Astpai
Burden Calls
Jump Start (2014)
I’m not sure what this says about me, but I like Astpai’s Burden Calls just fine but it takes until they pull a sample from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (the original) to hit that next level. It has little to nothing to do with the actual songs, but somehow it shifts the tone and the energy just picks up at “Death Everywhere” after Master Splinter’s sage words.The band has a strong ‘90s tone. Think melodic hardcore like Good Riddance but with gruff vocals a la No Idea Records bands. There are big melodic hooks with dramatic and sweeping melodies. The vocals are piled atop and hoarse, shouting into a dark void. All in all, without consulting a lyric sheet, there’s a dark feel to this compared with the aforementioned references. The songs are built on plodding progressions and those soaring melodies culminate in a gigantic roar. It’s a technique repeated throughout the record.That reuse of form doesn’t hinder but it does tend to make the songs blur together more than they should. Movie clips serve to break that similarity and it works for a few seconds, but it’s a cheater course of action that doesn’t work over the whole record. … Read more
Girl Scout
Self Titled EP
Independent (2014)
Musically tight and lyrically inventive, Pittsburgh, PA-based, self-proclaimed “slacker rock” group Girl Scout seems to draw inspiration from various indie … Read more
John, The Void
Self Titled EP
Independent (2014)
Proving that Italians can do the doomy, post-metal thing just as well as anyone else, mysterious and methodical five-piece group … Read more
Earthless & Heavy Blanket
In a Dutch Haze
Outer Battery Records / Roadburn Records (2014)
Hour-long songs can be somewhat of a hard sell. For starters, there has to be an audience of listeners who … Read more
