Barbaro - Nolte

Label: Dopamine
Year: 2004

Ipecac posted a discography of this band months back, but I guess the link is dead, and it's been requested for resurrection, and since I happen to have the fiery touch of the Lord (also, a possible new band name...Fiery Touch Of The Lord...hands off), I'll repost their records one at a time (cause I have to put them onto my computer first).
This album was Barbaro's final, and seemed to crystallize their musical ideals into a cohesive (yet varied) package. It's essentially the musical heft of late period Shiner meets the lo-fi technicality of Slint, to make a big, muscular, melodic, post hardcore record. Oh, and add in some female vocals. And some unexpected twists and turns.
Boston was firing on all cylinders for a few years in the middle 90s through the early 2000s churning out a lot of bands who unleashed excellent, if mostly unheard, albums that experimented with different versions of "heavy", from La Gritona to Luca Brasi to Converge to Isis to Glazed Baby to Milligram, and on to Barbaro (admittedly far more melodic than any others mentioned here). It's quite a lineage.
Essential listening to post hardcore fans. For reals.

DL