As requested by one of our readers, here are the Drowning/Restrain split 7" from 1997 and the self-titled MCD from 1999 by this French band. Hailing from Paris, Drowning started out in 1996 as a heavy NYHC meets beatdown band and over time became a full-on deathmetal band. On the split 7" with Restrain they still played their old tough hardcore with their old line-up, which featured Jean-Marc on vocals, the guy who did Inner Rage Records (Starkweather, Overcast, Kickback, etc...). I have 2 versions of this 7" which was released on Back Ta Basics Records (Rick Ta Life's label for those who don't know... tho I doubt anybody didn't already know this). I scanned in both covers, which are the usual sloppy xeroxed and badly cut covers which were so typical for most BTB releases. The split 7" was released after the band did a demo (which I only have a dub of, so I didn't include it), with this line-up the band also contributed 2 songs to the '
The Nightmare Remains... In This Other Land' compilation I posted not too long ago. Restrain, from Ozone Park NY, play raw mid-tempo NYHC... I also have their 1996 demo, not sure what else they did. Good stuff either way, and a solid split 7" all around.
In mid 1998 singer Ridwan and bassist Stéphane, formerly of Cemetery/Garden Of Silence, joined Drowning, and the band switched their style around quite a bit. They dropped most of their NYHC influences and the metal side of their sound took center-stage. In 1999 the band returned with a self-titled MCD on Belgium's hardest label, Released Power Productions. I remember the first show they played with the new line-up, shortly before the MCD was released. They started their set with 'Veil Of Disguise', the second track of the MCD. Pretty much everybody knew they'd switched to a more metal-oriented style, but very few people had already heard the new songs. Awesome stuff, people loved it. A night to remember. And this MCD is definitely the best Drowning release to date in my opinion. Afterwards they became pretty much a full-on death metal band and they lost me there. But this is a damn good record.
Drowning/Restrain split 7"
Drowning - s/t MCD
Drowning myspace
Children started off with their 1997 demo called 'Dead - The Story Of A Suicide'. A pretty good 30-minute long demo which already showed some signs of what was about to come. They play mostly heavy & mid-tempo hardcore on here with plenty of massive backup vocals. It still sounds like they were searching for their own sound, not all the songs on here are great, but especially 'Animal Cycle' and outro 'Dead' are awesome.
Next up is their first proper release, the 'Impedimenta' full-length. One of my favorite records to ever come out of France. A massive progression from the demo. Children found their sound, they're experimenting & trying all sorts of things without losing track of writing actual songs. The breaking glass in 'Schizophrenia' for instance blends in so well with (the atmosphere of) the song and is not just a mere sound-effect. Awesome, intense and unique metallic hardcore. Released on Overcome records in 1999 as a digipack CD only, it still manages to impress me to this day.
After the full-length they ended up doing a split 7" with Cave-In which was released in late 1999 on Mosh Bart Industries (a label done by Loïc, one of the people behind Overcome Records). There's just one new Children song on here but still more than worth it. 'Inner War' would've fit perfectly on 'Impedimenta', and is again an awesome track that displays Children's talent perfectly. The Cave-In track is a 'club mix' done by Kurt Ballou of 'Bottom Feeder' from their 'Until Your Heart Stops' album and is fairly forgettable in my opinion.
As requested by one of our readers, here are the Drowning/Restrain split 7" from 1997 and the self-titled MCD from 1999 by this French band. Hailing from Paris, Drowning started out in 1996 as a heavy NYHC meets beatdown band and over time became a full-on deathmetal band. On the split 7" with Restrain they still played their old tough hardcore with their old line-up, which featured Jean-Marc on vocals, the guy who did Inner Rage Records (Starkweather, Overcast, Kickback, etc...). I have 2 versions of this 7" which was released on Back Ta Basics Records (Rick Ta Life's label for those who don't know... tho I doubt anybody didn't already know this). I scanned in both covers, which are the usual sloppy xeroxed and badly cut covers which were so typical for most BTB releases. The split 7" was released after the band did a demo (which I only have a dub of, so I didn't include it), with this line-up the band also contributed 2 songs to the 'The Nightmare Remains... In This Other Land' compilation I posted not too long ago. Restrain, from Ozone Park NY, play raw mid-tempo NYHC... I also have their 1996 demo, not sure what else they did. Good stuff either way, and a solid split 7" all around.
In mid 1998 singer Ridwan and bassist Stéphane, formerly of Cemetery/Garden Of Silence, joined Drowning, and the band switched their style around quite a bit. They dropped most of their NYHC influences and the metal side of their sound took center-stage. In 1999 the band returned with a self-titled MCD on Belgium's hardest label, Released Power Productions. I remember the first show they played with the new line-up, shortly before the MCD was released. They started their set with 'Veil Of Disguise', the second track of the MCD. Pretty much everybody knew they'd switched to a more metal-oriented style, but very few people had already heard the new songs. Awesome stuff, people loved it. A night to remember. And this MCD is definitely the best Drowning release to date in my opinion. Afterwards they became pretty much a full-on death metal band and they lost me there. But this is a damn good record.
![Deadlock [Spokane, WA]](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjShxKvrk2KeaeBzkrq0i1ZY1DBA1eeU_wAITRB96WVCyFMTnEZSO0Xa3-CTomyrfO15irO-pBF6I8R2bgnRmfQI5IgZ39BksEJBb4sa-UgahjIrXPqVZLPTA0piTCemVY6JW4irVczHf0/s72-c/cover.jpg)
