HYLI Vol. XXXIII - Fiddlehead and Testament
Andy sends Patrick some '80s thrash outside of The Big 4 and Patrick sends Andy some modern indie-flavored post-hardcore
Sup y’all. I, Patrick, had my Grandma in town this weekend and it was nice. She hasn’t traveled much, if at all, in the last few years because my Grandpa was pretty sick up until he passed away the week of Thanksgiving last year and she was his primary caretaker, so she hadn’t seen my house/dog/neighborhood/etc. yet and it was pretty cool to have her here. We watched the first season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, which my wife and I had seen before but that my Grandma wanted to watch and she Doesn’t Know How to Use Apps. Why do they make these streaming apps so difficult for people over the age of 35? Half of the shit isn’t even on the main page of the apps and is difficult for myself, a relatively Young (lol) and Tech-Savvy (lol) person. Anyways, the show was good and she enjoyed it. I was knocked off my feet to re-learn the main actress of The Most Jewish Show on TV isn’t Jewish. I need time. Anyways, Hope Y’all Have a Good Week and Hope You Like It.
Fiddlehead - Between The Richness
Patrick: I was never a big fan of Basement (hadn’t heard them until this week, more agnostic to them than against them, I actually enjoyed listening to what I heard) but I was a pretty big fan of Have Heart. I wouldn’t say melodic hardcore is my favorite form of hardcore, but it’s making a big resurgence and it’s hard to imagine more than a few bands as close to the level of influence Have Heart - and its frontman Pat Flynn - had.
Fiddlehead is a new-ish band fronted by Flynn and the drummer of Have Heart, the guitarist of Basement, and some additional members and boy do they Rock. It’s decidedly closer to the more indie-leaning post-hardcore of Basement than Have Heart, but there are few vocalists that are more My Vibe than Flynn. The concept of this album is largely surrounding the death of Flynn’s father, Rich, and the birth of his son, Rich.
Lyrics don’t really resonate with me much in a lot of forms of music but they’re kind of The Point in hardcore and Flynn carries that over to this band, where his vocals come through in a much more discernible way. Lines like “Sadman, in distant land, is after life a land of blue? Sadman, if you're scared to be left behind, don't worry too, This little light's named after you” hit so hard. So many songs here are A+ for me. There isn’t a bad song here. Every element of this hits perfectly for me. My favorite album of the last handful of years. Hope You Like It.
Andy: I had never listened to Fiddlehead but I’ve been meaning to and I’m glad it was suggested this week. I can’t say I have much experience with the bands that make this a “supergroup” but I liked it enough to be willing to explore them in more depth. “Supergroup” is a dumb term and most “supergroups” are bad. Are these guys big enough in the scene to make this a “supergroup” or is this just guys in other bands being in a band together? (Patrick: I mean, it isn’t like Temple of the Dog lol but yes I would say Have Heart and Basement are big enough to warrant that)
Love me some melodic hardcore stuff with some sprinkled pop. At 25 minutes, Between The Richness definitely doesn’t overstay its welcome. I didn’t enjoy the cheerleader parts in Down University but whatever (Patrick: you’re the only person who has ever said this). You do you. “Eternal You” and “Get My Mind Right” I think are my favorites from this. Really great vocal and lyrical performance from frontman Pat Flynn. Really great intro and closer here. I guess it’s just really great (Patrick: yes)?
This has a lot of replay value for me. I Liked It.
Testament - The New Order
Andy: Remember last week when Pat absolutely filled his diaper over a very good Man Must Die album (Patrick: shit sucked)(Andy: you suck)? He was in a very bad state. I came with a peace offering in Testament’s The New Order. I hope he has a better week and is happy cause that is all I want for my good friend.
Testament is often the first man out when discussing the “Big Four” of Thrash. I like them loads better than Anthrax who I am unable and unwilling to appreciate (Patrick: i agree). The story with The New Order goes they didn’t realize they needed 40 minutes of music per the record label contract (of course The Man is out here getting in the way) so they dropped in some extra instrumentals and an Aerosmith cover. Luckily some of the instruments are my favorite part of the album.
“Into The Pit” and “The New Order” are all-timer songs. Required thrash listening. I’m not sure if I like this record or 1987’s The Legacy better but it doesn’t really matter. Hope You Like It And Aren’t A Baby Like Last Week.
Patrick: Thank goodness you gave me something GREAT and not the absolute horseshit bullshit that you made me listen to last week. Anyways, we are Moving On to Testament and I’m glad we are because The New Order rocks.
Looking up this album, I recognize the name Alex Skolnick as a name Guitar People (awful corner of the internet) mention a lot as a big time metal guitarist and, listening to this album, I absolutely see why. While everything here - vocals, bass, drums etc. - is definitely Good, the riffs and solos stand out as Great. The only bad thing is the artwork, which sucks shit.
I’m so into this. The title track reminds me of why thrash is probably a top three metal subgenre for me - just great riffs, non-oppressive vocals, and pounding drums. And “Trial By Fire” ups that to another level. It appears this came out in 1988, so the same year as …And Justice for All (my favorite Metallica album), South of Heaven (my favorite Slayer album), So Far, So Good, So What (not my favorite Megadeth but still Good) and State of Euphoria (a plainly bad Anthrax album). It isn’t my favorite of this group, but it is definitely not last place either and given that company, that’s pretty high praise. I really liked it and I see myself coming back to this a lot. I Liked It.