Thursday, November 20, 2008

Arma Angelus - The Grave End of the Shovel


Regardless of any posthumous popularity they received because of what members went on to do, Arma was definitely an underdog band in this city while they were around. They started when the heavier hardcore scene in Chicago was at an extreme lull and while my friends and I thought they were great, most people here hated them. It was either that they were too fashionable, they had members of Racetraitor (a very polarizing band), they were stuck up, they were rich kids, etc etc. There were a million superficial reasons people didn't like them, but I personally thought they were one of the more interesting bands around at the time. They took over where Damnation ad left off as far as writing really heavy, dark hardcore with depressing lyrics, but added their own unique style to it. On their first EP The Grave End of the Shovel Arma really laid the foundation for what they would achieve on their next record Where Sleeplessness is Rest from Nightmares. Wentz always wrote good lyrics and though many of the ones here are pretty melodramatic looking back on them, he definitely started coming into his own as the band progressed (and eventually ended up doing his best work in FOB).

Some of the songs here are a little longer than they probably need to be and they definitely hit their stride on the next record, but listening to this EP immediately brings me back to a certain time period where hardcore was my entire life and I was incredibly stoked to be meeting so many people and making so many new friends. The day they recorded backup vocals for this we were invited up to Rosebud Studios to be a part of them. It was Trohman's 15th or 16th birthday and like every recording session ever, it was taking a long time to get started so he and I left to get pizza. By the time we got back they were finished. It was a good day.

Arma Angelus - The Grave End of the Shovel

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