Minus Tree

The Lake Will Bring Everything To Light

Written by: TL on 30/03/2012 11:58:33

If you're familiar with this site, my writing (and opinions) and with Italian hardcore quartet Minus Tree, you might wonder right about now "what in the world is Tim doing reviewing a hardcore record?". And in honesty it's been too long since we received the promo and I signed up for it for me to remember my exact thought process, but despite my usual distaste for most all things hardcore, I'm guessing it was sampling "Ashes Of '67", the first song on the band's late 2011 EP "The Lake Will Bring Everything To Light", and it giving me flashes of Misery Signals and Circus Circus - two hardcore(ish) bands that I have liked - that made me want to give it a chance.

After about ten spins of "The Lake Will Bring Everything To Light" however, I should observe that comparisons are probably better made to the likes of Defeater and Comeback Kid. Minus Tree play fast-paced hardcore with a properly pissed off howl for lead vocals and enough bleak, melancholic guitar melody to hint of some emotional depth that's worth screaming about. At four tracks all clocking in between 2-2½ minutes, the EP is short and sweet, and while Minus Tree keep the mood constantly fast, angry and intense, their material is rhythmically dynamic enough to save the galloping aggression from sounding tedious or monotonous.

My own personal favourite of the litter is "Desert Anchor", a track that opens with - and thrives on - some seriously anthemic riffage and proves that you can easily yell a proper hardcore song - with gang vocals backing you up and all - on top of rumbling guitars that have an oddly positive ring to them. Throughout the EP it is this contrast between melodic guitar and raw hardcore vocals, combined with fairly frequent rhythm changes, that keep things engaging and interesting, so much in fact that it has made me - the perennial hardcore sceptic - rather interested in keeping up with where Minus Tree are going to take their sound (and their show!) in the future. That might not sound like much of a compliment, but if you read this site, you should know that it is, and one that's not given often either.

7

Download: Desert Anchor, Night 17
For The Fans Of: Comeback Kid, Defeater, Casey Jones, Verse
Listen: facebook.com/minustreeofficial

Release Date 05.10.2011
Chorus Of One Records

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