These Arms Are Snakes

Easter

Written by: PP on 25/07/2007 01:53:27

Every now and then Denmark is guested by a band noteworthy enough to warrant a review almost a year old to promote their show to our readers. These Arms Are Snakes released their critically acclaimed sophomore album "Easter" already in 2006, but somehow the record passed under our radar and once I finally caught a glimpse of it, the release date had passed so far back that it was impossible to justify reviewing it under a section called 'new releases'. Lucky for us, the former bassist of seminal hardcore act Botch decided it was time his band These Arms Are Snakes visited Denmark, and voila, review copy of "Easter" arrived in our mailbox through the same booking agency that brought us mewithoutYou earlier this year.

You may wonder what mewithoutYou has to do with all this. You see, the only credible way I could do "Easter" any justice is to compare it to the avant-garde indie post-hardcore of mewithoutYou, only ten times more experimental. The music is filled with digital effects and abrasive distortion, allowing for a semi-chaotic and unpredictable atmosphere throughout. Guitarist Frederiksen only fortifies that feel through his winding riffs that don't seem to repeat themselves a single time throughout the entire album, as noticeable in the constantly implied Fugazi- and Refused-influenced time signature alterations and metamorphosis's of the atmosphere. That being said, These Arms Are Snakes are by no means aping either band, but their avant-garde sounds have merely been an inspiration to them. It could be even argued that These Arms Are Snakes are far more artistic than the two, but at the very least they are more experimental. The synthesizers and samples used throughout the album are intriguing, in that they add a sort of part eastern European, part Indian influence in places, whereas the next moment they can shed more light into one of the more instrumentally complicated songs. Vocalist Snere's uncontrollable bursts of explosive yells fit the experimental post-hardcore soundscape well, though for the most time he utilizes a more scratched, calmer style such as in "Deer Lodge".

In summary, "Easter" is probably not interesting to you unless you truly appreciate artistic genuineness and avant-garde experimentalism. But if these are qualities that you find yourself able to appreciate in post-hardcore, then "Easter" is an album you shouldn't have missed when it came out about a year ago.

Download: Crazy Woman Dirty Train, Subtle Body, Mescaline Eyes
For the fans of: mewithoutYou, Fugazi
Listen: Myspace

Release date 10.10.2006
Jade Tree Records

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