Cast Iron Hike: No Longer Visible

I am not going to lie, the only reason I purchased the self titled 7" from Boston, MA's Cast Iron Hike was because of the design. Maybe that was the one great thing about vinyl, you could always take a chance on a band, after all it was usually only 3 bucks. So when I got home and placed the needle to the record I was instantly blown away by the music that blasted from the speakers. The track "Boxed" blared out loudly, Quicksand styled post hardcore guitar riffing and when their vocalist Jacob Brennan started singing I was instantly reminded of Jonah from Only Living Witness. His vocals was melodic, abrasive, emotional and down right moody. Cast Iron Hike's music portrayed a hardcore bands sound with a rock and roll attitude and they pulled it off damn well mind you. Could they have been hardcore's equivalent to AC/DC? Possibly. Cast Iron Hike were just intense in every sense of the word. Their music was down right urgent and while the sound was slow and brooding at times, it was also fast and aggressive the next. Sure their sound wasn't for everyone but if Only Living Witness, Quicksand, Into Another or Helmet is your bag then you need to discover this band.
While the Trustkill ep was my first introduction to Cast Iron Hike they had apparently gotten their start on the now defunct label Big Wheel Recreation. Shortly after the Trustkill record they released a split 7" with Miltown and in 1997 would sign to Victory Records and release their full length entitled "Watch It Burn". The CD was every bit of anger and energy that the band portrayed on their previous releases however this time they had a quality recording to back it up. "Watch It Burn" never let up through all 12 tracks, one song more powerful than the next and a re-recorded version of "Boxed" that just about floored me.
I cannot be certain as to why Cast Iron Hike disbanded sometime after the release of "Watch It Burn" and subsequent google searches have not given me any answers either. What I do know is that guitarist Michael Gallagher is now a member of Isis (as well as an ambient project on Neurot called MGR), rhythm guitarist Christian Pupecki is with Doomriders, Vocalist Jake Brennan has a solo career going which is quite a departure musically from his previous work with CIH and bassist Pete Degraaf is now a member of The Black. Cast Iron Hike still maintain a myspace page that offers more information on the band and their new projects. You can still grab both the Trustkill and Victory releases for relatively cheap prices at Amazon and Interpunk, so be sure and buy a copy or two if these downloads strike your interest.

From the self titled Trustkill 7"/CDep:
Boxed
From the "Watch It Burn" CD:
Reach For The Floor
Swimming Through Sand
Stopped Up And Starving