Issue #44 of SBS contains the debuts of mira, portrëit and Newman as well as the powerful 5-way collaboration between Thisismenotthinkingofyou, Yotsuya Kaidan, Healing Powers, I Hate Sex and Ghostlate.

We’ve already seen lots of great split records in 2017 thus far and with the international collaboration between Thisismenotthinkingofyou, Yotsuya Kaidan, Healing Powers, I Hate Sex and Ghostlate - five of the most exciting screamo bands out there - we witness another powerful band fusion packed with five incredible songs by five elite performers. The centerpiece of the 5-way split consists of ’Hyperrealism’ by Yotsuya Kaidan followed by ’An Apparition’ by Healing Powers, two stand-out tracks, which are wrapped by songs of Shaun Hancock’s one-man-project Thisismenotthinkingofyou, Canada’s screamo sweethearts I Hate Sex as well as Ghostlate’s ’A Bouquet That I Held And You’, which makes for a fantastic final. Records will be available on 7 inch via Rubaiyat Records and Samegrey Records.

Newman is a Stockholm-based emoviolence outfit, consisting of members from Vivresavie and Kid, Veral. For their common project, Hedda, Tobias and Vile’s focus lies on short and intense songs, whereat distressed screams perfectly interact with the chaos, inflamed by the furious instrumental department of the band. A neat prologue paves the way for its follow-ups, two short-winded songs, which are characterized by some changes in tempo and with lines like "It's warping, the scenery surrounding me builds itself up again. Each feeling, reinvented, felt again.“ the threepiece is capable of creating an oppressive symbiosis between music and lyrics.

"I don't know if you noticed but lately I've been drifting aimlessly, disillusioned. My friends leaving me for someone better - bizarro days - I’ve lost count, I don't care, big deal!!"

Based in Bremen, mira includes former members of Manku Kapak and ilill. Those former projects clearly become noticeable within the three songs of their self-titled debut as well as the band’s fascination for emotional punk music of the nineteen-nineties. Since their very first recordings from last year’s fall, the four-piece turned some setscrews, polished their song material and finally established a sophisticated sound pattern, quite close to Emo’s blueprints from three decades ago. Mira consist of Johannes, Malte, Nico and Lela - and they are 300 light years away from earth.

"But no matter how far I've come, how far I run, how high I fly. I can't deny the pain."

With merely burbling guitar chords, portrëit’s first song starts cautious, as Guckert’s screamed vocals abruptly burst through the melancholic sound and all of a sudden you’ll find yourself within one of the strongest emoviolence debut records of the previous years. Recorded in their rehearsal room during a couple of weeks in February, the two tracks of the demo have a playtime of slightly more than 14 minutes, whereas bassist Sonja, drummer Timo and guitarist Dirk were able to merge them into one coherent piece of dark, violent art and without letting chaos gain the upper hand the foursome from Giessen convinced us with their well-balanced song-structure. Definitely watch out for the demo tape, which will be available via Dingleberry Records anytime soon as well as for the group’s upcoming shows with Coma Regalia and Drei Affen.

„Was zum Teufel machen wir hier? Warum sollte sich jemand dafür interessieren?“ The answer is quite simple. Tall As Trees are pretty fucking fantastic. Andrea, Christian, Diana, Marko and Sarah are hailing from Berlin and their self titled Extended Play is one of the best things, that happened to German screamo in 2016. Thanks to Crossed Letters we stumbled upon this exciting four song collection, where the new comers were able to perfectly connect the warm and catchy instrumental background with angry vocals, which are alternating between spoken and yelled parts, at times reminding me of bands like Manku Kapak or Morla. We highly recommend this well written EP to everyone who’s into emotional punk music.

"Für uns ist es wertvoll, für uns ist es gut! Du wirst überrascht sein von dir selbst. Und die innere Kritikerin wird leiser und leiser und leiser.“

Sometimes I feel like allrounder, Shaun Harrison-Hancock, is overtaking the UK screamo scene. Thalamic Incongruity is the latest release of his one man project Thisismenotthinkingofyou and it contains five tracks, which are all following the typical style of the band. It’s a violent bastard full of noisy and chaotic sound structures, merged to a compact unit with dense and grim atmosphere. Made for lovers of the genre, the record is being released by Adorno Records, Miss The Stars Records and Dingleberry Records. For now, take a seat, hit the stream button below and appreciate the immense musical output of Mr. Hancock while listening to Thalamic Incongruity. The invasion has begun.

"Look at what you've done! Everyone's burnt out and repressed. Clawing away to make something happen. To make a mark! To leave a trace! The worker, The artist, The frail.“

For this collaboration my favorite screamo band from Czech Republic teamed up with Nijmegen’s emo punk group Lawine. The split contains seven songs in total, whereat three of them are contributed by the Dutch, who are opening the split with a fresh blend of hardcore and emo -here and there riddled with some grungy parts. Their well-made side ends with Betrayal, a four -minute song, which is characterized by its spoken vocals. Starting with a short intro track, Remek’s side gathers pace with Písně prázdnoty (Song of Emptiness) and after just a few seconds you’re swallowed by the endearing sound of the fourpiece. Disgorged after a rollercoaster ride of ten diverting minutes, it became quite clear to me that the band from Prague, once again was able to add another gem to their grandiose discography. Limited on 500 pieces, the split will be released on black vinyl via Rope or Guillotine records.

Wow, what a banger. Somewhere between hardcore, screamo and powerviolence, the debut of Nepugia from Chile hits really hard. Bebemos Del Mismo Pozo is the band’s declaration of love for chaos and violence. The duo rushes through the first three tracks just to give you a breather with A veces, a slow tempo song with a bittersweet melody and clean vocals. The following tracks lead over to the phenomenal Copiapó 26/10/1993, which closes the Extend Play in the most perfect way. The song, which was written over a span of five years, could be considered as some kind of hybrid, which features the calm side of the band as well as the chaotic and angry one. This release is a massive surprise and absolutely recommendable for each and everyone of you. Also, read the interview attached to learn something more about the band.

"Aún en mis heridas Se pueden ver cenizas."

This is the second and unfortunately last record of Morla, the terrific conclusion of the band’s legacy. Founded back in 2012, the Berliner announced their break-up a few weeks ago. Picking up, exactly where they left off at the end of their debut called nur einmal, Morla delivers another six punk-infused screamo songs in the vein of classical, oldschool Screamo. After Manku Kapak, this is the next great German screamo outfit to go off the stage. Everybody, who wants to say goodbye will have the chance on November 28th at the band’s farewell show in Berlin.

"Die Theorie war so simpel. Die Praxis tut mir leid."

+ bandcamp

It’s hard to find any information about качели не стареют, especially, if you can’t read Cyrillic. The band from the South Ukrainian major city, Zaporizhia, near the Dnieper, released three brilliant songs on their bandcamp page. The cryptic lyrics on октябрь Q are framed by a dark blend of post-metal and nagging screamo. The mysterious atmosphere created by the band is blackish, yet beautiful and perfectly adapted for the cold seasons. Listening to this music feels like a relentless fall storm, destroying everything in its way. A++

+ bandcamp

Thisismenotthinkingofyou is Shaun Hancok, and Restlessness is one of five EPs, he already released in 2015. The Extended play lasts 370 furious seconds and is divided in six songs. It’s hard to perceive, that this is Emoviolence, created by just one single person. It’s raw, fast and contains everything a record of this genre needs to have. Make sure to check out the discography of this awesome one-man-project and watch out for the soon-to-be-released split with Us Pàlm from Russia. Restlessness is available on blue cassette tapes via bandcamp. There is also an US edition of the tape, distributed by Structures//Agony.

+ bandcamp

Facility is permanent feature of this category. Launched in January ‘15, this is already the third release of the crust/screamo outfit from New Jersey. Their newest selftitled EP contains five fast songs and once again, they display an incredible high intensity, choosing chaos over melody. The band ran out of free downloads within just one month after the EP’s release on October 2nd. So, as you can see, people like Facility’s third release, and so do we.

"Fading slowly into the light. Growing darker getting older no advancement. Backward motion reaching out."

+ bandcamp