Sauna is a Batangas-based hardcore/mathcore punk band formed around mid-September 2003. The band was known for their chaotic stage presence and visceral yet complex arrangements heavily influenced by bands like Jane Doe-era Converge, Curl Up and Die, and The Dillinger Escape Plan.The original lineup comprising 5 members: Jerwin on guitars (from hardcore band Forgiveness Denied), Joel on bass, Nickson on Guitars, Felix on vocals (also from Forgiveness Denied) and Carlo on drums(from band Settled Down).
Sauna is one of the most influential, if not, the most influential bands to ever come out in the hardcore scene in the mid to late 2000s. There wasn't a single band that sounded like them at the time. No one can emulate their boiling aggression live nor their ruthless songwriting style. They managed in being mainstays in well-known hardcore communities like TakeFour Collective. As well as playing in long-gone hardcore venues most notably the Ten02 in Tomas Morato, Quezon City, and oDIY venues in Cavite, and their hometown in Batangas.
How ever, there are notable hardcore outfits at the time like positive hardcore groups like Half The Battle, Killratio with their darkened hardcore, and noisecentric stuff from Aggressive Dog Attack. More so, these prominent, straightforward punk bands such as Betrayed spearheaded the community, alongside Tame The Tikbalang, and GI and The Idiots, but Sauna created their own lane without compromise. They did what they did to earn their name elsewhere without sacrificing their ethos.
The band recorded six songs in a two-way split CD with Manila's Bystorm in August 2004 and released it through TakeFour Records. After a while, a few of their members left Sauna because of personal reasons, but Sauna was able to ask for the community's help by having one of their sister bands fill in the shoes that their original members left in the scene.
For almost four years, the band was able to record enough songs for their heavily anticipated full length debut. Their album, Deeper It Goes, was released under Take Four Collective on MySpace around March of 2008. The 12-track LP is loaded with nail-scraping vocal rage and mathy guitar work. Felix's voice dynamically pushes the band forward and it becomes the trademark of their entire sound. Personal favorite tracks are the tour-de-force moments like "Bright Eyes" and "Achilles Heart" and the ever cathartic introductory lyrics of "Expire". Everything in Deeper It Goes culminated into a deep-seated anger like no other band in the realm of heavy music could ever pull off. Sauna bleeds through the piercing veins in your lungs, begging you to scream along with them. Unfortunately, Batangas' wild children stopped playing several years -- their final show taking place in Batangas City, 2016 -- after the release of their debut; excluding the benefit shows they've played around 2011-2016. (the information of their indefinite hiatus will soon be disclosed after we post this entry.)
Sauna played in countless other shows until they were able to gain a cult following; from veteran punks to innocent newbies of hardcore. Contemporary local math-adjacent/dark hardcore bands like HL/DV, Beast Jesus, Cadenzabler, Conformist, and Thieves were able to follow the follow the footsteps of Sauna. This goes to show that with no fault or fracture, Sauna were one of the most groundbreaking bands at the time.
VA - Bystorm
DEEPER IT GOES (2008)
