Artikel
BLOCKHEADS/ NOSTROMO
Split
7"
This is a cool split where each band does one original track and one cover song from the other participant. France's Blockheads play brutal, heavy hardcore and start off with an original (the tracklist is backwards, stating that they should actually begin with the Nostromo cover), "War to War", complete with low vocal shouts and chord progressions that vary from straight hardcore with a punk edge to completely pummeling breaks. Short but sweet. Their cover of Nostromo's "Selfish Blues" is relatively fast and grinding hardcore, with one massive breakdown at the end. I imagine they're taking some liberties with the piece, and that's always cool. They've got a good sound going on as well. It's thick and heavy with a good mix. It could maybe be barely cleaner, but I'm not bothered by it. The lyrics are sort of unusual, dealing with war from the view of destruction equating to rebirth, but there's still some tone of opposition to war. It's hard to tell what they're shooting for exactly: "We were all born in blood as a sign that we live by the fist, swords, and gun." Nostromo (Switzerland) opens up right away with their Blockheads cover, "Unwillingly and Slow". It's very metallic with some nice emphasis on rhythm and some raging screams. Since the riffing is a bit more metal based than the Blockheads material on side A, I would guess that Nostromo has also transformed the cover song a bit. Their original, "Pull the Pin", sounds not unlike their take on the Blockheads track: Fast and furious grinding metalcore with nice rhythmic breaks and some darker, more intense riffs. The recording is somewhat lacking in low-end. The rawness suits me just fine, but it still needs something more. I can't make a great deal of sense out of the lyrics, they seem to be about suicide of some sort, be it by giving up on life, or figurative suicide through drug addiction, etc.? The layout follows a basic format where each band gets one half of the sleeve that mirrors the other.
Split
7"
AUSVERKAUFT
This is a cool split where each band does one original track and one cover song from the other participant. France's Blockheads play brutal, heavy hardcore and start off with an original (the tracklist is backwards, stating that they should actually begin with the Nostromo cover), "War to War", complete with low vocal shouts and chord progressions that vary from straight hardcore with a punk edge to completely pummeling breaks. Short but sweet. Their cover of Nostromo's "Selfish Blues" is relatively fast and grinding hardcore, with one massive breakdown at the end. I imagine they're taking some liberties with the piece, and that's always cool. They've got a good sound going on as well. It's thick and heavy with a good mix. It could maybe be barely cleaner, but I'm not bothered by it. The lyrics are sort of unusual, dealing with war from the view of destruction equating to rebirth, but there's still some tone of opposition to war. It's hard to tell what they're shooting for exactly: "We were all born in blood as a sign that we live by the fist, swords, and gun." Nostromo (Switzerland) opens up right away with their Blockheads cover, "Unwillingly and Slow". It's very metallic with some nice emphasis on rhythm and some raging screams. Since the riffing is a bit more metal based than the Blockheads material on side A, I would guess that Nostromo has also transformed the cover song a bit. Their original, "Pull the Pin", sounds not unlike their take on the Blockheads track: Fast and furious grinding metalcore with nice rhythmic breaks and some darker, more intense riffs. The recording is somewhat lacking in low-end. The rawness suits me just fine, but it still needs something more. I can't make a great deal of sense out of the lyrics, they seem to be about suicide of some sort, be it by giving up on life, or figurative suicide through drug addiction, etc.? The layout follows a basic format where each band gets one half of the sleeve that mirrors the other.
