"'We Like to Start Fires...' While the line might have a similar message to Devo's famous 'We Like Explosions!' Mezzanine~C14 (M~C14) hardly dabble in the world of quirky keyboard pop. No, this New Jersey trio are playing bombastic post-hardcore in the vein of VidaBlue (before they were Ten Grand) and Frodus (who actually covered the Devo song I'm talking about). The energy level is the first thing that really grabbed me about this album. It's an intense and in your face aggression. The screams seem more desperate than most bands and the melodies seem a little darker. They reach for your heart through your throat! Its a passionate energy that very few bands pull off without seeming forced, or worse, painfully emo. But they pull of that hopeless feeling better than most people in their field. I was also impressed at how diverse the album is. When bands pick the raw, post-hardcore genre to work their magic, most fall into the huge ruts that have been around for years. They tend to latch onto one, maybe two bands for inspiration and ride their coattails into the ground. Taking another bands sound isn't very hard but as proven by the recent trends in the crappy power pop emo scene, can be very profitable. Thankfully M~C14 take a larger influence base and come out with a sound unique to themselves. Besides the bands I've already named, these guys also have touches of Shellac, Girls Vs. Boys, Clikatat Ikatowi to name a few. I think you are getting an idea where they are coming from. We are talking about chaotic, powerfully brooding, three minute, glass shattering rock songs. By all measures this is a great 2nd album. It's rough and powerful, melodic and brash, thoughtful and unpolished. It's what every high caliber rock band wishes for; an album with intensity from start to finish. Now I just need to see them live." - Jake indieworkshop

"Jersey city noisebombs Mezzanine-C14 drop down like a black parachute full of nasty trouble and blow herky-jerky distorto-acid riffs like flaming shrapnel all over the damn place. Lotsa low-end subway rumble, lotsa belligerent growling, and lotsa mid-song freak-outs are the disorder of the day on the menacingly titled "He Keeps Silent and Sacrifices Himself", so strap in for an ugly joyride, Jack. MC14 wanna drag you down into a supersonic hell of peeling walls and desperate circumstances, of cockroaches and shotgun shells, of panic and nausea and gnawing black holes, and they don't let up for a second here. I could be wrong, but I think every song on this 'un ends in either murder or suicide, and if they don't, they sure sound that way. The unrelenting bad-machine grunt and throb of the pleasantly named Mark Cyst's bass is the glue that holds this gruesome skeleton together, and I can feel it creeping up my back as we speak, like a blood-hungry brain leech looking for a warm place to hide. Christ, this record is creepy. I'm assuming that's the whole point. So, you know, if yer looking for skin-peeling chemical bath of deconstructionist noise-rock, then baby, do I have an anti-party for you." - sleazegrinder

"He Keeps Silent and Sacrifices Himself is Mezzanine ~ C14’s third release, and its quite a searing collection of post-rock thrash. Aggressive and relentless, He Keeps Silent features ten relatively brief anthems (“Devious” is the longest track at 3:48) of inner city rebellion and post-apocalyptic desperation. Will Walker’s chainsaw guitar and angry distortion-laden vocals are clearly the center of attention in songs like “Start Fires,” “Night Crawler” and “Knife Wielder.” But the bass drive of Mark Cyst and the crash and burn drumming of Nick Mitchell are the fuel that drives this rocket from its metro mayhem to the borders of underground noise rock. The pace never slackens or lightens up as Mezzanine ~ C14 seems intent on crushing all opposition with its blitzkrieg wall of sound. Naturally, this is the band’s greatest virtue, yet at the same time its most pernicious vice. You can’t live in terminal overdrive forever, at least not without eventually going down in flames. There is, however, a subtle “artiness” to some of the pieces on He Keeps Silent, particularly the angular and jagged rhythms of “You Have the Freedom to Do as I Say,” an excellent pastiche of frenzied frustration and pure rock-n-roll anarchy worthy of Iggy and the Stooges at their most incendiary. The uncredited track that closes the album is pure guitar experimentalism, similar in texture and execution to Sonic Youth; its quiet barrage of amplified chiming dissonance could almost serve as a brief soundtrack for a snuff film. Disturbing stuff but worthwhile for those looking for a little angst and attitude with their rock-a-rolla".Auarl Innovations

"Mezzanine C14. Whatever the name means is beyond me…parking space maybe? Anyway...that part doesn’t matter. Originally from Chattanooga, TN and currently residing in Jersey City, NJ with a completely revamped lineup…these guys are focused on one goal and one goal only…tearing the sine wav a new asshole! Hardcore vocal straining punk-rock. That part matters!" Get Undewrground

"Mezzanine~C14 reminds me of a lot of things, Jesus Lizard, early 90`s AM REP bands...noise, noise, noise...boy this CD brings me back. If you are into the hardcore sounds of Unsane, Jesus Lizard, Janitor Joe then you should definitely check out Mezzanine~C14. Guitars are crisp and have that same sort of Dwayne Dennison overdriven tone and that staccato approach in the rhythm. Drums are sort of along the same lines also as the Jesus Lizard with their precise attack leaving no room whatsoever for mistakes...along with the guitars there is a bit of expert precision in the execution of the attack, or nailing the notes. I am especially impressed with the textures musically, layers of parts that are well orchestrated coming from such a violent sounding band. Lots of crazy changes and parts that I would only expect from a band that sounds this much like...uh, you know. And the vocals? Totally over the top most of the time, screaming and nothing short of something you would hear in a hardcore band...kind of does that same sort of mumble that David Yow does also from the Jesus Lizard. I would be very surprised if these guys haven`t heard of the Jesus Lizard, their sound is an uncanny resemblance of it, there has to be some worship going on. Get this one if you like early 90`s noise and of course (for the fifth or sixth time!), the Jesus Lizard." - Stoner Rock

"As you may have guessed from the title, there are not a lot of laughs to be had here. Flutes and gentle piano do not waft reassuringly in the background creating a relaxing melody to soothe your ears, and syrupy love ballads are a little thin on the ground. Instead, we get a lot of shouting, guitars that sound like broken glass being scraped along a blackboard by an agonized cat and more than the occasional nod towards At the Drive-In. There's a lot of this stuff about at the moment, but M~C14 do it well, and thankfully without the sickening hi-sheen production that the denizens of MTV2 are offering us at the moment. The icy sleaze of 'Bedroom Eyes' particularly catches the ear, sounding as it does like Girls Against Boys covering Pearl Jam's 'Do The Evolution'." - joyzine