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Gnostics, Aneurysm, Disintegrators, & Massacre System at VSC

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Brian Baynes booked this gig intending it to be a first show for four new bands. A great concept, really, just getting the first shows for all of these bands out of the way, especially since none of them have any music out, although Aneurysm actually ended up playing their first show a couple weeks ago with Contrast Attitude and Physique since Axon had to drop last minute. Here's what I thought about the show: Massacre System: Another solid d-beat band under the Sammie Bilbao dynasty. Really fast, HM-2s galore. And the midtempo song they closed with goes into an extremely fast scissor on toms and snare, what else do you need? Disintegrators: It felt good to play guitar in a band again. The Bilbao-Luna songwriting partnership reaches its 5-year anniversary under another project. Aneurysm: I was really surprised by this set since I wasn't able to catch them in time at the Contrast Attitude show. Basically everything you would need in a raw hardcore band. Ben's guitar had an a...
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Ordinance Retrospective

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After 2020, most of the bands I played in came to a complete halt. Someone had told me I should reach out to Monica about playing in Ordinance, since they were just starting out and I was itching to play music after moving to Richmond. I had no idea what to expect since my only impression of them was a couple Instagram stories of their live sets. I got a file link to a final mix or master of the demo in October 2022, and I blasted it in my car. I remember being blown away. It was noisy and raw, its parts were simple but rhythmically interesting, Tan’s drum fills made the songs feel like they’re about to fall apart, but they always came back and delivered. The thing I liked the most about the demo was its seriousness. But its seriousness wasn’t the typical posturing you’d hear in other current d-beat/raw hardcore bands, it felt like its seriousness went beyond hardcore altogether. What I heard was more than just GBG raw hardcore riffs done over again by Americans. It felt moreso influen...
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