October Bird of Death
Chicago, Illinois, United States | Established. Jan 01, 2015 | SELF
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The next band was called The October Bird of Death also from Chicago. Those guys are badass! I really liked their set, and watched the whole thing. They border more on the hardcore side, but have lots of melodic elements, all played with heavy guitars, scream/shout vocals... - American Dischord
October Bird Of Death stream debut EP ‘Death Made Its Offer’
Thursday, March 16, 2017 at 3:37 PM (PST) by NobodyLikesGreg
Old school Chicago punks October Bird Of Death are celebrating a birth in the family rather than a death today. ‘Death Made Its Offer’ is officially out now via ZAP records .
Head down below for some solid punk ‘n roll. - Dying Scene
October Bird of Death - Death made its offer
March 10, 2017 By Stephen Young
Release Date: March 13, 2017 - Zap Records
OUR RATING: 5 / 5
The windy city during the mid 90s was a whirlwind of punk rock bands that came and went, but their reputations and influence still resonate to this day. There is one modern day street punk band that has emerged from the shadows and is currently tearing up the city of Chicago one mosh pit at a time. That band is, October Bird Of Death. If the name hasn’t already caught your attention, I assure you, their music will.
Death made its offer is 8 songs clocking in at 18 minutes. These guys may only be a little over a year old, but let me assure you that this is no ordinary cookie cutter punk band. This band also has a few seasoned veterans of the Chicago punk scene. This fact alone is a recipe for punk rock greatness. Darren Davick was the guitarist of the legendary celtic/punk/folk band Ballydowse and Sid Duffour played for the mighty Headnoise. Wiley Willis, the vocalist not only belts out his ferocious screams in October Bird of Death but also sings for the Legendary JCHC hardcore band The Blamed. Bryan Gray of the Blamed loaned his production talent to this album and is also the unofficial sixth member. Every member of this band has so much prior rock-n-roll experience that it would be almost impossible for them to write a bad song.
Lets start with the first track. “This is Our Lives”. Shortly after the strummed guitar harmonic begins to blast through your car speaker, we can already tell that this track will be fast, rowdy and mosh pit worthy. Within a few seconds, Wiley graces us with a gruff and tough “Whoaaaaaa” to start the album. Wiley is passionate about his beliefs and his lyrics clearly show it throughout the next 18 minutes.
The beginning of the chorus says, “With our voices we shall yell! With our fists we will fight to hell”. This song is a call to action
Wiley’s brutish and raw vocal delivery fits in well alongside other punk rock alum such as Tim Armstrong of Rancid and one of my personal favorites, Chuck Ragan, of Hot Water Music. Although Octobirds music in my opinion is nothing like Hot Water, Wiley’s vocal stylings sure do remind me of Chuck Ragan
Octobird is street punk at its finest with doses of melodic punk thrown in at times. I sensed a dash of the band Fugazi, with the punchy bass line that clearly stands out in the song “Fire in Those Eyes”.
My personal favorite track is “Goons”, which has a guest appearance by Kyle Bawinkel of Flatfoot 56 and street punk band Brick Assassin. His voice adds to the toughness of the track and drops a reference to the Chicago south side. The song speaks of being labeled and being proud to be working class.
The aggression stays on track all the way to song 6 and just when you thought it couldn’t get any rowdier, it does. “Art Deco Skull Fracture” clocks in at a whopping 18 seconds and delivers a Chuck Norris round house kick to the throat of pure Minor Threat, early AFI sounding bliss. This 8 song album will surely be the most enjoyable 18 minutes that your ears will experience all year.
The cult classic movie Spinal Tap has a line in it where the band member is showing off his amp to the interviewer. He is proud of the fact that his amps volume goes to 11, When asked, “why not just keep it at 10?”, he responds, “Because it goes to 11.” So with that in mind folks, lets turn this record up to 11 and get those neighbors pounding on the walls.
OUR RATING: 5 / 5 - Indie Vision Music
Discography
October Bird of Death's debut EP “Death Made Its Offer” was released on March 13th, 2017 via Zap Records (DIY).
October Bird of Death's second EP "Assemble" was released on August 17th, 2018 via Zap Records (DIY).
Photos
Bio
It took almost a year for Wiley to talk Darren into forming the band, but he finally did. Wiley, a native of Michigan, had fronted Vulture Circles Crow and Their Teeth Will Be Of Lions before coming to Chicago. Darren had been on the sidelines since the Celtic punk Ballydowse called it quits in the early 2000's. Soon after, the partners took to social media to find a drummer. Zach was the first drummer to audition. After playing together it quickly became apparent that Zach was the one and the remaining auditions were cancelled. Kurt, Wiley's friend and another Michigan transplant, was then added on bass and the timing was also right for another longtime friend, Sid Duffour (ex Brick Assasin), who became available to add a second guitar to the mix. In 2019, Sid departed the band and was replaced by Justin Radtke.
Since its formation, the band has been busy writing and playing shows in Chicago and around the region. On March 13th, 2017 they released their first EP "Death Made its Offer" and on August 17th, 2018 they released their second EP "Assemble". Both EP's were released on Zap Records.
Currently, they are busy writing new music and plan on a third release in early 2020.
The name, October Bird of Death, is a reference to this passage from the novel Ham on Rye by Charles Bukowski.
“…then I began writing. It was about a German aviator in World War 1. Baron Von Himmlen. He flew a red Fokker. And he was not popular with his fellow fliers. He didn't talk to them. He drank alone and he flew alone. He didn't bother with women, although they all loved him. He was above that. He was too busy… His red Fokker, which he referred to as the "October Bird of Death," was known everywhere. Even the enemy ground troops knew him as he often flew low over them, taking their gunfire and laughing, dropping bottles of champagne to them suspended from little parachutes… He was an ugly man with scars on his face, but he was beautiful if you looked long enough -- it was in the eyes, his style, his courage, his fierce aloneness.”
from Ham on Rye, a novel by Charles Bukowski
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