IDIEDTHISFEBRUARY

Location: Novi Sad, Serbia

Year active: 2023 - Ongoing

Members: Em Drakulic, Luka Salak, Stefan Duka

Related bands: give.me.the.gun, Labud, Plik

FFO: Jeromes Dream, Eaglehaslanded, In/Humanity, .minmo

Ah, yes. Novi Sad, the great old punk kingdom and Odense's southeastern european sister, the city that's as flat as a board and extremely friendly to bike riding, vegan, straight-edge, antifa punks, making sure to keep fascists and neo-nazis afraid of their very own existence. A lot of those things are what makes me love this city. Even more than my own hometown.

And most importantly, my very own friends who reside there, especially Stefan of give.me.the.gun, who has formed an upcoming screamo band along with Em and Luka. With the exception of Luka, both Em and Stefan have their own noise projects respectively.

The band in question is Idiedthisfebruary. They started performing in Novi Sad a couple times and performing in Belgrade for the first time. Whilst performing, they dropped their 2 Song Demo EP.

Here we're on a Wonka boat trip to the noisy garbling sample of this legendary Japanese 90's mindfuck which sets us off to the lo-fi chaotic mess of "Caught in a Daydream" lasting 2:26 of runtime, all hell set loose until we get to that somber moment of 1:10, building up to epic catharsis mode. Then we follow up to 2:38's "Rapid Eye Movement", challenging us with their epic breakdown, being occasionally prevalent throughout the song. Here are some of the lyrics to go by:

"Used to hate the Sun and now the sky's getting red

Every day I breathe, I can't get out of bed

 All my flowers wither as I turn into a slob

The months turn to years as the days turn to fog"

If that doesn't perfectly capture depression, then i don't know what does.

DEMO

A year later of following their touring, the band officially dropped their debut release "These Fading Years" at this exact month after their initial demo's release. An 8-track EP was recorded in Brutal Studio, mixed/mastered by Filip Djurovic and its artwork done by Vivi. Needless to say, it was quite worth the wait.

I've spoken with Em, the guitarist at the time of their gig and he jokingly pointed out how i have to look for new words to describe their show every time i write them a gig review, which sent me laughing, saying "you're totally right, better wait for your EP then!"

The EP opens with "You raise your arm, I turn away", with wearied, monotonous spoken words, lamenting on the effects of physical abuse (One more day to feel lobotomized/Talk to me as if i were a child, But no matter what you say/You raise your arm, i turn away), building up to screaming crescendos. After the lacerating chaos of 29-sec "I Won't Play Your Fucking Songs", the band delves further into themes of existential crisis (Get in the Fucking Robot, In Love With Misery, etc.) and depression (Rapid Eye Movement, Nothing), matching the overall depressive mood to the generous amount. Despite that, the mixing can be slightly muddy and most of the guitar work (trebly at best) is almost nearly upfront than the rest, and it wasn't as punchy as i thought it would be. Nevertheless, it still maintains to be a listenable experience for half an hour.

THESE FADING DAYS

BEST OF THE YEAR: 2023

 Well folks, 2023 has been a tough year to go through. And just like any year, we've been through ups and downs and all the endless struggles and obstacles we've been dealing for the past 12 months. With that being said, we've also had tons of great releases coming out of all over the world, especially the underground, all of which are worth mentioning, so here's my list of this year!

LPs

1. Obroa-skai - Science Progresses One Funeral At The Time

2. Jeromes Dream - A Gray In Between

3. Soastasphrenas - Moirae

4. Crisis Sigil - God Cum Poltergeist

5. ZMAR - Naporad

6. we dreamt of tragedies - When Words Fail

7. Letters of Marque - I

8. hicamahic - dusunurum

9. Jornada Del Muerto - Pinturas Negras

10. Gendo Ikari - Rokubungi

11. pospano - try again

EPs/Demos

1. Reflections of Internal Rain - Eight

2. give.me.the.gun. - Worm (oh, it's a dreadful life)

3. no more flowers - no more flowers

4. drive your plow over the bones of the dead - demo

5. plein de vie. - Akrobatlar Savasi Yitirdi

6. helpmestopthebleeding - demo

7. Skincare - Demo

8. Trholz - Premiere Pierre

9. Idiedthisfebruary - 2-song Demo

10. Leonardo Decapitated - I

11. sissysissysissy - s/t

SPLITS

1. Piet Onthel / Dead Friend Collective / Old Pride / Warren of Ohms - Alone Together

2. Flowerswillgrowfrommygrave / sentimientos