AND YOU CAN'T BEAT THAT WITH A BAT.

♥ 43
→ 23 Jan 12 at 11 pm Reposting this because it’s the greatest fest of all time.

♥ 23
→ 09 Feb 11 at 8 pm Okay, let’s talk about this for a minute, shall we?

THIS album right here, for me, is probably one of the single most significant hardcore albums in the last 10 years just behind of “Jane Doe” (yes, I’m saying more so than “Background Music”). Let me make this clear: I’m not here to compare this to everything else, no, I just want to talk about this album right here.

I’d like to say I heard “Witness” when I was about 16 or so. My friend got this CD as a gift from some kid I barely knew. Neither my friend nor I were really into hardcore at the time (minus the fact that I was into Converge at the time, but that’s besides the point). He popped the CD into his stereo that he had in this basement and we all just sad around. Then the music actually started playing.

“SO WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU GOING TO DO KID?”

Right from the get-go this band was already questioning what I was doing with my life. This band, that I had never heard of until that very day, spoke to me at a level much more than any other band I had ever listened to at that time. Every word, every single syllable was just (and still is) something I just want to yell at the sky in a fit of frustration. I had to buy this. I needed to buy this. So after I left my friends house, I went straight to the local FYE and bought the album, went home, and started listening, and absorbing the copious amounts of frustration blaring through my speakers.

Have you ever just kind of sat alone in your room while your thoughts slowly drift into a place you don’t want it to? You start thinking too about things that just end up bringing you down and just makes you more frustrated and scared. This album illustrates those thoughts more that I could ever put into words. Every fear that I had ever had about going out into the world, about what I wanted to do with my life, about leaving behind the people I know and love, all of this was addressed on the album. It also dealt with the idea of wanting to make your mark on the world, blazing your own path, and doing something more with yourself; it’s really inspiring.

“When you’re 16 you don’t know what forever means. When you’re 23 you couldn’t be more sorry to say. That after all this is growing up together all the good has gone away.”

You find catharsis in words like that, you find something to relate to. No other hardcore band I can think of can really match that emotive level.

On the other side of the spectrum is the music itself. By hardcore standards, I would say it’s almost virtuosic, not in the way that Converge plays in weird times and has those crazy solo things sometimes, but in the way where every song is just masterfully crafted. Every chord progression makes it seem like your in the shadow of some kind of giant, that just towers over you. There is a kind of grandiose and dramatic element to it that I can’t fully explain. It’s like every note is just more important than the last, and just heightens the emotional tension in it. There is no mosh part, no breakdown part, no solo part, it’s just stream of consciousness song construction that paints something that I consider to be quite beautiful.

Only a small handful of albums have evoked such strong emotions as this band does. It’s really a beautiful thing that a band could have such control of these things as they do. I just wanted to find some way to pay tribute to this album, and find some way to let people know why I hold this album dearly to me. It’s a fantastic piece of music, and I’m glad to have owned it several times over. I hope that whoever listens to it in the future can find the same qualities that I have found in it.

tags: Modern Life is War Deathwish

Okay, let’s talk about this for a minute, shall we?
THIS album right here, for me, is probably one of the single most significant hardcore albums in the last 10 years just behind of “Jane Doe” (yes, I’m saying more so than “Background Music”). Let me make this clear: I’m not here to compare this to everything else, no, I just want to talk about this album right here.
I’d like to say I heard “Witness” when I was about 16 or so. My friend got this CD as a gift from some kid I barely knew. Neither my friend nor I were really into hardcore at the time (minus the fact that I was into Converge at the time, but that’s besides the point). He popped the CD into his stereo that he had in this basement and we all just sad around. Then the music actually started playing.
“SO WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU GOING TO DO KID?”
Right from the get-go this band was already questioning what I was doing with my life. This band, that I had never heard of until that very day, spoke to me at a level much more than any other band I had ever listened to at that time. Every word, every single syllable was just (and still is) something I just want to yell at the sky in a fit of frustration. I had to buy this. I needed to buy this. So after I left my friends house, I went straight to the local FYE and bought the album, went home, and started listening, and absorbing the copious amounts of frustration blaring through my speakers.
Have you ever just kind of sat alone in your room while your thoughts slowly drift into a place you don’t want it to? You start thinking too about things that just end up bringing you down and just makes you more frustrated and scared. This album illustrates those thoughts more that I could ever put into words. Every fear that I had ever had about going out into the world, about what I wanted to do with my life, about leaving behind the people I know and love, all of this was addressed on the album. It also dealt with the idea of wanting to make your mark on the world, blazing your own path, and doing something more with yourself; it’s really inspiring.
“When you’re 16 you don’t know what forever means. When you’re 23 you couldn’t be more sorry to say. That after all this is growing up together all the good has gone away.”
You find catharsis in words like that, you find something to relate to. No other hardcore band I can think of can really match that emotive level.
On the other side of the spectrum is the music itself. By hardcore standards, I would say it’s almost virtuosic, not in the way that Converge plays in weird times and has those crazy solo things sometimes, but in the way where every song is just masterfully crafted. Every chord progression makes it seem like your in the shadow of some kind of giant, that just towers over you. There is a kind of grandiose and dramatic element to it that I can’t fully explain. It’s like every note is just more important than the last, and just heightens the emotional tension in it. There is no mosh part, no breakdown part, no solo part, it’s just stream of consciousness song construction that paints something that I consider to be quite beautiful.
Only a small handful of albums have evoked such strong emotions as this band does. It’s really a beautiful thing that a band could have such control of these things as they do. I just wanted to find some way to pay tribute to this album, and find some way to let people know why I hold this album dearly to me. It’s a fantastic piece of music, and I’m glad to have owned it several times over. I hope that whoever listens to it in the future can find the same qualities that I have found in it.