I am going to try to get two blogs out tonight... Send music shit to [ fosterhildingmusic@gmail.com ] or DM me on Instagram.
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| photos stolen from band's Instagram. |
I constantly wish for more both from and for The Bay scene. In moments it seems dead, buried, and decomposing, only scavengers left behind amongst untouchable sonic legends, yet bands like máu give me hope. Their brand of hardcore, speedy screamo shimmers with the hope of revitalization. Riffs cling to our memory, haunted by their will and deep screams from within every corner of their debut EP, Anthesis.
Sunder is a short introduction to these distorted entities, made larger than life by pristine production and kicks that thud in our stomach. Guitars harmonize in what should be beauty, but is more like apathy. Hi hats force us along these dilapidated structures in some predetermined path from which we are both unwilling and unable to stray. It feels like the more screamo we get, the less screamo bands get, inching closer and closer to straight hardcore with moments of beauty, violence in a pure form, unable to hide behind walls and labels.
Disheartening jumps between blast beats and chugging full band hits underneath a deep voice. I don't know how to explain this properly, but these screams are so damning, like a scowling friend in the process of reprimand. Partial solos whisper in one ear before feedback sprawls across the scene and forces all other instruments back into a throbbing heart of itching chords.
Internalized is drummer porn. Its intro is all over the place, jumping between a shotgun snare and sizzling cymbals as guitars do whatever the fuck they want. Halfway through, we get what could be a breakdown, but is actually only a piece of this excellent groove. When it finally hits in Earth ending, breakdown fashion, it feels completely deserved. Ascending power chords guide our torch to the crevice that spans each song.
Restrain Almost doubles the length of the project's previous songs. My favorite part is this release of arpeggiating chords as a crunching bass keeps us from flying too far. There's a heartbeat to this song, a constant thud that never fails, even when it seems as if all is lost. Guitars take the lead most of the time, máu showing off these progressive riffs that sparkle and shine despite their rough exterior and the fading frames that hold them. Then, we build and build unto cataclysmic ends, but they are those ends that bring us back home, back closer to remembrance and closer to the self. Chords coincide as burning guitars whisper promises of return never kept until silence is all we have left.
I think máu rules. Their take on the emo composition is beautiful and leaves so much room for interpretation, yet, I want them to take that further. There were a few points on this EP where I felt inundated with the same grooves or riffs with little variation, Restrain being the biggest outlier and therefore my favorite. It's a promising debut, and I can only see them shining brighter moving forward. Thanks for reading.
6/10
Stream Athesis.
-Foster
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