Bloodline One Thousand Screams

Bloodline 'One Thousand Screams' (Doghouse Records, 1993)

I knew nothing about this band when I picked this up for £2.99 in Missing's second hand section. It was purchased in 2001 based entirely on the fact that it was on Doghouse Records, home to The Get Up Kids, Split Lip, Chamberlain and Joshua. I should have guessed that I wasn't going to be getting rocking mid-west emo because the cover featured somebody strapped in an electric chair, the band's logo was typical Everlast hardcore style and the record featured songs like 'One Thousand Screams', 'Immolation' and 'Broken'.

Nevertheless I was still surprised by the almost Biohazard metallic hardcore I was met with upon first listen. One thing that's immediately noticeable is the vocals are terrible; they really let the reasonably grooving music down. Having said that the music is totally generic 90's hardcore, it's basically poorly executed metal and this particular record is missing any of the true anger and passion that made bands like Harvest, Threadbare and Earth Crisis so essential.

Members of Threadbare feature in Bloodline and you can hear hints of that band and Snapcase, particularly on 'Immolation', throughout. I once asked XScottX what he thought of Bloodline and I'm sure his response was something along the lines of 'meh', as a result this mini LP, has only been listened to twice, today being the second and probably last time.

Inessential. Listen to Krakatoa instead; the absolute pinnacle of metalcore.

Peace