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| Information |
| First CD out on Halvfabrikat Records! This is a MCD containing four songs. The songs are by Apologia, who has already released a cassette on Halvkass (S/T, KASS 10, July 2002).
This release has a more developed sound even compared to the Concrete Locust 7" EP released by Evigt Lidande Productions. This recording has a more exprimental feel than any of our earlier releases. So if you are looking for your ordinary Halvfabrikat Records' release you might be disappointed. Or amazed.
This record will let you drift of, just so much as you can relax. Then it will blow your brains out!
This is a great recording, doubtfully one that will stand out from the rest! The music can be described as the perfect blend of punk, crust, metal, hardcore, grindcore, emo, screamo, power violence, pop and rock. |
| Reviews |
| Written by 138 [Busted Heads RIP 97-04 + Distro News, English, -] |
Head splitting new Swedish grindcore act, tough to beat and hard to follow! Intense!
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| Written by [Profane Existence, English, -] |
| Apologia presents the listener with an elaborate mixture of styles, that go from haunting Neurosis-like dirges, to all-out d-beat thrash, all in the span of a heartbeat. A very powerful recording gives these four sonegs a formidable wall of noise effect, with desperately screamed vocals on top. All of the words are sung in English and have an introspectively dark, personal point of view. |
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| Written by Andreas [Doomsday Magazine, Swedish, -] |
Gillade Apologias första släpp ”Concrete Locust” som fan men jag måste erkänna att jag inte riktigt kom överens med Sentinel vid de första genomlyssningarna. Men som den vettiga musikkritiker jag är så lade jag undan plattan för att lyssna på den ”vid ett senare tillfälle”. Å sen så slank den i cd-spelaren en dag (som bakgrundsmusik måste jag tillägga) och efter ett par låtar frågade jag mig själv vad det var jag lyssnade på. Det var då jag fattade Sentinel, ett 20 antal lyssningar senare sitter jag här och är eld och lågor över hur bra det här är. Om Concrete Locust var lite mer uppdelad hc/crust/metal/grind/ångest var för sig är Sentinel mer uttänkt och sammanvävd (även i fall överraskningsmomenten finns kvar) vilket gör att Sentinel känns mycket bättre än föregångaren.
Låtarna innehåller så mycket så det finns inte en chans att man tröttar även om de flesta låtarna är över 5 minuter (vilket jag hatade förr i tiden men nu bara ser som ett plus) och det är främst de i de malande ”postrockpartierna” som man hör att de här grabbarna fattar hur man gör låtar. Det enda jag tycker är bättre på föregångaren är sången för där var det lite mer vrål, men det här är också riktigt bra när man vant sig. Om Apologia fortsätter att göra låtar som de här och fortsätter att utvecklas skulle jag inte bli förvånad om de en dag befinner sig uppe på toppen och boxas med de stora Relapse/HydraHead-grabbarna, men än är det långt dit så det återstår att se, mycket kan hända. Under tiden så finns de här 4 kanonspåren att tillgå och ge Sentinel minst 10 lyssningar, du kommer tacka mig sen. |
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| Written by Jonn Jeppsson [Close up Magazine, Swedish, -] |
Ju hårdare och meckigare mangel desto viktigare att det innehåller någorlunda lättillgängliga element som förhindrar att musiken bara blir en vägg av oväsen. Även den mest demoniska helveteshardcore kräver lite finess och struktur för att vara intressant i längden; HIS HERO IS GONEs "Monuments to thieves" (1997) är den bästa hardcore jag hört av just denna anledning.
APOLOGIA har fattat precis vad Memphis hårdaste gjorde - och nu gör i TRAGEDY - så bra. Malmös näst hårdaste (ursäkta, men CROWPATH är grymmast) låter väna slingor samsas med apokalyptiskt muller och bindgalna Relapseflörtar, ständigt med ett öra för såväl primal aggression som intelligent låtbyggande.
Uppmaning: öka inspelningsbudgeten nästa gång. Det lätt grumliga och instängda ljudet gör inte nyanserna på "Sentinel" rättvisa. |
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| Written by Kristoffer Persson [My Last Chapter, English, -] |
It's always difficult when you have to review a friend's band, but with Apologia I don't have to worry about hurting anyone's feelings. I'm not lying when I say that this rips. There are so many sides to this band that it's almost impossible to describe, Halvfabrikat does it best, "the music can be described as the perfect blend of punk, crust, metal, hardcore, grindcore, emo, screamo, power violence, pop and rock". But don't let the description scare you. It's not artsy fartsy, it's not messy or annoying. It's damn well played and composed!
Some minutes into the opening track there's a bass move that is just brilliant, and this band has a lot of those moves. Angst-filled riffs and a tortured vocalist suddenly turns into wicked grinding and the most pissed off vocalist ever. I don't really know what to say. It's just brilliant, and every time you listen to it you discover something new. Wickedly venomous and evil! |
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| Written by Krogh [ATTACK!fanzine, English, -] |
This is a band that's hard to describe without making it sound very arty and over-pretentious. They take the different styles of grind, emo, hardcore, screamo, käng, and do it with power. On their debut 7" "Concrete Locust" they switched between the styles, making it very interesting, while they now have mixed them all together much more. But without loosing anything in the surprise factor really. It can still be very moody with a singer who talks more than he sings one second, just to evolve into full on blast-beat grind with spitting anger in the next. Don't get scared off now, but screamo-crust is actually describing this well. At least in my ears.
I'm sad to say it but I feel this band don't get the recognition they deserve. Maybe it will change with this 4 track MCD (clocking in at 20 minutes) - at least I sure hope so. |
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| Written by [aversionline.com, English, -] |
Here's some raging, dirge laden metallic hardcore from Sweden with a raw, crusty undercurrent and a tight, vicious performance that brings in influences from the His Hero is Gone school on through to some faster and more frantic grindcore moments. The vocals are raging snarls not unlike At the Gates, but they're mixed deep in against the music, which really adds a sense of desperation to the tracks. Everything else sounds really warm and dense, and the overall mix is completely cohesive with no gaps. There are tons of awesome drums fills and patterns that shift around, with thick and open chord progressions allowing plenty of dissonance and texture to ring through. "Swelling Heart" opens with a brief segment of clean guitars and pulls along at a much slower and darker pace, using a number of disharmonic notes amongst both intense blasts and slightly more melodic chord progressions; whereas the title track is far more caustic and disharmonic, perhaps one of the few tracks that feels a bit long for its offerings. Though, admittedly, I find it interesting that the bulk of these songs run more than five minutes and change back and forth enough to feel like several shorter songs that somehow do feel connected and not like a random jumble of alternating riffs. The layout is very minimal using only black and a brownish yellow printed on mate off white paper. I like the lyrics because they seem to mix the personal and the political in an atypical manner that makes you wonder what the actual intent is without being forced into any certain interpretation. "Your mouth is a tunnel of laws and regulations, and you consume me. Convulsively grind me to a cartilage of control. Me?" Very cool stuff overall. I definitely prefer the moderately paced side of things, as some of the fast riffing and chaotic leanings aren't really hitting me, but the band balances things out well and keeps the atmosphere very consistent. Good work.
Running time 20:23, Tracks: 4.
[Notable tracks: Newborn, Swelling Heart] |
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| Written by Jimmy Blom [Hardrock Info, English, -] |
Hardcore/Crust from Sweden.
It sound like they've mixed it up with a little too much Hardcore and too little Crust Core, it's a little too chaotic for me, some songs are too heavy and the songs are too long. I prefer RENTOKILLER and MISCONDUCT instead of this when it comes to Hardcore.
Not my glass of cider as you probebly already have figured out, but try it if you're into Hardcore. You get 4 songs in about 20 minutes. |
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| Written by Yxan [Backlash, Swedish, -] |
| Ok, fyra låtar som aldrig vill ta slut med det för mig okända bandet Apologia. Jag hade nog helst sett att det hade fortsatt att vara så. Doomigt och segt för det mesta för att sedan varvas med lite vansinnesröj som inte tillför nåt utan det är bara påfrestande att höra. Man kan nog beskriva musiken som typ emo/crust. Det är säkert meningen att musiken skall återge ett känslolandskap och olika stämningar osv. Den enda känslan jag får är en ohejdbar sådan att trycka på stoppknappen på CD-spelaren vilket jag efter ungefär en kvart också gör. |
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| Written by Krogh [ATTACK!fanzine, English, -] |
| This release has a more developed sound even compared to the Concrete Locust 7" EP released by Evigt Lidande Productions. Still with desperation and angst as the keywords. The music can be described as the perfect blend of punk, crust, metal, hardcore, grindcore, emo, screamo, power violence, pop and rock. I describe it as great. |
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| Written by Sikas [World Downfall Webzine, English, -] |
Apologia, one of my favorite bands. Im allways glad and excited when i see a cardboard package in my mail but its especially fun when i get a record like this. If they wouldn't send me this mcd i would have bought it anyway. One thing i won't understand is why Apologia havn't got more attention than they deserve. Seriously, i think they are one of swedens better bands these days, if not the best. Well i really hope some people will look them up after reading this review.
Ok let's start. This is their supermegafresh new mcd called "Sentinel" and it contains only four (but long) tracks. It is Apologias second official releaseand they have slowdown a bit since their debut: Concrete locust 7" but don't worry, its still has the same evil, depressive, hatefilled hc/punk sound that were used to but only with some less grinding parts. This new sound reminds me of Neurosis but with more screaming vocals. I must say that its fucking great. If you never heard of them, please visit www.apologia.se. |
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| All titles with Apologia |
| Concrete Locust (7" EP) |
| S/T (MC) |
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