MEM//BRANE - Self Titled
The first time I heard of MEM//BRANE was when my dad saw them listed in the Bellingham weekly paper. At the time they had only put out their demo but I was hooked from the start. I love this band. Every release has gotten better (the David Wojnarowicz speech that intros their Subcutaneous EP gives me chills every listen). If you start at MEM//BRANE’s demo and work through their releases, you can hear the maturing of their sound and songwriting, this S/T record feeling like a culmination.
The record starts off with a haunting, chorus-drenched (almost deathrock) riff paired with rhythmic drumming that transitions into a crunching mid-tempo stomp that I assume points to their more hardcore influences (an influence that peeks out throughout). At around the one minute mark, we are graced with an all-out crust attack that doesn’t stop for the remaining 30 minutes of this record. The vocals are soaked in reverb, the drumming is blistering, and the guitar strumming sounds like the east coast “banana” crust that I grew up with and still love to this day. Tempo changes keep it interesting and alternate between a need to pump your fist in the air as fast as humanly possible and a need to put it through a brick wall (or a fascist's face).
My favorite part of this record is the middle of "In Lieu Of Flowers" when the song drops out and slowly a riff comes in that I have described as the riff I want playing while charging into battle. It is slow, it is heavy, and it is oddly melodic. The riff is perfect. It feeds right back into a crunching mid-tempo riff that makes your want to bang your fucking head off.
My favorite record of the year might have come out on the first day. For fans of all the crust greats, HHIG, TRAGEDY, DOOM, HELLSHOCK, etc. If you know a crust war veteran who has not heard of this band or this release yet, it is your obligation to send it to them immediately.
Listen here: https://membranehc.bandcamp.com/album/mem-brane
Televiper