The first release from Austrian label Sooder Records sees two excellent Austrian emo/indie rock bands teaming up for a split 7" with one new song apiece (the digital download actually comes with two bonus songs, so you'll get two tracks per band). First up is Hidden by the Grapes with loads of angular guitar work and pulsing basslines with generally relaxed singing that occasionally leans towards more of a shout. They've got a lot of surging, midpaced riffs with just the right amount of rawness and a couple of noisy/chaotic bursts thrown in for good measure. Lambda then follows with a similar approach that they describe quite well on their own as falling "somewhere in between catchy and complex tunes" that "try to combine noise and melodies". They're currently an instrumental act, and I have to say they fare surprisingly well without vocals. I tend to get bored very easily with most of the instrumental bands that I encounter, but this material has a great sense of energy to it and really holds interest well. As usual I'm not really saying enough here, but... the excerpts below should speak for themselves. I'm a huge, huge fan of this material and would absolutely love to hear more from both of these bands. Highly recommended!
Hidden by the Grapes "Blowout" (excerpt)
Lambda "Weiter Geht" (excerpt)
The 7"s are hand-numbered out of just 300 copies (150 on colored vinyl), and as mentioned above each copy comes with a download code that includes two bonus songs. You know what to do...
