‘With A Gun Between Your Teeth, You Speak Only In Vowels’, to give this three-tracker its PT thread title unfriendly full name, kicks off with a spasmodic essence akin to The Flaming Tsunamis before rounding off into a more Gallows-esque sound, whilst indulging in the techy nuances that litter the melodic hardcore scene. Battle For Paris isn’t so much about the rage and brutality of HxC, more about developed sounds with an experimentalist touch.
Check the boxes as you go along: twiddling guitars; big drums; guttural shrieks; gang-shouts; a dirty Bronx like riff (see “Baby, You’re My Ammunition Drop”); kick-starting bass; big ascending lines. It’s decent enough fair, and for the most part constructed well. At times the lead vocal doesn’t hold up as well as you might like and there are a few ‘muddy’ spots, but these are both wrinkles that time and practice will iron out.
The blurb makes mention to the likes of Meet Me In St Louis and The Murder of Rosa Luxemburg, which is fair. Also throw in there the likes of Proceed and Throats (not just for sound but for experimental tendencies) and you’re starting to find some good bedfellows. ‘With A Gun…’ is far from impeccable but it is intriguing enough to warrant attention, and musically it’s hard to argue that his Dorset based quintet is on the right tracks.
Alex