Short But Sweet, Polite And Respectful #38

Issue #38 of SBS contains four amazing debuts by Кальк, Perish Song, Underdark and perfect blue (w/ members of Cavalcades and Healing Powers). Furthermore we'd like to introduce the thumbnail below. Our very own, Pia did an amazing job on this one and we're really psyched about how beautiful it turned out."

If Кальк (pronounced: Kalk) are offering their demo CD for free these days, you should definitely grab one. The threepiece from Kiel, which includes members of Chuck Bass and Mørder, surprised with its live performance. For me, it felt like the sophisticated progression of their sound, shown on their demo recordings on bandcamp. As its name gives away, those recordings are quite rough and do not feature the synthesizer used at their shows. Containing six songs overall, the demo felt more like the faster and violent twin of the songs' live versions, giving you a good impression on how much potential this band has. Hailing from Kiel, Anna, Philipp and Hannes already announced a proper Extended Play, featuring their demo songs as well as some new ones. Really looking forward to it.

A desperate voice screams „I fell apart waiting for you…“ as the debut of Perish Song, from Pittsburgh, PA, starts to carve its way into our emo hearts. This line is taken out of the opening track of the band’s first Extended Play. Kept in the vein of late 90s respectively early 00s emo, the instrumental part of the song provides a pleasant background for the high-pitched vocals, which can be found throughout the whole EP. The first verse of the closing track even features some clean vocals and easily could be considered as the magic moment of this well-made debut.

"Time spent in the home where I was raised. Discarding my old things, hiding old picture frames. Hopeless, tossing out failed attempts under the mountains of my favorite unworn clothes. Searching for the place I hid myself pretending that I was looking for something else.“

Atmospheric Black Metal rarely emerges on this blog but when it does you can be sure that it’s really good. Strongly influenced by bands like Envy, We Came Out Like Tigers or Deafheaven, the first work of Underdark from Nottingham is a wild hyprid of black metal and screamo. As the genre nowadays lacks in finesse and bands often sound way too tedious, Underdark were able to write three diverting tracks, in which guitar walls and diabolic black metal vocals create a top-notch sound with a murky and dense atmosphere. Mourning Cloak’s twenty minutes are definitely well spend since you will get some of the most intense tunes you’ve heard in a while. If you like them as much as we do, you should definitely head over to Sell Your Soul Records and snatch one of those 12 inch records on white vinyl.

"A wretched life, unwholly lived. Drowning in the blackest of wings. Thoughts lay besieged, baited and lured. Distilled, given form, adroit, tenebrous.“

"A week of fires" is the first musical output of recently formed UK screamo act, perfect blue and it’s one hell of a debut. Hailing from Leeds, the band features members of Cavalcades and Healing Powers. While the British tag themselves only as punk, you get much more than that. Of course, punk pretty much hits the core of their approach of creating music, but it’s wrapped up with screamo and even hints of black metal. However, listening to perfect blue’s demo is really enjoyable, as its mighty soundscapes are dark and rich in variety. From the outstanding drumming to the gut-wrenching vocals, everything’s arranged quite perfectly on this five song collection. Can’t wait to hear more.