“Your phantom data has been unwritten all is forgiven.“
As Massachusettes unit Escuela Grind dart across the US performing in venues large and small, with their sets on channels such as hate5six and Deathwave TV racking up views. It seems the trio have picked the ideal time to release their sophomore record, Memory Theater. It follows on their from debut record, Indoctrination, and EPs some of which go under the names GGRRIINNDDCCOORREE and PPOOWWEERRVVIIOOLLEENNCCEE. Their sound which lives between metallic hardcore and grindcore, it will need little time for introductions and will give listeners a black eye and a kiss on the way out.
The gut-instinct word for Memory Theater would be “visceral“, although the impact would be akin to calling a HBO cop drama “gritty“. There is a feral nature that unleashes itself on tracks such as “Forced Collective Introspection” and “My Heart, My Hands“, the sheer fury and impact sonically impossible to escape from. Jesse Adan Fuentes’ machine gun blasting drums giving pace with some hard fills and two-steps mixed in. Adding to this cocktail it Krissy Morash’s unrelenting riffs which which leave folk swinging, across the record leaning into different influences of metal, hardcore and thrash.
It would be amiss to not mention the performance of vocalist, Katerina Economou, which ties Memory Theater’s moving parts together. Ranging between barks and huge growls, with tracks “All Is Forgiven” and “Memory Theater” showing a vocalist challenging and pushing their limits. These vocals further add to the frenzied nature of Memory Theater’s chaos that at times can be absolutely unnerving.
It could be possible to see Memory Theater as a daunting prospect to navigate across its nine tracks upon its description. It’s a record that those willing to wrangle with it and embody, will find an experience that, dare I say, is fun and empowering at the same time. “Cliffhanger“‘s early ode to Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five with “Don’t push me cause I’m close to the edge” offers an early entry point to pull new listeners in. The prospect of seeing Escuela Grind perform some of these tracks lives is also an exciting one, seeing how rooms will become a whirlwind of limbs to the trio’s violent snake charm.
Memory Theater is a brute of a record, with each track striking a blow that has a precision and power that isn’t a loose free-for-all of sound. It’s a testament to the trio in how they’ve put together a record that takes an anarchic sound and display artistry and skill with it across its runtime. It places Escuela Grind as one to follow in what is an ever-growing and envy-inducing hardcore scene that is flourishing in America. It will be exciting to see not only where the trio go next but how they will further explore and expand their sound on future material.
8/10
Memory Theater is out this Friday, September 30th via MNRK. The record can be pre-ordered here.