After briefly making waves with a strong EP and a moving combination of the melodic and chaotic, Philadelphias Inkling lost their singer, changed their name and, with new vocalist Brendan McAndrew in tow, abandoned everything wussy and clean. Making Enemies, the Minor Times debut full-length (following up the impressive Chris Chambers Never Misses EP), takes all that was harsh and abrasive from their previous outfit and EP and pushes it to new levels of caustic clamour. While still featuring the intertwined complexity of their debut EP, Making Enemies is a more grinding, repetitive, rhythmic and darker affair that balances the frantic jagged slashing of past endeavours. Instead of trying to out-tech their peers, the Minor Times are confident in their abilities and not afraid to lock into pummelling grooves while guitars flail fanatically above and Brendan rages on with his dominating bellow. Elements of legends like Turmoil, Coalesce, Kiss It Goodbye and Botch can be heard throughout the Minor Times bleak, cycling chaos. And while tracks like "The Pugilist at Work and "I Fuck For Money standout the quickest, Making Enemies is a relentless achievement in exorable heaviness.
Is there a concept behind Making Enemies? Brendan: It deals with conscience and perception. Sometimes I go through periods where I wonder what is keeping me from doing things that people perceive as "bad. The way I usually answer that question is "conscience and "perception; specifically, my conscience and other peoples perception of me. Its troubling that those are the only two things keeping me from doing wrong. The album basically deals with those concepts from all different angles. Its a condemnation, embracement and study all in one.
Making Enemies is more cycling and grinding, less concerned with complexity. How intentional was this? It was definitely a conscious decision. Our number one concern has always been writing songs that flow and make sense. We dont want to write a bunch of crazy parts and then slam them together. We pushed this idea further because we wanted all 30 minutes of the album to be listenable for a long time.
How comfortable are you being burdened with terms like "mathcore? Honestly, I think "mathcore has passed us by. There are so many bands trying to be a more extreme Dillinger. I would call those bands "mathcore and I dont want to be associated with them at all.
(Level Plane)Is there a concept behind Making Enemies? Brendan: It deals with conscience and perception. Sometimes I go through periods where I wonder what is keeping me from doing things that people perceive as "bad. The way I usually answer that question is "conscience and "perception; specifically, my conscience and other peoples perception of me. Its troubling that those are the only two things keeping me from doing wrong. The album basically deals with those concepts from all different angles. Its a condemnation, embracement and study all in one.
Making Enemies is more cycling and grinding, less concerned with complexity. How intentional was this? It was definitely a conscious decision. Our number one concern has always been writing songs that flow and make sense. We dont want to write a bunch of crazy parts and then slam them together. We pushed this idea further because we wanted all 30 minutes of the album to be listenable for a long time.
How comfortable are you being burdened with terms like "mathcore? Honestly, I think "mathcore has passed us by. There are so many bands trying to be a more extreme Dillinger. I would call those bands "mathcore and I dont want to be associated with them at all.
