Merel

Featuring a rhythm section who went on to help form New Jersey’s brilliant Rye Coalition, Merel played chaotic, abrasive, and quite loud experimental hardcore that separated itself from the norm with its unlikely musical creativity. Fierce vocals lead the way, and they are actually relatively understandable while still being quite aggressively screamed. The band toys with both straight-ahead hardcore and a much more explosive style comparable to a completely untamed Rye Coalition. The experimental tracks are culled mostly from the band’s only full-length, while the earlier recordings show the more untamed but straightforward approach.