Thursday, May 18, 2006

Where's your anger? (boysetsfire)

Catchy metal riffs with political lyrics? A fists in the air, club rockin' anthem? Got to be Rage Against The Machine? For the majority of rock fans it does seem to be that they don't need another politco-rock (check me out making up genres) band in their collection. Which is a shame. Because not only were Rage way past their best after their second album, but it means that boysetsfire rarely get a look in.

Putting out their debut release in 1996,the Delaware based five piece went on to follow with three albums that more than deserve a place in any metal-hearts collection, The Day The Sun Went Out, After The Eulogy and Tomorrow Come Today. The Rage Against The Machine comparison is a little unfair, however, as these guys are definatly not rap rock. These are emotional hardcore in the true sense of the word (I seem to be writing that every post now) and were one of the first bands to mix melodic singing with tonsil worrying screaming. It might not sound so fresh now the likes of Finch, Funeral For A Friend and Hatebreed have ploughed that furrow to death, but at the time it made them boysetsfire something special.

Unfortunatly, you never seem to hear them played out anywhere. Except After The Eulogy (y'know the one that goes "Rise/Rise/Rise/Rise") which I heard every week at the dodgy clubs I hung out at. Tracks like Rookie, Handful of Redemption and Last Year's Nest should have become club staples but they never really seemed to cross over into mainstream success. Maybe it's for the best, and having dropped a new album this year, they're still going strong after ten years.

I thought I had more than one video of boysetsfire, but obviously not. However, I own a split they put out with Snapcase, so that seems like a perfect excuse for some more mid-90's hardcore. Maybe tomorrow you'll get some Downset!

boysetsfire - Last Year's Nest



Snapcase - Caboose

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