rawer than the sound of Coilguns, if that is possible, the hardcore driven assaults of Hungry For Needs and Direktore are tempests of burning energy and malicious degenerative invention, their ever shifting and twisting hook entrapments soaked in vindictive intent within the eroding intensity which shields their insidious charms. The first of the pair leaps upon the ear with spite, anger, and a fury of bone splitting rhythms and scathing riffs. It is the intertwining groove and acidic squall to the voice of the guitars which triggers the most adoration, their squealing pleas the perfect foil to and conspirator with the abusive vocals and drums. The following Direktore takes a slower less direct approach to its victim yet still leaves nothing but a smouldering carcass behind, the snarling bass and venomous guitar play engaging with a constantly changing form of contact, whether a hit and run or seize, burn and scar capture of affection it achieves  its target with ease.

The digital release also contains live tracks of Mastoid and Parkensine from Coilguns alongside Son Of Man and Null And Void from NVRVD, all showing why you should check the bands out on stage if they come anywhere near to you. Powerful, energy sapping, and wholly invigorating the quartet of songs throw you right into their live storms for pleasure and further realisation how impressive both bands are.

There have been many releases this year which deserve your hard earned cash but this is right to the fore and marks Coilguns and now also NVRVD as bands which will take extreme noise to new triumphant levels.

www.facebook.com/coilguns

www.facebook.com/NVRVD

www.coilguns.bandcamp.com

RingMaster 02/11/2012

 

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

Three Hour Ceasefire: Cry Havoc

Inspired by death and thrash metal from the late eighties and early nineties, Irish metalers Three Hour Ceasefire have fused those sounds into an impressive powerful entity of their own as proven with their debut EP Cry Havoc. The release does not venture into the creation of new and rigorous realms to play within but instead has revitalised and stretched existing and influential essences with their own invention into a thoroughly compelling and exciting outcome.

Formed in 2008, the quartet from Limerick has emerged through line-up changes to become one of the more formidable and promising bands in the Irish metal scene. They have been compared to a mix of Sepultura and Entombed, something which is as accurate a description as any, though there is a distinctive breath permeating the sound which sets the band apart. Arguably the band do not stand aside of others as widely as one feels they are destined to as they evolve further, but within the at times familiar feel there is a fresh and pulsating heart of invention emerging.

As the six tracks within Cry Havoc rampage upon the senses there is a strength and defiance to the sound and intensity which reflects and comes from, as their bio states, seeing and being directly affected by the decline of the industrial and building trade across not only Ireland but their hometown. The release, through Savour Your Scene Records, is definitely a confrontational and provocative slice of fury and one which enflames the senses from first track to last.

The EP is opened by the spiralling spite of Time Of The Empty Throne, a song which soaks the ear with malevolence like an insatiable tempest. Its energy is a slow invading storm which corrupts each and every pore whilst being speared by sharp guitar play and riotous riffs. Its heart is unrelenting, an insistent burrowing sonic presence providing a malicious canvas for the guttural expulsions and destructive rhythms. More than a mere intro it effectively does draw one into the eye of the storm, the following excellence of Behold, Rejoice.

The track is a rolling thunder of inciteful riffs and barracking rhythms enclosed in a heavy oppressive intensity. The song twists within its umbrella weight to keep the senses unsettled but deeply occupied whilst the melodic grind and shadowed flourishes capture the imagination unerringly.

As the next track Trial Of Wounds continues the eager and irresistible blackened contamination the one and only criticism towards the release is taking shape. The track itself is another shifting animal of unpredictable ideas and striking imagination, a song which does not quite leave one open mouthed with originality but ignites every spark within for a satisfied raging fire. As it departs after another mere two minutes that one thing which inspires a moan is wild, the tracks are so damn short. Normally not something which bothers but the pleasure given by the songs makes it a real disappointment when their final notes scarper so soon.

When Prophecy Fails is a song which does stay much longer within the ear but actually does not have the same deep infection as found in the other songs, though the length has no bearing. It is a strong and combative track with vision and expertise rife within its heavy walls, the guitars alternately a melodic stroke and caustic rub whilst again vocally the ear is given an abrasive dose of raw throat expulsions, but it does not manage to trigger anything more than good appreciation.

The remaining tracks Trench Knife and Fall Under Foot return to the high grade quality, the first and best track on the Cry Havoc, a festering bruise full of aural colour and sonic addiction. The thrash air of the band is present in every song but is unleashed for a full throated rage across this and the closer. The track bleeds into Fall Under Foot to allow no time to take a breath before the final rampage of creative violence and annihilatory abuse wages invention upon the ear. It is a masterful and thrilling end to an equally impressive debut and sets Three Hour Ceasefire up as one of the bands to watch very closely.

Though one cannot say Cry Havoc is the best debut to emerge this year it certainly is one of the most promising and pleasing, and gives evidence that Three Hour Ceasefire has the armoury to become a very important band for metal.

http://www.threehourceasefire.net/

RingMaster 27/08/2012

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Milestones: Entropy

Raw, abrasive, and deliberately confrontational, Irish post hardcore band Milestones is already well on the way to making a dent not only in their homeland but further afield, something their new release can only reinforce. Their new EP Entropy is an impressive swipe of aural brutality, one bruising bully to endure but be fully rewarded by. It leaves one clutching a support under its onslaught but full of complete satisfaction from its violent presence.

The quintet from Dublin rose from the ashes of Out of Nowhere in April 2011. With the band name came the Blood demo, a three track release which marked the new direction and set in motion the growing attention and power the band has since triggered. Two tracks The Boats and Gone With The Wind followed, each pulling further acclaim, whilst the band consistently destroyed stages alongside the likes of US band Bury Your Dead, Betrayal and Stick Around. Entropy is evidence of the band growing quickly and finding a depth to their music within songs of sheer towering intensity and undeniable quality. Released as a limited tape cassette via Savour Your Scene Records, just 100 units available, and as a download, the six track release is one to rupture senses and fry thoughts whilst igniting both into action just as equally.

Still Organs scrapes raw from its opening graze upon the ear and is soon probing the wound with a fury of tumultuous riffs and spiteful vocals. The delivery of Peter Kealy, backed by Jack Marmion and Rafino Murphy, simply crushing notes into being with plaintive cries and earnest shouts to match the inciteful guitar play of the other pair. The track is barely in excess of a minute but is a corruptive and stirring beast.

The following Premonitions carries the great start to even more intense heights. Again vocals and guitars strip flesh with their caustic might whilst the drums of Keith Davis rifle and plunder the ear with strong challenging beats and the bass of Keith Fish is a predatory stalker within the sonic violence. Again short, the song is an impact which leaves lingering marks to satisfy all with its extreme musical vehemence.

Needing an extra focus to delve beneath the surface acid, the EP is a varied and intelligent piece of songwriting. It is not an easy listen at times admittedly, and probably too harsh for some, but given time it unveils some of the freshest and more invigorating music to emerge in post hardcore for a long time. The outstanding Old Hands and arguably even better Graveside, leave the air sizzling as their venom is squeezed out through confronting rhythms and incendiary melodic enterprise all brought within a tight sonic whipping. There is a definite punk vein pulsating throughout, especially in the second of these two songs, which adds to the temper and cantankerous attitude of the music and rubs that little bit harder on its target.

Entropy ends with the riveting manipulative tones of Pound OF Flesh, a track which takes a different though no less intense journey than before and the brawling nasty Ladders. The second is a concussive blistering which takes its time to emerge out of an initial chaotic storm to evolve into an infectious and compulsive weave of emotion and expressive rock.

Influences for the band come from the likes of Comeback kid, Defeater, Everytime I Die, and Lower than Atlantis, and to that elements of bands like Gallows and Ghost Of A Thousand also emerge as the EP plays. Milestones has a distinct energy and sound which with Entropy sure to recruit more and more wasted contented ears, pretty much means there will be no stopping them.

https://www.facebook.com/milestonesdublin

RingMaster 27/08/2012

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