Nora - Loser's Intuition (2001)

Nora - Loser's Intuition (2001)

I'm just gonna say it. Nora are fucking ace and you should feel bad for not knowing about them. So who the fuck are Nora and why do they have an old-ass womans name?

Well, little jimmy. According to Wikipedia "Nora is a metalcore band from Highland Park, New Jersey." Lovely, and very insightful. To give you a better idea, they were signed to Trustkill during the late 90s, that means Eighteen Visions, Bleeding Through, fuckin' THROWDOWN, Poison The Well, Shai Hulud, and Brothers Keeper were label mates.What you can take from this is that they're a legit hardcore band from a time where this type of music had a relative amount of success. In addition to this, vocalist, Carl Severson, owned and run the formidable Ferret Music. Which released records by the likes of skycamefalling, Disembodied, Stretch Arm Strong, Funeral For A Friend, Killswitch Engage, From Autumn To Ashes, among others, and released Converge's best record Petitioning The Empty Sky.

Why they chose their name on the other hand, beats me. Well, it did beat me until I searched the interwebs, apparently they're named after Nora Diniro,a character from the film Pump Up The Volume.

Now, I really like this band. And Loser's Intuition is a fucking ripper. It has a real sludgy, hard rocking edge
to some of the riffing. And while that may sound like a fucking horrible combo when paired with 90s hardcore, the result is monstrous (think Coalesce, DEP, and Hatebreed beating each other to death). The two guitar approach allows for some chunky riffing, harmonised weird ass riffs, and those cool diminished chords (dem parts that sound hella nasty). When compared to other hardcore bands on Trustkill and Ferret, Nora stick to the shouty approach, with the occasonal Rollins-esque spoken monologues. Weird to think, but in 2001, the whole 'i'm shouty one minute, and now i'm tender and emotional the next' deal wasn't the done deal in hardcore.

While Nora may not be so active these days, and Ferret Music has signed a huge amount of shite since Carl handed the company over, we can all rejoice at the awesomeness of the early Nora material.

I hate comedy dramas
http://www119.zippyshare.com/v/mJnyI0ne/file.html

Ban This - Humanware 1996

 

Ban This - Humanware (1996)

Ban This are a mysterious band, not much is known about them and not much has been documented in either records or live videos. So who the fuck are Ban This and why should you care?

Well to answer those questions: 1) I don't fucking know, stop being such a snotty brat, and 2) they play a weird concoction of 90s hardcore/90s industrial/Machine Head/Sepultura (Arise-Roots eras) with occasional death metal moments. Sounds cool, right?

Since not much is known about these guys Its hard to pigeon-hole them as either metal or metal influenced hardcore. But what is surely known is that this record came out in 1996, a very weird time for music, especially for hardcore and metal. Like the record title 'Humanware' suggests, this has a very mechanical style. Its reminicent of what was blooming in the 90s with acts such as Godflesh/Fear Factory/Machine Head. But they certainly have an organic element to them, its really weird to describe.

When searching for info on these guys many people tag them as Nu Metal or Groove Metal. I think that doesn't do Ban This any justice. Honestly, they sound a lot like Biohazard. They have hardcore vocals/rapping/mosh-riffs and they mix it with some Robb Flynn-rip-off vocals/Roots-style groove riffs/ industrial-manipulation, and death metal. In a way, its quite original.

Track: 3 - 'Traitors Pay With Blood'

This track shows off a lot of the different aspects of the band, it has some rapping, Sepultura style vocals, natural harmonic sprinkled riffs, grooves, lead guitars, and death metal vocals over a hardcore section.

To be honest, the whole record can get a bit repetitive and monotonous, but then again, the running time is around 1 hour and thats long for any kind of music.Overall, Ban This have an interesting sound and 'Humanware' is a facinating document of 90s hardcore/metal crossover. 

Linky, Link

https://mega.co.nz/#!0cZ2WYoD!NKF0JGqTrebTrJ8uzTlBOYi25sHwLl72kosu5_ZSnzA

Link taken from: http://skaterockradio.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/ban-this-humanware-1996.html