Guyver-One - Guyver-One | Screamo Hall of Fame Class of 1996 Inductee

Release Information:

1996
Inchworm Records
San Diego, CA (SoCal)
Runtime: 10:22
Tracks: 5

Band Members:

Eddie Castro (Vocals)
Kory Ross (Guitar)
Jim LaValle (Guitar)
Matty Rue Morgue (Bass)
Michael Cooper (Drums)

Genres, Influences and Characteristics:

Screamo, Emoviolence, Chaotic, Frantic, Dissonant, Playful

Musical Analysis:

Simply put, Guyver-One’s debut EP is chaotic and boisterous. They played their own brand of Emoviolence featuring loud, dissonant chord progressions, tumultuous song structures, a helter-skelter drumming performance and gnarly, scratchy screamed vocals. The San Diego natives put this in a blender, added in Grandmaster Flash samples between songs and called it a day.

Historical Analysis:

Coming from the fabled San Diego scene, this particular band is often overlooked in the crowded legacy of this scene. Regardless, Guyver-One put out one of the most demented pieces of Screamo / Emoviolence until the likes of Orchid would take the mantle. The sampled interludes are one of the only measures of reprieve on this entire record. Unfortunately, this release was destined for obscurity, even by today’s standards where Zoomers will seemingly find any and all good obscure 90s Emo.

Lyrical Analysis:

Underneath Eddie’s nearly indecipherable screaming lies inescapable existential dread. Eddie brutally conveys the futility of searching for meaning, shared suffering in silence and the cycles of misery that we as humans face. If nihilistic cynicism was a band, it’d be Guyver-One.