snag. - Death Doula
As someone who is old enough to personally remember and have participated in 90s hardcore (aka "screamo," aka "skramz"), I look at a lot of the bands doing that sound today with ambivalence. Most bands playing this sound now don't quite recreate what I appreciated about the music at the time, leaving me feeling a little disconnected from what they're doing. This isn't a critique. It shouldn't recreate that feeling for me. I was a kid, and it was a different time, and they're doing what makes sense to them, not to me. Having said that, there are a handful of bands that somehow manage to absolutely nail the vitality of that sound to my ears. Portrayal of Guilt and Frail Body, for example, both come to mind. There's just something about both those bands that captures the earnestness of 90s hardcore to me. Add snag. to that list. What now gets called "skramz," at its best, always feels like it's about to come apart at the seams. ...