End of All
Places
Halo of Flies (2009)
Sweden is a country known for its thrash and death metal bands. End of All's name had me thinking of End This Day. And since they are from Sweden I figured they'd be a Euro-thrash influenced metalcore band. But they are not, thankfully. "Into the Abyss" opens with a slow churning building riffing before it launches into a ferocious metal … Read more
Get Rad
Choose Your Own Adventure
Halo of Flies (2011)
Choose Your Own Adventure is the latest offering from Midwestern hardcore punk four-piece Get Rad.“Be the Wave” is the first track. Seeing as how Get Rad is from Milwaukee, WI I’m not convinced the song is about surfing though. I suppose it could be a metaphor for skateboarding. Perhaps the wave is actually made of concrete? That means if you … Read more
Jungbluth
Part Ache
Halo of Flies (2013)
Karl Jungbluth was a German communist involved with various resistance groups that stood up against National Socialism and the Nazis. Expectedly enough, he got arrested twice in a decade and the second time turned out to be fatal. He was executed along with fellow resistance fighters on January 12, 1945.Alpinist was a four-piece crust/hardcore punk band from Münster, Germany formed … Read more
Light Bearer
Silver Tongue
Halo of Flies (2013)
The hyper literate lads of Light Bearer have always kept a level of consistency within their records. whether through the content lyrically , or musically the band have always been nothing but themselves. So here the band return with their second official LP and delving deeper into stretched out structures. While the band have never written "short" songs on this … Read more
Masakari
Eden Compromised
Halo of Flies (2009)
After one listen to Eden Compromised, it's not surprising to find that Masakari take their name from a battle-axe used in ancient Japan. The four songs that make up this debut 7" are as destructive as a blow to the skull with such a weapon. "The War Within" is a thundering, metallic slab of meaty riffs and pummeling, chaotic drums. … Read more
Momentum
Whetting Occam's Razor
Halo of Flies (2012)
Momentum is a melodic hardcore band from the UK that writes music with a message. Whetting Occam's Razor is a full length that explores many different ideas with smart lyrics. Front man Alex (of Light Bearer and formerly Fall of Efrafa) writes with reason and intent combined with powerful music. At times, this album comes together to be something special. … Read more
Northless
No Quarter for the Damaged
Halo of Flies (2009)
I could start and end this review with just one word: brutal. Unfortunately, I think my editor would prefer a few more words. This is a four-song 12 inch EP of sludge metal transposed over crust punk dynamics. Nothing on this EP goes very fast, the tempos get ramped up in each song but the riffs are so thick and … Read more
Protestant
Reclamation
Halo of Flies (2012)
Protestant have around since 2007, yet it feels like longer. Mind you this isn't a put down as much as it is a reflection upon their multitude of releases. In the last 6 years the band has managed to cobble together a discography that reaches into the double digits. Throughout said discography the band has managed to broaden their original … Read more
Protestant
Stalemate EP
Halo of Flies (2011)
Since 2004 the crusty troupe of Protestant has been blasting out fierce songs with reckless abandon. So with that said their most recent release, after a nearly uncountable number of records, comes to us through Halo Of Flies. It does seem rather tough at first glance to see how this sticks out from the labels bread and butter. That is … Read more
Various Artists
Alpinist / Masakari - Split
Halo of Flies (2011)
Both Alpinist and Masakari have made alot of progress in becoming well known within the hardcore scene in a rather short period of time. Alpinist hail from Germany and over the course of 5 years have managed 2 full lengths and this split. While Masakari come out of Cleavland and have managed to release 2 EPs as well as a … Read more
Various Artists
Drainland / Enabler - Split EP
Halo of Flies (2012)
Splits are, in general, a simultaneously good and bad thing. For each split that flows and feels strong through out (maybe even introduces you to a new band) there are probably 10 more that feel more like a way for bands to get rid of otherwise discarded songs. So with a bit of trepidation i grabbed this split and put … Read more
Various Artists
Northless / Light Bearer - Split LP
Halo of Flies (2012)
Lightbearer and Northless are two bands that tend to resemble parallel curved lines. They share bits and pieces stylistically but never quite touch. Where Lightbearer create atmosphere and spice in some brutality within their artistic and literate story-songs, Northless avoid pretense by creating brutally lurching pieces. So when you bring these two bands together it may be hard to see … Read more
