1. Thoughts Of Ionesco – Regarding October – For Detroit, From Addiction (2002) (0:00)
Thoughts Of Ionesco are a band that deserves so much more attention and credit than they get, but that’s how things go sometimes. I, like most people outside of the greater Detroit area, missed this band while they were around, only discovering them a few years after the release of their final album, For Detroit, From Addiction, which is also their finest moment. On it, the group took their weirdo artsy hardcore and upped the ante with the inclusion of pianos, saxophones and jazz influenced instrumental breaks. Singer/guitarist Sean Madigan Hoen wrote a memoir a few years back detailing a tumultuous time in his personal life that coincides with the existence of TOI. It’s a great book regardless of its connection to the band, but one that gets even more interesting when you start to understand where he was coming from emotionally and musically and then connect the dots to the songs. They did regroup in 2017 for an EP worth of material that didn’t disappoint, but I suggest getting your hands on a copy of For Detroit, From Addiction ASAP.
2. Catharsis – Sacred And Profane (The Carnal Prayer Mat) – Samsara (1997) (10:26)
It’s hard to pinpoint the exact influence Catharsis had on metalcore overall but I have a theory that the whole regional style that came out of the Carolinas in the late 90’s owes a lot to Catharsis. It’s fair to wonder what bands like Prayer For Cleansing and Undying might sound like if this band never existed. Catharsis are often labeled as an “Anarcho Punk Band,” and that may represent their philosophy and lyrical content, but I don’t think it means much as far as their sound goes. Sonically speaking, they were more like a heavier hardcore with crust influence, but had some pretty complex metallic riffing thrown in for good measure. One of the cool things I love about this song is the weird drum pattern in the beginning (it shows up again later in the song) where the snare speeds up incrementally sounding like a ping pong ball bouncing on a table. I have never heard anyone else doing something like that before.
3. Buried Inside – III – Spoils Of Failure (2009) (13:13)
Buried Inside were the thinking man’s metalcore. Artsy and intelligent, the Canadian band put together two of the finest albums relating to the style. Spoils Of Failure may not have the overarching theme of their previous album, Chronoclast (which was a philosophical deconstruction of the concept of time), but peruse through that lyric sheet and find yourself immersed in heavy, thought provoking words. What’s the last album that did that for you? Musically they played a melodic version of a metalicized hardcore with octave chords galore. "III" is a sprawling epic of a track that glides along so smoothly you don’t even register its eleven and a half minute run time. I could listen to this one on repeat for days.
4. Red Tide – Overcome – Themes Of The Cosmic Consciousness (1997) (24:42)
I only recently discovered Red Tide, a progressive metal/hardcore band from Connecticut that existed in various forms throughout the 90s. I heard them mentioned on Ray Harkins' great 100 Words Or Less podcast when Ray was interviewing the drummer of Die My Will (another great band from CT’s past). Intrigued by the comment I sought them out and came across this really interesting album. There is definitely a lot of Candiria influence with the crunchy palm muted grooves and jazz breaks, but there is also some New York Hardcore influence (think Merauder) and even Life Of Agony type sung sections. It’s a pretty out there album, made even stranger by the unorthodox drumming that turns out to actually have been provided by Justin Foley, current drummer for metal superstars Killswitch Engage.
5. Maudlin Of The Well – Bizarre Flowers / A Violent Mist – Leaving Your Body Map (2001) (28:15)
This song has it all: church bells, death metal growls, ripping solos. I don’t know what more you could want. Maudlin of the Well were Toby Driver’s avant-garde metal band before he went exploring even stranger territories with Kayo Dot - a band that started off more or less as a continuation of this one. It has been noted that Driver studied under jazz/world music legend Yusef Lateef in college and this album would have been shortly after his time there. I don’t know a ton about it but from what I understand Lateef taught something he called “Autophysiopsychic Songwriting,” which I believe is a sort of spiritual and cerebreal approach that allows the song to be composed and performed in some sort of free flowing method. I don’t know, maybe I’ll read the book someday. But that makes sense because the Maudlin stuff is all over the place stylistically. I don’t know any other artist that throws as much at his listeners, as far as breadth of sounds go, than Toby Driver.
6. Mutoid Man – Friday The 13/8 – Helium Head (2013) (37:37)
Helium Head was Mutoid Man’s first and wildest release, picking up, in a way, where the then two piece – Stephen Brodsky and Ben Koller – left off with Cave In’s 2005 cassingle Shapeshifter/Dead Already, which had featured Koller filling in on drums for the injured JR Connors. While the group would settle into a more accessible, but still blisteringly technical sound on their later albums, Helium Head shows the duo playing as ridiculously fast and chaotic as they possibly can. And, as the title suggests, this song is in the very odd time signature of 13/8. This is the metal version of John Coltrane blasting out a hundred notes per second.
7. Akimbo – Circle Of Hair – City Of The Stars (2006) (40:16)
Akimbo were an interesting band; a weird sort of part punk, part stoner rock sound that existed all on its own. “Circle Of Hair” demonstrates that weird dichotomy, starting out with a post-hardcore kind of feel before it drops out into straight up Black Sabbath worship with a modified take on “War Pigs” ending riff. The group ended up signing to Neurot Recordings which actually made a lot of sense, but unfortunately just disappeared following one release with the label.
8. The Violence Sequence – Beneath Skins Purpose – Off The Meter (2004?) (44:07)
This was a very short lived band from the Albany, NY area that I believe was a three piece consisting of Drew Janik (guitar) and Mike Watkajtys (bass) of Section 8 and Skinless vocalist Sherwood Webber on drums. Named for the original composition that became Pink Floyd’s “Us & Them,” the all-instrumental group found its members exploring territory far from the brutal sludge and death metal of their main bands. Although you can certainly pick up similarities in Janik’s playing and writing from his Section 8 days, The Violence Sequence veered off into a groovier stoner metal direction. This track is from a compilation that was released in approximately 2004 (based upon the Endicott song included) and is, as far as I know, the only available recording from the band. I’d love to get my hands on some more if anyone knows where they can be found.
9. Kiss It Goodbye – Choke – Choke (1999) (48:03)
Kiss It Goodbye was the band that Tim Singer and Keith Huckins left Deadguy to start. That should be enough right there, but I guess I’ll go on. Huckins may be one of the most influential guitar players when it comes to the style that later became metalcore. He might not like to hear that, and he certainly doesn’t get the credit he deserves for it, but take into account how many bands were influenced by his work in Deadguy - who really benefited from his addition - as well as from his earlier band Rorschach. I mean, does Botch produce We Are The Romans without Huckins clearing the path? Luckily, we don’t have to know. And oh yeah, there’s that guy Tim Singer that I have heard referred to as the most pissed off sounding vocalist of all time. How are Kiss It Goodbye not talked about as one of the greatest hardcore bands to exist?
10. Candiria – Pull – Process Of Self-Development (1999) (52:33)
Candiria played Albany so much when I first started going to shows as a teenager that my friends and I mistakenly thought they were from there. We got to see this band in their prime on a regular basis, something I obviously couldn’t fully appreciate at the time. But they were actually from NYC, which makes sense when you factor in everything that went into their sound, something they referred to as Urban Fusion. I think it was the Beastie Boys who talked about growing up in a city so diverse that you get exposed to multitudes of music and culture by just walking down the street, and that must be what happened with Candiria. Metal and hardcore collide with jazz, hip-hop, latin music and tribal rhythms to create one of the most unique sounds in heavy music. This track also features guest vocals from the great Tom Sheehan of Indecision and Most Precious Blood notoriety.
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