Wednesday 27 December 2017

ATTACKROBOTATTACK

Band: ATTACKROBOTATTACK
GenresPunk / Hardcore / Emo / Screamo / Skramz / Noise
Related artistsBrito and Grinding Halt.
Country: Groningen NETHERLANDS
Years Active2012-present
Song: "The Wastelands"
Album: "Break Character split"
Year: 2016
For fans ofWolves, Secret Smoker, The Rabbit Theory, Wolverines, Drive Like Jehu, Coma Regalia, Adolina, Drummers and Daniel Striped Tiger aka PROPER SCREAMO.
Label(s): Vanity Pill / Stereo Dasein / Barely Regal Records / Strictly No Capital Letters / Clue #2
This post's artist is from the December 2017 Mix. This is track #6.
You can download: the December 2017 Mix#12 right here or get the new January 2018 Mix#1 here.

This post is pretty much a continuation of the premiere I did for ATTACKROBOTATTACK (check'er here) after catching them live at Cry Me A River Fest 2017 (review and videos of that fest linked here). My new friends Ariën (guitar/vocals) and Eelco (drums) used to play in Brito and Grinding Halt (respectively) and ended up meeting on a UK tour in 2008 and even teamed up for a split 12" before calling it a day. Strangely enough, both of them played bass in their old bands but once they joined forces and opted to try new instruments in ATTACKROBOTATTACK, it turned out they didn't even need a bass player and stuck it out as a two-piece.

In 2016 they released their debut as a split 10" with fellow Netherlands band Break Character from Utrecht. Their side houses five songs of driving, screamy and discordant hardcore. Opener "The Wastelands" is a dark and dreary trek through these waters and perhaps my favourite song here. "People Like Frank" is a bit faster and a lot more disjointed (in a good way) while "Vindici's Last Song" is dreamy and ambient, playing out like more of a hazy nightmare than anything else. "A Crown On His Head" could probably be likened to Coma Regalia as well as Wolves, with finale "Franco Nero Lost His Coffin" using a whirling wall of guitars to close out the split.

October 13th, 2017 saw the release of the '7 Songs of the Apocalypse' cassette EP, released on Vanity Pill. It opens with, by far, my favourite ATTACKROBOTATTACK song, "Something is Obviously Amiss". Following a driving and screamy introduction of, "This town has nothing to give!", the guitar rings out and the song stops and then starts again on a dime just after the 30-second mark. That shit is awesome, and played live looks and sounds even better (video here). The song slows down to a crawl using a few guitar notes and screaming at 1:01, only to do the stop/start thing again with a simultaneous sprint from both the guitar and drums at 1:21. From here to the 2:25 the track gives heavy nods in the direction of mid-late 90s emo, and is without a doubt my anthem for ATTACKROBOTATTACK. "Burned, We Lose Control" uses some very cool and lenghty guitar progressions along with Eelco's frantic drumming, which reaches an awesome climax from 57 seconds onward. "Broken Dreams Always Sell Themselves" only gets to 1:25 and comes across as the angriest track on the EP while "Something Wicked This Way Comes" plays an interesting dichotomy between fast and chill, therefore reminding me of The Rabbit Theory, and even includes singing. The song "Vigilante" follows an unidentified audio clip before careening off into extra-screamy territory and "Follow the Yellow Brick Road" is the only song to eclipse three minutes with a atmospheric concoction of rock, emo, hardcore and screamo. Closer "Where Are Your Children" is another standout track (and the shortest), as Ariën screams "Where are your children? Where are your they now?" as a lead-in to the jammy midsection right before the drums pound away at you and bring the lyrics around full circle, with the vocals ringing out solo at the 1:19 close.

Not only have ATTACKROBOTATTACK released two excellent EPs in the last two years, the two-piece are two of the nicest people I met while on non-tour in Europe. Can't wait to hear what's next, my friends. 💓

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DISCOGRAPHY

2016 - Break Character split 10"EP (stream/donate/download here)

2017 - 7 Songs for the Apocalypse cassetteEP (stream/donate/download here)

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(2016) ATTACKROBOTATTACK - "The Wastelands" (from 'Break Character' split)

(2016) ATTACKROBOTATTACK - "Vindici's Last Song" (from 'Break Character' split)

(2017) ATTACKROBOTATTACK - "Something is Obviously Amiss + Burned, We Lose Control" live at Cry Me A River Fest 2017

(2017) ATTACKROBOTATTACK - "Where Are Your Children" live at Cry Me A River Fest 2017

(2017) ATTACKROBOTATTACK - "Something is Obviously Amiss" (from '7 Songs for the Apocalypse')

(2017) ATTACKROBOTATTACK - "Where Are Your Children" (from '7 Songs for the Apocalypse')

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ATTACKROBOTATTACK additional links

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