ApeshitApeshit is a four-piece out of Brooklyn, NY who have been together as a unit since 2005. They play an experimental brand of thrash influenced hardcore with some cool sludge riffs that show up here and there to help keep things interesting. The band has often been compared to Mohinder and various Gravity Records bands.
I do believe this is the band's first recorded release to date. It contains 13 raging tracks that seemingly blend into one another without skipping a beat, I swear you'd think you were listening to one 10 minute long song. With the exception of 3 tracks, the songs don't break the one minute mark and often fall to get out of the 40 second range. It's funny you'd think these songs would be barnstormers but they like to slow it up and throw some cool sludge riffs in between the driving hardcore thrash.
Though the recordings dirty and rough around the edges, (which I'm sure was intentional) it fits what these guys do well. The bass tone has a lot of fuzz on it, which gives the recording a nice dirty sound. I wish the vocals had better placement in the mix, they tend to get lost in the shuffle. The guitar tone is nice and dirty with no shortage of overdrive. The drums were solid, not as articulated as I would've liked though.
This comes in a slim black jewel case with a fold out printed on a light gloss paper. The front cover is a bunch of different colored hands intertwined together with no logo. The song titles, band lineup, credits, and part of the hand logo on the front cover, are printed on the side of the page that sits in the case. The two pages serving as the inside of the booklet are splattered with hands galore but no lyrics. It's always a shame when a sweet demo layout leaves out a lyric sheet or a page with lyrics.
Rating: 3.5/5
Songs Worthy of Replay: Scabs and Scars, Cardboard Coffins and D-4 Daggers In The Air
Synopsis: Definitely a sweet unique release that offers people like me a good change up. The thrashy hardcore and often sludgy undercurrents make for an interesting listen. The packaging is pretty sweet too, just wish they threw in a lyrics sheet. Be on the lookout for a split 12" with the totally awesome Tigershark from RVA due out in August on Molsook Records. For touring information and updates on the 12" check out http://www.myspace.com/apeshitnyc and http://www.myspace.com/molsookrecords