Please note: This article is published as an archive copy from Philadelphia City Paper. My City Paper is not affiliated with Philadelphia City Paper. Philadelphia City Paper was an alternative weekly newspaper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The last edition was published on October 8, 2015.
|
|
|
|
|
Also this issue: Disappearing Act suitespot Spork in the Road Palomar Unsilent Night KlezKamp Reviews Beat Box |
|
|
|
|
 |
|||||||||
December 19-25, 2002
musicpicks
From Autumn to Ashes
The blood splotches soaking through the liner notes of From Autumn to Ashes' 2001 debut, Too Bad You're Beautiful (Ferret), may push its we're-heavier-than-thou-and-here-to-kill-you image to the point of self-parody, but the music screams for itself. Hardly hardcore in the Minor Threat sense of the term, FATA is punk rock tempered with melody and poisoned with punishing metal-core. Death and despair loom over the dynamic vocals of frontman Benjamin Perri and harmonious foil/drummer Francis Mark as the pair let demons out like a Goya painting. The band's time changes are dizzying, spinning from spastic and fierce to measured and soothing within seconds. The acoustic lament "Chloroform Perfume" (sung by Mark) and epic album-closer "Short Stories With Tragic Endings" (complete with singing from Melanie Wills and a weeping violin) break through the bedlam and keep the sound from becoming formulaic. Altogether, it's uncompromisingly brutal and beautiful.
Sun., Dec. 22, 7 p.m., $10, with A Static Lullaby, The Hope Conspiracy and Unearth, The Trocadero, 1003 Arch St., 215-922-LIVE.
-- Respond to this article in our Forums -- click to jump there
