Monday 16 June 2008

Rinoa/Crydebris

So... mounting coursework, exams and general stress overload put a stopper on this blog over the last few months, so apologies for the lack of recent updates to the grand total of zero people who read this. Now summer has well and truly kicked in, however, I intend to do a bit of a posting marathon, so fasten your seatbelts.

So to kick things into gear again, I bought Rinoa's debut EP today. This four-piece comprises ex-members of the incredible Crydebris and the similarly brilliant purveyors of pg. 99-esque chaos Chariots. Sonically, they play emotionally intense hardcore laced with post-rock, very similar to Envy and labelmates Devil Sold His Soul in many respects. From the moment the introductory buildup of 'Between the Pillars' peaks, the music remains wonderfully climactic for the duration of the EP, only letting up on the intensity front for the dense ambient segue 'In a Single Day and Night of Misfortune' which serves as a way of lulling the listener into a false sense of security right before the monstrously riff-heavy assault of closer 'Atlantis' comes to leave the listener mouth agape. The four tracks are shrouded in Mono-esque atmospherics: soaring tremolo guitars and swirling ambience that adds an impressive (if perhaps a little "tried and tested") sense of expanse and majesty. Also particularly endearing is the permeating sense of pessimistic desperation - and anyone who has heard and loved Devil Sold His Soul's latest opus A Fragile Hope will know where I'm coming from - that last mustering up of hope, the desperate clinging on to that light at the end of the tunnel. As such, the repetition of the line "Watch me wade through water/I'm not waving/I am drowning" at the swelling conclusion of 'Atlantis' is the musical equivalent of a stake hammered right into the heart.


This brings me on to Rinoa's now-disbanded predecessor, Crydebris. Crydebris were special. They were one of those depressingly short-lived bands that released one incredible EP that reminded you of everything you loved about your country's underground music scene, then split up just when they appeared to be going somewhere. Sounds familiar, doesn't it? The Severing spliced the dissonant time signature-shifting chaos of Botch and Eden Maine with the spaced-out beauty of the likes of Mahumodo and No Wings To Speak Of-era Hopesfall, resulting in a sound that, at the time, felt like a refreshingly unique punch to the gut. Particular standout moments include the incredible explosion after the ambient lull in the middle of the title track, or the gang vocal-laden finale of 'Mononoke-Picture'. I was lucky to get my hands on a CD-R copy of this EP while the band were still together but, as the EP is no longer in circulation and available for download on the band's myspace anyway, I figured that it would be a safe bet uploading the EP for your listening pleasure.

I've been told
that hate will break your heart in two
and change the face that I once knew

So try just once to see life unclouded by hate.
- Mononoke-Picture; Crydebris


Download the track 'Atlantis' from Rinoa's self-titled debut here.
Download Crydebris' EP 'The Severing' here.

6 comments:

Ryan said...

Hey,

This is Ryan from Eyesofsound. I'm re-releasing the Crydebris EP soon and like what you have written about the band. If cool with you, i'm gonna use some of this text on the eos site etc.

Cheers
Ryan

p.s. My email is on the eos site if you want to get in touch.

Anonymous said...

My friend recently (november 2008?) recommended Crydebris to me as I asked his opinion on the most emotional, passionate band he has ever heard. I regret not hearing (of) them until long after their demise, but am thankful that they, at one point, existed, if nothing else, to share their passion and talent with those of us who doubted that it still remained in the music industry.

-- Velma_Kelly

Anonymous said...

And as you quoted "Mononoke-Picture" I'm assuming/hoping/praying you have the the lyrics to the EP and wouldn't mind sharing the rest?

-- V_K

Ned Chambers said...

http://www.myspace.com/crydebris

all the lyrics are in the player, i think, except for The Severing. enjoy!

Unknown said...

I'm not sure if this page is getting any traffic,
but I can't find anywhere to share the lyrics
of The Severing. If you don't mind, I'd like to do
so here and hope more people can find
(and quite possibly correct) these lyrics. Here goes:

I am an empty shell
Swinging from overhead
To blow things into my heart
Remembering every piece of you

Walk
Stand
Break
My
My legs
Severing from the world

We
Won't
Waste
Time

Walk away
Prepare to doubt
The promises

I gaze upon a child
The seeds of my desired
I get sustained by
The irreplaceable

What
Would
Cel-
ebrate
When
I'm
Dead

We
Own
This
Time

Walk away
Prepare to doubt
The promises
I'm trapped out

Trapped out of time

[music break]

Your
Hands
Pushing
Pushing this
Your
Hands
Pushing this
Pushing this away
Your
Hands
Pushing
Pushing this
Your
Hands
Pushing this
Push-ing this Push-ing this aw-ay

[music break]

Wonderful
Sing to me
Wonderful
Sing to me
Wonderful
Sing to me
Wonderful...

(How long can the)
(Body test you)
(For the wonders)
(Sought today...)

Wonderful
Sight today
(today...)
Wonderful
Sight today
(today...)
Wonderful
Sight to see
(today...)
Wonderful
Sight to...

[epic guitar skills]

(So let's start the swings)
(They suspended us)
(From the earth)

[more guitar]

FREE. FROM. YOU...

[music break]

(So let's start the swings)
(They suspended us...)

[floating guitar solo]

Back to what we once were (WERE)
Once were (WERE)
Once were (WERE)
Back to what we've become (COME)
Become (COME)
Become (COME)

Free from (YOU)
Free from (YOU)
Free from (YOU)
Free from (YOU)
Free from (YOU)
Free from (YOU)

FREE. FROM. YOU.

Unknown said...

Hey guys, John here guitarist from crydebris, thank you so much for all of the kind words!!!

Very interesting take on the lyrics to the Severing thanks for the writeup! :) Here are the actual lyrics for the Severing. I wrote these over ten years ago... Feels like a lost end of an era :)



THE SEVERING

I am an empty shell
Swaying below the hand that
Pulls the strings to my heart
The infinite blackness of you...
Watching me...

my only scenery of the world

When all is done...
What are we
But residue
From a state....


What is home for the child
Whose words are predetermined?

What is this stage but
A mere reflection
Upon the surface of our dreams?

When all is done...
What are we
But residue
From a state... Of trauma


Trauma is God?

God's
Hand
Pushing
Pushing Us

God's
Hand
Pushing us
Pushing us away

God's
Hand
Pushing
Pushing us

God's
Hand
Pushing us
Pushing us
Pushing us awake


(And the blood starts to drop
And the blood starts to dry)

How long can the body dance
Before the wires start to break?

To break...

(And the blood starts to drop...
And the blood starts to dry...)

So let's cut the strings...
That supended us from the earth...

Free. From. You.

So let's cut the strings
That suspended us

Back to what we once were
And to what we've become

Free from you