Cut! Cut! Cut! Cut!

HORSE THE BAND's breakthrough album "R. Borlax" was a record that confused the fuck out of me. For once, it was comical and absurd, but it was played with such urgency that I felt every moment of it. And damn, it still holds up today... 20 years later...

Say what you want about HORSE THE BAND, but they pretty much invented a new genre with "R. Borlax": Nintendocore. From this point on every band that was doing something similar was deemed "Nintendocore", eventhough not many of them were as dedicated to the whole topic as HORSE THE BAND were. On top of the 8-Bit-like synths, they also wrote lyrics about videogames. They did it in such a subtle and imaginative way that you had to be an insider to get it. 

Putting all the electronics aside, HORSE THE BAND were a spastic Hardcore-band quite similar to bands like FEAR BEFORE THE MARCH OF FLAMES, THE NUMBER TWELVE LOOKS LIKE YOU or even THE BLOOD BROTHERS, who were all around the same time. Though they were more keen on the Metalcore of the time with chugga chugga riffs, mosh parts and a love for the hackneyed breakdowns of the 2000s. They made a show out of the breakdowns, as they were clearly overstated. However, they were A LOOOOOT of fun and one or two of them are quite legendary. Hear "Cutsman"!

What was interesting about their 8-Bit-infused synths was the fact that they didn't long for minimalism. Their approach was pretty much the clear opposite, as they tried them to sound as big and epic as possible. That resulted in cool, extensive synths and crazy catchy melodies that resembled those old videogames cleverly. The clash of cheesy Pop-hooks and madman parts was so 2000s, and it worked wonders.

HORSE THE BAND got attention for what they did, but sometimes I get the feeling they faded into obscurity. It might sound silly, but "R. Borlax" was one of the most infuential HC-records of the 2000s. For the rest of the decade, a lot of bands tried to marry the HC/Metalcore with the electronics, the most well-known probably being ENTER SHIKARI. The trend got weaker with the years, but was never fully gone. With the whole Bedroom Emo/Skramz movement the 8-Bit-electronics came back to the game, though in a more Lo-Fi-kinda way.

"R. Borlax" still kicks ass and while I don't think it's HORSE THE BAND's best (the second half can't hold up with the first one) album, it most definitely is their most important one. Personally I couldn't get into the follow up "The Mechanical Hand", as ist was a clear cut copy of "R. Borlax". The experimental, moody "A Natural Death" and their swan song "Desperate Living" (probably their most realized record) got me once again.

...and still, the android man cuts, cuts, cuts, cuts!