Double Me

Reviews

Afterpill / Double Me split EP

This AFTERPILL/DOUBLE ME split 7″ is a quick and dirty snack of powerviolence done two ways. AFTERPILL, a bass-and-drums duo from Saguenay, Quebec, cranks out seven tracks of no-frills, meat-and-potatoes fastcore tunes that sometimes tended to blur together a little bit. It’s solid, but don’t expect a lot of variety. Then DOUBLE ME, a four-piece from Padua, Italy, crashes in with five tracks in just under two minutes, balancing screaming and Cookie Monster vocals over rapid-fire drumming. Despite an average song length of 22 seconds, each track somehow manages to sound distinct, and the recording quality delivers a serious punch. It’s over before you can catch your breath, but if relentless, no-bullshit powerviolence is your thing, this split’s got you covered. Check out the whole thing.

Double Me / Fuck on the Beach split EP

I imagine it’s probably pretty high up on every powerviolence band’s bucketlist to do a split with Tokyo PV legends FUCK ON THE BEACH—Italy’s DOUBLE ME can now cross that one off of said list. DOUBLE ME has them beat in the song ratio (six vs. FUCK ON THE BEACH’s two), but both sides of this slab rip pretty hard. One of FUCK ON THE BEACH’s tunes is quite a raging take on CHAOS UK’s “No Security”—songs both rip hard, but DOUBLE ME’s bass-heavy sound is this reviewer’s favorite. It’s certainly worth the time investment, that time being just over four minutes. Depending on how stupid you are (which, if you like powerviolence, is probably quite a bit), it might even take you longer to read this review than listen to the record.

Double Me / VIOLENCIA split EP

Heavy split between Padua, Italy’s DOUBLE ME and Tijuana, Mexico’s VIOLENCIA. DOUBLE ME gives us five powerviolence slammers in about two minutes. Blastbeats dominate the mix, but there is interesting guitar work and call-and-response caveman vocals à la SPAZZ. This side could have been mixed better. I like the songs, but they sound trebly and lack low-end heaviness, through no fault of the band. Meanwhile, VIOLENCIA shreds with a mix of powerviolence, hardcore, metal chugging, and doomy interludes. Their four songs are heavy and distinctively varied. “Frenesi” opens their side with ripping powerviolence, featuring super-pissed co-ed vocals like the best parts of DESPISE YOU. “Requiem Por Mi Existencia” is straightforward D-beat hardcore done extremely well, and just to round out the genre explorations, the side ends with an instrumental doom metal song. All heavy, all memorable, VIOLENCIA is a band to watch.