Music is one of the greatest forms of escapism, and often we experience that escapism in many different ways. Some as losing yourself in an otherworldly soundscape, some as forming an emotional connection with music and/or lyrics and some as motivation towards a goal or dream. If I was a betting man, I’d say the music of Since By Man more than likely falls into the latter category. That goal being the systematic destruction of your surroundings and anyone around you. This is not music for the nervous or for the faint of heart. This is pure catharsis. Since By Man take their inspiration from the melodic post-hardcore antics of Glassjaw and At The Drive-In, known for their endless energy, intensely passionate performances and near-faultless musicianship, and run their own frenzied madness out from their footsteps. All through Since By Man’s life cycle, especially evident in their choice of band name (from the 46th movement of Handel’s Messiah: Since By Man Came Death) there seems to be a complete disregard for human life that erupts from the beginning of 2002’s We Sing The Body Electric to their timely demise in 2008. No other statement makes that clearer than Push The Panic, the first song of We Sing The Body Electric. From the very beginning, the weak are weeded out by a tirade of vitriolic screaming, acerbic guitar work designed to eviscerate and a technical but extreme drum mauling. If you survive that, you are treated to some lavish melodies still in the punk vein, but don’t have to fear for your life for a brief moment. But nothing, absolutely nothing hits harder than the scathing sociopathic statement at the song’s climax. There are songwriters at Since By Man’s core, honest, but they chose to invoke their escapism through enchanting melodies, sandwiched between nihilistic bombshells of hardcore.
We Sing The Body Electric, 2004’s A Love Hate Relationship EP and 2005’s Pictures From The Hotel Apocalypse can all be purchased at most respectable music retailers, at an affordable price.
The Soundshark 