Editors' Picks: Encrypt Manuscript

Brian: I just returned home from a mostly enjoyable show that had With Honor in the headlining slot and This Is Hell in the support, not to mention a thrown-on assortment of mosh metal bands. However, randomly stuck between WH and TIH's sets were a few songs from locals Encrypt Manuscript. While a crowd made up of hardcore and metalcore fans may not have been the best audience for the band, I was damn near blown away by their jazz / funk / indie rock hybrid with influences seemingly running the gamut from Joan of Arc (instrumentally) to the Blood Brothers (vocally) to the Nation of Ulysses (musically). With beat poetry preceding and/or connecting songs in the set and little crowd acknowledgement until the last song, they were running the pretension meter up pretty high, but I didn't mind; it was art trash at its finest, and I was loving every second of it.

These songs don't quite capture the raucous, experimentative nature of their live setting, but it's the closest you can get. The first is taken from a self-titled 7", and the latter 2 from an earlier EP entitled Dialogues. Both are available on Tone Library.

Encrypt Manuscript - Knife Fight at the Blind Tiger
Encrypt Manuscript - Riot Cop Fox Trot
Encrypt Manuscript - How Do You Syllabicate Your Name?