Search - Death Becomes Even the Maiden :: The Arrangement

On Saturday we mentioned briefly how the braintrust behind Factory Records branched out to reach the enthusiastic young group of musicians on the other side of the English Channel which led to the creation of Factory Benelux. Over two decades on from artists like Marine and Minny Pops, Death Becomes Even the Maiden found themselves in a similar situation experienced in reverse for pressings of their latest release, The Arrangement: The Columbia, South Carolina trio opted for Brussels label Vie Devant Soi. As a matter of coincidence, "Control" is the first of five songs presented here. This is by far the cleanest track on the album and, as a direct result, sounds the most like Joy Division and Factory anything. The difference is that there's no macabre monotone in bassist and lead singer Eric Greenwood's voice. The man is pure Jehu, utterly Unwound in his vocal delivery. You get that in the chorus of "Control," but for the most part clean guitar parts courtesy Heyward Sims and rapid-fire drummer Chris Powell's hi-hat madness dominate proceedings. Not too surprising when you consider Greenwood's old band was named From Safety to Where. "We Have Your Diamonds" is a better example of grimy guitars and Soda City scribe Tug Baker's accurate description of 'the Maiden as "Nirvana doing Joy Division covers." In other words, Greenwood is more willing to let his excellent screaming talents loose on this track. You'd never know it from the introduction, but eventually the song blossoms into something that would not sound out of place in Louisville or San Diego a decade ago. "Identify" follows in this same path with a lot more crashing cymbals and a ringing guitar sound piercing through the chorus. It's a vivid display of getting the most out of what you've got. As a fan of feedback, "To Your End" was a personal favorite of this particular listener. For me, "To Your End" represents the exact opposite end of the spectrum from "Control:" All of Death Becomes Even the Maiden's most chaotic elements reveal themselves for the loudest song on the EP and a perfect foil for the concluding track, "Frames." I might get a bollocking for saying this, but "Frames" also has ghosts of early Mineral with only Chris Simpson's wailing thankfully absent. The music is straight from a The Power of Failing. b-side, and I mean that in the best possible way. The point is that, between all of these musical reference points - Joy Division, Nirvana, Unwound, Young Widows, Mineral, Drive Like Jehu - lies Death Becomes Even the Maiden on their own point in the middle, balancing rigid and nervous post-punk rhythms with the raw fury of primed post-hardcore. Considering how easy it would be to simply kick back with a 40 down at the Congaree and listen to Kenny Chesney, one of Columbia's finest bands has backed up their debut 7" with a better EP that shows how alive one of the quietest college towns in the Southeast really is. Sorry, did I say quiet? Bring earplugs. You'll need them. - Audiversity