Customer Reviews

Pictures From the Hotel Apocalypse

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if you're already a fan of SBM, i see no reason for you not to love this like you love the other two releases. there's no big departure stylistically, yet they're not beating a dead horse, either.
small changes of note:
1) the addition of some electronics (though, if you have heard "love/hate relationship", their ep between full lengths, this is not unexpected at all). the electronics here are tasteful, both in sound and placement. and, really, the buzzy chaos of electronics goes hand-in-hand with SBM's crazy guitar sound. i have no complaints here.
2) some breathy female vocals on the last track. the track opens with these vocals, and then appear a bit later as back ups. somehow, this is fine, though , if someone had told me about it in advance, i'd have been very skeptical. somehow it all weaves together and works just fine.
3) the segue track. two and a half minutes of dreaminess. very mellow, no vocals. i could probably do without this entirely, but it's sort of a nice breather.
if you are unfamiliar with SBM, i'd say you should start either with this, or with their other full length, "we sing the body electric". the ep between em is great, but to get the whole picture, go with the longer recordings. their brand of hardcore (if we can still play the genre game anymore) is frantic, but never muddled. you get a sense that these guys can REALLY PLAY, not just jump around and be noisy. there are some quick twists and turns to keep you on your toes, but they never abandon rhythm to the point of losing you, instead they suck you deeper into the groove. not as predictable as the *chugga-chugga* hardcore stuff, and not as disorienting as the mathy stuff, but pulling a card between the two.
my big gripe here is the artwork/layout. too minimal on one end, and annoyingly saturated on the other. i am assuming that the photos are supposed to be tongue-in cheek and weird for the sake of weird, but i found it too contrived.
... but i digress. the lyrics are in there, which i am glad for, and i'll just avoid the rest of the book. musically, this is 100% SBM's controlled chaos that i love so much. i always felt that they sort of drew a line between converge and at the drive in, and the reference is still a valid one.

Sincebyman has released a breakthrough album, not because it sounds good, but because it sounds phenominally innovative, something ive never heard before, and so far, never have.

Lets hope this band released another album, because rumors have it that they broke up just recently.

Buy this and dance your body out till you puke shards of your pelvis out.

we sing the body electric was a breakthroughwhich went un-noticed. But now, with Picture from the Hotel Apocalypse, it would be a crime for this band not to strike it big. Their music is spuradic, yet very intelligent. Not only is their music good, they have the best live show i have ever seen. They pull out all the stops, if you have an opportunity to see this band live DO IT!, it's an amazing experience.