Lenin Death Mask were a 4 piece indie/punk band from Aberdeen. They formed little over a year ago. In their short life span they managed to play many shows up and down the country as well as releasing a bunch of demos and two singles.
The sore thing about LDM's break-up is that they were constantly going from strength to strength. We played alongside them in a tiny Aberdeen venue called Cellar 35 back in July, 2014 and I can remember thinking at the time: ”Fuck, this band rules. Fuck, they are going to be insane after a few more shows”.
Unfortunately, I was right and I was wrong. At the tail end of 2014 Lenin Death Mask ventured down to Nottingham’s best kept secret: DIY punk art/music/whatever space ‘JT Soar’ to record what would be their final release. It was also very shortly after that the band announced their split.
‘Tried to confess/Drowned’ is the final release from Lenin Death Mask. I almost can’t put into words how much of a step forward these songs are from what I heard back in July. Filled to the brim with vocal and guitar melody’s that have been in my head for days. My personal taste is that I don’t massively care about the precision of vocals or the lyrical distinguishability (is that a word? if not, get yolo oot the dictionary pronto because that’s going in.) or lyrics. Infact, I kind of prefer if lyrics are yelled and emotion/character comes across more than anything else. Again, this approach is something that Lenin Death Mask absolutely nail in these two songs. Add in some inventive bass lines and some angular, almost post-punk style guitar parts and you have two Aberdonian punk treats. ‘Tried to confess’ in particular is very interesting. It’s very rare that I’ll listen to something and think ‘I wish I had thought of that’. But this song has a bunch of cool dynamic changes that pretty much make the song and make me feel that way.
I am finding it particularly hard trying to compare these songs to anything. And if you read my last post you’ll know that I’m not a big fan of comparing bands to other bands. I kinda feel like i should though. So, if you like any of the following bands, you should check this out.
Titus Andronicus
The Cribs
Fucked Up
Infact, fuck the list. Fuck comparisons. Just listen to the songs. Please listen to the songs. This is genuinely one of the most exciting releases from a Scottish band I have heard in a while. I am absolutely gutted they are no more.
Stream/download ‘Tried to confess/Drowned’ here:
http://lenindeathmask.bandcamp.com/album/tried-to-confess-drowned
REST IN PUNK LENIN DEATH MASK
Oj x
Tried to Confess / Drowned, by LENIN DEATH MASK
lenindeathmask.bandcamp.com
