What’s a female fronted violin-playing blackened crust band you say? Well, you should stop right here and look no further because THIS is THAT band. Ecocide play a very unique form of crust that incorporates tremolo picking, heavily distorted sludgy as FUCK riffs, and a violin thrown in to give it a real melodic sound, all at the forefront of Heidi. These crusties that are based out of San Antonio, Texas have been in the scene for a little while now touring with Dead To A Dying World and are scheduled to play with Massgrave on April 29th. They released a demo in 2007, a single in 2008 entitled Turning Of A Wheel, and now a 2011 self titled release.
This new release is a step up from their previous work. I didn’t get a chance to listen to their single but I did pick up their demo. I saw them tagged on last.fm with things such as “sludge”, “crust”, and “doom”, so I naturally gravitated towards them, trying to find as much information and downloads for the band as I could. I happened to find only their demo and to my surprise it wasn’t what I was expecting. It sucks because it was EXACTLY what I was I wasn’t hoping it would be. The recording was just terribly terribly done and and you couldn’t make out anything. It was incredibly fast paced black metal-esqe riffs with random violins that sounded flat out bizarre. I didn’t lose hope though! I kept my eye on this band and it finally has payed off.
Read the full review after the jump!
I was searching around randomly a few days ago and saw that they came out with a new release. Now me, being the dirty broke hippie that I am, has no money so I decided to ask my friend Ike if he was interested. He is generally a folk punk kinda dude but also can get down with some good crust. He decided to purchase the album the for me and sent it my way. Thanks again, Ike! Here are a few distros that helped with the release in case you want to purchase it: Bad People records, Burnt Bridges records, Dead Profit records, and Ecocide’s own release. Anyways, the album starts with a 5:00 minute intro instrumental that consists nothing but violin playing and sludgy atmospheric riffs eventually transitioning into some heavy chugs and blaring blast beats. The next track quickly starts out with some thrashy riffs followed by Heidi’s vocals. There are some dual vocals in this track with the male vocals being REALLY guttural, as if that’s the sound Cerberus makes when it’s time for supper. About three minutes into the track, all instrumental sounds are dropped and then the piano comes into play with some very faint violin strums here and there. Some sort of movie or show (I’m not sure which) is sampled during the midst of all this which adds to eerie feel of the album. Now, the next track that cuts in is called Proverb, which is my favorite track on the album. It starts with some stoner metal riffs synced up with the violin which almost has a Middle Eastern or Western Asia sound to it. Oh and those GODDAMN FEMALE VOCALS! It’s as if Heidi’s a succubus and she’s just sucking the soul out of you with those beautiful chops of hers. Haha. I could totally see that too because she is quite pretty. The song picks up a bit more and gets faster and thrashier around the three minute mark. Lots and lots of black metal influence is shown in this track as well, especially with the guitar work. At this point Ecocide have pretty won over my heart. This track is definitely a double combo: toe taper AND head banger. Oh yeeeeeeeah, I fucking went there!
There’s a studio and live version of Proverb on youtube so be sure to check them out! I personally like the the live version a lot more. It just has a real organic vibe to it. There is no bullshitting or cutting corners because this is exactly how they would sound if you see them live.
The album ends with a Red As Fault, a six minute track that lives up to the rest of the album and incorporates everything that was shown in the previous tracks. Hell, there is even a two and a half minute violin solo!
All in all, this album has pretty captured everything I’ve loved when it comes to my favorite genres. Sure, they may not be traditional like Amebix, Axegrinder, or Nausea, but they take what those bands have left us with and have gone to the next level, incorporating many different elements of all different styles. Everyone I’ve shown this to have INSTANTLY fallen in love with this band (is must be Heidi and her succubus charms again 😉 ) and I’ve heard nothing but positive comments. From the dark and dismal guitar riffs to the melodic violin playing, you seriously can’t go wrong with Ecocide. And if you say otherwise, you’re a DAMN fool. Check out their bandcamp for future updates and the other previous record labels I mentioned above for touring and other releases.
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