longbow project comp lp

longbow records was the label of a certain aaron owsiany, a dude who was, to my knowledge, closely associated with joel wick and makoto records, he also seemed to be one of a small group of kids who got to pick the bands who would play each michiganfest....a job i would have loved to have had.......for whatever reason his label seems to have only put out 2 releases, the roman invasion suite "7 and this comp. this record was a snapshot of michigan hardcore in 1997 or thereabouts.....

ill describe each band track by track:

dryeve: "breath"
dryeve where from the detroit area in the mid-late 90s and played some messy noisy hardcore in the same vein as jihad but maybe with more growly vocals and thicker mosh parts, all that is exhibited on this track....they had a tape and i think a CD also...i never saw any of these releases.......and narrowly missed seeing this band with thoughts of ionesco in kalamazoo sometime in 1997.......

gyga: "christ as a crutch" 
gyga where a grindcore band from detroit in the mid-late 90s with an anti religious theme.....they where pretty decent live and this song is pretty good.....they had a "7 on element records that you might want to track down if you like this song....featured derek grant who later replaced brian repa (who i consider a far superior drummer) as thoughts of ionesco's drummer and now more famously hits the skins for the alkaline trio (on the slim chance anyone reading this blog actually gives a shit...i really dont myself)

fieldtree: "fake days"

fieldtree where from the yipsilanti area and played a hyper melodic style of "emo" (as it was in the mid 90s...the term holds no water nowadays) alot like garden variety without so much noise and distortion....this song features a cello or violin, (im not sure which, im not good with those kind of intruments) and is overall the most beautiful song ive heard by them.....really excellent stuff.

roman invasion suite "farewell, miss sand"

RIS were a rather short lived band from kalamazoo that existed from 1996-97 and  played in a similar vein to other kalamazoo greats such as vine, ordination of aaron and broken hearts are blue.....for an out of state reference, i guess you could throw the van pelt or native nod in there as well.......a very sparse yet well executed sound.....i really dig this song.....

wallside: "in time"

wallside was a moderatly popular band outside of michigan having toured with thoughts of ionesco in 1998. this song is alot more raw and intense than the full length on makoto.....im not sure but i think it might also have been on one of their "7s.....very good live band......

jihad: "love hate"

this was the one jihad song id never heard until i got this comp......its pretty standard fare for this band...brutal, messy, hateful......pretty much an ideal jihad track.......

pinko: "montana"

pinko where another obscure kalamazoo band that existed for a couple years in the mid 90s and then vanished.........they had a "7 and a split "7 with trocar......very decent basic punk with a melodic edge. nothing special, but not even close to bad.....

acariasis: "song 3"

acariasis were from detroit and where the only band on this comp that i had never heard beforehand...im sorry to say they dident impress, by far the worst track on the comp.....deep shouty growl vocals over some rather bland  semi-dischordant metallic hardcore.....kinda like inept or nema. if they where really slow and bad....

quixote: "unless"

this song is also on their first cd....a slow meandering dischordant tune that gets more complex and intense as it goes.....very very good........for those of you who dident see my quixote post, they where from kalamazoo and where joel wick's band after jihad broke up..

thoughts of ionesco: "withdrawal syndrome"

probably the best known band on this comp.........this song can be found on their second full length "and then their was motion" on makoto......this was a track from when they where at their peak...powerful crushing hardcore that reeks of pain and anger......."the ultimate expression of pain through sound" indeed.....

and now for the sound:

longbow project