A Place to Bury Strangers - Self-Titled

The splitting up of the greatly underrated Skywave resulted in the creation of two whole other bands. One of those bands was A Place to Bury Strangers, while the other was Ceremony. Unfortunately I haven’t heard nearly as much from Ceremony as I have from A Place to Bury Strangers. Both bands have been recording material; however it’s A Place to Bury Strangers that I am focusing on in this post as they have just released a ten song self-titled album, which is more of a compilation really. The album collects various recordings from the band leading up to the present that have been sold at shows on CD-R’s and/or have been floating around on the internet and peer to peer networks for quite awhile now. However, the difference and the draw in here is that the tracks have finally been given a proper mastering job and a legitimate release through Killer Pimp. The only catch is that it’s limited to 500 copies.

There is no easy way to describe what A Place to Bury Strangers do. All I can say is that they are obscenely loud. I’ve tried to think of way to actually describe their sound that doesn’t constantly contain drop the words “feedback” or “distortion”, but it is very much attached to those making it damn near impossible. As was with Skywave, A Place to Bury Strangers absolutely drowns the listener in a type of static-like distortion that is practically always making its presence known. It’s definitely of the blistering white hot variety, simply being relentless. All the while underneath it all is the often distant and monotone vocals of Oliver Ackermann, whom also creates his very own guitar pedals to help further manipulate the bands sound into being something that will naturally destroy ear drums if listened to at a high enough volume. I’m led to assume that it wouldn’t have to be all that high really. But anyway, for those that enjoy their fair share of noise-pop or shoegaze on an ultra high Mary Chain kick, then definitely check out A Place to Bury Strangers.

A Place to Bury Strangers – Don’t Think Lover [MP3]
A Place to Bury Strangers – I Know I’ll See You [MP3]

While the disc is fairly limited, it appears it’s still available through the Brainwashed site. It’s worth a shot at least. Regardless, the band is currently re-working some of the songs for future release on a larger label and hopefully a wider release. However, for those that want to catch some of these songs at their most raw and aggressive stages, then act quick and see if you can’t snag one of these. It’s definitely well worth it.