This post is also featured on CanadianWasteland. Thank you so very much Ben, Maya, and Tenzin!
In all honesty, there are some days where, while skimming through the hopelessly tangled (and nigh endless) emonomicron, I find myself in a rut... wandering, aimless, all strewn about... lost. For every band that treads the water of my mind, a good handful simply drift downstream, eventually falling over the precipice of my ear canals about as quickly as they entered them. It's a darn shame, too, as I've quite the tendency to lazily gloss over bands that I would, under any other circumstances, praise to high hell... and, admittedly, it gets me into a few pools of hot water sometimes... however, some bands, and certainly not a small number of them, manage to permanently set up camp upon the harbors of my brain, with this band right here being a shining example. The very second I decided to feast my rapidly deteriorating ears upon them, I was swooning with adoration and infatuation, of which soon turned into a full-blown long-term obsession of mine.
Another Sevenfold (whom I will now refer to as "Another 7x" for brevity (and no, NOT Avenged Sevenfold) was a humble little three-piece screamo outfit hailing from Elizabethtown, North Carolina (of all places), and operated from roughly 1995 to May of 1999. Running their forks across the chalkboard of passion and touting their unmistakable shrillness at the forefront of their efforts, these three carved a path of sharp and unapologetically raw poignancy whose presence still lingers just shy of three decades later. While their tenure was rather diminutive, clocking in at a meager four years, compared to many of their peers, it's quite the respectable run, as an uncountable number of groups called it quits after only one year, or heck, even just a few months!
Now, though this humble little high-school trio were in existence for quite an admirable number of years, one would be surprised to learn that, despite such a short (yet comparatively lengthy) career, these three well-nigh never played shows outside of the Carolinas! Oh, and speaking of those three, I've yet to list their names.
Another 7x was composed of William and James Daniel on bass and drums respectively, with Joseph Matthew on guitar and vocals. For a simple three-piece, their sound was, in some bizarre way (and likely only in my eyes), larger than life, and Christ, Joey's screams are heartbreaking!
These boys had known each other for a good long while, meeting sometime during 4th grade, though, of course, the band obviously wouldn't start then... that'd be ludicrous. Another 7x would take shape around the time they entered 9th grade, and, unfortunately, these three lived in a small little town, and one that certainly wasn't musically rollicking! The only town close enough that did indeed possess some semblance of a scene was Wilmington, so that's where they went. From there, the band would pin together their guitar strap of influences, and, how they eventually stumbled their way unto their sound is nothing short of a mystery to me, but I suppose musical proficiency comes with maturity! So, once they did that whole maturing thing, and, of course, amidst their time maturing, the three began to commit some of their work to tape.
What did these three put out? Well, bluntly, two releases- or, well, actually, that's a lie. They had six releases! Unfortunately, though, it's not all sunshine and rainbows, as four of them are behind lock & key (the band would rather the material remain unheard), that being their four demo tapes, of which the dates of their release can be easily viewed via the bands website... which is still live! The list of the tapes is as follows:
January 1996. 4 song cassette
March 1996. 3 song cassette
September 1996. 4 song cassette
February 1997. 7 song cassette
The first three of those tapes were sent out to a kind soul by the name of Paul, the very same Paul who ran the label Motherbox back in the mid to late '90s! When receiving the first tape sometime in the early spring of '96, he thought to himself, "This is some pretty good screamy emo, but the quality of the tape wasn’t so hot", so, with that, he politely filed it away, though he did indeed enjoy what he heard! About a month or two passes, and, lo and behold, a tape from the very same band arrives in his mailbox! Then another! By that point, Paul had heard all that he needed to hear; he dug what these three were cooking up, so, out of the kindness of his heart, he decided to put out the bands first record. Cut and dried! With that, Another 7x would mosey on up to Pennsylvania, and quickly
record their sole full-length effort, all with the gracious assistance of Mr.
Motherbox readily at their fingertips.
The 11 song self-titled CD would see its release in April of '97. This disc is a heart-wrenching, earnest, and unassuming offering of poignant and lovingly hopeful screamo. It's one that's horridly shrill, and fuzzily coarse, all endearingly so. It's unostentatious, and rather recherché for an entire full-length of its makeup; It encapsulates a large variety of 90s screamo's many idiosyncrasies that I positively swoon over, and I've hopes that one day, some day, it's audience will stumble across it, and subsequently fall for it just as painfully as I did. At their own risk, of course. Now, as for its obscurity, I'd say there's no reason to worry, as it's an easy record to get your hands on. A small assortment of copies are currently for sale (at the time of writing this post), and I've never seen the release page lack listings. Not once! If you do indeed take a keen interest in this record or band, I sincerely recommend picking up a copy. Such a delightfully inconspicuous package!
(driftingwiththeice also has a lovely post regarding this disc, however, if you'd prefer to stay here, this record is available to download!)
1. Misadventures Of Me
2. Certainly Star
3. Furney Rising
4. Short And Sweet
5. So That's How They Get The Ship In The Bottle
6. Staircase
7. Daymare
8. Genie
9. Jacks And Hopscotch
10. Right Of Center
11. If Only I Could Conquer The World
Their trend of inconspicuousness continues (and, unfortunately, ends) the August of the following year with their second and final release, which was, in
fact, not released by Motherbox, but instead released by Fond Of Fabrication, which was run by two kids from Greenville, NC named Scott
and Gabe! The record in question is their beautifully entitled EP Thousand Star Serissa, whose name derives from a type of shrub used for making bonsai. Nearly every single thing I said in regards to their full-length applies to this release, and for some songs, doubly so!
With an entire genre whose bedrock is practically comprised of 7"s, it's exceedingly rare for one so unassuming to stand a league or two above their peers, of whom are just as wonderful based on their own merit alone. However, some are undeniably worthy of a higher pedestal, so they take their seat atop the clouds, casting down the rays of their brilliance, illuminating the coarse dirt below, ultimately putting the sun to shame. Some records are so distinctly congenial that I, admittedly, praise them to a degree that seems, for lack of a better term, religious, as if I'm a wayward messenger for some nondescript church (or, more appropriately, cult), and my one sole prerogative is to spread the good word. The gospel, if you may. Well, I've to say, it's far from any sort of a secret that I acclaim some records to an obscenely hyperbolic extent-- treating them like royalty, if you will. I positively fell in love with it the very second I did lay my ears upon the treasures stored amidst its grooves, and, in all honesty, I don't think I've ever been quite the same since. Sometimes a band just satiates a sweet tooth you didn't even know you had. Heck, that's pretty much how I ended up here in the first place... and now I can never leave. Oh well, so be it! Anyhoodles. If you ever see a copy of this humble beauty for sale, do not miss your opportunity to nab it! I mean it!
A1. Old Man Pilot
A2. From These Waters Of Epsom Wells
B1. From This World To That Which Is To Come: Delivered Under The Similitude Of A Dream
This would be where I begin my closing statements, but, fortunately, I've one more surprise, that being some stellar unreleased songs and demo tracks, of which I'm overjoyed to have been shown! Assembled here are six songs of whose release statuses are, admittedly, up in the air, as by this point, deducing (let alone attempting to remember) what tape they were released on and/or if they were even released at all is not happening. You can thank Joey (vocals, guitar) for having these up, as well as for their websites continued availability! There's some positively wondrous stuff here, ranging from spectacularly moody instrumentals, to tracks that veer more on the side of what I'd deem "harrowing". It certainly is a lovely batch of songs, that's for sure.
Demos & Unreleased
1. Thunderstorms and Sometimes
2. Ten Dollars
3. Second Hand Rose
4. Louis A
5. Fractals and The Chaos Theory
6. Crosstown Traffic
Au revoir!