KOMATIITE - Famine Pact EP + Demo
KOMATITTE - I looked it up. It sounds like a borrowed word from some language that would put an umlaut on that O or A but it's actually a type of volcanic rock. Your first assumption from the name would be correct though: this is fast Nordic-influenced d-beat hardcore. The guitar is "too loud" (good) and the gruff vocals are low in the mix. I expect no less than 4 guitar cabs on stage for this band for proper face-melting. I am biased against guitar solos but the weird and quick ones they deploy are great.
The Famine Pact EP is 5 quick songs with 1 obligatory mid-tempo slammer. The undated Demo which was also sent in preserves the same ratio, with a noticeably lower-fi sound. Blown out drums and I assume it was recorded live or on a 4-track in a basement (or a barn?). Yes this is band is from rural Maine, which is awesome both because it's always good to be reminded that good punk comes from everywhere, and you are probably missing some of the best right under your nose (in this case KOMATIITE are probably jamming within a 6 hour drive of me, although a horrible border separates us).
These two tapes are on Bandcamp, but first I will share this recent bootleg I found of their set in Portland (ME, duh) uploaded to the Internet Archive by a fellow Zoomer:
Listen to both the Famine Pact EP and Demo here: https://komatiite.bandcamp.com/
