Memento Mori & Hell Mouth is a compilation of this newish Northern Jersey hardcore band called Pellinore. I decided to take this CD on one of my many bus trips around the metropolitan areas the encompass Minneapolis/St. Paul and the surrounding suburbs. This time the trip was to the Mall of America. I hate going to the Mall of America. Okay, scratch that. If I truly loathed going to the Mall of America I would never go. There's nothing at The Mall that I can't find at any other mall in the Twin Cities. I always think going to the Mall of America is a good idea at first but the moment I walk onto the 54 bus I feel like stopping at the next stop and going back home. Going to the Mall of America is always a bad idea, even before it's in hindsight. The only time it's a good idea is the first moment it steps into your mind as, "Hey I should go to the mall and look at pants." I need to stop myself here from now on before I step on the bus and take the forty minute ride to whatever is the biggest soul-sucking, pride-sapping, integrity depleting structure of steel, cements, and Gap stores even bestowed by Satan himself in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington.
The 54 was packed with teenagers screaming at one another and into each other's phone. My eyes instantly struck the back of my head as I found a seat next to an old lady that smelled one one-half roses and one-half death. I reached into my bag and pulled out Memento Mori & Hell Mouth and prayed that hardcore would take me away. At first I didn't like what I heard. The first thing that came to mind was "oof" as I thought Pellinore was the first band in a long run of upcoming bands that sound like Ceremony. It's not that I don't like Ceremony, I'm just not ready for an onslaught of Ceremony type bands since Ceremony themselves haven't even been around that long to inherit some impersonators. From the pig squeal vocals to the short barbs of over the top noise trash. Yeah it's all in your face and it's all brutal, but really already? Come on. The trip to the Mall of America now felt a voyage down the river Styx and the teenagers just keep getting louder.
Fast forward to two weeks later. It's a chilly but pleasant fall night in my hood of the Ford Parkway. I need to go to Lunds and get some sort of strawberry soda because this carving can't be quelled with anything else. We've all had those nights. So I suited up and brought Memento Mori & Hell Mouth with me for the short four block jaunt. This time Pellinore was great, though it still sounds like Ceremony, but Ceremony sounds like Infest so who cares. I found myself moshing down the street and banging my head. Pellinore is abrasive harsh sounding hardcore that delivers like an aluminum bat to the face. The vocals are nothing short of fire breathed piss and vinegar that reminds me of Sean from Ink & Dagger if he was really peeved about something. The guitars rip and roar like an out of control buzz saw through a fat kid camp. Pellinore is heavy, fast, and manic like the eighteen-wheelers in Maximum Overdrive that don't let up for one second.
Memento Mori & Hell Mouth isn't Mall of America trip music (then again what is?) but is a great blast of menacing hardcore to walk to the grocery store with as onlookers give you the hairy eyeball as you pump your fist in the night air and mosh open the automatic doors of Lunds. If you like your hardcore fast and ugly, you'll like Pellinore. You might even like them more than Ceremony, I know I do.
