After last week’s Eating Glass worship (okay, that was a bit of a special occasion), and now my re-infatuation with the Vatican Chainsaw Massacre‘s Hazy Skies Over Martha’s Vineyard, I feel like I am just starting to rehash the best releases from 2008. Oh well.
Just a word of warning: I did write a review for this record for Chart last year, so if you think I am plagiarizing someone, that someone is probably me.
Bred in the steel-laden city of Hamilton, the Vatican Chainsaw Massacre are a band that are going to be easy to miss for a lot of people. While the local Toronto scene is getting a lot of attention here in Canada, it hasn’t reached its full potential outside of the city limits. Barrie is starting to produce some young bands, while a few have also come out of the south. The thing about VCM is that they are the best hardcore band in the area. You cannot argue against it. This is pissed-off unique hardcore that has elements of other bands (Ceremony springs to mind), but is undoubtedly owned by the band. I mean shit, “Character Break” sounds like a punked out version of Mastodon. Where else are you going to hear twangy leads like that…in a punk song? A lot of VCM’s brilliance is in due part to guitarist Patrick Marshall; only once you dig down can you fully grasp all the little things that he does on a frequent basis that set him apart from 99% of other hardcore guitar players. And yet, he still steals the show on the more familiar-sounding tracks – just check out closer “The Punk Rock Going out of Business Sale”, which has one of the most crushing punk progressions you will ever audibly witness.
Steel molded them, compact discs captured them, and now you should listen to them. Word is they may be breaking up, so get on this band before kids are in the future.
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