Review: In Shambles - Vicious Cycles

Label: Sad Nap Records

Some speak of "Old School", others just do it. Honestly, if somebody would have told me that IN SHAMBLES are a hidden gem from the 90s I'd have believed everything. This really is some raw shit and these guys seem to give a fuck. I like that.

As for the band: I don't know anything about them. There's no Bandcamp-site they could call their own, no Facebook-site and honestly would it fit them to post some shiny Insta-pics of them pretending to be something else when they already are something else?! What matters is that they work together with Sad Nap Records, who put out this cassette for them. The small label from Columbus/Ohio compares this stuff with the likes of ORCHID, REVERSAL OF MAN and MOHINDER. I slightly agree and would add ANGEL HAIR, ANTIOCH ARROW, SECOND STORY WINDOW or ASSFACTOR 4. This is no Screamo of the current century but you'd have probably called this Screamo around 1993 if that word would've been around that time. Get it?

Again, this is nowhere near as screamy or destructive as most of the aformentioned references or later Screamo-groups. But it still IS fast and furious, it's nasty and rough and it has it's fair share of spazz. Buried beneath all this noise, all this distortion, all this "i don't give a fuck"-attitude lies some solid musicality. The melodic guitar gives the songs nice layers and even when their style seems limited, IN SHAMBLES are no one-trick-pony, as they have some cool ideas up their sleeves. That breakdown in "White Tongue" is quite the thing!

If you wet your pants already by reading the names of all those Old School-legends than you should probably check this out. 

Rating: 7 out of 10

In Shambles on Bandcamp