About Rorschach

There are/were at least 6 bands named Rorschach: 1. a now defunct New-Jersey based Hardcore band that existed from 1989 to 1993. 2. a London based Rock/Alternative act formed 1995 and currently recording their second album. 3. a progressive/indie rock band from Hungary. 4. an Art-Deco Rock band from Rotterdam, the Netherlands. 5. a gothic metal band from Essex, UK, now on hiatus. 6. a late 1980's indie band from Bristol (UK) that went onto become Santa Cruz. 1. Rorschach were a New Jersey-based band that existed from 1989 to 1993. The group often blended hardcore punk and dissonant elements of metal providing the inspiration to a number of hardcore and post hardcore bands thereafter. The first release by the band, Remain Sedate, shows the band's sound at a stage when they played fast, heavy hardcore with a metal slant and raspy hardcore vocals. At this time they also drew heavy comparisons to Die Kreuzen's eponymously titled lp for their bizarre chord progressions and Charles Maggio's unearthly howl. However, as the band progressed, they developed a slower, more sinister, sludge sound that was as much influenced by cult metal bands as it was by noiser fare like fellow New York band Swans. Additionally, the vocals developed into high-pitched, tortured screaming rather than shouting, due in part to voice problems Maggio was experiencing at the time. This change in sound can be heard primarily on their second full-length release, Protestant. Shortly after issuing this album, the group disbanded, some members eventually joining Deadguy. The band took their name from the character Rorschach from the graphic novel Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. 2. Formed 1995 in London, England, Rorschach started as a three man guitar, bass and vocal core with various guest drummers and synth players thereafter. Some of their main influences being The Velvet Underground, The Doors, NIN and The Smiths See the bands myspace page or their current record label (ZubeRecords) for more info. 3. Since its foundation in 2002, the band Rorschach represented diverse musical genres, because of which a variegation of styles came to being in Rorschach's music. The compositions of the band are eclectic in a wide sense; on the one hand they render the characteristics of different 'creative periods', on the other hand the songs are multi-genera per se. It is not surprising if one encounters a psychedelic, rocking, consonant part within a song, which is instantly followed by a detuned, fraction-rhythmic, distorted section which climaxes in a world-music-like closure. The band attempts to get loose from cut and dried, banal musical solutions so that a melodic, even cliché-like refrain is confined with a queer chord structure and interesting instrumentation. This method restructures and reinterprets the conventional. The band Rorschach might not have chosen the most popular solution to prevail, but the non-trendy audience might recognize the band's unique character. The band: Dániel Gizella - keys Lorinc Bubnó - guitars, vocal, songs Márton Auer - vox Péter Kanyó - bass, vocal Tamás Melkó - drums http://www.myspace.com/therorschachband 4. In 1892 the five members of RORSCHACH met at an unannounced gig by J. the Ripper in a London music club. Impressed by this event all of them spent the next 50 years or so in mental institutions, trying to regain their sanity. The results of electroshock treatment, musical therapy and lobotomy were poor and for these five individuals a special test was being developed by Dr. Rorschach, who gained worldwide fame. His first guinea pigs however were dismissed from the institution and released into the free world where they each went their separate ways, and not much was heard of them since. Sixty years later they met again in a recording studio, discovering that age had little influence on their brittle health. Summing up the events of the past decades they wrote their lyrics and performed as no one has heard or seen before. 5. UK Rorschach mix metal with gothic keyboards and vocals to create a dark fusion. Rorschach started off as Peter's small solo project using mostly programmed keyboards and guitars. It has gone through a few line ups and has (slowly) developed over the years. The band is currently on extended hiatus due to Peter focusing on his other band Shieldwall. 6. Bristol (UK), 1989 - Rorschach released the Two Busted Flippers E.P. With BBC Radio Bristol presenter Steve Yabsley on guitar. John Peel gave it a spin as I remember. Various shout outs on the back included Fishponds (the area of Bristol from which they hailed), Bristol Rovers FC and wagon wheels. Then in 1990 they released a 12" on the Moonflower's Pop God record label which railed against New Kids on the Block and attempted to marry their previous indie pop/rock with the indie dance styles prevalent at the time. Later went on to become Santa Cruz and can be found here: www.myspace.com/rorschach08