VIS023 : Ostraca | Eventualities 12″

Release Date: April 18, 2025

For over a decade now, Richmond titans Ostraca have written works definitive of screamo as a punk subgenre. Their catalogue is deceptive in its relative brevity; Ostraca’s habit of offering songs in groups of three and six gives each track a specific and undeniable gravity. Of course, this is no steadfast rule; for Ostraca, the distinction between EP and LP is immaterial, much the way Loma Prieta contended two decades ago. In 2017, they released two songs on Yarrow, a split with Coma Regalia, Vril, and Untold Want, one of which has been re-recorded for their upcoming four song 12”, Eventualities.

After taking five years between Enemy in 2018, and Disaster in 2023, the trio of bassist Gus Caldwell, guitarist Brian Russo, and drummer John Crogan showed that Ostraca is an unflappable mainstay in the world of emotive post-hardcore that they inhabit. The drama and passion expected of Ostraca’s work is only magnified by the dynamic shifts in their writing, earmarked by the inclusion of other genres in their style, like crust, metal, and post-rock. Their aptitude for this demarcates them from the entirety of their peers. Ostraca builds on the same tradition as German greats June Paik, creating heart-wrenching atmospheres driven by melodies that oscillate between resolution and discordance.

Eventualities was recorded in 2024 and was engineered, mixed and mastered by Danny Gibney, who the band worked with on Disaster.