God Is an Astronaut - All Is Violent, All Is Bright (2005)

Sitting here, working on my blog debut while being a wee bit depressed, realizing that I was granted privileges to write here like... 9 months ago, and I am only just now finding my dirt covered, filth encrusted gem.

A pretty pathetic accomplishment, but nonetheless I'm going to put this shit to the pen. It simply deserves it.

God Is An Astronaut is an instrumental band. As such, it relies on the craftsmanship of said instrument's owners. While unfortunately I can't speak from practical experience, (I can't even whistle properly) I can tell you of what I have heard. And God Is An Astronaut does nothing instrumentally that I haven't heard before.

The drumming has been done before, the guitar isn't doing any sort of mind-melting stuff, a piano is a piano, and the bass is thumping away like basses all over the world have ever done. This is standard post-rock; break it down to the component, compare it to its peers and you're probably looking at something generic and bland. So why in god's name am I calling this a gem?

Well, behind the pretentious band name hides what most bands strive to achieve. What it is, I don't know. But it is that one thing that weaves together some of the most enticingly emotional melodies with some roller coaster drumming. It naturally overtakes your mind, messing with your fantasy to experience something new.

The ride starts of soft and slow, luring you into its lair. Finally there, it then alternates between beating you down and lifting you up, finishing in an epic crescendo, followed by some weird electronic sounds that leaves you wondering what the hell just happened. As you sit there, bombarded by new-old feelings, the real mystery is how they did it, since I personally was emotionally juxtaposed when finally realizing it's math class and I haven't got a clue what's up there on the board.

So my word of advice: don't prepare yourself for this, because then you might spoil what lies in store. I was utterly blown away listening to this while lying in bed, reading. Since then I have listened to this many a times, still being blown away time and time again. But i'm a impressionable, soft guy. So it might not happen to you. But it should.

- Eric the Swede (sorry for making it so long, im a hopeless first timer)

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Mesa Verde - The Old Road (2008)

Mesa Verde, originally hailing from Glasgow, Scotland, is another up-and-coming act from the hardcore/screamo scene. They released two solid EPs over the course of 2005 and 2006, and have finally returned this year with their first full-length LP.

Their post-rock driven style of screamo (influenced by bands like City of Caterpillar, no doubt) is just chalk-full of raw emotion, with harsh, biting vocals delivered upon layers of clean and distorted guitars and monstrous drum fills.

Anybody who is familiar with some of the more underground screamo bands probably knows what to expect here. Moments of absolute chaos are broken up by slow, calm instrumental segments that inevitably transition into more distorted guitars and passionate screaming.

And while Mesa Verde doesn't really push any of the genre's boundaries forward, they do what they do well. Very well in fact, and that's good enough for me.

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