So last week was Eighteen Visions Week, and it went really, really well, like REALLY well!
By the end of the week the Facebook page was being talked about by 86 people and the page itself garnered quite a good amount of new likes, but most importantly I was able to get the different interviews actually out there for folk to enjoy that weren’t part of the site or didn’t follow Ghostchant; the James Hart interview in particular got a huge increase in views and has become one of the most popular posts I’ve made on the blog so far, so I’m glad that people are at least getting this put to them and being able to read them, which after all is really the entire point of my interviews and who I choose to interview.
It was a great success, though I didn’t have time to actually write my retrospective which was something I’ve wanted to do for so long (since I started the blog) and I hoped last week I would finally get to crack it but sadly I didn’t, and the interview with Javier Van Huss, sadly I haven’t gotten anything back yet but whenever I do, it’ll be put up (like every interview) straight away for your prying eyes.
Now, onto the point of this post: this week’s Track Of The Week, which if you’re a follower of the blog you’ll know what that means, but if your new, simply every week I pick a song that I haven’t been able to stop listening to all week and I review it (what I think about it, what it means to me, the lyrics, the sounds, that kind of stuff). I’ve always said I don’t want to pigeon-hole this blog into a metalcore blog, or a heavy music blog or even a rock music blog; I have quite a wide range of musical taste, I mean heavy music (and metalcore) is at the core and heart of it all but sometimes there are songs that don’t fit into that genre that I still fall in love with. This week I’m stretching that boundary further than I think I have (and probably will), but I just had to choose this song, for the last week I have literally not been able to turn this track off, no matter what, it’s been in my head since the second I heard the first beat.
This week I’m gonna tackle reviewing a song that’s cut from the same cloth as the 80’s synth-pop stuff (Depeche Mode for example); College – “A Real Hero”.
So yeah, why pick a song that is almost in stark opposite to what I’ve spent 3 months writing about? Honestly I’m not too sure, for the last maybe 7 months to year I’ve become really interested in the whole 80’s New Wave sound, with bands like Depeche Mode, The Cure, Joy Division and Echo And The Bunnymen being the front running bands that I was super interested in. The entire sound was just something that appealed to me; every song seemed to create this mood and atmosphere and for me personally, when a song creates an over-arching sense of tone that transcends the sonics and does something to the listeners’ head, that really gets me excited and immersed.
“A Real Hero” blows the dust off this technique and applies it so well, and rather than heading for a tone of sadness or depression like a lot of New Wave/snyth-laden tracks, College goes down the route of happiness and joy; the whole track embraces a sound that has this feeling of triumph and celebration, even the lyrics (which I’ll look at it in bit) are about a positive and joyous event.
The synth and electronica drive of the song, though poignant and imperative, for me the most exciting aspect of the track is the vocals; not to get too soppy, but they are beautiful and help the backing instrumentals reach high and hit that feeling and tone that the song strives for. They’re soft and have this element of vulnerability that I think is easy for the listener to connect with and again helps immerse them. Remember, this is coming for a guy that listens to primarily metalcore and heavy rock music; so for me to feel and even border-line get emotional with this song, it obviously does the trick.
Lyrically the song is about a famous airplane pilot, Chesley Burnett "Sully" Sullenberger III, that successfully was able to pull-off an emergency landing with a malfunctioning plane into the New York Hudson River, saving 155 lives in the process.
This is obvious by the multiple references made (“One hundred fifty-five people or more”, “All safe and all rescued”) but it also seems to focus just on the simple idea of not necessarily doing something “heroic” but something “good”, for others and the courage it can take to do something that’s selfless; again not to get too soppy or personal about stuff, but this totally strikes me hard (immersing me in the song even more).
Probably the biggest thing about this song is that it was used in the film ‘Drive’, and featured on its soundtrack. It’s actually how I heard it; last week one of my flatmate’s put on some music (probably cause she was sick of hearing Eighteen Visions) when we were away to start baking, and seriously when it started I immediately looked at her and gasped “what the hell is that?!!” and she legit looked at me like I was mad or something, and kept on questioning if I was being sarcastic.
I’ve not actually seen the film yet (hope to watch it soon) but one thing I really enjoy is when a film gets an exclusive soundtrack that isn’t just a collection of previously-released songs but songs that actually make sense and add to the experience of the film, and with what I’ve heard the ‘Drive’ soundtrack does exactly this.
I’ll admit that I’m probably not the most savvy person to review a snyth-pop track, but I do know what I like and I know what I don’t; and I really like this track. Like I said, when I told my friend I was totally into the song she was shocked and took it as a joke; thing is, in reality the current wave of metalcore and other heavy bands actually grew-up on this stuff and it wasn’t just the Metallica’s and Black Sabbaths, the Depeche Mode’s and The Cure’s were as big as an influence as the metal bands.
Obviously College had heard their fair share of 80’s New Wave and understood it when going into recording this; the lyrics and vocals are just as important as manufacturing this idea of an atmosphere, even if it’s just for 3 minutes, the listener is ‘in’ the song and reacting to every beat and every high-pitch chime.
All in all, I suppose I can just say not to dismiss this track (or any song for that matter) because of your “music taste” or what you normally listen to; give the song a listen, you never know you just might fall in love with it like me, and find a song that fills a hole inside.
"A Real Hero" is available at the link below, where you can buy the official single version via iTunes, but its also available for pretty much any site the sells anything these days.
So this is the third edition (I guess that’s the right word) of ‘7 Of The Best’, where I take one band and review my own personal favourite seven tracks. It’s more informal and really me just summing up songs and what I like about them and why I feel they are some of that specific bands best tracks.
When I’ve done this in the past I really enjoyed it, but the thing was that when I got down to the last few slots, I found it somewhat difficult to choose songs; down near the 5/6/7 mark its songs that maybe I really really like but for most of the bands (at least any that I’d spend significant time reviewing) there are many songs that fall under this category, I guess it’s what happens when your obsessed with music haha.
But for Eighteen Visions it’s not been difficult at all, in fact it’s been the opposite where I found myself trying to fit in my favourite tracks and it just wasn’t enough. Initially I figured maybe making it 10 of the best or something, but then I felt that would end up in being a massive wall of text and no one would read it, plus it took any real fun away *plus I still found it hard to narrow down*. Then I thought I could make it more fun, I could take a look and review some tracks that are maybe lesser known, still tracks that I love and consider favourites, but songs that maybe aren’t as known (for example pre-Trustkill releases, covers and b-sides).
I’ve tried to include something from every release and every era of the band to try and show the obvious diversity of the band but also the evolution and maturity that the band went through and how they became what they did.
Meh, enough with the reading, time to get listening.....and reading I suppose
“She’s A Movie Produced Masterpiece"
So, I’m starting off with a track that everyone can relate to, well every guy at least. Before I get to the actual song, those lyrics; this song effectively acts as love-letter to woman everywhere, but most importantly that one girl that every guy is crazy about and cannot stop thinking about -that “blonde bombshell, blue eyed beauty”.
On to the track, James’ lyrics are amazing, what strikes me about the whole of the ‘Until The Ink Runs Out’ album is that it’s all about beauty, sex and girls in general (their phrase at the time being that they were the best at “sex, hair and rock n’ roll!”). Like I said, everyone can relate to the lyrics, they can understand them and can picture that girl in their mind, plus after all isn’t the dream of every guy to be with that one girl they dream of?
The song is slick, cool and most importantly super catchy; it’s got this metal-groove driven sound through-out and just makes the listener want to get up and handle-bar the nights away. It’s also got so many breakdowns that just burst through on the other side and also kind of stays with one set pace and tune, which was something that Eighteen hadn’t really done too much up until this point and record.
Oh, the song also starts off with a quick quote from Back To The Future, which I absolutely LOVE!! I’ve talked about adding in sounds outside of instruments during a song (a lot on the Nine Inch Nails article) but if there’s one thing I love more is adding in movie quotes; if done right it can literally make a song for me.
I can’t really remember the first time I listened to this, I think this was one of the tracks that I got into when I first started looking into 18V, but I suppose I never really ‘felt’ it until I took a proper serious look into the bands entire back catalogue and took an interest in the whole fashioncore thing.
“There Is Always”/”Notes Of My Reflection”
First off these are two different songs, but appear on the same album and both carry out the same function to the album. They are used as preludes/outro’s to different songs as well as offering the listener somewhat of a breather to what is a pretty damn heavy album (‘Vanity’).
“There Is Always” first off is seriously one of my favourite songs ever by any band, frankly behind “Vanity” and maybe “Motionless In White” I’d say this could well be my favourite song ever. In a word, it’s beautiful. A short, 117 second instrumental rendition of the theme for 1964 film The Manchurian Candidate, this song just does something to me, I don’t know what but it seriously grabs me somewhere inside my soul and pulls away at the strings. There have been many times where the song has made me emotional, legit emotional. It’s got this sombre feel to it, I know I say this about pretty much every instrumental that I review, but it does have this sinister side to it though this one doesn’t seem too sinister and kind of goes down the path of more sad and sombre tones.
As for “Notes Of My Reflection” this isn’t as impactful, at least for me, I mean it’s a good way to connect two songs and keeps the feel of the entire album going through-out but for me it doesn’t have the same emotional connection. The song keeps this almost rap-like beat through it, which was something that really scared me off and made my hesitant to even listening to it, but once I listened to the album all through I realised its purpose and instantly ‘got it’ then.
These two tracks seriously make the entire album a whole package; it’s not a collection of just a few good songs and a bunch of filler but rather a proper album where all the songs make sense and have their place, something that I think has always kinda been a problem in music.
“All We’ve Got”
Now this I think was the last official Eighteen Visions song ever released, being released in 2007 on the Trustkill Takeover compilation. Frankly I think it’s one of the best songs they recorded during their Glamcore phase; it has an amazing pop-hook that leads greatly into what could be one of the catchiest choruses ever!!
James Hart’s vocals may have never been clearer either; sonically I guess it’s kind of like a cross between the slow emotional “Tonightless” with the faster paced, hard rawking “Victim”; it’s got the whole 80’s ballad thing down to a T. Honestly I would have put this on the self-titled 2006 album over a number of the songs that actually did make the cut (not saying that the album is bad or that any of the songs are bad per-say, just that “All We’ve Got” is simply a great example of the band in their new element).
It’s not the easiest song to find, the comp came out 6 years ago and even then it’s not like Trustkill was the biggest record company going but I would say that the look is worth it and it could be one of the best b-sides I’ve ever heard. Nope, I’m not just saying that and I’m not being biased, I seriously feel that the entire sessions for their 2006 album resulted in the most rounded off album and some of the best music to be produced ever.
“Dead Rose”
An example of Eighteen’s early deathcore phase (where they pretty much invented the damn thing), this track is an amazingly angry take on love, and how fickle it is and how so many people take advantage of another person that they are supposedly “in love with”. Something that I love about Eighteen is how I can actually relate to their lyrics, I had never listened to a band that had me caring and feeling what was being said. (I had tried so hard with Rise Against, trying to understand and frankly just care about the whole political side of things and to be honest I couldn't, I loved the music of the band, still do but the lyrics were always something that meant very little to me with them.) The fickle and almost superficial side of “love” is something that truly irritates me and is something I’d say I see way too much, but this is getting too personal I think. The song is great; it’s got that quality that so many of the early Eighteen songs had which is unpredictability and a rapid change of pace and sound through-out the entire track. Plus this being from their first album, ‘Yesterday Is Time Killed’, James was still a screaming machine whose throat literally seems to be able to take any form of punishment and by the sounds of some of their earlier tracks, it could.
As far as I can remember this was a song that I just instantly liked, but once I got into the band more and really started to listen and get the lyrics, it just became so much more to me, not to mention my own views and feelings changing around this time too.
“I Let Go”
I’m pretty sure this is THE Eighteen Visions song that no matter who you let listen to it, fan or not, new fan or old fan, no matter the listeners music taste they are gonna love this song!!
It has everything; it’s got the gritty, heavy chugging guitar and bass in the background of a pretty mellow(er) sounding main guitar tune that skips along. The hooks are insanely hooky; they grab you from the very start and don’t let you go till the very end. James sings as opposed to shouting, yet there’s still somehow a heaviness and coarseness to his voice that makes the song appeal to fans of the scream. All in all this is a song that everyone will love and will just get immediately.
This was actually one of the first Eighteen songs I had ever heard, I know for sure that it was their first video that I had seen, but I have this clear vision of sitting drawing out wrestlers (it was 2006 and I was 14, leave me alone!!) and I remember watching the music channel The Hits and this video came on where these cool, slick looking guys come bursting through the doors to some mansion and proceed to tear this “End Of The World” party apart. I do remember going online like the next day and hunting Limewire (for real, those days haha) for anything Eighteen Visions, so I suppose this might be classed as the first time I looked into 18V then.
“Sacrilegious Murder”
Taken from their first release, ‘Lifeless’ – EP, “Sacrilegious Murder” is a damn scary track if you’re not used to this sort of music; lyric-wise it seems to tell the story of Christ and his death, but honestly I’m just taking a stab at it whilst reading the lyrics myself. During the early releases Eighteen were your ordinary hardcore band that screamed about death and murder, it wasn’t until ‘No Time For Love’ and the addition of the fashioncore style that I feel James started writing proper feeling songs. Now I’m in no way saying that ‘Lifeless’ is bad, but it’s one brutal ass record, pretty much helping invent the whole genre of deathcore from what I understand; this isn’t anything like “All We’ve Got”, hell it’s even a far cry from “Vanity” and others from that record, this is some intense ear-bleeding stuff.
Onto the song though and honestly I’m not too sure what to say, I mean it’s probably my favourite from this EP, it has this great chugging sound that’s continuous and James’ vocals are heavy and gritty but fit the song and this sound down perfectly. The track also starts off with a short sample from the film Se7en, so again I instantly liked it haha, but it’s just the screams of a man and damn it to hell it makes so much sense in this song and again this entire album.
I will be honest, this was the last album of theirs that I got into, and even now I need to be in the right mood to listen to it otherwise it just hits me way too hard. Though when you listen to something like this and then compare it with a song off of ‘Eighteen Visions’, then you can totally appreciate just how much this band had actually evolved in the 10 years they were together.
“Who The Fuck Killed John Lennon?”
For the last of the seven I went with one of my absolute favourite songs ever; taken from the same album as “She’s A Movie Produced Masterpiece” this track just oozes this cool swagger, slick motherfucker kind of vibe the band was starting to embrace at the time (*fashioncore* *fashioncore* *fashioncore*!!). Obviously lyrically it talks about the death of John Lennon and how it was a travesty and what the world ended up potentially losing out on.
“Who Killed…” is such a stand-out track from ‘Until The Ink…’, hell that entire album just has this aura and feeling of change about it but this song is just something else, it showcases the newly recruited Keith Barney’s hardcore chops (already well-known at this point) in his thrashy guitar work yet he still seems to bring this sense of tune and melody to a song and makes it more of a song and less of scream-fest. Honestly I feel it was adding in Keith that legitimized Eighteen, and his work in the band really helped make them so much more than I think they maybe ever would have been without him. The slow breakdowns, the fast choruses, heck even some vocals from James that are understandable without the aid of the lyric book; this was for sure a song that pushed Eighteen into the fans eyes and widened their audience.
Annnnnnd the ending includes another signature that the band used a lot from their early days, including movie samples, only this one was the full near 2 minute theme music from the original Shining teaser trailer (the one where the elevator doors spew the blood, they actually labelled the song “Elevator Music” *shinfo*). Though this was used for the vinyl pressing of the album as a way to silence the Side A off and bring it to an end, it remained on the mp3 and CD versions of the album attached to “Who Killed…” so I guess it counts, right?
Yep, that’s it over and done with now, so much damn writing but I did say I was gonna take this Eighteen Visions week way too serious haha. Really enjoyed doing this, even if it was a little too hard to review some of the lesser known tracks, but its 18V so all was good!!
I think that I atleast was able to show that this band of “rock and roll kids who played metal music in a hardcore band” really did cover a whole lot of ground in their decade-long career and pretty much ventured into every nook and cranny of rock music.
Hopefully any fans of the band enjoyed this list/review thingy but if you have a different list, let me know, don’t fret in posting it up. Post in the comments, post your own list or head on over to the Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/theghostchant).
I do want to start off by saying sorry about last week; I was kinda busy and really not feeling too great (insomnia and stuff), but I’m back now and to make sure that there’ll be a huge amount of stuff up this week, I’m going to name this week ‘Eighteen Visions Week’, so expect a good amount of stuff up this week.
So the track I’m covering this week is one of Eighteen’s most known tracks and went on to become somewhat of a game changer for them in pretty every sense; “Motionless And White”.
This track in so many ways was the song that made Eighteen Visions stand-out musically as much as they stood-out appearance-wise. By the time of this release Eighteen had already pumped out 4 releases (2 full albums and 2 EPs), with their previous effort being ‘Until The Ink Runs Out’ which helped coin the term “fashioncore” to describe their appearance. At this time you have to remember that the world of hardcore was still full of massively baggy sports shirts and cargo’s, and the whole metalcore scene was just getting started and finding its feet, so for Eighteen to be prancing around with their multi-coloured bright hair and wearing suits and scarfs, it was clearly frowned upon by loyalists.
To stand-out musically they began to incorporate a sting of melody into their music, even adding in clean vocals. This approach was used a bit on ‘Until The Ink...’ but wasn’t fully embraced until this record and most notably, “Motionless And White”.
The song starts off instantly with James Hart’s trademark hardcore yells accompanied by co-founding member Ken Floyd’s intense drumming; so far it seems as though this is the usual 18V, just what you’d expect from this band of young genre-bending rockers.
Then the listener gets to the first breakdown of sorts and is greeted by soothing melody-driven vocals blasted out by this monster Hart, not only are these clean but they almost sound like a cry for help; James is IN this moment of the song and is singing straight from the soul. The song continues with this trend, blending both hard, coarse vocals with clean tune-driven one’s, even jumping from one to another in quick succession during chorus-like parts of the track. To be honest, I think I’d even say that even James’ most anger-filled scream on this song is done so with heart behind it, softer and more delicate. This isn’t a negative, it shows the continual growth that James has always strived to accomplish (check out my interview with him from a few months ago), no longer is he screaming his lungs out about death and Satan and the death to our King, but rather he is speaking to us and yelling when needed to get the point across.
This emotion is after all understandable, hell it would be anyway no matter what the subject matter of the song, but this one isn’t any song, no “Motionless…” tackles a subject that many people have probably faced, the problem of drug addiction and choosing between drugs and those that love you. To add to the emotion, the entire band was at the time (and always were) a straightedge band, meaning all of the members chose to not take drugs, drink alcohol or smoke, so to write a song about this obviously had to mean something to them depending on why they had made their choices.
Now a straightedge anthem in this era of hardcore wasn’t uncommon, heck it seemed every hardcore band in the scene during this time had a host of them, what makes “Motionless…” different is that it does something that none really seemed to do, and that was to try and reason as opposed to saying “fuck you, you drink and I don’t so you’re a cunt” kind of thing. The lyrics are powerful; they speak of reaching out, telling this person that this is their final chance, after this they will be consumed by the addiction.
The entire song seems to be one almighty question that is projected in the last two lines of lyric; “could you come back down, would you come back down”.
Though bringing in different features and techniques, the track does incorporate something that was used a lot by Eighteen (not to mention most hardcore bands), and that was unpredictability in a song; the tempo and sound change drastically and regularly through-out. These rapid changes are a testament to how tight the band were instrumentally at the time. This was the first record that included brand new bassist Mick “MickDeth” Morris, who had replaced former long-time bassist Javier Van Huss, so there had to be some pressure on the young metaller. Now I think it’s known that I was a big fan of Mick and I don’t mean to be biased or say anything bad about Javier, his playing was incredible and old 18V have some of my favourite 18V songs ever, but man did Mick make sense; his playing was right for this new take Eighteen were going for, his look fitted the new fashioncore path, everything about Mick screamed what 18V would become. Along with James, Ken Floyd on drums and Mick, Brandan Schieppati and Keith Barney rocked it on guitars and really help make this song sound new yet keeping this sense of old about it too.
Frankly I feel this song is one of Eighteen Visions best tracks, it stayed true to what had come before in the sense of heaviness and metal influence, yet brought in so much more which helped it sound fresh and started them off on this path that would lead to them becoming the band they did. It’s almost impossible to say how much this song (and the band, but this will be addressed in a future write-up on Eighteen Visions as a whole, so stay tuned) influenced today’s music. Seriously, without this track, this album and subsequent album ‘Vanity’, heavy music today would be VERY different, if this song had come out in the last few years, 18V would have been MASSIVE, no one can doubt that (look at the damn band Motionless In White, where did they get their name?...).
Sadly though, what happened happened, Eighteen split in early 2007 and sadly earlier this year Mick Morris died so there is no chance of ever getting to hear the original line-up that created this song blast it one more time. All that can be done is to celebrate this song, celebrate the band and pass the word that Eighteen Visions did in fact exist and that without them, rock music would not be what it is today. FACT.
"Motionless And White" is available at the link below, where you can buy the track from the album 'The Best Of Eighteen Visions' via iTunes, but its also available for pretty much any site the sells anything these days.
Its been a while since we've had an interview up on the blog; frankly I think it's mostly my fault because I started going after people that were still in very active bands, so getting interviews with them was amazing it also meant that it'd take longer cause these guys are still touring and recording and stuff.
One of the guys that I reached out to was Keith Barney, another of my idols cause his work and huge contribution to the band Eighteen Visions (I don't need to go into what they mean to me again I don't think).
To get to interview him was awesome, though not currently in any real music-related projects, Keith now works full-time as a graphic artist and has even just started out his own business (more about that in the interview). One thing I want to say about this interview is seriously how nice Keith was, he apologized for it taking a while (which was by no means necessary) and then let me know that he had put a lot of effort and thought into the interview; and when you read it you'll see, like I did, that this is so true. As always with interviews, I've added nor have I taken away anything, I like to keep these pieces authentic and I think it even gives us an insight into them personally. Plus I do want to add that even though I have interviewed so many people and have enjoyed EVERY one, this one could be my favourite terms of actual interview format; Keith put a lot of effort into making this look and sound and feel like a proper interview.
Though being best known for having been a member of Eighteen Visions, Keith has also been a member of pretty much every other hardcore band that was worthy of salt back in the mid to late 90s, and with this becoming somewhat of a legend in the hardcore scene. After Eighteen Visions called it quits in 2007 Keith started up a few bands more in the vein of old hardcore, working with fellow 18V member Trevor Friedrich in the almost industrial band N3V3R 3NOUGH and political hardcore group Monument Of Thieves.
Though even now, there may never have been someone that holds the accomplishments in hardcore quite like the one's Keith has; he has commanded so much respect in the scene and not just as "Heavy K" the guitarist, but also the original singer for Throwdown. Keith Barney is a name that if you know anything about hardcore, you'll know and if your just getting into hardcore/metalcore and you want to start some place, start with Heavy K!
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I'm a huge fan of your music work through the years, the fact that you became somewhat of a legend in the hardcore scene during the late 90's/early 00's is awesome and the amount of bands you participated in is again super impressive!
I'm also a big fan of graphic art, and your graphic work is again super awesome, no two items are alike, each one is unique and one in its own.
Questions;
Having become a legend in the hardcore scene due to your involvement in so many of the most important bands in the scene, at what point did you begin liking hardcore music? Was it always the route you wanted to go down musically? I got into Hardcore and Straight Edge during my freshman year of high school. A few kids on my baseball team were giving me tapes. One tape had Earth Crisis - All Out War 7", Snapcase - Comatose 7", Chorus - "Full Circle Stop" and a few others. The other tape was some local Christian hardcore stuff like Unashamed and Bloodshed. At that time a lot of shows were at local churches and that helped me convince my parents to let me go. Before I got into hardcore I was naturally drifting toward heavier stuff. I loved Metallica's Black album, Def Leppard, Led Zepplin (my fav band ever as a young kid), Nirvana, Black Flag etc. So, when I heard hardcore it was obviously way more aggressive but it was kind of a natural step. A huge part of why I fell in love with hardcore was the message and lyrics. The music was heavy and awesome but the lyrics sealed the deal. I was so excited that other kids roughly my age were writing about the world around them and trying to say something real. They sounded so passionate and I really gravitated toward that. It was something more relatable to me than all the other music i was listening to which usually consisted of songs about girls, drugs, etc. These bands were talking about politics, poverty, every daystruggles and the like.
During your musical career you have recorded a number of albums with a host of different bands, which one(s) are the closest to what you feel is your own personal ideal sound? They're all very personal for me but I have fond memories around:
Throwdown - Beyond Repair This record really captured the raw, simple, heaviness that we were known for. Lyrically it was the first forum that I got to say everything I wanted to say in a plain and simple way. The whole goal of that album was to connect with other hardcore kids whether they were listening or at the show and participating. It was all about dancing, singing along and all that good shit. Eighteen Visions - Vanity I had played guitar longer than I even knew what hardcore was and on this album I felt it was the first time I got to stretch my boundaries with writing and express all my musical creativity (as a guitar player). My favorite part of Eighteen Visions was that everything goes. We always knew we wanted to be heavy, but we always wanted to be creative and explore different sounds and styles. It was sometimes hard for people to keep up with us cause we were always trying new shit, but for the band is was a lot of fuckin fun and continuously drove us forward. Eighteen Visions - S/T This basically crystalized everything I ever wanted to do as a guitar player. It was also the height of any production I had ever been involved with. This record will stand the test of time for me. The songs were extremely calculated and sonically it was exactly what we sounded like in my head. I got REALLY into recording and productions stuff. That's always the trick. In your head you want to sound a certain way and the struggle of recording is to make that a reality. We nailed it with that one.
In the same vein, which songs that you’ve written are you most proud of?
Throwdown - Raise Your Fist I had written SXE songs before this one but I was continually trying to find ways to connect with more people and get them excited about things I was passionate about. Whether you were sxe or just drug free and didn't like labels this song opened the door to more kids while still getting across the message I cared about. Raising your fist was a physical symbol of this belief and when we played it live it was fuckin crazy. Throwdown - Unite Simple and to the point hardcore. Heavy, fast, heavy, Sing along, done. Adamantium - Virus This was one of the first times i felt like i bridged the gap of heavy and melodic. It was the song that all our friends thought was cool at the time and that always meant a lot to me. The main melodic riff in the song was something I had in my head for a long time before it finally poured out into that song. Eighteen Visions - Prelude to an Epic I was always into instrumental tracks. Lyrics can tell a story or explain an issue or whatever, but pure music with no vocals just becomes raw emotion. There isn't anything too technical about the song but every time we played it, it was like pure emotion coming straight out of my heart. Eighteen Visions - Pretty Suicide I loved to write really heavy hard rock riffs. When we played this song live I felt like I turned into a different person. It therapeutically helped me release so much fuckin aggression. It really set me off and was so fun. Took me to a different place for like 4 minutes. I also did screaming on this one so live I just lost my mind.
Though having been in many different bands during your musical career, you’re probably most famous for being the guitarist for Eighteen Visions. You didn’t officially join until the recording of ‘Until The Ink Runs Out’, however you had been close and even contributed during the ‘No Time For Love’ EP. What did you see in the band during these early days and what made you ultimately join them? I had been following Eighteen Visions from their earliest days and we had already been friends for a long time. I always respected what they were trying to do musically. They always wanted to be a little outside of the box while staying true to who they were. They got a lot of drama shit from a lot of hardcore kids for being different and I loved how they didn't give a fuck. I totally related to it. No matter what anyone said, they just said fuck off and did their own thing. That drama never went away and we dealt with it until our last days. I had always respected them and they always respected me. After I quit Adamantium I joined 18v within like 2 months maybe. It was super fast and mutual.
Earlier in the Summer I was actually lucky enough to get an interview with James Hart and he mentioned that recently you two had actually worked together on a “heavy” track. Can you give us any details on this? Will it ever see the light of day? Ya we did. I actually wrote 5 songs and the James and I recorded the vocals for 1 of them. It came out awesome. It really kinda sound like of you took every record we made and threw it in a blender. I have no idea what will happen with the song (or the others) but it felt good to make it.
After 18V had disbanded in early 2007 you formed Monument Of Thieves, which were a very politically driven band. Was this an avenue that you had always wanted to explore musically? Yes. The band basically started the same week the economy crashed. I had always been interested in the world and what was going on but it had really hit a peak at this time. Around this time I had read the book Confessions of an Economic Hitman and it blew me away. I've always loved political bands like Downcast, Struggle, Rage Against the Machine, Earth Crisis, etc. and I always wanted to do something like Monument. It was the perfect opportunity cause everyone involved was totally open to letting me completely speak my mind and I felt like I was old enough to comprehend what was happening and say it in a meaningful way.
Back in the day it was common for bands to share members, with many guys being in two, sometimes three bands at the one time. It made the entire scene feel like a family, which is clearly still a bond that many of you guys hold; is this step of member-sharing something that’s overlooked in today’s hardcore scene? This is just something that happened. We were a big group of kids that just plain loved music and we literally couldn't get enough. When you're in a band you get this really special bond between friends. Personally I just wanted to form as many bonds as possible and enjoy being creative together. I found myself in Throwdown, Adamantium and Death By Stereo all at the same time but it was this totally natural progression. They didn't all start at the same time. I just couldn't get enough. I lived for band practice and shows.
As well as your accomplishments in music, you’re also a very talented graphic artist. Has this always been an interest of yours? Yes definitely. There are a few things that took me down this path I think. I'm a huge geek about a lot of things and the things I find interesting I obsess over. One of my biggest obsessions is movies. I can watch a new movie everyday of my life. It's usually how I end my day to help get my mind off everything and just zone out. Also, early on in hardcore I made a zine. My dad has always been a really great photographer and I picked up on some of that. So i was always taking pictures at shows and putting them in my zines. My zine was called Endless Tradition and it's basically Graphic Design before I even know what that was. As a kid I was constantly drawing and creating things. The first time I ever recorded anything was with Adamantium and at Paul Minor's house I saw him use Photoshop making the cover for the record. It totally blew my mind and I thought he was doing magic or something. From there I started to notice design in everything especially tshirt and album designs. So I got a copy of photoshop and lost a shitload of sleep haha.
(Hatebreed poster designed by Keith)
Lastly, with your experience in music, and now your work as a graphic artist, are there any bands that you’d like to work with on artistic projects? To be honest, I've gotten that out of my system now. I don't feel the need to work with specific people, bands, artists, etc. I just want to create my own things. I have a need to express myself and have it someway be shareable. At the moment I'm not doing much musically and very focused on Design. I was playing in a band with some friends from South Orange County but I told them I had to stop. Like I said i get kind of obsessive. (Notice the 18v record "Obsession") Not like dangerous obsessive haha but more like productive obsessive. I believe that in order to anything great you have to totally shut out the noise and focus your energy. I've gone weeks without seeing friends because I'm working toward a goal. I hate noise and distractions. When it's time to get things done I'm really good at turning off the world. So as of 2 months ago I've started my own business with 2 friends (also SXE hardcore dudes) called "The Core". We are just getting off the ground and currently working on 3 web products. My wife is in Hygiene school and I'm the only one currently making money for us so I'm really trying to make it count. With that said, I will def be back with music at some point. It may be very introverted and local but loving music and especially hardcore will never go away. ----------------------------------------------- So yeah, I feel super professional now haha, all thanks to Keith taking so much time to do this, its so appreciated and I absolutely loved doing it. Like I've said so many times, Eighteen Visions changed me and to not only get to tell 4/5 members what their music has meant to me but also get to interview them (though not an interview, I was lucky enough to have a small email conversation with Mick last Christmas time) it's literally a dream come true. Hope y'all enjoyed it, and as always, if you have any suggestions for future interviews, hit me up either in the comments or the Facebook page (which has a lot more updates and news than this tbh).
For me Track Of The Week is a way to review that one track I’ve been listening to all week; whether its old or new, no matter the genre, only rule I give myself is that it’s a different band. Normally this is fine, normally I get into a band then a week later I’m on to another and another and that’s how it goes. Thing is, for the past two weeks now I’ve been obsessed with one band, The Dillinger Escape Plan, still rifling through their back catalogue I’m finding smash after smash after smash, not to mention I’m still in love with “Prancer” and haven’t stopped listening to it all week.
And I’d hate to bore people with even MORE Dillinger, so I thought I’d go for a song by a band that I’ve already reviewed for TOTW, but it’s a song that I have gotten into quite a bit over the last few days; Every Time I Die – “In The Event That Everything Should Go Terribly Wrong”.
I’ve spoken a bit about this track a while back when I reviewed the album ‘Hot Damn!’, but this will (hopefully) be a more in depth look at it and a look at it individually and not as part of an album.
“In The Event…” could be ETID’s most mellow track they have ever recorded (to date), it’s a primarily instrumental track, with its only lyrics being the short phrase “yourokiwillbei” and even then they could be Keith Buckley’s softest spoken words ever in his life.
The track has a very similar sound to what the Deftones were doing at this point, it maybe even pre-dates it (at least them using this style on a regular basis), it’s got this almost swaying sound; it doesn’t thrash and doesn’t bang. No, this song seems to just go along, and it feels comfortable with doing so too.
It doesn’t need some trippy guitar work from either Jordan Buckley or Andy Williams, nor does it require skilled precision from bassist Stephen Micciche, this is a relaxed track that just plays. If you’re looking for those patented heavy breakdowns that ETID are known for producing and producing damn good one’s at that, don’t look here, the only breakdown you’ll get (if you could even call it a breakdown) comes near the end of the track, and is a small section where drums stop and the guitars ramp up but other than that, this song ain’t gonna get the kids moshing.
Now I just want to say, sure this isn’t your regular Every Time I Die song, but that by NOOOO means makes it a bad song, hell for me at least this is one of their best tracks, and by the reactions its gotten the few times its been played live I’m not alone in this feeling.
The track has this mood, it doesn’t just sound like your run of the mill instrumental track or album breather track; it’s got this aura to it, sonically it feels like a ‘sad’ song and you could easily imagine listening to it when broken-hearted or something, but then as the song kicks in and the sound slows down and Buckley’s vocals become more of the centrepiece there’s almost a sinister feel, whether that was the intention 10 years ago when it was recorded or its just what ETID are known for, I’m not too sure but to me at least it does take this sinister twist half way through.
Again maybe it’s just me (I’m not too sure what that says about me though…) but the song takes on multiple themes and tones as it goes, and even when it ends it slightly sounds triumphant, not to mention the lyrics. The lyrics are something that makes this song really special to me; first off I love how it’s displayed in the lyric booklet that comes with the album, “yourokiwillbei”, it’s simple but damn is it effective, again Buckley’s genius shines through. Plus the meaning, reading the lyrics at least it seems as though it’s somewhat positive, and maybe does relate to maybe the end of a relationship, where he’s reassuring this other person that they’ll both be OK.
On the album ‘Hot Damn!’ this is used as a breather for the listener, after having been pummelled with six high volume, high energy tracks the listener obviously needs some sort of break so this track works well at giving the listener this. At this time a lot of bands in the whole metalcore scene were doing this and it’s a great technique that frankly has become lost in this day and age, with very few bands using this to create an actual album instead of doing what so many do and just cram on as many thrashy songs so they can be seen as being “hardcore” or something. “In The Event…” shows that you can be just as “hardcore” (maybe even more) by throwing in a short slower track, plus it doesn’t hurt for a band to show that they can do more than just smash away at those three chords and for the singer to scream.
Unfortunately this track didn’t see the light of day in the form of a single, which probably hinders its chances of being played live, but with its recent addition to the setlist in the form of ETID’s ‘Hot Damn!’ encore set during their run on the All-Star Tour in the US it seems to have gotten much more popular and hopefully will find its way into the regular live ETID show set in the future.
‘Hot Damn!’ is seen as one of the greatest albums in the metalcore scene and one of the albums to actually create this thing we now call metalcore. It’s full of full-on heavy tracks, showcasing their guitars in uber-thrash mode, their drums slam through at every opportunity and Keith Buckley’s lyrics and vocals shattering skulls, but on this album of heavy there is this gem that incorporates something totally different. It swaps the thrash for a softer sound, the drums drive through, but at a slower pace and Buckley’s vocals sooth rather than screech.
“In The Event That Everything Should Go Terribly Wrong” shows that Every Time I Die can pretty much do anything musically and aren’t afraid to venture into unknown territory if they think it could produce a great track, and in this case they did.
"In The Event..." is available at the link below, where you can buy the track from the album 'Hot Damn!' via iTunes, but its also available for pretty much any site the sells anything these days.
If anyone knows me, or has seen my Last.fm stats from the last few days pop up on their Facebook page you'll know that I've been addicted to this band, The Dillinger Escape Plan.
I've become a fan of theirs since their latest release in May, but to be honest I suppose I had kinda fallen out of them in the last few months but I recently listened to "Prancer", and I don't know what, but something clicked and for about 3 or 4 days I've literally listened to nothing but Dillinger.
I did this weeks Track Of The Week on single "Prancer" but I couldn't help myself doing this, plus the Nine Inch Nails one went over real well and got a few people interested so I thought I'd do this again and maybe start making this a regular piece on this blog (not sure about it being weekly but regular).
So yeah, like the NIN list this is MY list, if your don't down with it, let me know in the comments or on the Facebook page, whatever just don't be silent.
Like I said I have just gotten into Dillinger this last few months, after hearing the lead single "Prancer" I was literally in love, it was similar to what I felt when I first heard "Underwater Bimbos From Outer Space" by Every Time I Die, it was brutal and I think I might have just been in an angry, more brutal mood at the time.
I had resisted them for years, I know for a fact why I did this; I mistook them for The Gaslight Anthem and thought they were some indie band trying to be a punk band....yeah clearly I was wrong haha!
Enough of the intro (I've typed WAY too much tonight, I kinda just want to copy and paste now), here's the list, in no real order either, and again its less formal and more like a casual conversation.
Enjoy!
“Prancer"
I’ve actually went over this song in detail in this week’s Track Of The Week, so I don’t feel like I need to talk much about the track itself, but I suppose I can give some background to why it’s my clear, numero uno favourite Dillinger track.
Like I said above, I mistook these guys for The Gaslight Anthem for the longest time, and then I don’t know, for some reason I checked out “Prancer” and my mind was literally blown away! The heaviness, the constant thrashing, Greg Puciato’s wails, it was everything I loved in a song, and to tie it all off, it had a melody and tune to it that was catchy and I don’t know, fun I guess. After listening a few times I found their live performance at this year’s Golden Gods Awards show and that just sealed the deal; Dillinger Escape Plan were now one of my favourite bands. I went ahead and got a hold of their entire discography, and then bought tickets for their Glasgow show in November very soon after that.
“Milk Lizard”
After getting their back catalogue I went ahead and listened, and honestly it was a shock to me (much like when I first listened to Nine Inch Nails), there was obviously this metalcore vibe that was always there but they also had this sort of jazz-like experimental side where songs just didn’t run in a straight line, instead took sharp turns in tempo and feel. This did take me back a step, though luckily I had listened to a lot of Eighteen Visions (obviously) and their early work did the same, changing tempo and sound multiple times through a song, so this did help me get round this feature of Dillinger’s work.
With “Milk Lizard” though, man that’s just an amazing track, in a word its ‘fun’. It’s got this awesome energy that kicks in straight away, much like “Prancer”, it sounds like a Formula 1 race, it’s just so fast paced and then BANG, your hit with the slower chorus that’s a great example of this jazz-inspired uncertainty.
These slow choruses are needed; the listener needs time to recoup from the fiery pace of the verses, so fast that it takes all your concentration just to be able to make out what the hell Puciato’s saying!
As far as I remember this was one of the first songs that I really enjoyed from the get-go after having heard “Prancer”.
“Farewell, Mona Lisa”
This is a song that I have just recently gotten into (by recently I mean in the last few days), I mean I’ve always loved that start; the lone guitar strums echoing reminds me of like a western or something, very Clint Eastwood.
“Farewell…” really rides the unpredictability to its fullest, changing sound and tempo a number of times in the song to a number of different speeds and sounds. Though when the song gets slow, about a third of the way into the song it just strikes me, I guess it’s my love for slower songs (which has become way too apparent since reviewing songs as of late haha). Puciato’s vocals get clean though the intensity is still there in the building instrumentals in the background till it smashes into a sort of breakdown that leads to the climax of the song.
“Black Bubblegum”
One thing I love about Dillinger is that they seem to be able to tackle any sort of song type, and on this one it seems like they take a pop song and add their own brand of metalcore/mathcore (some kind of “core”) and they produce an incredible sounding track.
Puciato screams very little in this song, sure he raises his voice and maybe even goes as far as yelling, but the highlight (at least for me) is his soft vocals during the choruses, just shows this bear of a man really can do practically anything vocal-range wise.
The song sounds clean, you can hear all vocals, you can hear all guitars and drums, the bass is clearly chugging away, all in all this is something that I had not really heard before from Dillinger; a clean sounding rock song, no sudden changes in the sound or tune, just straight-forward rock.
Also, that tune is sooo damn catchy, after listening to it you’ll literally be humming it all day long haha.
“One Of Us Is The Killer”
When I first got into the band their latest album had just hit shelves, and with “Prancer” being from it and my instant love for it I figured that ‘One Of Us Is The Killer’ would be the best place to start off. So I listened to it, it’s hard, it’s fast, it’s unpredictable, then I came to this song….yeah this isn’t fast, it’s got a pretty easy going song-scheme and it’s really not that hard apart from a few chorus appearances.
This was not what I thought Dillinger were about, but I listened and I came to love it after just one listen. Its charm was that it was slower and even almost methodical; when the harder thrash parts come up you get the sense that they are so well mapped out and that the band had been meticulous with the length of them, the placement, the instruments, everything about it. Though slower, I’d say it’s possibly one of the darkest tracks on the album.
“Paranoia Shields”
This is another case of being a song I have JUST gotten into majorly, I remember yesterday morning waking up and having this part of the song in my head, I knew it was Dillinger but had no idea what song it was. I don’t know where it came from either; just woke up and had this unbelievable urge to listen to this song, whatever it was.
So I found it and listened to it all, and loved it, I mean it’s got the usual sound of Dillinger; hard and thrashy at parts, tempo changes a-plenty, honestly I’d say it reminds me a lot of “Farewell, Mona Lisa” where it was the slower chorus part that caught my interest first and then I got my head around the heavy aspect of the track.
“Chinese Whispers”
This song is so damn similar to “Milk Lizard”; it’s got an insane pace during its verses, Puciato’s vocals are razor sharp and lightening quick but then when we hit the chorus the tempo smoothens out and we get a slower turn for the song.
It’s also got an aspect of “Black Bubblegum” where the tune is so catchy it could work easily as pop or dance track, plus the vocals are clear for the most part and it isn’t overly heavy or not for the majority of the song at least. Something that I haven’t spoken about really is the incredibly skilled Ben Weinman, Dillinger’s guitarist, his presence is obvious on every song but this one especially, the song’s tune would be nowhere near as catchy or rhythmic as it is if it wasn’t for his playing.
I also really like Greg lyrics here, I don’t know why, but they just seem to flow so well, sure they maybe aren’t the most complex he’s every written, but the simplicity works here.
“Heat Deaf Melted Grill”
I’ve added an eighth since “Prancer” had kinda been done already, plus this song is pretty short and doesn’t have too much going on.
I do remember I got into this the same time that I got into “Farewell, Mona Lisa”, it’s got this great opening violin that just paints such a moody picture; it sounds dark and twisted, like something straight out of a Tim Burton film. The song itself is almost instrumental, with not too many lyrics, and what there is I’m pretty sure is from the track “Gold Teeth On A Bum”, the real appeal of this song and what makes it one of my top tracks has to be the atmosphere it creates; with background hums and dark sounding instrumentals it just brings together something that sounds dark, similar to that of “One Of Us Is The Killer”.
So yeah, there you have it peeps, my favourite 7 (but it’s really kinda 8 isn’t it) songs by a band that have rapidly became one of the toppers on my list. Furious and fast, methodical and slow; The Dillinger Escape Plan seem to be able to do it all, and they do!
Hopefully any fans of the band enjoyed this list/review thingy but if you have a different list, let me know, don’t fret in posting it up. Post in the comments, post your own list or head on over to the Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/theghostchant).
Something that I wanted to do when starting off this blog was to write actual articles; in fact I expected this blog to be more articles and reviews with fewer interviews to be honest.
I’m hoping to do more of these in the future; of course they’re all my own opinion and as always, if anyone doesn’t agree feel free to let it out!
For what I’m kinda treating as my first ‘real’ article on here I thought I’d cover something that has been on my mind for a good few months now, and is something that is at the forefront of music right now: supporting the bands and music.
Supporting bands is something that just doesn’t happen much now; back in the 80s and 90s bands had armies of followers, no matter the genre, now however this is something that’s only associated with pop groups where none of the members have even hit puberty yet.
Now I’m not saying to support a band you need to become a border-line stalker and get their faces tattooed on you or anything; no, to support a band is much easier and the rewards are given out to those that do support.
Below is a list of what I feel are three key ways to support bands, how to do them and the rewards.
BUY THE MUSIC!!
Simple but it’s something that’s honestly rarely done nowadays; mp3s are at the ready, 24/7 anyone can go onto Google, put in a song title and within 3 results get a free download of it. CD sales have declined so much in the last few years and they continue on going down because of this, and this obviously isn’t helping a band that’s just released their first CD and their future literal depends on their CD sales. Illegal downloading is killing music, simple as that. Every week I read about bands that I know calling it quits, though there are always many reasons you’ve got to believe that lack of sales always have something to do with it.
How do you combat this and give the bands what they deserve and give them money for the record they spent a year of their life crafting? Obviously, as archaic as it sounds buy the CD; there will never be anything quite like owning a physical copy of an album, never! If CDs aren’t your thing though you can obviously get the mp3s for roughly the same price (if not cheaper) from pretty much any store online now (iTunes, Amazon, Play, ect.).
But if you’re a real music freak and you like some style when owning the music, you can go for something that’s becoming very popular again; vinyl. Most albums these days are released on vinyl (at least the releases by bands big enough to merit it) and often they will include limited edition runs, which is where this all gets fun. I’m a fan of vinyl myself and have a good few in my collection, these are something else; whether it’s a picture disc, splattered combination of colours, block colours, marbled colours, clear, glittered, when it comes to vinyl the sky is literally the limit and makes having a physical copy just that little bit more special.
The great thing about these is that they aren’t even that expensive these days, with most ringing in at around the price of a double CD (14/15 in whatever currency), it’s not a bad price to own not only a physical copy of a record but an attractive copy. Most vinyl’s even come with the CD too now, or at least a download code to get the music digitally as well.
*example of a vinyl package; The Dillinger Escape Plan's latest release 'One Of Us Is The Killer'*
Wear Your Band
Yep, again sounds simple, but bands nowadays earn more from their merch sales that they do from physical CD sales.
This might not be up everyone’s alley, and not all bands offer up great quality merch, but there are bands that thrive off shirt sales and provide god quality service and a vast amount of choice in this department. Rock bands especially use this as an added source of revenue (we’ve all seen someone walking around wearing a Guns N’ Roses shirt right?) and offer a crazy selection and even use more than one provider, giving fans even more choice.
Downside to this is that some merch can be a little too much; say your into heavy metal, your most likely gonna have ram’s skulls and fire across yourself a lot, but then again if your into that then maybe that’s a good thing. I suppose what I’m saying is that some designs can be too in your face for, say formal get togethers haha.
But the point still stands, if you like a band, buy some merch and wear it proudly.
Go See Them Dammit!
Sure ticket prices have risen in the last number of years, and the economy this and that, buuuuut going to see a band in concert is a great way to support a band and keep them a-float. The reward of this is clear, you get to see a great show in person, and have a night you won’t soon forget!!
Another great thing about going to see the band live is that you can do all of the above at the same time; buying merch at a show is the absolute best way to support a band cause 100% of the money goes straight to the band/performer, same as CDs and when it comes to vinyl, it’s not too crazy for a band to have limited vinyl designs as tour only variants.
Plus, depending on the band (unless they’re big stars, you’ll know it anyway) it’s become very common in the last 2 years or so for them to stick around and speak to fans, sign stuff, chat, take pictures, all of that stuff. Obviously this is an experience that, if meeting a band that’s particularly special to you, can change lives and do so much for a person.
*me, Justin Sane (Anti-Flag) and my insanely purple nails; London this past July*
So yeah, partake in any of these, or hell go for all three, and you’ll be doing your part in supporting your band and keeping them going. In this age bands are dropping far too often, and too many of them are talented and haven’t even had their chance to show what they’re made of; support your favourite bands, don’t download illegally, buy the disc, buy a shirt, go see them live and have a good time. If you don’t, frankly you have no access to grind if your favourites do throw in the towel.
Time for this week’s TOTW, and like last week’s I’m going to review a fairly recent track; The Dillinger Escape Plan’s thrasher, “Prancer”.
During this past week on the Facebook page to celebrate the release of their highly anticipated new album ‘Hesitation Marks’ on Tuesday I decided to make it Nine Inch Nails week, so figured reviewing Dillinger would make sense and follow on maturely since they have been labelled this generations version of NIN.
Dillinger Escape Plan are a band that frankly can’t be categorised, since their formation in the late 90’s they have been brewing this concoction of metal fierceness, the DIY of punk, the energy of 80’s hardcore and even the improvisation of jazz. Nine releases into their career, the latest being 2013’s smash ‘One Of Us Is The Killer’, Dillinger seem to have found their audience, and with this year’s release they seem to now know how to appeal to all of their music tastes and keep them all happy.
On to the track, the first thing to say is that this is not a soft song by any means, no matter what connotations the title brings up. This for sure is not a song about Christmas or reindeer or even anything associated with joy; no, “Prancer” is ferocious song that blasts the listener’s ears from start to finish.
To start, the tracks title obviously has nothing to do with the song, lead singer Greg Puciato decided to name the song because he thought it’d be funny to see fans of the band (stereotypical metal listeners; way too much hair and testosterone) talking about how great that song “Prancer” was.
Again this song is nothing like what you might think if you were only given the title; this being the opener from latest release ‘One Of Us Is The Killer’ it has to capture the listener, it has to give the listener what they loved about every other release from that band and then show them what to expect in the next 40 minutes of the album.
This song does exactly what an album opener should do; it harnesses the sheer chaos that anyone that knows about Dillinger will enjoy, it includes the major snap-neck changes in tempo and sound that again fans of the band will understand but it also includes something that’s been utilised more on this record, a slower and more mellow sound.
The song starts off with crushing guitars, straight-off you know that something real hard is away to go down, and you’d be right!
“HOW COULD IT ALL BE!” screeches out and the track jumps into 5th gear instantly, only letting up for one chorus half-way through the song, and even then the guitars are still ear-destroying while Greg Puciato’s vocals become slightly clearer.
One thing that Dillinger has always been praised on is their instrumentals; many bands rely on the lead singer to carry a song with the sounds actually making the song almost taking a backseat. Dillinger don’t do this, guitarist (and only founding member left) Ben Weinman has been proclaimed the fastest guitar player in music right now, and this skill is CLEAR on “Prancer”, from start to finish the guitars don’t let up at all. The continuous chugging through the entire song isn’t just a job Ben holds on his own; long time bassist Liam Wilson does the same with his unique style of playing, helping to create what is honestly one of the most constantly heavy songs I have ever heard before.
One of the reasons for its frenzied sound could be caused by the genuine personal hate that was building up between both Puciato and Weinman. The entire album lyrically was based on this growing animosity between the two, where both began to feel distanced from each other due to personal choices (Weinman is a proud follower of the straightedge lifestyle).
“Prancer” is no exception to this effect, and when laying down the vocals Greg has stated in interviews that his real-feeling emotion totally crept through and made its way out into recording. This even caused a sort of competition between the two, where they’d try and out-heavy and out-work the other; which probably ended up better for the fans.
The lyrics for “Prancer” are dark and disturbing, what you’d probably expect from such a band and such a song, but they are well thought-out and seem to be the in same vein as writers such as Keith Buckley of Every Time I Die; they’re smart and not just usual “devil” this and “satan” that that is seen so much in current metalcore music.
What ties the song together is Greg’s screams; he does it his way and there is no one in the music business that screams like he does. It’s so guttural, the anger is there and sounds like its boiling over the rim (especially in this song/album) just waiting to drip and consume every song he puts his voice to. This anger is added to when on the last portion of the song Weinman actually backs up on vocals which leads to both screaming in unison “Fuck you, don’t try to disbelieve us!” sort of showing that when they both work together and are on the same page, they are this unstoppable force.
“Prancer” clearly shows the strain that is bound to happen to a band after they’ve been around for a long time, the anger that can build up can hinder bands and the recording process; in this instance though the opposite happened and what was produced was not only an incredible song but an incredible album.
Now Dillinger venture on with the advertising of new album ‘One Of Us Is The Killer’, having just finished the US leg of their touring it’s on to the UK and Europe now (got my ticket booked for the November 5th show in Glasgow J ), and with their live shows being legendary in their intensity and unpredictability it’s sure to be a fun night for those lucky enough to see them. At this point fans of the band are in a great position; they have an enhanced chance of seeing the band live and have this fresh new record on their hands. Time to rejoice!
Below is a link to buy "Prancer" which is also available on the album 'One Of Us Is The Killer' which you can buy from iTunes and pretty much anywhere else that sells music. Check out the vinyl record, which features either white/black splatter or tan/black splatter design, includes the CD and a poster (a great deal and a great way to support the band).
