BACK WHEN

Location:
OMAHA, Nebraska, US
Type:
Artist / Band / Musician
Genre:
Experimental / Metal / Gothic
Site(s):
Label:
Shock Value Records, Init Records
Type:
Indie
Back When. The first time I heard the name, the speaker did not

enunciate clearly, and I thought he said "Back Wind," which I took to

mean a poot.



I now know that, in a way, Back When's bi-axe-ial assault, featuring

the merciless weedeluh of both the enigmatically abbreviated J.

Michael Mickeliunas and the swarthy, h-less Jonathan of Czech-American

descent whose nearly vowel-less last name is Tvrdik, bears an

unmistakable resemblance to a gaseous explosion; though it is more

akin to solar wind than gastrointestinal tract expulsion.



To extend the metaphor into a sort of conceit, there is also the

vibratory surge of Back When's rhythmic underpinnings – the

four-stringed sabre wielded by one Chris "Never Trust a Man with Two

First Names, Even when the Second Name is Disguised Through the

Employment of an Extra E" Kelley and the

snare-ride-tom-snare-ride-tom-tom-tom-tom combination of tasteful

brutality employed by Aaron Broveak, who is too bearded, surly, and

intimidating these days to respond to his youthful moniker,

"Tabletop." Matched in the natural world perhaps only by the shifting

of techtonic plates, there are but two words to describe the combined,

otherworldly rumblings emitted by this pair of rhythempresarios. Those

two words: Brown Note.



Yes, it is true that Back When can be soothing, lulling you into your

safe space of complacent prettiness. But, it is not without ulterior

motive. Unified, these men liberate flesh from muscle mass, tendons,

and bones. Tearing asymmetrical, post-ironic hairdos from hordes of

mortified, gripping follicles. Combusting synthetic, fiber-constructed

leg warmers and their mysterious counterparts that are like stirrup

pants for the forearms. Bubbling eyeliner from lids through sheer

heat. Peeling back all of that which binds us to this mortality,

leaving us naked, more pure beings, sentient only in the most basic

firing of synapses and the exposed roots of nerves. Charred.

Quivering. Ashy. Hairdressers beware. Prostrate yourselves before

the Back When.

-Christina Harding, 2007
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