Ceremony
Rohnert Park
Bridge Nine
2010
1. Into the Wayside/Sick
2. M.C.D.F
3. Moving Principle
4. The Doldrums (Friendly City)
5. Open Head
6. Into the Wayside II
7. Terminal Addiction
8. Don't Touch Me
9. Back In '84
10. All the Time
11. The Pathos
12. Nigh To Life
13. Into the Wayside III
If the name Ceremony doesn't pop off in your head and you claim to be a pretty big fan of today's hardcore scene, then quite frankly you have no idea on what you're missing out on. Course, it might be a little impossible to not have heard about Ceremony at one point, considering they're one of the more popular hardcore bands today. Out of the bands gaining mainstream exposure these days, Ceremony are about (probably already even there with this LP) close to be joining the ranks of Trash Talk and Fucked Up as the most critically acclaimed acts. Hardly a surprise but quite a feat for this group.
This Californian monster made their presence known with Thrash/power-violence like influences found on their earlier releases, such as Violence Violence and Still Nothing Moves You. Ceremony has been described as being the most chaotic, wild, and at times violent during their performances, leaving kids astonished and their peers in the dust.
Despite the accolades, their most recent LP, titled Rohnert Park, is quite a vast change and improvement for Ceremony. Long gone are the Negative FX influences in their sound, long gone are the less than a minute tracks that are hard to follow. Instead, Ceremony went on a different route that most of their peers surprisingly avoid, despite the claims of influence and inspiration. the group decided to take a leap in the Black Flag, SST-esqe sound that ultimately created hardcore in general. A big leap indeed.
The entire LP in general is different. From "Into the Wayside/Sick," the band lures you into their hate-filled world, being sick of the GOPs, Liberals, Obama, and ironically Black Flag and Cro-Mags. Lyrics aside, The instrumental portion on the first track mirrors the sound of the Minutemen, echoing a rockabilly-esqe vibe before the madness occurs. Other than the sound, Ceremony decided to include instrumental portions throughout their album, three to be more exact, all titled Into The Wayside, each showcasing that Minutemen vibe in each portion; never a bad thing if you ask me.
If there was a more straight up comparison to Ceremony to any album of Black Flag's discography (I should probably stop name dropping Black Flag too much), My War would probably be the better choice to compare side to side. Though Ceremony doesn't take that doomish-sludge sound, much off every other track found on Rohnert Park brings up that same My War feel; fast, angry, youthful, '84 type of production. It probably would explain why one of tracks is tentatively titled, "Back in '84".
Much like what occurs when a band changes their sound drastically, fans are found to be divided and maybe lost on what would categorized as being their best work. It happened to Black Flag, and more recently Cult Ritual, both bands embracing different directions that left people in the hardcore scene complaining on how terrible or great those routes were. It's really to be expected when happening but let's face it, an artist eventually has to branch out into different areas in order to be considered great.
As for Rohnert Park as a whole, I found to be quite enjoyable at least for my standards.It's no Violence Violence, but hey, it still works for me. Somewhat aghast to the drastic change but great none the less, considering how most bands never fully take that chance and plus, let's face it, Ceremony never seem to disappoint and always deliver that their fans want; pure rebellious music. I hope this group fully gets what they deserve.
By this time, Ceremony are finishing up their touring through the US and to my knowledge are heading up to Europe very soon. My advice would be catch their set in person. I guarantee you'll be left in the dust.
Bridge 9
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