French screamo / post rock tinged post hardcore bands will forever have their rightful place in shaping the sound of raw, hearty and yelly hardcore punk as we know it. At the forefront of that scene were Caen based act AMANDA WOODWARD (1999-2007). Reunions might seem a bit overplayed these days, so apart from the recent reformations of bands like PG.99, CITY OF CATERPILLAR or MAJORITY RULE and the renewed interest in the emotional, screamy post hardcore, AMANDA WOODWARD’s guitarist Nicolas Bazire (also of EXHAUSTION, KARYSUN, and MARÉE NOIRE) has decided to dive into yer another project rather than ressurecting old corpses. His new band BLEAKNESS features Phab from the band CHAVIRÉ, and Benj from THE ROYAL PREMIERS and PUISSANCE CUBE, a trio of energy fueled musicians that seems to be very comfortable in their new skin. Their debut record expands into a rich diorama of emotions, yearning gritty punk rock and atmospheric, driving post punk that’s yet another example of their consistent evolution. Featuring the cover art drawing from Barcelona based artist Sztuka Wojny, the record has been recently premiered on the band’s official website and can be heard below!
The debut EP from BLEAKNESS was recorded at Swan Sound Studio earlier this year, mixed by Antoine Gandon (drummer in HEAVY HEART and VERBAL RAZORS) and mastered by Daniel Husayn at North London Bomb Factory. Pre-orders are up now at this location. The record features a screen printed sleeve by Henri Pierre at Galactica Editions (gold and silver ink on black paper) and it’s a co-release by Destructure Records and Analogue Profusion Records.
Nico commented on the band’s story, soound and lyrics:
These past ten years I have been mostly playing drums in bands (in Karysun and Exhaustion) and I missed playing guitar a lot, for some reasons I never achieved to form a band in which I could play guitar before this one. Right after Amanda Woodward became less active in 2007 I started writing songs with a friend in the same spirit, punk rock with tight and nervous drumming and lots of melancholic guitar melodies, unfortunately we never played with that band, we actually never completed the recording of these songs.
Last year, few month after I moved in a new city called Nantes, I was still into trying to play that kind of thing, I met Phab and Benj proposed them to start a band, I quickly wrote few songs to let them ear, they liked the idea and Bleakness was born.
Well most lyrics are inspired by my vision of contemporary life, a mix between what I personally live and what I see and hear around me. It deals with feelings of fear and frustration and the consequences of these feelings, like choices we feel forced to make because we are oppressed and maintained in constant fear by the system, or decision we make because of frustration or deception and trying to handle fatalism and hope.
BLEAKNESS will be on tour with Paris based BITPART starting tomorrow. Scroll down to see the dates!
Continued below…
Lyrics:
RUINED TRAJECTORY
There’s only ruins and deserted properties with damaged stones like broken teeth. Eternal bliss now looks like remains of a giant dislocated jaw.
Time to choose : worse or wrong . Hope the worst will be acceptable
We are now leaving a comfort zone, not crossing the line hold so dear has driven many straight into a wall. Ideal trajectory seems to be unreachable.
Deeds now under the bright lights. Counting the dead in the convictions list.
Can’t hear nothing but the call to give up,
Can’t find nothing, no more rejoinder.
Can’t feel nothing but the weight of fake,
Can’t find nothing, no more instigation.THE NEW GAME
Words vanished in the haze and we can’t get back their logic.
Judgement is obscured by threat of disregard.
Critical assessment report revealed the weakness, the bleakness.Leave past behind and learn the new game
Social pressure left no room for more cerebration,
They won’t accept respite from the pain.
With clenched teeths and assurance,
Use the last strength to get up and lead the danse.The strength of rumor should not be an excuse for giving up.
Insistent looks will not cause downfall of commitment.Leave past behind and learn the new game.
Keep pledge in mind and build your own frame.
Keep pledge in mind and learn the new game.HOPE, THE ENEMY
Opening a door into a darker room, time of proscription has already begun.
Fright is assaulting the well-being, helping settle in a pathetic mood.Faith is disappearing, swamped by pondering
Tired of witnessing loss and breakdown, holdin on hope has been a cruel enemy.
Stars and light replaced by dust and rust, strongest beliefs put to the test.Faith is disappearing in a state of doubt and obsession.
Buried alive in the inability of reaching the ground.Humanity hunt in the head. An assembly of failure has us believe each impediment overcome produces even more damages.
FEAR / FATE
Sinking into everyday’s inner war, should we accept the intolerable ?
Look ahead to move forward and carry on smiling, carry on.In front of the menace, no more fuel for thinking and lucidity, fear creates blindness.
Too late to step the pace, henchmen are here to fill the void with more contradiction. Fate will now be decided by fear.
In front of the menace, no more fuel for esteem and empathy, fear creates rejection.
One more step to meet the quota of casualties.
One after the other, gearwheels collapse, the spiral is falling.
AUG. 29 – PARIS @ Espace B – w/ Wild Animals
AUG. 30 – LILLE @ DIY Café – w/ Short Days
AUG. 31 – STRASBOURG @ Le Diamant d’Or
SEPT. 1 – MÜNSTER @ Baracke Münster – w/ Burger Weekends
SEPT. 2 – BERLIN (FRIENDS FEST) @ Bei Ruth – w/ The Smudjas, Subverse, Anti-Corpos, Erring Soda
SEPT. 3 – (( _ _ ))..zzzZZ
SEPT. 4 – PRAGUE @ Eternia Smichov – w/ Zmar
SEPT. 5 – BRNO @ Kabinet Múz – w/ Rickolus
SEPT. 6 – ZAGREB @ Klub Močvara
SEPT. 7 – MILAN @ Ri-Make – w/ Futbolín
SEPT. 8 – PERUGIA @ TBA
SEPT. 9 – MANTOVA @ Arci Dalló – w/ Futbolín
SEPT. 10 – LYON @ La Triperie – w/ Litige
