Jonah 7"

This is the only solo record from five-piece French Canadian emo band Jonah, who also released a split 7" with fellow Canadians Drift (which is in contention for being one of my favorite splits ever) as well as second split with The Weak Link Breaks from Virginia.

Jonah has a real spastic, chaos-filled style, but also had elements of doom (and some gloom) in their sound, very similar to early Ire, who - wait for it - also hailed from fucking Quebec. I'm not sure what was going on up there the great white north during the middle part of the 90s, but there were tons of really good bands who called Canada home. Jonah was definitely heavier than many of the bands they shared their time and place with, and this three song seven inch is a good one that is atypical of the "emo" style kids who got into the scene post-1999 would immediately think of. Jonah stuff always had a real epic feel to it, if that makes any sense. This is legitimate emotional hardcore, the kind that existed before corporations sank their teeth into it and turned it into a marketing tool geared towards kids who really loved eyeliner and *crazy* haircuts. There is a real rumbling bass presence on this recording, some spoken vocals, the occasional jangly guitar part, and loads of high pitched screaming. It's good, and if you're reading this blog I'd imagine you'd be into it just as much as I (still) am.

These songs were recorded in October 1996 in Toronto with Rob Sanzo, whose studio I mentioned in a recent post. The ep was released in early '97 on Anima Records from Ontario, the label that also released the aforementioned split with Drift, as well as the phenomenal Anomie full length.

Anima #4. If you enjoy this, you should probably look into One Eyed God Prophecy, too.

- here -

Tracklist:
1) Dormir Sous L'empire
2) Duality
3) Haunted By The Past

Spirit Assembly - "Welcome To Lancaster County" lp

If you've been paying attention to this blog at all at any point during it's short-lived existence, you'll know how much appreciation I have for the many rad bands that came from my home state of Pennsylvania. Spirit Assembly remains one of my favorite bands from the middle part of the 1990s, and has been a big influence on me whenever I find myself playing drums in a band. These dudes started out as a four-piece, recording a two-song 7" in early 1992 that came out on Millersville, Pennsylvania's Motherbox Records, as well as a second three-song 7" that was a split release between Motherbox and Ancestry (another great 90s d.i.y. label) which was recorded in April 1994.

After the release of these two records, the band's vocalist left, and the three remaining members continued on with guitarist Sam Stansbery and bassist Gus (Zach) Martin taking over and sharing the vocal duties. As a three-piece, they released a split with Atlanta's Car Vs. Driver (who were also good) as well as this longplayer. Dru Martin played drums, and he, along with Gus, went on to play in Encyclopedia Of American Traitors after the breakup of Spirit Assembly in 1996 / 1997. Dru also played drums for 400 Years while filling in for Ash Bruce in the set I posted here in December. Both Gus and Sam went on to play in the fucking amazing and short-lived Fields Lay Fallow, whose sole record you can find here. Sam eventually played guitar in To The Mean, a Philly area band which featured Scott Torguson, who had previously played in two awesome bands from California about a decade earlier: Sinker and Amber Inn. I'll probably get around to uploading the Amber Inn lp soon, so you can look forward to that, friends.

Regardless, here is eight songs-worth of important Pennsylvania emo hardcore history for you to check out. It comes highly recommended (by me) for kids who dig more driving stuff like Shotmaker, Car Vs Driver, Inkwell, Sleepytime Trio or Engine Down. "Welcome To Lancaster County" was released in 1996 on Yuletide Records, from Millersville, Pennsylvania. It was the label's fifth release and is Spirit Assembly's only full length. Enjoy.

- more assumptions are made, creating truths from nothingness -

Tracklist:
1) Simple Transaction
2) Continuity Without Question
3) Nameless
4) Convention Invention
5) Self-Appointed Outcast
6) Pop Acculturation
7) Manmade
8) Stain

Sense Field cd

This cd, released by Revelation in 1994, is a compilation of the California band's first two eps (which were recorded in August 1991 and February 1992 and came out on Run H20 Records), as well as two unreleased songs. It came out shortly after the release of the first Sense Field full length, Killed For Less. Sense Field featured two former members of prominent Cali hardcore band Reason To Believe, but the new sound was far less hardcore punk-based and had its feet planted in more of a post-hardcore, alternative / emo sound. Jon Bunch's awesome vocals remained at the forefront of the band's sound though, just as they did in his previous band. The music is devoid of any fast parts and it showcases a more mature personality, with better songwriting and emo lyrics that your parents would have approved of, at least when compared to the other angry shit you were listening to in 1994. My mom didn't really care for Undertow, Warzone or Mouthpiece, but she really liked the second song on this disc, "Dreams". Way to go, Mom!

Sense Field's style of alt-rock clearly wasn't for everyone, but I'll be damned if this record doesn't rock my dick off. If you ask me, this earlier stuff was way better than the ensuing LP. Even though a few of these songs were re-recorded for Killed For Less, I like these versions better. This self-titled cd and 1996's Building are all you really need to know about Sense Field. Saw them in late 1995 or early 1996 in Princeton, NJ with Shades Apart and they were fuckin' outstanding.

The artwork on the cover of this album is a revamped version of similar art on the first Sense Field ep from 1991. Despite the Vedic artwork that is prominent on this release, the band were not of the Hare Krishna persuasion, as a few other noteworthy 90s hardcore bands were. This cd is Rev #37.

-for those who seem to care: Sense Field's only religion is music-

Tracklist:
1) Trip Poem
2) Dreams
3) Sage
4) Chimney
5) Voice
6) Nova
7) Soft
8) Familiar
9) Ideity
10) Strung
11) Found You
12) River
13) Greater Than
14) First Things First

Shoulder 7"

Shoulder was a severely under-appreciated (both then and now) four piece from Ontario, Canada. They played a brand of melodic hardcore with sung vocals and with what many people would consider to be "emo" leanings, similar to a lot of stuff that was coming from the mid-western part of the United States around that time. I'm pretty sure these two songs make up the last released output from Shoulder, but I can't remember if the split 7" with Morning Again on Moo Cow came out before or after this ep. "Body" is probably my favorite Shoulder song, although "Flower Drum Song" from the above-mentioned split gives it a serious run for it's money.

This was a split released between Conquer The World and Shoulder's guitarist's label, Rhythm Of Sickness. The songs included here were recorded at Signal To Noise in Toronto with Rob Sanzo, who recorded buttloads of awesome bands you should probably be listening to, including Grade and New Day Rising. I'm pretty sure wacky French Canadian prog-metal heroes Voivod recorded some stuff here, as well.

The 7" presented here came out in 1996 and is quite good, so that's probably all you need to know. I never got to see these dudes play, and I can't recall hearing about them coming through my area because I would not have missed them*. Still can't believe it's been +/- 20 years since all of these ridiculously awesome records were released. The time really seems to fly once you start getting older.

CTW-017 / ROS-02

-I will bend until I'm broken-

Tracklist:
1) Kindling
2) Body


* This may or may not actually be true. I remember missing Farside and Nomeansno shows here in Philadelphia because I'd made the decision to not miss work instead of going to see said bands. Apparently there was a point in my life when waiting tables took precedence over hardcore, and I'm an asshole. My friend Sean still reminds me of this fact every so often, and there was a Nomeansno reference there too, did you catch it?

Standpoint 7"

This 7" is comprised of three awesome melodic hardcore songs with amazing female vocals, courtesy of Standpoint, who hailed from the Jersey Shore. My first experience with this band was seeing them play in 1995 in Princeton, NJ with Mouthpiece at the Arts Council, which was an awesome place to see bands play. They had released a demo at this point, which I still have never heard, and this ep was still in the process of being released. The record gives us an excellent combination of chugga-chugga hardcore and, as noted earlier, beautiful vocals. I remember Standpoint getting compared to Ashes left and right, and while this contrast may be somewhat accurate, it wasn't entirely so. It was a good place to get an idea of what Standpoint was bringing to the table, though, even though I always thought they were better than Ashes.

Standpoint went on to release a full length on Smorgasbord Records in 1996, which also ruled. They appeared on a few compilation cd's as well, and that was that. I remember reading in an interview with the band that Reilly (the vocalist) and Steve (the drummer) were dating, so I'm not sure if that came into play as to why the band broke up. Regardless, both this 7" and the Whatever full length were great, so check it out if you dig female-fronted hardcore with less emphasis on "hard" and more on "emotion". This is my favorite out of the two releases.

This 7" was the first release from New Jersey's Spiritfall Records, yet another great 90s d.i.y. label. Also, peep my sweet Standpoint long sleeve...there's a robot on the back! Yes, that's the band's name below the fabulous artwork. No, it's not for sale.

-making my insides quiver watching you just shiver in front of me-

Tracklist:
1) Blindsided
2) At A Loss For Words
3) Plant The Seeds

Fadeaway cd

Here is the self-titled release by Buffalo's Fadeaway, whose lineup included past and future members of Despair, Envy, Slugfest, Snapcase, and Terror. It was released on Conquer The World Records in 1994, and features more examples of the label's signature shitty artwork. What the fuck is going on with the front cover of this disc, Mike Warden, is that an asteroid? Is that figure on the lyric sheet supposed to be a zombie, perhaps a mummy? Whatever, man.

Regardless, here are six songs of mid-90s *new school* hardcore for you. In my opinion, this stuff isn't anywhere near as good as Slugfest, Despair or the 'case when they were at their peak, but probably worth a listen if you are/were into any of those bands. Recorded at Border City Recording, the same place where Cannibal Corpse's "Hammer Smashed Face" and Baphomet's "The Dead Shall Inherit" were put to tape, for anyone else who listens to old school death metal.

This record is CTW#006.

-here-

Tracklist:
1) Endless
2) Drift
3) Scar
4) Graven Image
5 Shame
6) Before My Eyes

Day Of Suffering - "The Eternal Jihad"

This North Carolinian vegan straight edge band got it's start under the name Falling Down, who released a 3 song 7" Life Before Machine on Savannah, Georgia's Even The Score Records (see picture below) in mid-1995. Then something profound happened: they changed the name of their band to reference Morbid Angel, added guitarist Rob Townsend, probably started to take themselves a bit more seriously, and got really, really fucking good. The Eternal Jihad was released on Kurt Schroeder's Catalyst Records (or was it XcatalystX?) in 1997 and, quite frankly the scene just wasn't ready for this album. These dudes really liked death metal, and they didn't hide this fact at all. This to me was pretty great because quality osdm is still one of my favorite things ever.

 Equal parts old school death metal riffage ala Grotesque, Gutted or Schizophrenia-era Sepultura, and 90s vegan-edge politics (even though they take a decidedly anti-abortion social stance, we won't hold that against them), the band's only full length absolutely smokes from start to finish. Seriously, there's a lot of headbanging to be had here. Although they didn't sound anything like them, they shared a similar unapologetic attitude to fellow 90s veganXedge stalwarts Chokehold. I always recommended this to hardcore kids who wanted to dip their toes in good metal without actually stepping into the pool, or metal kids who wanted to test the waters of 90s hardcore. Recorded in *gasp* Syracuse, NY, this is Catalyst Records #06. Great Shit.

-life begins to flourish in renewal-

Tracklist:
1) The Eternal Jihad
2) Shades Of Red
3) Elegy
4) Engulfed In Darkness
5) Condemned To Fire
6) Visualize Industrial Collapse
7) Pawn
8) The Rising Of The Tide