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Still Screaming

From The Ashes Of A Dead Time

Written by: PP on 11/02/2010 22:26:20

At first glance, Germany's Still Screaming feels like yet another act in a group of like-minded hardcore bands that reached critical mass about a decade ago. Upon further review, however, I'm happy to report that their sophomore full length "From The Ashes Of A Dead Time" manages to avoid sounding too generic, perhaps because unlike many of their peers, they aren't writing music solely for two-steppers, they've remembered to make their songs sound interesting as well. They play straightforward, back to basics, no gimmick European hardcore heavily inspired by the NYHC scene, and they're good at it.

The guitars are tight and groovy without offering anything particularly surprising, but varied pace from hardcore punk to mid paced chugging and a good level of songwriting ensure that Still Screaming are quite a bit more interesting than most in the genre. The catchy gang shout bits stick to mind, the groovy riffs make you want to dance, and even the moshcore passages sound good this time around, and despite the lyrical universe dealing with the usual "future is bleak we must unite" type of stuff, even here the band distinguishes themselves from the rest through the insertion of samples from epic movies. "These Years", for instance, is a piano-only interlude whilst you hear Mr. Smith explain his despise for The Matrix ("I....HATE this place, this zoo, this prison, this reality, whatever you wanna call it"), "Arise" starts with John Connor's famous "The Future has not been written" quote from Terminator, and "About Face" features a conversation between Yoda and Luke from Star Wars. There are others, too, and it's these surprising bits that make the album so much more interesting than if it was just straight forward hardcore from start to finish.

Comparisons to bands like Wisdom In Chains, Madball, Backfire!, and All For Nothing wouldn't be too far off, and like most of those bands, Still Screaming deliver some ass-kicking hardcore that doesn't bore the listener to death despite it's simple riffs and traditionalist interpretation of the genre - if you were ever in doubt what exactly is hardcore these days, one quick listen to "From The Ashes Of A Dead Time" should be enough to clarify your thoughts. Recommended for any hardcore fan.

Download: Arise, Face To Face
For the fans of: Wisdom In Chains, All For Nothing, Madball
Listen: Myspace

Release date November 2009
WTF Records