The Armed
Common Enemies e.p. (2010)
These Are Lights (2009)
Independant
In a period of less than ten days, poeple from four bands I'd worked with told me to look up Detroit's The Armed. I got absolutely no details, just facebook and text messages, and the odd face-to-face telling me off for not already knowing who they were.
There's not a whole lot of info about the band online, BUT, you can get all of their shit FOR FREE via their website (the fantastically designed and simple www.thearmed.com). I STRONGLY urge you do it. Now.
Over their two releases, 2010's ep 'Common Enemies' and 09's full lenght 'These Are Lights', you'll be treated to a brand of hardcore that is truly awe-inspiring in it's process and production. An easy comparison would be Converge and maybe to odd bit of modern UK hardcore; but, they don't really sound like anyone (Maybe Converge's 'Axe To Fall' is the best comparison, being that it was so eclectic). The vocals are rough, loud, and, incredibly for the style, perfectly clear. EP opener "Death Panel" pulls in at two of the best minutes you're likely to have, squeezing in some seriously fun riffs, and then moving seamlessly into the super fast, super brutal and very awesome "Liar". If you don't find yourself shouting along to this on first listen you're more than a bit rubbish. "Second Hand" brings everything down slowly and somewhere serene, sounding not unlike somthing you might here from latter-day Incubus, and closer "Woodenlung", while bringing in some slower pacing than the first two, still packs the huge kick in the face you'll be desperate for within minutes of putting this thing on.
'These Are Lights' is, quite easily, a contender for one of the best albums of the year. Where the only issue with their 2010' ep is the far too short running time, you get eleven tracks here. not that you don't still feel like you've been short changed as it clocks in at less than thirty minutes. I could happily listen to this one on repeat all day, and pretty much have been.
"Party At Pablo's" opens like a knife to the ear, and second track "Kingbreaker" is the first of many absolutly fucking incredible tracks. Using pedals and production to get some truly unique sounds from the guitar, it kind of sounds like a grown up Gallows (Again, all these comparisons I'm making are fairly tenuous, so don't take them as too literal, these guys sound unlike everything else out there). Hardcore staples like beatdowns and gang vocals pepper the album, but every time it's done like it's brand new, like you've never heard it before before. Such is the way they're doing things.
"Hail Troglodon" surprises with some sparkling electronics, which develop into an eventual cover of NIN's "Gave Up" later on the album. In a way, it sounds like The Armed writing a NIN song rather than a cover, if that makes sense. And I mean that in the best way possible.
Closing tracks "Elephant" and "The Great Fatsby" go for the trick of quiet, atmospheric build-ups leading to one of the most brutal tracks on the album. Spoken word (Female & Portugese, no less) and some real post-rock guitar cut to spiky, jarring times and a guitar & drum set that borders on death metal (or maybe even, the super trend of metal-core), while never straying from a sound that wholly and completely belongs to The Armed.
Once again, ALL of their shit is available for free from their website, where you can also buy prhysical copies of both 'common Enemies'and 'These Are Lights', vinyls, tee's, and watch vid's n' that. Go there and do it all. This is a band that needs, and more importantly, DESERVES your attention and support.
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