#memory theater

ESCUELA GRIND-CLIFFHANGER

James Ferraro - Memory Theater

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Escuela Grind - Memory Theater The other day I posted a review on the new Kill Division album, a record that brought together current and former members of bands like Megadeth, Gruesome, Malevolent Creation, and Soilwork, just to name a few high profile bands that this band is coming together from. The album was called Peace Through Tyranny, and while it was a good homage to the 80s grindcore bands of yesteryear, it failed to do anything more than that. It didn’t have something that kept me coming back to it, let alone something that made it exciting or unique, but luckily, I also checked out an album that came out last week in the same vein that does -- Escuela Grind’s sophomore album, Memory Theater. Escuela Grind is a grindcore / hardcore-punk band from New York that are making quite a splash in the scene with their brand of very politically charged music, especially from unique perspectives, as there are women of color in the band, so it’s cool to hear more representation in the metal scene from other kinds of people. Diversity is great, despite what conservatives will tell you, or want to believe themselves. Memory Theater is my first experience with this band, as I never heard of them before this record, but they’ve been making waves the last couple of years in the new New England scene, and for good reason -- their brand of grindcore, death-grind, and powerviolence is some of the most vicious I’ve heard in a long while. There’s not a whole lot to it, per se, but this album is 24 minutes of nonstop brutality, and it’s awesome. I guess I should take that back a little bit, because there are some unique flavors here, as they lean into other kinds of extreme music for their sound, not just strictly straightforward grindcore. Death-grind, powerviolence, and hardcore-punk make their way into the mix for something rather interesting, even if it doesn’t seem like it at first listen, just because of how chaotic everything is. Then there’s the matter of vocalist Katerina Economou, who has one of the best snarls I’ve heard in a long time, too; her vocals are utterly fantastic, and they breathe life into a genre that already has a lot of life in it, but this record is what I was looking for -- something intense, refreshing, and interesting, versus trying to just recapture the “glory days.” There’s nothing inherently wrong with that, but if that’s all you’re doing and not either reexamining the past, or trying to build upon the past, it’s not that interesting, unless you can add onto that sound somehow. Kill Division really didn’t do that, but Escuela Grind has one of my favorite albums this year. It’s a nice little grindcore record, but it packs quite a punch in the process. In between their lyrics that are very socially aware, their sound that is diverse in a subtle way that doesn’t feel too jarring or overpowering, and their vocalist that can offer a unique perspective in the metal world, what’s not to like here?

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