Reviews

Dans Le Vide

Distance Le Décor 12″

Touting influence from the French and Scandinavian underground as well as power pop and Oi!, this Bourdeaux group has a strong and formidable style that builds everything around a melodic core. The vocals are a little too forward in the mix, but that’s a quibble when the hooks are this deep. The guitar has a satisfying chorus-laden crunch and the bass is punchy, harmonizing beyond just plunking on the root notes to a deeply satisfying end. At six tracks, the energy stays consistent throughout, and the band doesn’t outstay its welcome. Just a really solid affair through and through, and catchy as hell.

Nohz Nohz demo cassette

Right out of the gate, NOHZ digs into a devastatingly tough riff that sets the table for what is to come—a flagrant disregard of the safety of your eardrums. This is an altogether brutal affair, with extremely well-crafted songs that feel both fresh and familiar at the same time. Tempos fluctuate from track to track in a way that makes every cut feel like a singular accomplishment, yet does not detract from the effectiveness of the broader sequence of the release. There is a brooding quality to the music that is heightened by the evil as fuck vocal delivery. In that regard, I’m reminded of RASPBERRY BULBS for their wedding of punk and black metal, though NOHZ certainly skews more punk. Song titles like “Brief Lights, Forever in Pain,” and “Sundial Impailers,” should be a pretty clear indication of what we’re working with lyrically. Musically, this release is brimming with hooks and discordantly catchy riffs. It’s an ugly, ugly world and this demo provides a fitting soundtrack for a waltz through the wastelands. NOHZ beckons you to join the blood party…will you accept the invitation?    

Oi Boys Oi Boys LP

OI BOYS are a French coldwave band from Metz. They specialize in creating desolate atmospheres, ideal to enhance the acid sadness of the de-industrialized panorama of a decaying West. And they do it being absolutely melodic, joining their ability to create small personal hymns with a tendency to nostalgia and drowned hatred. An album that grows with every listen.