Urotsukidoji / Winter In June - Split

  by Benjamin Howarth

published: 7 / 5 / 2002

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Review

After the emergence of XcanaanX onto the South East’s music scene with an intense blast of hardcore it was always likely that more bands would emerge inspired by their utterly fresh approach. The two bands on this six-song mini-album are young, but both are very heavy. As I always find myself stressing when I review noisecore bands, they are influenced by metal but are definitely not metal themselves. Instead they are the sort of powerful combination that grabs a crowd and sends them into chaos and pull individual listeners into a little world of intense noise. Some people think that incredibly loud music is unlistenable. They are wrong! Like all extreme forms of music (drum ‘n’ bass, avant-garde for example) it will only have a limited appeal but will certainly impress an open-minded listener with its sheer power and frightening pace. As for the two bands in question, well both rock. ‘Urot’ are up first and seem the odder of the two. The vocalist screams like some kind of wild goblin, but the music is extremely aggressive, and dense. Layers of guitar and a pounding rhythm section lock the listener into the groove whilst the vocals provide shock and surprise. The band’s biggest strength is their willingness to be diverse, and this has led to the band drawing comparisons with Planes Mistaken For Stars. The most striking thing about the band though is the speed of the music, ably demonstrating their obvious talent whilst not getting over anyone’s heads. There follows a sample from “The Predator”. The basic purpose of this seems to be to signal that the first band have ended and to break things up a bit. It also provides a bit of relief from the blistering wall of noise, but no fear because Winter In June in their half get the whole thing going again. This music is far more in the traditional hardcore mould, driving in a similar way to Minor Threat but far heavier and with less melodic vocals (if that’s really possible). This half is just as awesome as the other, though less wacky, and provides an interesting contrast in approach to a similar style of music. This CD is in short stunning. Both bands will be playing out live soon, with Urotsukidoji just having finished a tour of Belgium and about to play some shows in Kent while Winter In June are off on a spring tour with Nine. This CD represents further proof that the British South East music scene, despite receiving no attention at all from most of the music press is far more creative and exciting than London. Perhaps labels like Ignition will help it get more recognition. I hope so.

Track Listing:-

1 Urotsukidoji– Moment Of Truth
2 Urotsukidoji– Daemon Room
3 Urotsukidoji– Fly The Coop
4 Winter In June– Whatever It Takes
5 Winter In June– Reason To Give
6 Winter In June– In Our View

Label Links:-

https://twitter.com/ignitionrecords
http://www.ignition.co.uk/