Plebeian Grandstand

Who ever said that France is full of pussies? I'm sure they'd revise their opinion if they heard the relentless riffs and heavy hits of Plebeian Grandstand. Brought to you all the way from Toulouse, France, these fellows sure know how to do heavy music right. Since the band's formation in 2005, they've released a six-song EP titled The Vultures Riot and a full-length, How Hate is Hard to Define, both on Lacrymal Records. Recently, they released a split with NY band, Divider, and Idaho sludge-kings, Bone Dance on Throat Ruiner Records, which is one of my favorite releases of the year. They have an awesome sound, with elements of sludge, mathy hardcore, and even a little bit of black metal here and there.



The first song by them that I had the priviledge to listen to was called "The Form is an Angel of Soul (Part 1)" and is off of their EP. I was immediately impressed. Their sound is super raw, with a mathy-ness that one might compare to Dillinger Escape Plan. The EP is kicked off by the viscous sludge track "Sloven and Slow" which puts you waste deep in doom that's nigh impossible to wade through. The rest of the album has very little in common with the opening track. In general, its a very energetic album, full of mathy hardcore that'll warm your heart and startle your grandmother. They do have some golden moments of grimey sludge such as in "Dear Holy Bro," the second track, and some fun scramzy bits like in "My Jinx." The ending track of the EP, "Doomed to Fail," might as well be the end of the world: it begins with chaotic mathy-ness, progresses to a melacholy interlude, before busting into an incredibly heavy doom-sludge finale. It also features some very impressive guitar-work.

Their second release shows a bit of maturity and they got even heavier, which is a personal delight to me. The first track is simply a slow intro, but the second song, "Ordo Ab Chao" is an impressive and intense start to an awesome album. That moves us into "Nice Days are Weak," featuring a nice bell/snare black-metal blast beat. The rest of the ambulm follows in a similar vein: mathy hardcore puctuated by sludgy metal parts and some common time scramzy parts here and there. In "Easy to Hate, Hard to Define," they break it down with a surprisingly straight forward 4/4 tom-and-snare hardcore part. That is short-lived however, since they soon pick it back up with some sweet Plebeian math. The pace is changed a bit with the song "Don't Expect Much from the World's End" a mostly straightforward, heavy track, with a mellow snare march interlude. The song is mostly devoid of the typical mathy-ness that this band usually features, giving the listener a bit of a breather. The break doesn't last long however, as in comes "Are You Angry...," an aggressive track that reflects it's name quite well. The follow-up track "...Or Boring," finishes off the album with a slow, droning song.

Plebeian Grandstand is definitely one of my favorite discoveries of the past year or so. They are one of the most talented and aggressive bands around, and I'm glad to see their music circulating around the Americas. Download for sure, and purchase purchase if possible.

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