Bleeding Kansas - Dead Under Decor
Bleeding Kansas is a relatively new band but they managed to capture my attention with their innovative debut EP that brought together the seemingly divergent styles of technical noisecore, crust and post hardcore into a successful whole. Sounds like a mouthful but this latest, "Dead Under Decor", is another masterful example of cross genre splicing creating something truly interesting. Here their punishing brand of dirty post hardcore, filled with obtuse song structures that slither and snake their way into a unique blend of outright aggression and panting, barely contained restraint provides notice that their EP wasn't a flash in the pan.
Stylistically they borrow a lot from the erratic tempos and convoluted riffing of Botch but wrap it in a scummier, meatier sound reminiscent of a mix between the filthy guitar buzz of fellow dirt merchants Cursed and the crushing, bass heavy low end of crust heavyweights His Hero Is Gone. This assault is packaged in a constantly shifting pace within the songs, from slow to fast to heavy to light that is spiced up with quick, quirky lead guitar work. This keeps you on your toes but the songs lack the impact of a big hook-filled chorus which may be a drawback to some. After listening to this you know you've heard something special but you sure can't hum along to it walking down the street. And this is even after they somewhat streamlined their sound as the EP is full of even more ambiguous songwriting than this full length.
Bleeding Kansas has delivered a nice blend of hardcore related styles to create a truly unique record which is not something you can say about a lot of bands. Given this is their debut full length and the technical songwriting chops on display here can already be mentioned in the same breath as some of the bands above, it should be pretty exciting to hear what they do in the future. No doubt it will push the boundaries even farther.
Stylistically they borrow a lot from the erratic tempos and convoluted riffing of Botch but wrap it in a scummier, meatier sound reminiscent of a mix between the filthy guitar buzz of fellow dirt merchants Cursed and the crushing, bass heavy low end of crust heavyweights His Hero Is Gone. This assault is packaged in a constantly shifting pace within the songs, from slow to fast to heavy to light that is spiced up with quick, quirky lead guitar work. This keeps you on your toes but the songs lack the impact of a big hook-filled chorus which may be a drawback to some. After listening to this you know you've heard something special but you sure can't hum along to it walking down the street. And this is even after they somewhat streamlined their sound as the EP is full of even more ambiguous songwriting than this full length.
Bleeding Kansas has delivered a nice blend of hardcore related styles to create a truly unique record which is not something you can say about a lot of bands. Given this is their debut full length and the technical songwriting chops on display here can already be mentioned in the same breath as some of the bands above, it should be pretty exciting to hear what they do in the future. No doubt it will push the boundaries even farther.
