Welcome The Plague Year was a hardcore band from Philadelphia who were active in the early oughts and formed by members of Makara, Joshua Fit For Battle and Neil Perry. They released one full-length album, a 7", a split 7" with Funeral Diner, a split 5" with Ampere and a demo CDr.
Combining elements of all members' former bands, Welcome The Plague Year ripped through the early 2000s leaving their mark on the era as one of the best of their time. A touch of the synthy melodic-ness of Funeral Diner with the heaviness of Neil Perry and the sheer chaos of Joshua Fit For Battle, Welcome The Plague year have a sound all their own.
The emo scene in the early oughts was often questionable at best and filled with mediocrity at worst, however, there are a few outliers that really make me want to get more into the era, one of which being Welcome The Plague Year. There was a super chaotic heaviness on the rise through the late 90s and there were definitely some bands of the early 2000s that perfected this, to name another, Love Lost But Not Forgotten. Albeit very different from the 90s emocore scene, it has it's time and place and I've come to respect it just as much. Listening to the shifts in the kind of music being released in the DIY/emo scene through the decades never ceases to amaze me. Though my loyalties will always lie within the 1990-2005 range, each wave of emo bands had their own take on the sound that had been evolving for decades.
With their gut-wrenchingly shrieked vocals and melancholy melodies that shift into brutally heavy riffs within seconds, Welcome The Plague Year is a great place to start if you're new to this music. They balance the hardcore elements with the emo elements almost seamlessly, they have something for everybody.
Demo CDr 2003 (Self-released)
