Shotmaker - Mouse Ear [Forget-Me-Not]

I’m a sucker for a sludgy riff. Give me some trudging bass lines, pounding drums, and distortion up the ass. And package it under the guise of a post-hardcore…errr, emo (maybe) band and I’ll be sure to blow my load all over it. Enter Shotmaker. Hailing from Ontario, Shotmaker crafted aggressive yet inexplicably melodic riffs that could stop on a dime and rip your face off with just one swipe. Formed in 1993, the band’s early work shows potential, but is executed a bit sloppily. In 1996, the band released Mouse Ear [Forget-Me-Not] that they finally perfected their abrasive yet catchy sound and while the lyrics are for the most part unintelligible they are remarkably anthemic.

Shotmaker’s a hard band to peg. Not fast enough for hardcore. Not melodic enough for emo. Not heavy enough for metal. The sound is intangible. The lyrics are incomprehensible. The feeling you’ll get listening to “Failure” is unforgettable.