Wednesday 24 August 2016

EXPECTORATED SEQUENCE, THE

GenresPunk / Hardcore / Post-Hardcore / Screamo / Emo-violence / Skramz / Grind / Metal / Ambient / Crust / Sludge / Thrash / Noise / Power Violence / Grunge / Experimental / Prog
Related artistsThe Ultimate Screamo Band, The Catlin Elm, Carpet, Royaume Des Morts and Nous Étions.
Country:   Montreal, Quebec CANADA
Years Active2002-present
Song: "Roland Made the Paper"
Album: "Over the Top"
Year: 2004
For fans ofEd GeinAdvocate, (early) Curl Up And DieMe And Him Call It Us, Crestfallen, .gif from god, Cassilis, Combatwoundedveteran, Boak, Love Lost But Not Forgotten, The Great Redneck Hope, Jude The Obscure, Fall Silent, I Am A Curse, Callow, The Encyclopedia Of American Traitors, Destroyer Destroyer, Ritual Mess, Ruined Families, Akimbo, Perth Express, The Love And Terror Cult, Potence, The Exelar, Dangers!, Gas Up Yr Hearse!, Loma Prieta, Campaign Committee and Seventeen Again.
Label(s): L'Oeil du Tigre / Contempt For Humanity / New Romance For Kids Records / Cadavre Exquis / D7i Records
This post's artist is from the June 2016 Mix. This is track #7.
You can download: the August Mix#8 right here or get the new September 2016 Mix#9 here.

I first heard them THE EXPECTORATED SEQUENCE over a decade ago when I picked up 'Over the Top' on some kind of whim...I'm unsure which. At the time I was able to pick up on some of the cool stuff going on, but for the most part the noise and cacacophony was a blockade for me. Now that I am much more versed in heavy music, I have come to the conclusion that if Ed Gein listened to a ton of Love Lost But Not ForgottenCurl Up And Die and Fall Silent they would probably end up with this crusty, filthy, acidic, violent and pummeling hardcore punk. The band loves their movie clips and also mimics Old Man Gloom on many tracks in the way they include half song/half noise or half song/half audio clip and does so really, really well. Intriguing and humourous song titles litter each release, with a few examples of: "Sixty-nine on a Sexy Night", "I Am the Best Person Ever", "Welcome to My Haircut", "My Dick is So Hard I Could Be in School" and "No One Has Bigger Balls Than God". The band has undergone some lineup changes, label changes and sound changes over their, now, 14 year existence.

Back in 2003 THE EXPECTORATED SEQUENCE released their 'Demo' which is pulverizing metallic hardcore, mosh and a bit of screamo and powerviolence thrown in for good measure. Bands such as CrestfallenThe Great Redneck Hope, Destroyer Destroyer, Advocate and early Curl Up And Die come to mind quickly whilst sonically having your ass kicked. The vocals and instrumentals are very, very much like those of Crestfallen and early Curl Up And Die, especially on "Don't You Look Sharp Tonight?" and "The Instructor's Notes Were in a Tangle", the latter of which also has a Predator movie clip ending and I'm always a sucker for that. This EP is probably my favourite release by the band.

THE EXPECTORATED SEQUENCE came back the following year and continued their evil, venomous and scathing grindy, metallic hardcore. The spastic, emo-violence chaos that is 2004's 'Over the Top' is literally just that, a little over the top. The vocals are extreme, the drumming is insane and the strings are stopping and starting on a dime. This is quite obvious from the opening track of "Drinking Cocktails With Little Straw Hats" and continues until the closer "Beauties are Fast-Forgiven, Ugliness Easily-Forgotten" which is a longer, drawn out song that sheds chaos for a solid foundation of heavy, chugging riffs. At least two of the seven songs were rerecorded from their 2003 'Demo', as "The Instructor's Notes Were In a Tangle" and "My Dick is So Hard I Could Be In School" are definitely on both.

In 2005 the band released a whopping 15-song LP with a new direction. Almost gone are the shrieks and squeals which have been replaced by Daitro-esque yelled/screamy vocals (but not the instrumentals, so perhaps Potence is a better example) and the switch works, but the movement away from the band's traditional sound would continue, and not always for the better. This LP, however, contains a plethora of beauties that covers the short and repulsive ("Listening to Elvis" and "Enfant de Chienne"), the one to two minute chaotic and dense gems ("Another Blown Light Bulb" and "Welcome to My Haircut") as well as the long and cohesive ("I Am the Best Person Ever" and A Prolonged Disaster").

After a 2005-2011 break with no output, the band came back with a much more chilled out and experimental approach on 2011's 'The Prolonged Disaster' with mixed success. Focusing on progressing the sound and ending up with much more of a post-hardcore/grunge territory, at times I'm reminded of a faster and less heavy incarnation of Kowloon Walled City and even Loma Prieta's 2015 LP 'Self Portrait'. Songs such as "Scum of the Earth" and "Eugene" exceed four minutes each, which is the length of 4-8 of their older tracks combined. "Scum of the Earth" includes clean, post-metal vocals that work for the musical output and "Eugene" sags after only a minute with a serene but lengthy piano and orchestral outro, so both are rather forgetful. That being said, songs like "Comfort and Discouragement", "Terminus", "Mourning Melody" and "Another Mayday" are excellent, quick and to the point powerviolence/hardcore romps. The closer, "Building a Freedom/Lullaby", is a prime example when the band utilized the progressive hardcore approach and over the 6:52 duration fuckin' nails it.

Seemingly realizing the detracting tangents of their 2011 recordings, THE EXPECTORATED SEQUENCE shifted back to releasing a 12-track 7"EP in 2014 which reverts to dirty, aggressive and caustic hardcore from their days of yore. They use an interesting formula that begins with a barrage of noise inspired by Combatwoundedveteran for 30 seconds, followed by another 30 seconds or so of ambient noise. "Hocheluga Witch" and "Who Are We?" take the cake for the heaviest and most straight to the point stingers on the album, while "Bring Me Joy" and "Old Dirty Sun" are without a doubt the most insane.

During the writing of this review I certainly became much more entrenched in the band's discography, and I'd expect a few readers of this blog will have a similar reaction. Oh, and the drummer Guillaume is also the brain behind The Ultimate Screamo Band, which Zegema Beach Records helped release in 2015 to mostly glowing reviews, a few negative ones, as well as a handful of ridiculous and absurd rants.

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DISCOGRAPHY

2003 - Demo EP (stream/donate/download here)

2004 - Over the Top cdEP (stream/donate/download here)

2005 - Hairbomb cdLP (stream/donate/download here)

2011 - The Prolonged Disaster cd/12"LP (stream/donate/download here) [buy cd here]

2014 - first joice [power] of the shit 7"EP (stream/donate/download here) [buy 7" here]

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(2003) THE EXPECTORATED SEQUENCE - "Don't You Look Sharp Tonight" (from 'Demo')

(2003) THE EXPECTORATED SEQUENCE - "The Errors of a Little Boy" (from 'Demo')

(2004) THE EXPECTORATED SEQUENCE - "Roland Made the Paper" (from 'Over the Top')

(2004) THE EXPECTORATED SEQUENCE - "Beauties are Fast-Forgiven, Ugliness Easily-Forgotten" (from 'Over the Top')

(2005) THE EXPECTORATED SEQUENCE - "Another Blown Light Bulb" (from 'Hairbomb')

(2005) THE EXPECTORATED SEQUENCE - "Welcome to My Haircut" (from 'Hairbomb')

(2005) THE EXPECTORATED SEQUENCE - "Loser" (from 'Hairbomb')

(2011) THE EXPECTORATED SEQUENCE - "Mourning Melody" (from 'The Prolonged Disaster')

(2011) THE EXPECTORATED SEQUENCE - "Building of a Freedom/Lullaby" (from 'The Prolonged Disaster')

(2014) THE EXPECTORATED SEQUENCE - "Hocheluga Witch" (from 'first juice [power] of the shit')

(2014) THE EXPECTORATED SEQUENCE - "Who Are We?" (from 'first juice [power] of the shit')

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THE EXPECTORATED SEQUENCE additional links
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1 comment:

  1. Had these guys sleeping on my floor with An Abatross when they toured over here about 12 years ago. They were the nicest guys, although they took offense at the amount of nu-metal I had in my collection. Haha. They introduced me to Cerberus Shoal though, so they're sound.

    Amazing band, and fucking incredible live. I didn't actually get round to checking out their latest one, but I'm about to remedy that. glad they've gone back to their harder material; they really excelled at that.

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