Saetia

Akin thematically and musically to Anasarca’s Discography collection, Saetia’s A Retrospective collects their legacy of recorded work during their brief two-and-a-half-year existence between February 1997 and October 1999. A Retrospective is a strikingly beautiful package, complete with brutally honest notes on fragile-looking paper from each band member about their time in and thoughts on Saetia, numerous photos, lyrics and also contains all of Saetia’s recorded work, including their out-of-print LP, seven-inch, demo and live disc. Musically, Saetia offered a noisier and jangled take on hardcore, replete with numerous post and indie influences. Less metallic thrash-derived chug, Saetia’s sound was more spastic noise freak-out colliding with metallic chaos but tempered with melodic moments of levity, sombre asides and emotional lament. Honest, personal, cerebral, artistic and vicious, Saetia were purveyors of intelligent aggressive music that was more than just aggression for its own sake. While the story behind Saetia is a familiar one (band forms, plays shows, records, tours, breaks up, reflects), their music demands to be remembered after the eulogy.