Monday, May 28, 2012

Slave to the Mind

 Straight out of Zanesville, Ohio, Mind Crimes brings hope to all who stand oppressed. Their debut EP Slave to the Mind brings forth an aggressive outburst of disoriented youth through a potent mixture of melodic hooks and abrasive pummelings. Self-released April 30th, 2012 Mind Crimes impressively stakes their claim as a powerful force within the hardcore mentality. 
Focusing in on some of the basic mundanity of society; stress, work, religion and compassion, Mind Crimes tackle these issues in an easily accessible manner. Through straight forward lyrics and powerful vocals executed in true modern-hardcore fashion, these messages are delivered by the band with a great and powerful ease. This can be seen on one of the more impressive tracks on the record, the closer, “Echoes.” A slow drudgingly painful riff eases the listener into the song, Blacklisted comes to mind, soon to be quickly cut out by a powerful burst of guitar and drum noise. When this explosion of energy ends vocalist Drew Stoits emerges in the forefront. “Afraid to lose the love that he’ll give/If she doesn’t give herself to him.” Stoits vengefully declares, claiming victory for the downtrodden women of the world. 
Sex is a powerful tool, too often it is abused and turned into tool of power. Mind Crimes and Stoits forcefully use their awareness and the gift of the hardcore community to fight against these societal wrongs. The song comes to a powerful end in another Blacklisted-esque manner. Clashing guitars crash over and through the ears of the listener as the drums forcefully build up into a head bobbing, head banger outro of sorts. Thrash metal solo included.
Beginning at the end leaves much open space for investigation and Mind Crimes does not disappoint. From the Comeback Kid-esque melodic speedster “Mountains” with its turbulent circle pit ragers that cumulate into overpowering sing-alongs, to the standard hardcore fuck work jam “Managerial Slime,” (complete with an outstanding C3PO/Solo introduction and Kids Like Us influenced outro) Slave to the Mind provides a wide sampler platter of hardcore tastes. Sounding like Comeback Kid at one moment and Blacklisted the next, it is apparent that Mind Crimes are no newcomers to the modern-hardcore scene.
Perhaps what remains now is solidifying these influence into one cohesive unit. It comes with time, but for Mind Crimes it may not take long.Varying the songs leaves the listener with a certain level of excitement as to what will come next, however it  is tough to distinguish Mind Crimes from their predecessors. What they do have is pure anger and enthusiasm, it practically oozes from the pores of my macbook. This is crucial for any band, especially playing hardcore. Only originality and song structure leave something to be desired. The variance within certain songs takes away from the groove of the EP, melody abruptly transitioning to discordant can leave a sour taste in the mouths of many unless properly executed. All criticism set aside however, Slave to the Mind works as a great jumping point for Mind Crimes and is a solid example of the modern-hardcore’s influence on the scene today.
FFO: Terror, Comeback Kid, Blacklisted, Kids Like Us
Rating: 2.3/5

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Resurrection

School is quickly coming to an end for me, at least till I'm old and bored with my life and decide to become a sophisticated student of graduate school. Regardless though finals are right around the corner and for the few of those who follow me here I would like to clue you into what that means. I will be experiencing a academic dull in my writings as the large portion of my free time will no longer be taken up my school work. No more historical essays need to be written. No more 6 page papers on the implications of SEATO in the 60s. No more 8 hour days spent in the library.

So in turn this gap will need be filled and will properly be so in the form of this blog. I plan on giving it a full reworking, perhaps even a new name. Expanding my focus from simply music reviews to all that is around me, and compared to my middle school self who did much of the same thing, this will be more inclusive than my pathetic excuse of a love life. I want to include my musings on life's aspects, socially, politically, culturally, whatever it may be. My journalistic work won't be put to an end however, as I already have two reviews lined up to be worked on and many more are planned. I also plan on including any restaurants I may go to in the future, after I finally manage to hold down a job again, any movies I see, books I read, articles etc... This will be a space for my criticisms and thoughts on the world around me. For those of you who know me, this is probably much needed. If my enthusiasm proves correct, which for my sake I hope stays at this level, this will all be occurring within the next few weeks.

 It's all very exciting.