Octaves are a hardcore band from Baltimore, Maryland. Combining mathy instrumentals and shouted, screamed, and spoken vocals, Octaves are a passionate, emotional group of guys. Greener Pastures is their first release, distributed by Hotfoot Records, an indie hardcore label. Look out for their upcoming west coast tour with Caravels in early 2011.
How Is It?
Excellent. Octaves are one of those rare bands that has the amazing ability to not only convey their emotions through song, but also to make you feel those same emotions. On "Be Angry At the Sun for Setting on a Set of Sons", I was angry at the sun. (In fact, so angry, that my earbuds somehow got stuck on a light fixture a good two or three feet above my head while headbanging to it, but that's a story for another time.) On "Fix the Fernback", Octaves sound like some fantastic combination of Botch and La Dispute, as vocalist Phil Fosler opens the song screaming, "Flee from the forest/This great Burnim Wood is climbing my Dunsinane Hill", alluding to the location of Duncan's castle in Shakespeare's Macbeth. The lyrics are strong throughout the release. "I'm Just Going Down to the Corner to Get Cigarettes (I'll Be Back In a Minute)" tells a story of patriarchal desertion and contains some of the best lines -- "Dear old Daddy's at an airport/Praying both were dead/Step back from the altar/Jets it off to Memphis/Shacked up with some waitress/At a shitty Motel 6/Tell me does my face adorn your nightstand?/Do we ever cross your mind?" Fosler's voice is a powerful instrument; his mid-range screams and hollers fit beautifully with the jolting rhythms from bassist Tony Savaro and drummer Shane Walsh and riffs from guitarist Lazy Wes Young. These four men create a sound at once familiar yet unique, a beautiful cocktail of metalcore and emotional hardcore, decorated with math rock tendencies. Keep an eye out for this band.
Tracklist:
1. Fix the Fernback
2. Be Angry at the Sun
3. I've Got Boxes Full Pepe
4. Anaconda Squeeze
5. I Am He Who Is Called I Am
6. I'm Just Going to the Corner to Get Cigarettes (I'll Be Back in a Minute)
7. Shmohawk
8. Absent Kids Count
Octaves' Myspace containing dates of the 2011 tour with Caravels and information on how to purchase Greener Pastures.
i LOVE Octaves!
ReplyDeleteOctaves, Age Sixteen, and Pianos are baltimore at its finest :)