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!

Infectious Grooves / Cyco Miko live album

It's really good! I mean I know the band are great and both styles are fun, but they've managed to release a double-disc release from way back when (1995, in fact) that does them real justice!
One CD is dedicated to the band playing a Cyco Miko set, and the other sees the same members all shifting guise to play the Infectious Grooves set, so it's a pretty impressive example of this lot's talent but, best of all, Rob Trujillo's particularly on fire and the recording's untouched and unaltered. Grabbing the feed straight from the sound desk may make the whole experience a little more muddy than your average Blue Ray extravaganza, but it also makes it much more 'real'.
Freestyle and funky - seriously, go grab it!

Softcore fans...

Went to Agnostic Front on Monday... Perfect example of a technically good gig ruined by a beyond boring crowd. Such a shame. The guys were on form, the stand in drummer solid and the set-list damn near perfect - but did it get anything but a 3-deep Josh and some raised fists? Did it hell. It was rammed too! I refuse to think the scene's getting old..it's obviously a glitch in the summer system. Hmph.

Refused rumours...

I've held back from putting this in writing for a while now, but I have now lost hope in just holding my breath. I am going for that 'light a fag to bring on a bus' option now. If I put pen to paper (meh...keyboard to site) it might make it real...so here goes:

Refused's label, No Sleep Records, promised that they'd be bringing out a 2 CD Tribute album at some point in 2009. It has not happened and we need it to. Anyone up for starting a massive campaign for this? Please? I beg of you...imagine it! An hour and a half or so of great Refused tracks covered by Hardcore bands worldwide. Awesome fun. It could even be followed by a swedish hardcore festival featuring the bands of the CD playing their covers, and a reformation and headline tour by the band themselves.

There are NOT and never will be dead, darn it.

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.

New Converge!!! (oh & rubbish new AFI)

Converge have posted new track 'Dark Horse' to their MySpacepage - and, oh yes, it promises good things to come ;-)

Meanwhile, AFI appear to have forgotten all they ever new of the punk or hardcore worlds and tumbled into bad American highschool movie pop. If you want a cry go to youtube
Gutted.

Pennywise crumbles

After 20 years and 9 albums, Pennywise singer Jim Lindberg has parted ways with Pennywise. Gutted as they kicked arse live and are responsible for many memories of irresponsible...hee hee.
Still, the band will be continuing without him, meanwhile he can be found working on the film to his book 'Punk Rock Dad'.

Finish! Him, Agnostic Front & The Aggrolites

A random list of bands, you say. I know, but I saw quite a lot this week. And, hey, why be put off by style variety, eh? That and, to be brutally honest, the band I most looked forward to in this bunch was Agnostic Front, who were an utter disappointment. Hey ho. Yes, they have the songs we remember but the rebellious punk ethos seems to have faded and the energy is nowhere near what you'll find at a Terror or Hatebreed gig. Still, it was fun to hear Gotta Go live for the first time.

Finish! Him were more of a positive surprise...they should be back in London some time this month and are worth a glimpse if you like metalcore with a madddd in your face frontman and a loads of weird keyboard effects :-) It is quite loony and yet heavy - and I for one think there should be more up-and-comers this gutsy.

And ahhhh yes The Aggrolites. HOW COOL ARE THIS LOT?! I realise they are in no way shape or form metal, so don't really belong on this blog, but they had such a slick vibe I had to give them a mention. In the name of music, so to speak. Reggae with a smooth frontman and an absolute insistence that you dance cannot be a bad thing.

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!

New Caliban & Winds Of Plague

I've been a bit slack of late due to excess work and random nights out drinking fruit beer watching barn-dancing, but this weekend has nicely kicked me up the arse thanks to our boys Astrohenge and Meantime shows.

Soooo...felt it only right to share the news of new releases from Caliban and Winds Of Plague :-)

Winds have taken a rather radical step by adding keyboards and producing a concept album (The Great Stone War) this time around. It tells of the destruction of civilisation, concludes in a final fight with stone (Don't ask...) and is basically an aggressive death meets black metal melodrama. And, by god, it's fun. 20 days left!

Meanwhile, Caliban have done the opposite and stuck with what they do best in Say Hello To Tragedy, and simply rocked out a giant wad of vicious modern metal. If you've forgotten just how god damn good their drumwork is, grab it without hesitation. It's out mid-August, a new song is on MySpace and they tour the UK in November. Bring it!