Search - 108 :: Threefold Misery

Hollow are the bones

Khyron | 11/02/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I read once that Rage Against the Machine was the only band that mattered. Well, whomever wrote that obviously never heard of this band. 108 flew well under most people's radar during their short, tumultuous career. 108's records are crushing and unforgiving; their live shows, apocalyptic. Three fold misery does what no other studio recording of theirs did; it captured the sense of urgency and recklessness they played with on stage.

The music is a study of opposites. One song might come off like an audible assault; complete with truly inspired guitar riffs and Fish's signature screams, while another will seem to break apart gently (if that's possible) and evolve into a Hindu spiritual (if there even is such a thing).

This is 108 playing at the peak of their creativity and cohesion; thanks in part to the addition of Triv on bass. He became such an essential part of 108's sound that it's impossible to imagine the band without him in it.

The album, like all of 108's material, feels like it simply poured out of the band in an evening of feverish creativity. The reality, of course, is that this was one of the best rehearsed bands in post hardcore. Nobody, I mean nobody, could hold a candle to these guys on a stage. They played chaos with precision and recorded an angry, beautiful album which receives four stars and not five due to its length; it's painfully short.

In August of this year a few hundred people showed up in Philly to see 108 play for the first time in almost a decade. On their website the band reported that tickets for the shows were gone in a matter of seconds. Not bad for a band that fought an uphill battle to gain acceptance into a supposed tolerant and accepting hardcore scene. Diehard fans like myself can only hope that 108 has yet to write their final chapter. If that is the case, however, this record is an outstanding swan song."