From the city of Cheb in the Czech Republic came Albion, formed in 1996 and active until 2005. According to this blog post and its frustratingly broken download link, the band reformed in the early 2010s with a change in sound. This is supported by the most recent bit of music I can find from them, this 2005 music video for their song 'Different Love.' I don't know when or if the band actually reunited or what they did or didn't record on that occasion, but they were headed in a very mainstream direction after their first—and as far as I can tell, only—LP.
Prior to that, they tried on three different shades of emo. Their first release, a 1998 split 12" with Kevorkian, a hardcore band that shared members with Albion, is emocore with a strong midwest emo influence. On 1999's Mim, the midwest emo would come to dominate, and that 7" is the band's most classically 90s midwest emo release. In 2002 they would put out Synthpathy, one of the more unique takes on the midwest emo sound you'll hear, featuring, as the name implies, a lot of synths. It hints at the indie rock\pop direction the band would thereafter embrace.
Since the latter years of the band's discography are mostly a mystery to the internet, I've focused on their early emo discography. I've included the split 12", the 7", and the album, along with a 2001 compilation track that is pre-synth and sounds like it could have easily fit on the 7".
The compilation track is made available courtesy of How Nothing Feels.
thanks!
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