Ceremony
Ruined
Malfunction (2005)
Ceremony is hateful and unrelenting hardcore/punk from California. Why people from California are so angry is beyond me, but since it results in hardcore as stellar as this, I'll let it slide. Ceremony formed from several mid-level (in notoriety) hardcore bands in the Bay Area a couple years back, and have since transformed themselves into one of the most promising … Read more
Ceremony
Violence Violence
Malfunction (2006)
Hate is a tough thing to grasp for many people. They say they hate, but I'm not sure I believe it because the term "hate" is like love. It's thrown about haphazardly and used in offhand comments and that makes it lose it's true, immensely dark and angry feeling. So when a band aims to go for hatred as the … Read more
Ceremony
Violence Violence
Malfunction (2006)
My buddy Dave said it best: "This shit makes me want to punch a whale." Ridiculous? Perhaps. But Ceremony's first full-length, Violence Violence is completely ridiculous. And I mean that as a compliment in every way. They released their Ruined 7" not too long ago and the hardcore hype train started a-chuggin'. You'd see kids in Ceremony hoodies and tees … Read more
Ceremony
Scared People
Bridge Nine (2007)
One of the better bands currently existing in hardcore returns with a new EP, their first release since signing to Bridge Nine Records. This time around Ceremony shows they've got more in their songwriting arsenal than just lightning fast demonstrations of hate a la Infest. Showing even more variance in writing than their last release, Scared People shows what promise … Read more
Ceremony
Still Nothing Moves You
Bridge Nine (2008)
I could easily give Ceremony's latest album a token crappy review because quite frankly I find this band a bit too overrated to garner an actual unbiased review from me. I really hate to be "that guy" but I haven't enjoyed anything from this North Bay based hardcore unit since their demo and subsequent 7". Everything afterwards just came at … Read more
Ceremony
Zoo
Matador (2012)
Few bands have covered as much ground within the confines of the hardcore genre as northern California’s Ceremony. The release of 2008’s Still Nothing Moves You saw a stunning display of brash powerviolence, while retaining traditional hardcore influence, and their third album, Rohnert Park, saw a stark evolution into more experimental and melodic territories without relinquishing the viciousness they’ve come … Read more
Ceremony
In the Spirit World Now
Relapse (2019)
It’s fun to introduce old Ceremony to their new fans and hear comments like, “Wow, that guy must’ve worked out his anger issues”. It’s true that Ross Farrar’s lyrics have recently favored elegant introspection over spiteful threats to fight society with hate-packed fists, or to strangle it, or to curb stomp it, or to watch it burn to the fucking … Read more
