A raw, unfiltered debut from this French hardcore crew!
Play this debut album from French hardcore quartet Marvin Heemeyer to an unsuspecting passer-by, and they’d probably complain something along the lines of “it’s just a load of shouting over guitar noise”. Ah, but what they probably don’t understand is that the best hardcore is served up raw and abrasive, and that’s exactly what Marvin Heemeyer do here. So you can’t always make out every word that comes out of vocalist Joule. Who cares, when his impassioned yelling suits the music this well?
The band fall on the punk side of hardcore, and rip through twelve songs in just 24 minutes. Sure, there’s the odd mosh-worthy twist here and there, but Marvin Heemeyer clearly understand the concept of ‘less is more’ – and for that reason they mostly keep things stripped-back and direct. A slow-building intro track gives way to ‘Old Stuff’, and my goodness, when the band really put the pedal to the metal, it’s the hardcore equivalent of being on a super-fast rollercoaster. Unsurprisingly they do this regularly on ‘A New Low’, to devastating effect; witness the likes of ‘Stand Still’ and ‘Gross’, and prepare to feel ALIVE.
‘Betharram’ is a particular highlight; with full-tilt punk rock rage giving way to chunky mid-paced riffing, and then they go in for the kill on the following ‘Layers’. “Nowhere To Be Found’, meanwhile, has some great call-and-response style vocals, and a suitably beefy breakdown towards the end. Our personal favourite, though, has to be ‘Stone’, with its gloriously sinister, rumbling bass intro and insistent guitar riffing – clearly these folks are just as effective when they ease up in terms of speed.
It’s all so beautifully bleak, and sounds like music born of desperation, as if the band needed to make this record as an outlet for whatever is weighing heavily on their minds. That’s what makes it so compelling, and ironically enough, with a debut of this calibre, a bright future surely awaits Marvin Heemeyer. Check them out – shouting over guitar noise rarely sounded so good.
‘A New Low’ is released on 2nd October – check it out HERE.
Main Photo Credit: HUGO ORENGA
- Intro
- Old Stuff
- You’re So Right
- Banged Up
- Betharram
- Layers
- Stone
- Stand Still
- Nowhere To Be Found
- Gross
- No One
- Pointless
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I spend my days teaching English to foreign students, and my evenings attending as many gigs as possible. Raised mainly on a diet of 90s third-wave punk, my tastes have grown to include just about anything from trad ska to thrash metal. The Ramones are my musical gods.
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