Deathmetal (EP)
| D>E>A>T>H>M>E>T>A>L | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| EP by | ||||
| Released | 18 June 2000 | |||
| Recorded | 1999–2000 | |||
| Length | 18:33 | |||
| Label | Self-released | |||
| Producer |
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| Panchiko chronology | ||||
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D>E>A>T>H>M>E>T>A>L is the debut EP of British indie rock band Panchiko. The album, despite its name, is not death metal music, but rather more shoegaze and emo. The EP contains four songs with a total length of 18 minutes and 33 seconds. The album's sound has inspirations from Radiohead, Nirvana, and Joy Division.[1] When the album was released, only about 30 copies were made, all of which were burnt onto CD-Rs.[2] Sometime around a year after the release of the EP, Panchiko disbanded.
4chan post and search
[edit]On July 21, 2016, a user on 4chan posted a copy of D>E>A>T>H>M>E>T>A>L; the user had found the CD at an Oxfam store in Sherwood, Nottingham. The album, at the time claimed to be somewhat lost media, gained a slight cult following without the members of Panchiko knowing. A search effort for the members of the band was also formed on 4chan.[3] Much of the search and lack of information was due to the members not putting their last names on the back of the album.
On 21 January 2020, a member of the search team successfully located a Facebook profile belonging to Panchiko's lead singer and messaged them, "Hello, you'll probably never read this, but are you the lead singer of Panchiko?" To which Davies replied, "Yeah."[4][5] Davies, now in his late 30s,[6] had been completely unaware of the EP's circulation online.[7][5] He immediately contacted Wright, who was in South Korea; Wright then contacted Ferreday, who was in Cambridge. Neither of them were aware of the band's newfound popularity either.[8] The original drummer John was no longer in contact with the band, and his whereabouts are currently unknown.[9] It is also unclear if he is aware of Panchiko's current status or success.[10]
hey hey
I picked this up because it looked interesting
I wasn't able to find any references to it, online, whatsoever. even with super obscure bands, you might expect to find some an old myspace page or mention in some forum.
does anybody recognise the album?
I half expected it to be noise pop or some vapourwave wankery. listening to it, now, track 1 is like hella lo fi shoegaze with noise panning back and forth.
this isn't some viral marketing bullshit. I'm just curious if anyone can shed some light on it and I'm slightly excited by the prospect of owning a rare album
peace
— Original post on 4chan, 21 July 2016
Critical reception
[edit]D>E>A>T>H>M>E>T>A>L, upon release, was not reviewed by major music reviewers; the few reviews the EP did receive were "not very positive".[11] The only not-negative review the EP received upon release was from Simon Williams, owner of London-based record label Fierce Panda. Williams made the following note about the EP:
'Death Metal', of course, is anything but death metal. Hahaha!! Lovely sweet vocals, then some wiggy wiggy stuff. Needs a bit of va-va-va-voom on the vocals front. I really like this. It would make my ears stand on end if I heard it on the radio. 'Stabilizers For Big Boys' = great. Swearing + ranting in a very familiar stylee. 'Laputa' is lovely and slow. Bugger knows what they remind me of.
— Simon Williams (November 2000)
Cover artwork
[edit]The cover of D>E>A>T>H>M>E>T>A>L was taken from a panel of the manga Mint na Bokura.
Reissue and D>E>L>U>X>E>M>E>T>A>L
[edit]On 16 February 2020, Panchiko released a reissue of the EP with a total of 11 tracks. The reissue featured remastered versions of the original four tracks, three new, unreleased songs from the unreleased EP Kicking Cars, and "R>O>T" versions of the original four songs (versions of the original four tracks with the sound of disc rot). On 2 October 2020, Panchiko released D>E>L>U>X>E>M>E>T>A>L, another reissue, which, alongside the previously mentioned tracks, also contained three demos of the songs from Kicking Cars. The first 100 copies of D>E>L>U>X>E>M>E>T>A>L were signed by members of the band.[12]
Track listing
[edit]All tracks were produced by Andy Wright and Owain Davies.[13]
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "D>E>A>T>H>M>E>T>A>L" | 4:21 |
| 2. | "Stabilisers for Big Boys" | 4:12 |
| 3. | "Laputa" | 2:43 |
| 4. | "The Eyes of Ibad" | 6:57 |
| Total length: | 18:33 | |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 5. | "Cut" | 4:53 |
| 6. | "Sodium Chloride" | 2:43 |
| 7. | "Kicking Cars" | 4:11 |
| 8. | "D>E>A>T>H>M>E>T>A>L (Rot Version)" | 4:20 |
| 9. | "Stabilisers for Big Boys (Rot Version)" | 4:11 |
| 10. | "Laputa (Rot Version)" | 2:44 |
| 11. | "The Eyes of Ibad (Rot Version)" | 7:01 |
| Total length: | 48:17 | |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 8. | "Cut (Demo)" | 4:10 |
| 9. | "Sodium Chloride (Demo)" | 4:18 |
| 10. | "Kicking Cars (Demo)" | 3:46 |
| Total length: | 60:31 | |
References
[edit]- ^ DeBello, Sean (27 February 2022). "Panchiko: the internet's greatest music mystery". The Stony Brook Press. Retrieved 26 September 2024.
- ^ "Panchiko Reflect on "D>E>A>T>H>M>E>T>A>L," Lost Y2K Demo Turned Internet Cult Hit". Bandcamp Daily. 18 May 2020. Retrieved 26 September 2024.
- ^ Wilson, Robyn (2 February 2022). "Panchiko: How a Mysterious Shoegaze Album Sparked an Global InterSearch". VICE. Retrieved 30 September 2024.
- ^ Whang, Justin. "Panchiko DEATHMETAL - Tales From the Internet". YouTube. Archived from the original on 7 March 2023. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
- ^ a b Camp, Zoe (18 May 2020). "Panchiko Reflect on "D>E>A>T>H>M>E>T>A>L," Lost Y2K Demo Turned Internet Cult Hit". Bandcamp Daily. Archived from the original on 17 October 2021. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
- ^ Curran, Caitlin (16 August 2022). "'We didn't even know they were there': the little-known bands finding fans years later". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 7 March 2023. Retrieved 16 August 2022.
- ^ Wilson, Robyn (2 February 2022). "Panchiko: How a Mysterious Shoegaze Album Sparked an Global InterSearch". Vice. Archived from the original on 19 February 2022. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
- ^ Rioux, Julian. "The Surprising Story of Panchiko". Corduroy Threads Podcast. Archived from the original on 17 July 2020. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
- ^ Rioux, Julian. "The Surprising Story of Panchiko". Corduroy Threads Podcast. Archived from the original on 17 July 2020. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
- ^ Wilson, Robyn (2 February 2022). "Panchiko: How a Mysterious Shoegaze Album Sparked an Global InterSearch". Vice. Archived from the original on 19 February 2022. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
- ^ "Panchiko estrena 'The Death Of' con la última canción que grabaron en 2001". web.archive.org. 11 December 2022. Retrieved 30 September 2024.
- ^ KITE0080. "D>E>L>U>X>E>M>E>T>A>L - Panchiko (Cassette) - Musics The Hang Up // MTHU". Retrieved 30 September 2024.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "The Surprising Story of Panchiko — CORDUROY THREADS". web.archive.org. 17 July 2020. Retrieved 30 September 2024.
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