Matsuri - Endship (2010)

I've always loved the counteracting extremes withing screamo. When I first heard Kulara a couple years ago, going from the rapid, thrashy-ness of something like Bridge to the soft acoustic beauty of Episodes was incredible. The beauty of each style work with and against each other into and incredible feeling. Matsuri is no different. In fact, it's evident from the first song. The beginning of a four part piece goes in and out of these two styles, beginning with the serene, adding harsh vocals, then clashing everything together and back. Bittersweet melodies flow and ebb in and out of the foreground and the entire sound just seems so jarring on the surface. Everything is so well-done, though, and as this album continues on, you'll notice how incredibly flush everything sounds. All in its right place, for sure.

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Logs-Hogz (2011)

The lastest effort from this band, including Alex Gaziano of Kidcrash, finally makes it out after two years of waiting. I guess I'm a bit late, it was "officially released" on the first, available before then, but now is as good as time as any, right?

First, it isn't really an album that would necessitate two years of prep, which is good. Although the post-hardcore memories signaled through this album are beautiful and thick and all other sorts of adjectives, it's got a general ugliness and simplicity to it, that's necessity for this genre.

Not too much to say... it starts with a charming enough opener, a sample of a kid exclaiming of his need to "scream and cry", followed by several kids doing just that, leading into a couple of crash cymbols and strong enough riff with, of course, some screaming vocals. Throughout the album it works with a bit of a loud-soft dynamic in it's general structure. Despite that, superficially, I can't say too much about it in comparison with the genre at whole, it's not derivative and it's not boring, it's just one of those "genre pieces" that gets a lot right.

I don't think it has an album cover, so there's a sloth... there was one on their self-titled EP. Well, last.fm is using this as the album cover, so I guess maybe this is as good as any.

buy... I'm not sure. The only record label I've seen that "has it" makes no mention on their site.

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Time To Burn - Is.Land (2007)

The first few moments of the album hint at an all of this like the prelude to an oncoming storm, with distant dissonant guitar lines that only give a glimpse of what is to come. Soon after, huge (and I mean really huge) riffs are introduced, distorting the noise around them (including the screams of the singer) and bringing everything to a breathtaking climax within the first two minutes. After this, ‘Nayeli’ simply continues the onslaught, as does every other song on the album. But Time To Burn don’t keep to one tempo or style, throughout the fourty minute playing time of Is.Land Time To Burn pace things, slowing it down at times with doom like riffs, or ambient post-metal build ups, either slow and powerful or quiet and menacing, never relenting on the paranoid and bitter ambience that surrounds the release.

Very unique blend of genres within this album is not unlike that of The Pax Cecillia, if you want an album that is pure aggression and devoid of happy thoughts this is a defiant go to album. Plus they're French.

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