Early Grace: Running Into Walls

Sometimes all you need is a split record with the right band for your own band to simply catch on with masses and sometimes it doesn't help at all. Unfortunately it was the latter for Tampa, FL's Early Grace. After a split 7" in 1996 with Boston, MA's Cave In it seemed that Early Grace would quickly become a band that people started to take notice of and would perhaps share some of hardcore spotlight. For whatever reason, Early Grace faded into obscurity.

Their material was a lot like Cave In's very early material mixed with some Instil (pre-You and I) and Reversal Of Man. The fact that Cave In and Early Grace shared the same 7" (just different sides) made it even hard for me in the beginning to decipher who was who without looking at the labels on the record itself. The only real variant was that Early Grace were not as metal and seemed to be drawing from a different influence altogether. They seemed to have a lot in common with the screamo scene and bands like Indian Summer, Inkwell and Puritan. The screams were slightly higher pitched, their guitars weren't as chugga, the singing vocals were often a bit out of key and most importantly their songs were altogether heartfelt. There was something immediate about Early Grace's sound, something that made it feel quite sincere. Sure they had the cliche "what this band and scene means to us" paragraph in their booklet like the other bands of their time did, but with Early Grace it was something much much more than that and the fact that I recently learned that the members were only 17 years of age at the time makes it even more mind blowing. Perhaps that's why to this very day their songs sound so raw and honest.

The band's discography consists of a split 7" with Cave In, a self titled 7", and 7 song 10" entitled "And All I Run Into Are Walls You Have Built" all of which were released on Florida's Independence Day Records (Bright Calm Blue, Reversal Of Man) The CD version of the 10" also contained the self titled 7" as bonus tracks. Quite stunning in appearance, the CD featured a hand screened folded cover with a printed sheet of lyrics and personal statements from the band as well as being hand stamped out of 1000. It looks very Immigrant Sun Records circa 1995.

From the "And All I Run Into Are Walls You Have Built" CD:
Soupcan Listeners
A Fictional Serial Killer
Song 13
Civil Talk

The band also has a myspace page that briefly explains a bit about their history and their current projects. Unfortunately I cannot find any online distributors with the CD still in stock, so try your luck on eBay or some smaller distros.

Also, I know a lot of you are reading and downloading, so please post a comment. Its nice to know that people are out there, so let me know your thoughts and opinions on the bands and the music.

Corrin: On Plutonian Shores

In my opinion New England was at the forefront of the metalcore scene in the mid 1990s. Bands like Overcast, Barrit, Cave In, Converge were all building up steam and it was not long before they would become a household name in the hardcore market. There was however one band that fell by the wayside during the frenzy and their name was Corrin. Fronted by Jesse Leach (former Killswitch Engage, Nothing Stays Gold and now Seemless) Corrin were certainly as good as the latter bands mentioned, though for one reason or another, they went completely overlooked.

When I first arrived in Providence in 1996, Corrin were a sound that I had never heard before. Yes they were heavy, they clearly had metal and hardcore influences, but what made them different was that they sounded altogether evil. Similar to Overcast, Corrin were musically far more melodic and Jesse's vocals had a far more simple approach than his recent bands display. A sound that seemed to be a staple in the New England area at the time, Corrin would roll through mid paced metal chugging and seamlessly fall into dark melodic instrumental intros and outros. Often the band sounded rather unhinged, not clearly letting a particular part or pattern breathe for too long. Its a listen that while not compelling, is certainly unique in both style and form.

Corrin would release a 7" entitled "Despair Rides On Angels Wings" on Hydra Head in 1995 and a split 7" with Arise from the same recording session. They would go on to record 4 more songs in 1996 that would never be released until the release of the CD "Plutonian Shores" on Infidel which compiled the last material as well as the previously released material from the 7"s and various compilations.

After Corrin disbanded Jesse and guitarist Joe teamed up with former members of Roswell to form a band entitled Needles and shortly thereafter the two founded Nothing Stays Gold. Bassist Chris formed a band some time later with former Corrin drummer Brian called The Game. It was also rumored for awhile that guitarist Chris formed a band with the former Temperance vocalist though I cannot verify if he did or not.

From the "Plutonian Shoes" discography CD:

Corrin - Winter Souls
Corrin - Seed Of Cain

I was surprised to find that there still appears to be a few copies remaining at various distros like Interpunk & Very, so if this band is your jam then go grab one before they are gone.