First Blood

This Wednesday Agnostic Front either chose (or lucked out on) what have to be some of the best HC supports to have played the Camden Underworld in AGES.

Well worth fighting through the soggy summer rain for, UK-based Pay No Respect (who also supported Terror a few weeks ago) have a pretty classic hardcore approach but a fairly metal-at-heart guitarist with a seriously catchy groove to his fretwork which makes their tracks both comfortingly credible but also quietly catchy. Well worth checking them out live or online if you get the chance, especially if you're a fan of straight-forward hardcore with a distinctive modern twist.

San Franscico's First Blood, meanwhile, have a distinctly hardcore drummer but are otherwise up to their ears in metal influences. Thier frontman, Carl, proves he was almost wasted as Terror's bassist, as he's a frankly incredible vocalist with an almighty stage presence. You can practically feel the 200% force behind the raw throaty shouts and his striding and constant snapping arm movements make you feel as though you're being put through your paces at a military bootcamp more than just watching a show! And all this after subjecting us to an almost complete recording of We Are The World before they walked on stage. Ha!

A little sample of what they can be like live can be found here... Feel the power.

Shai Hulud at the Purple Turtle, anyone?

Just dedicated the morning to finding out who's playing London in the new few months so I can be absolutely sure not to be on a work trip (grrr) and - behold - it turns out that US progressive hardcore bruisers Shai Hulud are down to play the Purple Turtle on June 22nd.

Awesome news, considering how intimate a venue this is and how downright aggressive (in fact, occasionally abusive if we remember the odd 'punching fans in the face' moments they've ticked off in their enthusiastic history) their gigs are. Not that I'm saying it's great to be thumped in the face - they are just mighty raw and real live and well worth the 8 quid change!!

Grab 'em HERE before word gets out.

Revelation Records: BREAKING OUT THE CLASSICS

23 exclusive covers from a load of Rev hardcore bands on one album is not a bad offer! Some are a bit hi or miss, after all it's a tough call covering the likes of Quicksand, but just to own this is a bit of an obligatory mission for any dedicated HC fan. Expect to hear Ignite, SOIA, Terror and Warzone covering Youth Of Today, Gorilla Biscuits and Shai Hulud. Exciting stuff and worth shelling out the cash - especially as half goes to charity.

Romeo Must Die

To gig or not to gig, that is the question.
Tonight the awesome Romeo Must Die lads will be rocking the Purple Turtle and it'd be a crime not to go. Way better than Stampin Ground ever were, I've seen these guys play London twice in the last year or so and on both occasions they've put the headliners to shame. Totally ferocious and with the experience and talent to back up the attitude, they will destroy the Turtle tonight, leaving only a HC club night in their wake. Oh, and all for just 6 pounds!

Agnostic Front re-release

Just a quick one to say if you haven't yet grab this, do it now. It's the new year, it's a time to enjoy a bit of nostalgia, surely? And my god is this a worthy bit of nostalgia. I'd forgotten just how damn good this band were...tracks like Traitor and Society Suckers...argh, proper NYHC before it got engulfed by metal. I mean, metal's great, and class hybrids like Hatebreed are awesome, but there is a special place in the heart for the no-nonsense gritty rebellion that bands like AF represented back in '84.
So, yes, Victim In Pain & United Blood on one big 21 track album. Think about it. With original designs and slick packaging... Come on, what's not to like?

On an aside...just reviewed Cocoon and don't bother unless you like (a) screamo mixed with bad skate-punk drumming, or (b) anything that sounds even losely like Atreyu. Chaos In Her Wake IS worth a shout, however, as it's pretty evil in parts, but be warned that they are still better live...hey go, give em time.

Bane, Terror & PTW photos!

Truly awesome pics of Bane, Terror, Poison The Well... at 10 for Ten Dollar tour in Atlanta. SICK!!!
Check em out on Flikr
Might have to set me up with a giant ceiling poster!

PTW: 26 days to The Tropic Rot

You may remember that Poison The Well gave a one song taster of new album A Tropic Rot at their Camden 36 Crazyfists gig a month or so ago...and, even despite the muddy sound, it sounded awesome. Well, now, with 26 days to go to the album release, they're streaming another new track called Cinema on their MySpace page. Have a listen, it's nicely angry and fast-paced with a slightly ambient clingy chorus. Very cool. Oh, and if you enter your details in the clever little box there you can get access to further downloads before the release too. Bring 'em on, I say.

Trigger, Silent Front, Stick, BFP, Terror...

These last few days (10 to be precise) have been rather generously rammed with awesome gigs. OK, so Trigger The Bloodshed are still a little wet behind the ears but their brand of back-to-the-oldschool death and hypnotic Cannibal Corpse-inspired frontman make them well worth the hype that's followed them this year. It was an empty gig, but a good 'un and I can safely say that (as long as you don't get distracted by the seriously OTT scowling lead guitarist) their drummer is every bit as exciting live as on record.
On Friday I lucked out catching a fairly unknown Brit hardcore three-piece called Silent Front support the 'Henge at the Unicorn and - thanks to a pretty awesome vocalist/guitarist - have now vowed to chase up more of their stuff on-line. Be warned that they do try and entertain the crowd with the odd joke and (justified) anti-BNP rant if they encounter sound problems or break bass strings, though ;-) If you can cope, want to (sensibly) see them regardless and you like the raw side of punk who likes bits of Schedule and Fugazi, here's their MySpace page.

And finally, last night blessed London with Terror, Born From Pain and Stick To Your Guns all on one bill. The Underworld, as a result, was packed beyond breathing room, but you'd expect no less for our Los Angeles metal-tinged hardcore headliners. Where Born From Pain were actually good but not on fire, and STYGs wound up with their singer losing his voice and their set being a hell of a lot less catchy live than on record...TERROR played to absolute perfection.
Singer and scene leader Scott Vogel wore a well-suited Robert De Niro t-shirt, the breakdowns were all in tact and the crowd threw insane shapes both on the floor and through the air from the stage. Push It Away, Spit My Rage, You're Never Alone, you name it...they were all down.
I swear this band should be given out on prescription, they offer that intense an experience. And we're talking: Every. Single. Time.
Oh, and great merch too! If a tad expensive...I mean I know the Terror ethic is that shows are about the fans rather than the band, and that 'if you only like one genre of music you're missing out on life, so always keep an open mind, etc...' but this does not mean you can cut your hardcore roots sharply enough to sell a 40 pound hoody! Hmph. Still, when you rock that much of a solid show and a solid message everything and anything is forgiven. Trust. I, for one, am strapped into my beloved Terror belt for life ;-)

Thrash'n'Burn

Ah, yes. 6 hours of non-stop death/metalcore at my favourite London venue. It would have been awesome if I had remembered my earplugs. Oh, and if my mate hadn't dropped out last minute and left me with noone able to share trips to the bar. Hey ho.
In all seriousness, though, it actually was awesome.

I missed the first band due to a guest list muddle, but luckily made it in time for Arsonists Get All The Girls, who were hilarious. Not one for the metal puritans, but the mad pinball machine / gaming sounds that come out of that keyboard are brilliant fun and inject the whole venue with the atmosphere of a weird heavy metalcore house party.

War From A Harlot's Mouth were a lot less jazzy live than on record, but brilliantly brutal as a result, and Carnifex and Beneath The Massacre were just plain HEAVY. Like deafeningly, earth-shatteringly heavy. Beneath won over Carnifex simply due to their blindingly talented band members, though. The singer has a majorly deep growl, but is a bit pit-bull on stage and not all that engaging, but the rest of the band are so fast and powerful it's almost something you want to have recorded to watch in slow motion when you get home.

It was a toss up between Darkest Hour and Bleeding Through, who are both massively talented headliners in totally different ways. Where Darkest Hour turn suddenly more raw and credible live, not giving a hoot about image or plans, Bleeding Through are polished and melodic. Both worked for me, I gota say, and between them they had enough great songs to play for a good hour or two more.
Maybe we need two Thrahs'n'Burn tours a year from now on!

BladestorM turn MaissianN

It seems that my 2008 unsigned crush, London-based Polish death/hardcore band BladestorM, have gone through some changes in the last few months.
It's ok, though, I have faith.
I first stumbled across these guys when they supported a mate's band (Meantime) near Mornington Crescent last year and I can't deny that, as a brutal death-metal/hardcore crossover with a ferocious scream-in-your-face frontman, I fell for them hard. I've tried to keep up on news on them ever since, but trying to locate the right 'BladestorM' using gormless search engines is much like typing in 'hardcore' without expecting to find naked flesh...hopeless!
However, since the late loss and gain of a few members (including a second guitarist!) they've now re-surfaced calling themselves MaissianN, so cyber-stalking's become a little simpler. And the great news is that their truly awesome heavily-tattooed singer Kamil remains. My faith is well-founded :-)
So, take a look at their old offerings and maybe join my quest by checking their new WIP website and myspace.com/maissiann for the follow-up to 2008 debut e.p Obliteration.

Going global: Resorte

So... I have wanted to set up a community dedicated to widespread hardcore 'love and learnings' for ages now. In fact, I even got as far as setting up this rather hideous HTML cage for it: www.inhcwetrust.com
Yes, I know, it's shambolic even for work in progress!

However, my plan isn't to give birth to something devastatingly groundbreaking or pretty - simply effective. A humble place to allow all HC-lovin' folk worldwide to share news of local scenes and make it easier to appreciate talent born further afield than the US, UK or 3 feet away! Hell, I even thought of including a lyric library for those concerned with the language barrier. So, here is my written commitment to continue this quest...

...and just to seal this with a globally-inclusive kiss...please meet RESORTE. A curious blend of rap-metal and beats hailing from Mexico. Enjoy!

Hardcore Holiday

So I figure, if work is going to involve this much travel...why not make use of it? Having missed out on a good few London tours of late, when I found myself booked into Madrid this week I decided to scout hard for possible bands to see.
And lo and behold...WALLS OF JERICHO are here! Not only that, but they are playing an ickle venue below and are joined by DEATH BEFORE DISHONOR and NATIONS AFIRE. The bad news? H2O pulled out and Born From Pain opted to play with Terror next month instead (I'm on their side...) but with DBD positivity back-to-back with Walls' aggression you're on a winner regardless.

This is the point I interupt with a huge cheer of thanks to Javi from Freak Productions who kindly reserved me a ticket after I failed the on-line buy test. He also told me he has Terror and Brujeria lined up next...I'll be hunting for weekly spanish meetings at this rate ;-)

Both bands were blinding live, as always, with WOJ encouraging mass stage-diving and DBD pacing for the old-school. Nations Afire, meanwhile, were not so hot... Attracting a scarce audience (21:30 is early for Spain!) the super-group are weakened by their singer, who's tuneful tones and distinctly soft-side moves distract from the often powerful punk melodies behind. Made up of members of Rise Against, Ignite, Death By Stereo and Reach The Sky, they've chosen to fly the flag for the catchier strains of hardcore, but actually get a lost on the bill tonight. WOJ (see video!) and DBD are in no danger of leaving you without bruises, though, and storm their sets leaving a good supply of circle pits (and in Candace's case, a dead mike) in their wake. Well worth 3 days of meetings!

The Red Chord tour UK-land

It seems that the noisy death/grind/hardcore quartet from Massachusetts are finding the time to hit UK turf for a quick tour just after hitting the studio end April / May. In a word: whoop!

They are actually hitting the road with Walls Of Jericho (Yes, you shout, EPIC BAND!!) for some US dates in April, but early July is the time you'll be needing to block out if you live anywhere near Kingston, Yeovil, Manchester, Sheffield, London, Bristol or Croft. Oh, and no worries, if they don't bring Walls with them it's because you can actually catch them in Europe this month. Thank you Satan.

I digress...more 'Chord info, studio and tour progress can be found on myspace.com/theredchord. And I specifically recommend MySpace for a change, rather than their official website because, despite cool graphics to be found, non-US tour mentions are scarce-to-zero and the one video they have up refuses to load...all of which will likely just frustrate you.

Less frustrating is the video embedded below, though, which was from their tour diary a couple of months ago and serves well as a 'taste' of things to come. That's if their livers survive the journey...

New songs: KSE & Converge.

KSE Metal Hammer performance reveals a brand new song! OK, so it's pretty badly recorded and Howard's voice isn't all that hot, but it does show they are back'n'ballsy.

Meanwhile, Converge who have been slowly leaking vocal-free studio footage on-line for a few weeks now courtesy of their generous label Deathwish (see blog post below) have blessed us with some additional and sneaky (though not-so-cleanly recorded) live tunes. Have a nibble.