BLEEDER’S DIGEST: QUICKIE REVIEWS OF NEW RELEASES FROM BANE & RHINOCEROS
Bane, Curitiba 7:58PM
Eminently (almost cultishly) popular, Bane capitalized on their continued success late last year by ostensibly defecting from their long-time label Equal Vision to release several region-specific CDs and 7″ records–replete with timestamped cover photos of namesake cityscapes–for unrelated indies. Of course, with a fanbase like theirs, it was only a matter of time before the forces of globalization and fetishist fanboy consumerism brought these releases (which have incestuously overlapping content) to foreign distributors. That, dear reader, is how I ended up with Curitiba 7:58PM, a CDEP for Brazil-based Hurry Up! Records that conveniently collects all the tracks from the various vinyls in one place. Curiously, the songs are named after American soap operas, yet thankfully vocalist Aaron Bedard only uses these titles as starting points for more personal, if awkward lyrics. “As The World Turns” is a profession of bromance set to a furious tempo, culminating in a soaring, emo-tional final minute. The breakneck “One Life To Live” contains a particularly guffaw-worthy lyric in “I didn’t find God and he didn’t come looking for me / but someone showed me Minor Threat / and that was plenty good enough for me.” Curitiba 7:58PM closes with highlight “The Young And The Restless,” a trudging and not-infrequently creepy track that features a ghostly female vocal refrain provided by Mayra Montijo. Only the obsessed would bother collecting every version, but overall the material here is worth buying at least one of these releases.
(3 1/2 out of 5 horns)
Rhinoceros, They Are Coming For Me
Metallic hardcore, with all its toughguy trappings and chugging guitars, often feels comfortably interchangeable. As the sound du jour in the scene, it seems as though pretty much any such show one attends will feature at least one group doing their best Terror or Hatebreed impersonation. So it’s to Rhinoceros’ credit that They Are Coming For Me, their Eulogy Recordings debut, does what it does so damn well compared to the group’s countless peers. Sonically, the Buffalo, NY straight edge band are not far off from freshly minted Born Low or rising stars Baltimore’s Trapped Under Ice, with barked vocals, brooding breakdowns, and welcome instances of quasi-thrashy indulgence. Thankfully, Rhinoceros avoid the banality of the metalcore menace, with amped up tracks like “No Trust” having more in common with uptempo 90s NYHC than yawn-inducing Sumeriancore. Satisfying cuts like “Righteous Man” and “Falling Down” don’t fly in the face of the genre, but are hooky enough to stand up to repeat listens. There are a few moments of brilliance, however, as on “Choices Made,” when above-par chest-beating circle pit fodder deftly morphs into something of lumbering beauty. A cut above, Rhinoceros are ones to watch.
(4 out of 5 horns)
-GS
[Gary Suarez usually manages the consistently off-topic No Yoko No. He’s returned to Twitter for the remainder of the Lenten season.]
