Noizecore

Lately, I’ve really been enjoying the raw sound of DIY Screamo bands such as Bravo Fucking Bravo, Daniel Striped Tiger, Don Martin Three, Orchid, Shikari, pg99, Circle Takes The Square, The Saddest Landscape and Saetia.

What distinguishes them to me as DIY Screamo, as opposed to the more mainstream, is the experimental nature and unpolished sound. It’s that truly raw energy, mixed with poor sound production that just hits the spot with me. Not because i enjoy poor sound production, but it makes the band seem genuine rather than electronic and produced.

Each band differs in approach: Shikari and Orchid, in particular, take a more brutal and fast paced approach to screamo, getting each song over and done with in often under two minutes in, most commonly, inaudible vocals. The lyrics take a backseat when listening to both these bands, as the vocals are used in a similar way as a second or third guitar would be; to carry the melody and harmonize with fellow instruments, without worrying about having to pronounce words correctly (or incorrectly) in order to convey a message.

I stumbled across Shikari when searching the net for a discography of Enter Shikari, a British post-hardcore band. At first i was perplexed by how these guys ever got a record deal, but the more I listened the more I began to look past the violent vocals and really feel the music for just how awesome it is.

For anyone interested there is two compilations floating around, hard to find unless you know what your looking for, titled Death To Fake Screamo vol.1 and 2.

http://www.last.fm/music/Various+Artists/Death+to+Fake+Screamo

A fantastic selection of underground screamo, aswell as some of the more well known screamo bands. Personally, I found it brilliant. There was some bands on there that just blew me away. Hot Cross for instance, who are one of the more well known artists along with Shikari and Circle Takes The Square.

Circle Takes The Square are one of the most popular bands within this genre with their most recent album “As The Roots Undo”, varying into the subgenre of Experimental Emo Violence, yet still retaining the power and energy found in screamo. Bloody good album, I must say.

if you haven’t already, I strongly suggest you give a few of these bands a go, because you might be surprised as i was and enjoy them… a lot. You may even, dare I say it, love them.