Tag: 00s

Rapper Braille (born Bryan Winchester) has been making hip-hop since at least 1998, first as a solo artist and then additionally as a member of Lightheaded (featured in an earlier Song of the Day), Acts 29, and most recently the worshipful project Beautiful Eulogy. The Portland-based rapper has released just under a dozen albums, including independent releases, a Japanese import, and a collaboration with Symbolyc One, not including his work in the aforementioned cyphers. Although I’d heard of him through his association with Syntax Records, it was his 6th album Box of Rhymes where I was first introduced to his music.… Continued →

Pop-punk band Twotimer released 2 albums and then called it quits. Very little is known about the band, other than their recorded output. After a self-titled and self-released debut in 1998, the band signed to punk stalwarts Screaming Giant Records and issued See What Happens from Here in 2000. The album featured snot-nosed, yet melodic tunes that bordered on pop-punk and new school/skate punk, but with vocal harmonies. Recommended for fans of Side Walk Slam, Shorthanded, and early MxPX. “I Forget” is taken from the Screaming Giant full-length album.… Continued →

This Norwegian band formed in 1999, and sadly by 2007 had called it quits. Hailing from Nannestad, just outside Oslo, they played a formed of atmospheric BM that appealed to many who heard them. While their lifespan was short, their impact was huge. You can still read accolades from fans on music-related social media pages, and band members have also been associated with a number of other, more well-known bands including Antestor, Frosthardr, and Grave Declaration. “Some Day” is taken from their 3-song self-titled demo CD, which was also re-issued a few years later by Momentum Scandinavium with an extra song as Vaakevandring.… Continued →

Hailing from the fertile heavy music scene of the greater DFW region, and specifically Ft. Worth, Travail mixed heavy rap-core and nu metal riffs with dark tones and lyrics about the Christian struggle. Heavier than most in the genre, the band was sometimes referred to as “gothic rap-core” due to the darker tones and minor keys. Yet the lyrics pointed to higher things: I’ve failed you I’ve lied to you Yet you forgive and let me live Oh God help my weakness Oh give me your strength Father help me I’ll go to any length On my face, on my chest, on my knees God help me please My spirit is willing but my flesh is weak The band released a split EP with Luti-Kriss (who, of course, eventually became Norma Jean), and two full-length albums: Anchor of My Soul for the secular Pluto Records and Beautiful Loneliness for Metrovox, a sub-label Metro One.… Continued →

Brace yourself. The Souls Unrest has one of the more complicated histories in all of Christian metal. The roots of the band lie in old school punk band Spudgun, who released one album on Bulletproof Records (a division of Gray Dot). That band got heavier and darker, changing styles so much that a new name was warranted–World Against World. That version of the band also released one album (an amazing album at that) for Bulletproof, before morphing again. A short-lived project called The Orcrist followed, but released no official recordings.… Continued →

Danish experimental grindcore band Corpse Under Construction only recorded 14 tracks in their short existence–and at grindcore tempos and song-lengths, that’s just over 10 minutes of recorded material. They were released on the split CD 4-Way Noise Explosion, which also included Eternal Mystery, Rehumanize, and Long Suffering (2008 on Sewersound Records). What made the band particularly interesting–to me, anyway–was that the band consisted of just 2 members, brothers Martin Svinth on vocals and David Svinth (also of post-hardcore band Magtesløs) on vocals and programming. That’s right, just 2 guys and a drum machine–no ‘real’ instruments.… Continued →

San Francisco-based goth band BATZZ in the Belfry are relatively unknown in the mainstream, but that is a real shame. They combine “unashamed traditional old school goth” with ethereal dream pop, and even hints at shoegaze at times. I suppose this puts them in the realm of darkwave. Take “Touch the Stars” for instance. The song would easily be at home on a Metropolis or Projekt Records compilation alongside Sisters of Mercy, Love and Rockets, or Love Spirals Downwards. The song could almost fit on the Twin Peaks soundtrack as well.… Continued →

Welcome to the best band you’ve never heard of. Enemy Ships (FKA The Emergency, not to be confused with The Emergency, AKA Ten-33) was a sort of supergroup with members from Christian alternative heavyweights like Jason Martin (Starflyer 59, Bon Voyage, Neon Horse, etc.), Dirk Lemmenes (Stavesacre, Focused), Ryan Denne (Stavesacre), Travis Zimmerman (Jupiter James), and Frank Lenz (Fold Zandura, Frank Lenz, etc). The band recorded an album for mainstream Atlantic Records entitled The Emergencyin 2007, but sadly it was never released. Stylistically the band play rock and roll, but with a punk energy and aesthetic.… Continued →

Havalina Rail Co. was a delightfully quirky, eccentric, genre-fusing and genre-bending experimental band from California. Across their 10-year career (give or take), the band dabbled in folk, ska, jazz, ragtime, blues, Americana, surf, and multiple internationally-themed genres. No two albums in their canon treads the same ground, and yet each successive opus is clearly recognizable as Havalina. The band stopped recording as HRC somewhere in the early 00s, but members have turned up elsewhere. Most notably are Matt Wignall who is a renowned photographer and is perhaps now best known as the producer for several Cold War Kids albums.… Continued →