Tuesday 21 November 2017

LETTERS IN BINARY

BandLETTERS IN BINARY
GenresPunk / Hardcore / Screamo / Emo-violence / Grindcore / Mathcore / Thrash / Tech-metal / Skramz 
Related artistsEnkephalin+HIRS+, BoroughsBest Friends!, Rocket! Go! Now!, Spitting Cobra, Phoenix Bodies, Brighter ArrowsMara'akate, Vac and Slam Wedgehouse.
CountryDetroit, Michigan U.S.A.
Years Active2002-2007
Song: "Figure 414"
Album: "Hands Don't Mind the Holes"
Year: 2004
For fans ofEnkephalin, Kiss The Sky Goodbye, Egarra, Love Lost But Not Forgotten, Vein, Daughters, SeeYouSpaceCowboy, Advocate, Me And Him Call It Us, .gif from god, (Lone) Wolf And Cub, Oktober Skyline, LoftusBack When, Euth, Warsaw Was Raw, Hive Mind, Destroyer Destroyer, Tyranny Of Shaw, Crestfallen, The Great Redneck Hope, Mara'akate, Phoenix Bodies, Straight No Chaser, Lachance, 60659-C, The Now, Towers, (early) Ed Gein, The Sawtooth Grin, Harlots, Clancy Six, Converge, John Zorn, The Avenging Disco Godfathers Of Soul, The Expectorated Sequence and Psyopus aka PROPER SCREAMO.
Label(s): Self Released / Conspirators In Sound / Cut Ups
This post's artist is from the November 2017 Mix. This is track #2.
You can download: the November 2017 Mix#11 right here or get the new December 2017 Mix#12 here.

I only knew about LETTERS IN BINARY's demo material when I sat down to write this review. Then I found the LP and holy shit this truly is the evolution of Enkephalin, my favourite mathgrind band. If you like your screamy hardcore pushed to the absolute max and combined with the aforementioned mathgrind as well as jazzy sections and five-second parts, you may well shit your pants. After releasing some demo material (including having Colin May play bass for some gigs), the band pulled a vocalist switch and dropped the unreal cdLP 'Pretty and Perpendicular' in 2006. Fan of extreme bands such as PsyopusKiss The Sky GoodbyeEgarraThe Great Redneck Hope and Phoenix Bodies are going to have a field day with the discography download.

'Hands Don't Mind the Holes' is, I am nearly certain, a collection album containing the '8 Song Demo' and perhaps even the 'Floppy Disk Demo' as well as a few live tracks. It opens with "Pregnant With Potential" and a deceiving audio clip before the song is catapulted into mathgrind/emo-violence territory 48 seconds in and is over by 1:20. The parts, transitions, melodies and songs in general are ludicrously fast and therefore extremely short, but the intricacy and explosive power of each section is mindblowing and repeat listens are 100% needed to really get this music. Some examples for you: "***" is 20 seconds,  "With Barnibus" is 25 and "Open Your Mouth" is but 34 seconds. "Back and to the Left", "Cotton Candy" and "Memo From Mike" are a beautifully noisy mixture of Enkephalin, early Love Lost But Not Forgotten and The Great Redneck Hope, but it's "Figure 414" that steals the show. Boasting itself as the only track over two minutes in length. It opens with the usual batshit crazy mathcore, but the slower, more methodical approach arrives right before the one-minute mark and works out really well, with comparisons to Love Lost But Not ForgottenDeers! and Ostraca being very apt. The final 30 seconds are sensational, with a Crestfallen-esque crescendo and a bunch of people shrieking, aka my bag. The album then peppers on live takes of "Pregnant With Potential" and "Cotton Candy" as well as a "Pink as a Pistol" demo.

Their 2006 proper cdLP titled 'Pretty and Perpendicular' takes the best elements of their demos and extends better production, tighter songs and even more blazing shenanigans from the ex-Enkephalin crew. This is apparent right from the get-go, as "Captain Analog Vs Doctor Digital" does a phenomenal job of jarring most listeners well out of their comfort zone, with disjointed rhythms, jazzy guitar work and cacophonous vocals, while "Pink as a Pistol" just lays absolute waste to the listener. "Doing Pushups With One Broken Arm" loses its grip on reality after the first 30 seconds and also reminiscent of Psyopus but screamier. "Two Birds Looking One Way, One Looking Another" has an eerie intro that reminds me of Usurp Synapse and "My Favorite Cheer" is a straight up clusterfuck of excellence. Seriously, these are all excellent slices of techy, screamy and chaotic hardcore. There are a few further tracks to take note of, as "Track 8" has a clip from the movie π, "Dos" and "Dont's" are a mere 11 seconds each while "Cotton Candy" and "With Barnibus" show up again from the demo sessions. The finale of this record is its crowning achievement, as "Open Your Heart Not Your Watch Wrack" is just over a minute of The Great Redneck Hope inspired bliss.

Be sure to, at the very least, watch the intro of the first LETTERS IN BINARY show as the vocalist states simply, "Hi, we're Letters In Binary" and within a split second they are beyond ballistic. Well, that's it from my end. Below is some stuff taken from one of the band's former sites, and was written before their 2007 split that I haven't been able to find, after which LETTERS IN BINARY disbanded.

"hello, we are letters in binary. a three piece from the burbs of detroit. we are ex members of enkephalin, rocket! go! now!, spitting cobra and many others. the band was started in the early days of november two thousand two by scott monaghan and gregory dean. numerous songs were recorded poorly on a four track for a two song demo floppy disk, which was followed long after by an eight song cd ep in june two thousand three. then the recruting started and scott and greg chose short time friend colin may for bass guitar fulfillments. then after distrubuting the two song demo and eight song cd on the enkephalin/phoenix bodies tour to whomever was willing to buy and/or listen. we began to look for our first show and singer. we found a friend(jason miller) that was putting together a fest(bottlerocketfest). we asked, he said yes. we had our first show. next a singer. we pulled together and looked and decided on dan farabaugh for temporary vocal assistance(who became fulltime). then the only things to do were wait and practice. and we did. and the show was succesful. afterwards there was a slight hiatus coinciding with the distance between some members. so we picked up another bassist. named matthew conzet who eventually replaced colin. more songs have been gratually written and shows have been played. its been two years now and we are working on a cd with Conspirators In Sound, that should hopefully be out soon. recently before entering the studio, dan , left the band. now the ones left(scott/matt/greg) have been devolved into a three piece consisting of a creative mind, a passionate heart, and a pair of soft hands for sensual back rubs. keep looking and listening for/to us."

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DISCOGRAPHY
Click )==>here<==( to download the almost all of band's discography in mp3 form.

2002 - Demo floppy disk EP

2003 - 8 Song Demo cdEP

2004 - Hands Don't Mind the Holes cdLP (I think this is the '8 Song Demo' with some live tracks)

2006 - Pretty and Perpendicular cdLP

2007 - Peter & Craig split 7"EP (does anyone have this? please upload it!)

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(2007) LETTERS IN BINARY - ""You Were Once Living, Cicada"" (from 'Peter & Craig' split)

(2006) LETTERS IN BINARY - "Open Your Heart Not Your Watch Wrack" (from 'Pretty and Perpendicular')

(2006) LETTERS IN BINARY - "Doing Pushups With One Broken Arm" (from 'Pretty and Perpendicular')

(2006) LETTERS IN BINARY - "My Favorite Cheer" (from 'Pretty and Perpendicular')

(2004) LETTERS IN BINARY - "Figure 414" (from 'Hands Don't Mind the Holes')

(2004) LETTERS IN BINARY - "Pregnant With Potential" (from 'Hands Don't Mind the Holes')

(2004) LETTERS IN BINARY - "With Barnibus" (from 'Hands Don't Mind the Holes') official music video

(2002) LETTERS IN BINARY - live first show

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LETTERS IN BINARY out of print mp3 discography download / additional links

(download here)

Myspace

LastFM
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2 comments:

  1. Legendary and do not get enough attention

    ReplyDelete
  2. I just uploaded the Peter and Craig split to Youtube

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rREEvgwTp5s

    ReplyDelete