UTARID

Genres: Hardcore/Screamo/Emo-Violence

As I was going through and cleaning out some unused files on my comp, I came across a 4-way split between Am I Dead Yet, The Mock Heroic, A Fine Boat, That Coffin!, and Utarid from a few years ago. Back then, I was pretty obsessed with all those chaotic-hardcore/screamo bands, but I had never really gotten into the first three mentioned except for Utarid despite the fact that Utarid's sound was influenced by A Fine Boat...etc. Utarid was a somewhat under-the-radar band from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. They played the super-fast, strained vocal-chord screaming, abrasive wall-of-noise attack interspersed with quieter, slower, and melodic parts typical of the mid-to-late nineties bands such as Danse Macabre, Tristan Tzara, or Enoch Ardon. One of the most epic hardcore songs I have ever heard happens to be Utarid's "In Between Me And Quietness," which begins with inaudible, schizophrenic whispers that build up to empassioned screams and heavy, hard-hitting guitar parts that just invoke deep feelings of past regrets, isolation and optimism.

Over the years, I've really come to despise those terms like skramz or whatever ridiculous genre that's thrown around or abused like screamo by self-righteous "music elitists." They signify virtually nothing. The music is indescribable because it simply is what it is, a pure, cathartic release of emotion. So there's my stupid rant for the day.

They've since disbanded, but their zeal continues to live on in similar bands such as Kias Fansuri, i/am/rain, Orbit Cinta Benjamin, Elisabelle Tears, and Killeur Calculateur, all former members of Utarid. Eventually, I'll put some links to download music for each band, but for now you'll have to settle for this:
http://myspace.com/utarid
http://utarid.cjb.net/