Reviews

Fuck. The last time I had a new 108 album in my grasps, it was the mid-90's. The record was Songs of Separation and it was on cassette. I don’t quite remember how I stumbled upon the band. I had no internet to find new music. Somehow I just found them. Perhaps it was a show at The Wetlands in New York City, perhaps it was a friend. Either way, I played the wheels off that record. There wasn’t much else that was more hardcore to me. I knew all about the Krishna stuff they were into, but I didn’t care. I felt religion kept 108 focused and provided a passion unmeasured by most of their peers.
 
I have no idea what happened in the following 12 years or whatever. Memories tend to be few and far between at times. I do know I kind of forgot about 108 and a lot of the really heavy hardcore bands I used to listen to. In the past 5 years or so though, I’ve rediscovered a lot of the skull crushing shit I used to get into... and it’s been great.
 
This leads me to A New Beat From A Dead Heart. I know I missed a couple of records between Songs of Separation and this new one, but I’m not thinking about them. I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about how I can equate words with the music and lyrics of the reinvigorated 108.
 
There’s two ways I can describe what I’m hearing. The first is the equivalent of rabid terrorists who have turned their extremism to inner reflection and at the same time, are crafting bombs not built for destruction, but for the benefit of their fellow man. Listen to the first track, “Declarations On A Grave” and tell me I’m wrong.
 
Now also take that description and apply it to the lyrical content of “Martyr Complex.” “It’s all or nothing in your martyr’s game. Oversimplified ideas for complacent minds. Any sense of progress lost to a blind eye. Answers always come easy for the enlightened few.” Could we be talking about Bin Laden, or could we be talking about Bin Bush? Strange how these things can go both ways sometimes.
 
My other attempt to illustrate the sound on A New Beat is to tell you to imagine a car going over a cliff in slow motion. You know when it hits the ground, it’ll be a pile of twisted metal, but it’s the potential... the potential of destruction that gives these songs their sound. Rob Fish’s vocals come across as completely heartfelt, at times poisoned, but always devastating. On guitar, the other original member of the band, Vic Dicara entangles the rebar around his instrument and pulls it out bloody creating a sound he can easily call his own. Songs like “Our Kind” offer the strongest evidence.
 
If cherub-faced popsters, the kind with cool new haircuts and hopes of an MTV bubble-based reality show are your cup of tea, 108 will probably not be the kind of band you’re going to dance to. However, if you’re looking for something with a little more throat and a lot more meaning, check out A New Beat From A Dead Heart. It could change the way you view heavy music.