Ceremony Still Nothing Moves You

Ceremony's 2006 album Violence Violence quickly established the band's reputation for short fast bursts of true hardcore aggression in keeping with the genre's long tradition, calling to mind everyone from Bad Brains to Negative Approach. The group's latest, Still Nothing Moves You, is a more varied experiment that floats back and forth across its fifteen tracks between the rawest hardcore this side of Tragedy and sludgy instrumental segues. Still Nothing Moves You begins with a two minute post-rock drone that sets the tone for everything to come. The urgency in these songs is palpable but the band's restraint makes it much more potent. There's a line in the track "Eraser Making Its Way Its Only Job" about negative space, a concept Ceremony seem to have mastered on this album. In the disc's twenty-one minutes there is probably fifteen minutes of actual hardcore and the rest is filled out with sparse, trudging instrumentals that make the entire listening experience that much bleaker. Vocalist Ross Farrar has a style and tone all his own that really stands out against the oppressive backdrop that Ceremony lays out. Lyrics railing against society's ills might be nothing new but Farrar sells it as well as any of the competition. Blacklisted's George Hirsch makes a brief appearance, as does Cody Sullivan of California cohorts Life Long Tragedy and Sabertooth Zombie. While their contributions are minimal, they definitely make sense in the context of the record. While the disc's structure and tone are surprising and unique, the production seems to make everything work even better. The bass guitar drives every track and the guitars are relegated to second fiddle status as fuzzed out buzz-saws squeezing their two cents in. The drums sound like a maniac pounding away on a dozen trash cans. Dan Rathbun, who has worked His Hero Is Gone, Artimus Pyle, Tragedy, World Burns To Death and From Ashes Rise (as well as being a member of Sleepytime Gorilla Museum) turns in another distinctive disc here and really knows how to make this all sound effortless and natural. Bottom Line: Ceremony's Still Nothing Moves You is one of the most captivating hardcore releases of 2008 and also a convincing argument for the genre's continuing relevance. Fans of Prank Records hardcore and generally compelling music should definitely take note. This Bay Area hardcore band's star should only continue to rise with the release of this record.