Annihilation Time will disband

Just read that on the AT-homepage, some of you probably already know:

"First of all, we have to thank everyone who made Chaos in Tejas possible/fun. TImmy H., Dan Moore , C-Vok, Alicon and Emily, Amber (for putting up with us for a whole week!), Emo's and AMEBIX and EYEHATEGOD (for Slaying). Killer fucking time and if you missed it you're fucking bummed cuz as you may have heard, those shows were our last US shows for possibly ever! The rumors are true, Jimmy is leaving us and were putting the band to rest. BUT, the rest of us are sticking together to start something else with a new singer. We just don't know who... were still waitng to hear back from David Coverdale.

Anyhow... we're headin' out to Europe for a couple of weeks to play on a boat in Sweden with the Misfits. Sounds....interesting. That will also probably be our last shows in Europe for maybe ever, so catch us if you can.

-chris (5-29-09)"

What a fucking bummer, I only hope to see them when they're here in Europe the last time.

Official Annihilation Time site
Annihilation Time on myspace.com

Crowbar - Existence Is Punishment

If you aren't yet, better get into it.


I gave my heart and soul to you my friend
You let me fall
If you could only see what's in my heart
You'd take my hand
I've lived this life as a man would do
Why's it so hard to find the truth?
My faith is strong within myself
I bleed of pride
Inside
I won't forgive
You can't take it back now
It's too hard to swallow
No words
No conviction
I've found the truth inside myself
But I am still doing time
Opened my eyes to what is real
This world is hard
It's cold
It's agony

Official Crowbar Site
Crowbar on myspace.com

Iron Age - The Sleeping Eye (Review)

Man I've waited for that record for so long, since the release of their first full length "Constant Struggle" to be exact. In between those two LPs Iron Age released only two 7"s, and the first one, the "Burden of Empire" 7" never really made it to Europe I think. The "The Way is narrow" 7" came out like months ago and really made me expecting nothing but the best from the new record, "The Sleeping Eye".
First of all, the record comes in a really thick gatefold cover (at least the US-pressing on Cyclopean Records), as double LP, with all lyrics and a small poster. The artwork itself is quite weird and not exactly "nice". In fact it looks more like done while tripping on LSD or something. Maybe that's not too far from the truth. The good thing is, in this case you can judge a book by its cover.

It still sounds like Iron Age, no doubt about it, but I think they manage the approach they had from the beginning way better than on the first record. What's left is the same unique mixture of Thrash metal, Stoner rock and Hardcore, but whereas some of their earlier songs kind of didn't really know where to go, every single one on "The Sleeping Eye" is perfect. You have really long, slow, even psychadelic parts, fast parts that totally remind me on "Kill em all"-Metallica, and a few but really hard moshparts, which will make your head bang harder then a train approaching you from the behind. The riffs are excellently played, with lots of "twin-tone" harmonies, and Iron Age is one of the few Hardcore bands which are able to play more than 8 riffs in one song without getting boring or causing the impression of bad song writing. As if this wasn't enough for a great record, they implemented some quite unusual stuff (at least in a Hardcore context), like a synth-intro in one song, or what I call a "monk-choir" in another.
The production is quite good as well, I mean it perfectly fits the music. It's warm and "earthy", the record sounds as if they recorded it out in the desert. Which maybe isn't too far from the truth. While sounding that warm, it's still crisp and tight, of course.
The lyrics, in addition to the music, help to build a very epic feeling throughout the whole record. Want to try? "Once below, now beyond/Ascending in time/The Entrance I Seek/Is the hidden devine/Towers of untold height are anchored/In the sin of hell beneath/If I ignore them, they will pass. Dispossessed/by all I used to need" and so on.
My advice: go and get this record, at least if you don't get turned off by songs that are longer than two minutes. This is as heavy as it is beautiful and for sure one of the records 2009.

Iron Age's blog
Iron Age on myspace.com
Cyclopean Records

No Comment #1

Here's a pdf-file of the first issue of No Comment. If you're interested in getting one of the few printed issues (I have a few left), just drop me line at nocommentfanzine@arcor.de and we'll work something out. My favourite page is the one with the Terrorizer quote, definetly a song that hasn't lost any of its relevance. Get the pdf here

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Interview with Magrudergrind

Done over a year ago, too. The band's still very active, and they have released a few records in the meantime. Worth your time!

I picked up Magrudergrind's latest LP „Rehashed“ at the record store and was literally blown to pieces by the merciless Grindcore that came out of my speakers. I did the Interview via email with Avi, the vocalist, in September 07. Short and fast, how it's supposed to be.

Magrudergrind is up for some years now, if you could just tell me which were the most important steps in the history of the band for introduction, that'll be cool.

Avi: I would have to say the most important steps for us was touring in Europe and being able to put out a record on such a great DIY label as Six Weeks Records.

You've toured the US and Europe, next year you'll even tour Japan, South East Asia and Australia, is it the first time in those countries for you? In comparison: Touring Europe or touring the USA?

Avi: Yes, it will be my first time and our first time as a band in Japan, SE Asia and Australia. As far as comparing Europe to the US for touring, in Europe promoters and people involved in DIY ethical punk/hc/grind whatever take it much more seriously. In the US it is rare to even get a meal, yet in Europe its almost a mandatory requirement for a band, small things like that make it a lot easier on the road, when your touring for months at a time.

Are the lyrics from "The final pollution" about a real incident? Is physical violence against nazi scum an appropriate way to deal with those shitheads, even if it doesn't make oneself better than the nazis itself?

Avi: Yes, the lyrics from that song are about a true incident which happened at a show at my old house, when I lived in a group punk house. I don't see physical violence as a means of solving problems, usually, but being the third generation descendent of 4 Holocaust survivors (all 4 of my grandparents), I DO NOT take neo-Nazism jokingly, and as it says in my lyrics, "seeing the insignia" (the swastika) tattooed on the back of this guy's neck could have led to his death, had we beaten him any worse. With intellectual people, you could have a discussion, maybe change one's point of view, but with ignorant persons, uneducated enough to have a tattoo of hate in this day in age just needs to be dealt with in a more serious manner, by any means.

What importance has vegetarianism/veganism for you as persons and as a band?

Avi: For my self, I was vegetarian for 6-7 years, but I had given it up this past summer, my personal choice. The other guys in the band are vegans.

A lot of your lyrics are about two faced people, the scene and stuff like that, I'd like to know if the scene in your hometown Washington DC is that fucked up? Or is it more like the hardcore/punk/grind whatever scene(s) is in general in such a bad state in your eyes?

Avi: The scene in DC is decent. The lyrics referring to two faced people have to do with "friends" who turned their backs. I love hc/punk/grind scene but there is SO MUCH bullshit which exists, it's a great outlet. Before it was a place where no one judged you and you could be yourself, today personal opinions about others overwhelm everything, whether it be someones politically correctness or simply dietary choices, people judge you on stupid choices like that, instead of respecting your opinions and beliefs (besides prejudices and hate) which you have.

Quite many people that are somehow related to the punk and hardcore scene have like really fucked up problems with their lifes, personal problems or suffer from psychic illness, and that's not a new phenomenon at all. Can you imagine what the reason for that is? What is it that attracts those kids or persons to hardcore/punk?

Avi: I see many fucked up people, either from drug abuse or personal issues turn to this type of music as an outlet. I see nerdy ass people who turn to punk because it's the only community that will accept them. As for myself, I see these people with no other interests in life, people need to look to more ways of expression and hobbies to help progress their life in a positive direction, not just dwell around being angry at society and the main stream. Don't try to put down the world because you're angry or depressed, fix your own life and try to become a better person by looking at the positive aspects of this world.

How do you think it's possible that bands like Converge for example are able to sell thousands of records and that death/grind bands attract hordes of black haired tight pants eyeliner scumbags (yeah I know, most of the time those bands don't look any better...)? What's the reason that the mainstream media shows such a big interest in a genre which intention was at one time to react against the mainstream?

Avi: It's all about the marketing tactics. Big labels and businesses see these bands as an outlet of revenue and profit. You could take the shittiest metal band in the world, market them correctly and give them hype in many media outlets and they will be an instant hit. Look at all the shitty music people actually listen to on the radio as a perfect example, people will listen to what's put in their face.

You'll release a split with Yacopsae next year, how came that you team up with them?

Avi: We're great friends with these guys, have done a couple tours with them and decided a split would be a good idea.

Please finish the following sentences:

Terrorizer's World Downfall is...
...one of the greatest and influential grindcore albums in the history of grindcore along with Scum.

Playing without bass guitar rules because...
...it's easier touring with three people and less equipment.

The worst band I ever saw live was...
...many bands.

Work sucks because...
...it's something you don't enjoy doing.

DIY for me is...
...people working together.

Infest rules more than any other band because...
...they we're one of the originators of fastcore/powerviolence.

I don't know how...
...come I'm still answering these questions because I have to wake up for class in 6 hours.

I wish I could...
...have spent more time at the beach in Europe last summer.

Ok last question, it's for a survey I'm doing, where is the best place to read fanzines? If you wish to add anything, take the chance. Thanks for giving me the chance for this interview, I really appreciate it!

AVI: I guess on the toilet when your taking a shit or in the van on long rides. MRR and Short, Fast and Loud. Thanks for the interview, check out our tour dates at

Magrudergrind on myspace.com

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Toxic Revolution

Done 2008 as well. The band just released a new split 12", but due to the fact that all of its members play in countless other bands as well not really active anymore. Anyway one of the best bands from this area.

It’s about 10 pm, Toxic Revolution just finished their set at the last show that’s ever going to happen at the Luna Bar in Münster, a former brothel turned into some kind of a club which is about to close its doors forever. Toxic Revolution played a short but brutal set, very tight and veeeeery fast, even though the bass sound seemed to make some problems in the beginning. Anyway the band ripped through about 20 songs in about 20 minutes and then left the stage for Alpinist, who are also from Muenster and should be interesting for fans of His Hero Is Gone or From Ashes Rise and bands alike. Since the interview was planed a long time before I was quite happy I finally got the opportunity to talk to at least two guys of this three piece...

„Who has influenced us?!“ That’s all Jan from Toxic Revolution has to say besides “Don’t even know them” if you ask him if the band Sigur Ros were an influence for them, because they also invented an own kind of secret language. But if you listen to Toxic Revolution it’s pretty obvious that they were influenced by 90’s Powerviolence and Grindcore bands, not artsy pop outfits. Although Toxic Rev have in fact no real lyrics in some parts of their songs. “I have to say, what I scream or shout, has at least a certain kind of meaning. I scream words that make sense. Christian is just screaming what’s on his mind somehow.” But if you have some phantasy left in your head you can come up with your own interpretation of the “lyrics”. “I listened to it at home when we were done with it (the recordings) and thought like ‘wait, what could that mean?’ And so I came up with I think one or two verses afterwards. They also fit to the song titles, I had to come up with them too, because Christian was too lazy.” So you may ask who is in that band, that plays blistering, raging Powerviolence and has no lyrics for the most part. Jan says “I am the drums”, then we have “…Christoph and I play bass and try to sing” and last but not least but not taking part at the interview "Christian Chaco plays the guitar and also tries to sing, that’s our Brüllwürfel“ (that’s impossible to translate...). So back to the lyrical content, Christoph explains “Well I have thought about at least some parts”, whereas Jan has a slightly different opinion what the lyrics are about: “We do it like German Punk bands, just about boozing, beating the shit out of nazis...” - “that’s not true at all”, Christoph interrupts, “I also have lyrics about the media, about how they pollute our minds.” Later he also states that “...maybe I’m too much into Hardcore and Punkrock, so I think that, what I scream, even if nobody understands anything, has to have a certain meaning.” But this band has to say way more, not only about the media. At one point during the interview, Ollie, a friend just hanging out there with us and reading stuff about mice with incredible big penises, asks the band what they think about the fact that the Giant Hogweed is the poisonous plant of the year 2008. “I would take it home with me” Christoph answers without hesitating, Jan needs a little bit more detailed information before he wants to give a statement about that topic “I have to ask if you can smoke it”. Well, you can’t, that’s at least what Ollie says about it, but you’ll have a bad rash breaking out from touching it. “My mother has that in her garden to scare little children” Jan recalls. Good to know. So what releases can you get from that band that shows such an interest in toxic plants? There is of course the demo, which is awesome, and then there’s the split CD with Androphagous “On F.D.A. Rekotz by Ricö. He’s from Berlin and it’s basically a noise label, only Grindcore stuff. And I think Christian, who’s not here now, who’s not into doing this right now, they knew each other, because in this scene it seems like you know each other anyway, and he also likes the music.” By the way, Androphagous is another band Christian plays in, but there are quite a few more: “He plays in Keitzer, then he’s playing in Bruno Henry Gonzales, but that’s more some kind of an Amos rip-off. Do you know Amos? He’s awesome. But that’s more like a two men show with keyboards and changing clothes during the set and stuff. At one show they put cream in ballons and then threw them onto the crowd, who didn’t think that was funny, understandbale if you ask me, and another time somebody with a chainsaw ran through the crowd. Musically he’s very diverse, I think he also has a surfband” Christoph explains. “Los Makacos and Sandokhan”, Jan adds. “Yeah, Los Makakos is the surf band, and Sandokhan is basically the same as Toxic Revolution and Androphagous, just plain blasting.” “But shorter” Jan knows, “Yeah, and I think they’re only two guys”. So what holds the future in store for Toxic Rev? “Quite a few things”, explains Jan, “next thing that’s planed is a split LP, if we’d hit the studio sometime.” “Nonono” Christoph interrupts, “you have to explain that different. Jan is soon going on tour with Alpinist for two weeks. We have seven new songs now, we’re going to write two or three more when he’s back again - that works pretty fast in that Powerviolence genre – and we’re going to record them where we’ve also recorded the split CD.” That’s going to happen at “...Werner Wiese Studios in Werne, where also Krautbomber, NeinNeinNein, Sidetracked, Sniffing Glue and The Italian Stallion recorded their stuff. And those seven + ? songs are going to be released on a split LP with Magnicide from Malaysia, on TVG Records, that’s some old guy who also released stuff by Bloody Phoenix or Yacoepsae.” “And we’ll carry on that tradition” expresses Jan maybe a little bit proud. So can we hope for some kind of tour or something? Unfortunatly this will not happen in the nearer future with Toxic Rev. “It’s hard to do, I’m working in shifts, also at the weekend, and Christian is doing quite a lot with Keitzer now, because they have just released a new record on Yellowdog, and they recently were on tour in the USA and have many shows booked in the near future. We’d love to do more then what we’re able to. I mean, we would have the opportunities, but it’s so hard to work it all out, even though we’re only three guys in the band.” Well, Jan makes it plain to me that he’s not the problem “I could do it anytime. I’m the only one in the band who’s not guilty.” Not surprisingly, somebody this dedicated can tell a few words about the foundation of the band: “That was while having a few beers in the USA. We were drunk in the USA and just said ‘come on, let’s just make some noise’, and that was that.” Of course, that’s not the whole story, at that point Toxic Rev only were Jan and Christian. Christoph describes how he joined forces with them: “The story is, that you guys posted two songs cut from a rehearsal on myspace, where there were only you two guys in the band, and I simply asked ‘yo, do you need a bass player?’ And they were like ‘yeah, cool’, and I was in.” So what’s left unsaid, after media terror, beers, Grindcore and neophytic tall herbs? “Work is overemphasized” (Jan). Support those guys.

Toxic Revolution on myspace.com
TVG Records
FDA Records

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Interview with Weekend Nachos

Yeah, quite old interview again. But at least this band still exists, they recently released a second full length called "Unforgivable". I haven't had the chance to listen to it yet, but I'll definetly check it out asap. And you should as well.

I discovered Weekend Nachos in an interview they did with SF&L Fanzine about, dunno, maybe even two years ago. A while after that I found their „Torture“ 7“ in a small record store, and that was (and is) some pretty heavy and brutal piece of vinyl. And then again, months later, WN released a LP, so I ordered that one, too, and it was even better than the 7“, really heavy music, with lots of different influences ranging from bands like No Comment to bands like Iron Monkey to bands like Godflesh, so you know that this IS heavy and awesome. In addition to that, John is a very cool dude, so get into Weekend Nachos!

I'm not sure about the "who's doing what" thing in Weekend Nachos, on the insert of the Torture EP it seems like Weekend Nachos is a four piece band (Andy, Inverted, John C., Ronaldo), on the new LP it looks like there are only two permanent members in the band, Aaron and you, and Andy „just“ did all the recording and mastering. So if you could put that in its correct light, who's in the band for how long, who is Weekend Nachos?

Weekend Nachos right now is me (John) on vocals, Aaron on guitar, and Varg on bass. the original lineup was Andy on guitar, Ron on bass, and Adam on drums. Over time, Andy quit and Aaron replaced him on guitar... this was quite a while ago. About a year ago, Ron and Adam got kicked out for reasons that aren't important, and we got fill-ins for a while. Varg eventually became the permanent bass player and to this day, we still don't have a real drummer... probably never will! Aaron and I recorded all of the music for the LP, at the time we were really the only people in the band.

Since you wrote a song about Steven Blush and American Hardcore, did you even watch the movie? What do you think about it?

I watched it recently actually. It was alright, not enough of the more obscure bands were covered. I was hoping to see awesome coverage of Urban Waste, Verbal Abuse, Necros, Whipping Boy, Fang, Deep Wound, and pretty much all of the lesser known bands that made up the time period. I felt like the bands covered we're great bands and the movie wasn't bad... but let's face it, any mall punk can get into Bad Religion, Circle Jerks, Black Flag, etc. speaking of mall punk, there DEFINTIELY was not enough Dead Kennedy's talked about in the movie, which I found very strange considering it's pretty much the entire book. One strong point about the movie was that they had a decently long NYHC section in it. The bullshit "old man" attitude reflected in the book was not as apparent in the movie, which I liked. Keith Morris and H.R. interviews were great!

Yeah I also was hoping to get some more rare live shots from Siege and Deep Wound or The Fix, and I found it pretty irritating that there wasn't anything about the Misfits as well, I mean it's like one fifth of the book. What do you think about all those bands from those days playing shows again, like the Adolescents or the Circle Jerks, or even touring like the Bad Brains (not to mention the "Cro-Mags" Europe tour last summer)? Here in Germany and Europe we're like witnessing reunion tours like every 3 weeks (nah, nearly...) and somehow I just don't get the point... are 20 bucks of entrance really necessary? I don't know.

I agree it's pretty dumb, especially since the money's really not going to anyone except the band... It's like, you play shows the first time around and you don't make a dime... then you break up for 15-20 years and make a SHITLOAD of money on ONE reunion tour. Lame! I love all of those bands you mentioned especially the Cro Mags but yeah 99% of the time I don't even give a fuck about seeing a bunch of old dudes playing songs they wrote when they were 17. Just kinda kills the vibe.

Many of your songs seem to have a quite strong influence from sludge core bands like Eyehategod for example, and there is even a song called „Sludge“, would you say you're influenced by bands of that kind?

I'd say they is an influence, for sure. That's one of the things I wanted to originally emphasize when I began writing songs for our demo, just adding a good amount of dirty, heavy sludge parts to the mix. A lot of bands are influenced by metal and end up sounding pretty hard but people forget about bands like Eyehategod and Grief... nothing rules more than a brutal sludge part at the end of a really fast song!!! Crowbar has definitely been influencing some of the newer songs I've been coming up with that haven't been released yet... I'm going for a Nirvana "Bleach" era meets Crowbar meets Bastard meets Tragedy meets Hatebreed kinda thing for our next LP.

Quite a lot of lyrics of your songs deal with violence, violence you wish to practice towards people that surround you, would you say that violence is something like the last option that is left in certain situations?

It's the last and most unrealistic option in my mind. If you asked me if I truly wanted to be violent, and truly wanted to hurt people, the answer would be yes. I've got a real desire to end people's lives and make them feel pain, always have, just something that I've felt inside since I was a little kid... this is the point where I should say that writing songs and playing them live is a healthy way for me to release that negative energy. My inner feelings do match up with my lyrics... but my actions, and intentions, do not. Music is the only way to survive. And even music barely helps, but at least it's something.

In an interview you did with Short, Fast & Loud zine you discussed about how the style of hardcore you play became a little bit more popular lately; also your song „Trapped in a scene“ deals with that topic. Since the interview and the writing process of the record was done a while before, I'd like to know how you think about this now. Would you still say that powerviolence (if we name it like this) gained more popularity over the last months/years? And if so, would you still say it sucks or would you say it's cool that kids discover that sub genre of hardcore?

Begin rant. The powerviolence trend is fortunately on the downswing now, and I'm less annoyed by it these days because it's just not happening as often as it was around the time of that interview. My feelings have not changed... powerviolence is one of those terms that will never stop annoying me. People are desperate to fit in, to find something new to cling on to, this will not change. It's up to us to weed out the people who feel the need to classify us as well as themselves into sub-genres that are simply a "word of the week" for whatever's cool at the time. That's all powerviolence is and it's all it will ever be. A lot of people hear me say this and they say "well, you're playing that style...what are you, "above it" or something? hypocrite." And you know what, those people don't know what they're talking about. I started our band in 2004 when this music barely existed anymore... sure, there's always gonna be bands doing everything at some point, but I'll be damned if I'm going to admit to "hopping on a trend" when in reality, we beat the trend by about almost a year. I'm not saying we "brought it back" but we definitely pre-dated the powerviolence resurgence, and never claimed to ever want to be a part of it in the first place! End rant.

Last question about a certain lyrics, about what band is the song „Mocked“? When I read the lyrics Bones Brigade came to my mind, but then I thought it can not be about that dudes, because they actually do skate a lot, so about which band is that song?

Have you ever been to a show and seen kids skateboarding out front... and they're fucking TERRIBLE? Like, seriously, can't land a single trick, just riding around, actually most of the time they aren't even skating, they're just HOLDING their skateboards... there's a reason for that, and it is because SKATEBOADING HAS BECOME NOTHING MORE THAN A BULLSHIT FASHION STATEMENT TO HELP SELL RECORDS AND MAKE BANDS LOOK LIKE "COOL DUDES". I will stand by this statement til the end of time. Cool, you're into skateboarding... then if this is your whole life, drop the mic, drop the guitar, get off the drums, and go fucking skate. You write lyrics about how you hate yourself when you're not skateboarding... then break up and skate all day and stop writing songs that I can't relate to. I guess I just do not fucking buy it. The reason these kids can't skate is because the only time they ever DO is at a show where they know people can see it. Don't even get me started on people who just bring their boards to a show as an accessory... cool, where's your flannel and your bandana? Don't you need those accessories too? Fuck ANYONE who defines themself based only on fashion.

What is more important to you when it comes down to music: the music, the lyrics or the (baaaad word) lifestyle of the people in the band and how they refelct that with their music?

All that matters to me is if you're sincere about what you're doing. Seriously, freedom of speech is an interesting thing... you can have lyrics about bogus shit that I disagree with and be a total fucking asshole but if you're doing your own thing and releasing pure energy from inside of you, I can at least respect it in that sense, regardless of your message or your image or anything else. It's not about what music you play, what lyrics you have, and what lifestyle you live. If it's who you are, sure I might not LIKE it or even SUPPORT it (i.e. a racist band or something) but if it's truly coming from inside you, that's what all forms of art in general are about... releasing yourself and attacking the world with who you really are, and not being afraid to piss people off and show them how you feel about shit. Add hatred to the mix as well as being really fucked up and confused and never wanting to be a part of society and you get what I consider "Hardcore".

Do Weekend Nachos tour a lot? What was the best and the most fucked up thing that happened to you while touring? Do you have certain rules while in you're in the van, like nobody's supposed to wake somebody up who's sleeping or something or is a Weekend Nachos tour a complete mess?

Hahaha, we don't tour very much at all! We actually did a real tour for the first time over the summer... it was really awesome. There aren't really any fucked up stories that come to mind... we played a house show in Santa Cruz and during another band's set, someone jumped off of a trampoline from outside INTO the living room where the band was playing, THROUGH the window (which was half-closed), THROUGH the glass, and punched Chris in the face upon his entry into the living room, knocking him out. I looked over and saw Chris falling over, completely passing the fuck out from the punch. It was amazing. There aren't really any rules in the van... but I seem to be the only person who gets REALLY mad if someone farts in the van. It's disgusting, I say hold it in until we stop, show some courtesy.

That window guy, he didn't hurt himself? What an amazing action hahaha.

I hope he did! A lot of people got hurt at that show actually, our friends from California have this thing where they crush beer cans on each others heads. Myself and a bunch of others were definitely bringing the "hate mosh" at that show too, it was pretty good. Matt Rolland, our roadie at the time, went into another room and brought their COUCH into the room where the show was and threw it on top of the crowd. I was wearing an American flag headband and an Oakland Raiders jersey (which wasn't even mine, fuck sports) and rolled up sweatpants... weird crazy night.

Are there any more cool bands one should check out from your hometown? Do you know any actual bands from Germany?

There are a bunch of great bands from the U.S., where do I begin? I don't want to name a bunch of bands and leave anyone out, so I guess I'll just namedrop our good friends SICK FIX from Baltimore, Maryland, and IN DISGUST from San Jose, California, both of those bands are fucking great and should be checked out and supported immediately. As for overseas, I know of a lot of bands from Europe... I always forget what countries they are specifically from. Were Mainstrike and Eyeball from Germany? I like a lot of the Crucial Response Straight Edge bands, and I like Cold War a lot, they're from Germany I'm almost positive. not sure about bands from Germany but I love Selfish, D.S. 13, Wolfbrigade, E.T.A., you know, a lot of European bands but not necessarily Germany.

Yeah Eyeball were from Germany, Mainstrike from the Netherlands. Cold War are from Berlin, Germany, 100 points for you!

Haha, awesome, yeah Mainstrike were a great great band, I wish I had gotten to see them when they toured the states.

What are you into besides Weekend Nachos? Are you still attending school or college or working?

Na, to be honest Hardcore is all I give a fuck about. I have a dumb job that I go to so I can survive and eat and all that... but school can suck it, and so can work, but I got no choice there. I like to watch movies and listen to records and occasionally just sit around and laugh about retarded stuff with friends of mine, but writing songs, releasing records, playing shows, going to shows, etc. is the only thing I know how to do.

So this year isn't that long anymore, what's your favourite movie, record and show from 2007?

Fuck, favorite movie, I have no idea! I haven't really seen any that I liked all that much, but 300 came out in 2007, right? That movie was fucking incredible... definitely the best movie of 2007 if I had to name one. Might be the hardest movie ever made, actually. Records and shows... shit, my brain hurts from thinking about this, uhmm I recently saw an instrumental band from Japan play with High On Fire in Chicago, they were called MONO and they completely blew me away, it was not only the best set I've seen in 2007 but one of the best I've ever seen... words couldn't describe it. Check em out if you've got an open mind, they were fucking LOUD and intense, too! Best record would probably go to either the Sick Fix 7" or the Coke Bust 7", both on Third Party Records.

So, last question, it's for a survey I'm doing, what's the best place to read a printzine? If you want to give any shout outs or something, do so! Thanks a dozen this worked out!

Honestly, the best zine around is by a friend of mine named Matt Rolland, he does a zine called MINDLESS MUTANT and he really works hard at it and makes it look damn good. Hands down, best zine around. It really bothers me when people talk about how great MRR is and how it's such a wonerful thing... sure, it's the best distributed underground music zine in the world but so what?!!?? That doesn't mean shit. Of course there are good things someone can get out of a zine like MRR but you have to realize that it DOESN'T represent what's really going on out there AT ALL. It's just a representation of what the current state of the scene wants to see and thinks is cool, and who is anyone to decide that? You all need to find out what's going on in your town and check it out. Don't resort to a bunch of people telling you what to think and how to feel, which is essentially what Hardcore turns into when you have something like MRR dominating the way we view zines. And it's not MRR's fault either... it's ours. Seek out what kids in your scene are really doing, and do it for yourself as well.


Weekend Nachos on myspace.com

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Interview with Mind Eraser

This Interview was done over a year ago. In the meantime Mind Eraser released a new full length and a 7".

Without a doubt, Mind Eraser is one of my favourite bands these days. Their music is like written for me, it has it's very fast, pv-style moments, really slow, heavy sludgy parts, and god dethroning mosh parts. Plus it features one of Hardcore's best vocalists, Justin, who's more known for his drumming in countless bands in the Boston area. This interview was done via email with Justin and Chris "CC" (guitars). If you haven't until now, pick up their records or stay a whimpy douche bag who still lives at home and tries to play the newest Green Day songs on his acoustic guitar.

As far as I know you and Chris are the only founding members that are still in the band, the last line up I know of is Chris, Justin, the other Chris, Craig and Brendan, is this still correct? How would you describe the music and attitude of Mind Eraser?

Justin: The current line up is me, CC, Brendan, and Craig. The music and attitude of Mind Eraser is similar in that both is abrasive and disgusting. We got nothing to prove, we just want to assault our ears and other peoples ears with awful sounding music. That pretty much sums up the band I think.

CC: Me and Justin are the only founding members. We were originally a studio group. Chris has a child to raise. I would describe our music and attitude introverted and loud.

When I listen to your records your influences are more or less obvious, you have influences from bands like early Agnostic Front or Madball, from early 90ies powerviolence bands like No Comment or Crossed Out, and from Grind and Metal bands like Napalm Death, Terrorizer and so on. Was it a considered choice to play music of that style and feeling, or was it more like that the sound you have is the end of a process of playing and writing music together, and you realised afterwards that you were influenced by those bands unconsciously?

Justin: Well we certainly knew what we had in mind when we started the band and of course all the bands and genres you mentioned were/are important to us developing our sound. I would also include a lot of UK/Swedish hardcore and early Death Metal both from Scandi and the USA as well. Other influences early on were early Ringworm and Citizens Arrest... I can't neglect to mention them... I think later on especially after the Cave LP we started to incorporate a more Doom Metal/Black Sabbathy vibe and you can definitly see that on the later material, especially Glacial Reign. We always had that kind of feel but we really expanded on it for sure. I think our latest stuff is an extension of that mixed with more slowed evil sounding shit like Winter. It's definitly our best material.

CC: Everything was pretty conscious. We definitely set out with a specific aesthetic, and also planned to let it progress and mutate as time went on.

How active is Mind Eraser, thinking of shows, tours and stuff like that? Since I guess most of you guys are playing in more bands I could imagine that it's pretty hard to work stuff like that out.

Justin: Mind Eraser isn't too active. We usually do a month long tour in the summer and besides that we do a lot of one off shows or weekends. A lot of the time we will play shows if our friends bands are in town or on tour. We all have other bands and projects but most of them aren't so active either haha. Work and conflicting school schedules is what does it the most for us but at the same time we don't need to tour 7 months out of the freakin year.
CC: We play more than we should. We've done 3 summer tours, lots of out of state shows. We all play in at least 3 other bands at any given time, and all of us have full time jobs. It's very hard to juggle.

Justin, I guess you've heard that question like a thousand times before, how do you manage to play in so many bands? I mean, not only I could imagine that it's pretty hard to learn and know all those songs, but just time-wise, do you have some kind of a secretary or something who's planning for you?

Justin: Ha well the real secret is that I don't have much of a life. I'm what you would call a loser so I have lots of time to concentrate on music. I think I need to find a touring band so I don't have to be stuck at home losing my mind.

Ok, this is a "guitar nerd question" for CC, what setup do you play, guitar, effects, amp, cabinet, on stage and on your records, especially on Glacial Reign? I think the guitar sound on that one is so fucking brutal, it's really amazing.

CC: I used this modified early 70s SG which was kind of fucked up at the time. It was one of the lower end models produced at that time. I used a couple different Marshall JCM 800s, and then a combo of Big Muff and tube screamer pedals, as well as a turbo rat pedal, and some of the built in distortion on the amp as well. Also some parts (obviously) have wah wah and phaser pedals. Thanks for the compliments, I spent a while twisting knobs and flipping switches. Will Killingsworth was indispensible in his assistance with this stuff and with the actual recording.

What about that split with Fucked Up that is mentioned on the Painkiller page, will it ever come out? Have you recorded songs for it? Or are there any problems with Fucked Up because they're on Jade Tree right now?

Justin: That is something we have been talking about for a few years now. It will come out eventually but there is no real rush. It has nothing to do with Jade Tree or any red tape bullshit like that. The plan is that we write their songs and they write ours. It's gonna be really cool once we get to doing it but as of right now there is no said date.

CC: Yes one day it will come out... in a far away future world, with flying cars and strange space creatures. The songs were written a long time ago, nothing is recorded. There's no problems with F'd Up on Jade Tree, I think they just signed a contract for some albums, not slavery.

Besides the mentioned split, are there any planned releases in the nearer future? Any plans to tour Europe?

Justin: I want to do Europe and everyone else in the band is down but it's just a question of when it is convenient for us. We would like to do it to coincide with a new release so we have something to tour on. But yeah, it will most likely happen.

CC: 2 E.P.s in 2008, one on Clean Plate, one on Youngblood.

What makes a good song in your opinion?

Justin: What always makes a good song is a killer riff and a good structure/arrangement that really compliments the music. That is the same for any kind of music whether its hardcore or r&b. I think the most important part is the feel. if it feels real and sounds like a genuine expression then I'll probably dig it no matter what type of genre it is.

CC: A chill beat, a hard riff, or a good hook.

On youtube there's a video of Mind Eraser covering Drop Dead by Siege, do you still cover that song live? What songs have you covered so far?

CC: There are probobly more I just can't remember right now... haven't played Siege in a while. It's fun though. Off the top of my head here's covers we've done....

Taste Of Fear: Prolife = No Mind
Think I Care: Burn
Citizen's Arrest: Death Threat, Serve And Protect
Infest: Shackled Down, Fetch The Pliers, Kill The Peace
Extreme Noise Terror: Pray To Be Saved
Siege: Drop Dead
Discharge: Society's Victim
Agnostic Front/Psychos/Madball: Discriminate Me
Agnostic Front: Victim In Pain, With Time
No Comment: Push Down And Turn (just the outro part)
Black Sabbath : Black Sabbath (maybe the first 2 minutes of it)
Napalm Death: You Suffer
Integrity: Hollow (w/ Damian from Fucked Up), Sarin
Meat Puppets: Teenagers (only in the studio)
Negative Approach: Evacuate
SS Decontrol: Boiling Point
Void: My Rules

We don't spend a lot of time learning covers so most of the ones we've done are just easy songs that are well known, as you can probably see. it's something to break up the monotony of always playing your own music. I think that's basically all of them though, I have a pretty good memory with that shit.

Why did you choose not to have a myspace page, website or even an email adress (as a band, of course)? Is there any intention behind that?

Justin: Well we actually have a blog now that has most of the FAQ's we get along with show listing, news and a detailed discography, heres the address:
glacialreign.blogspot.com

CC: Another band I'm in has a myspace page. It's just kinda stupid and there's a million people hitting you up and shitty bands that are messaging you. I don't feel like maintaining it. I think we avoided a myspace or website for a long time because we didn't want it to be corny. I'm not saying that every myspace band page is corny but we wanted to keep it pretty cult.

Justin, you're listening to lots of Metal I guess, mostly from the 70ies until the early 90ies, are there any new and/or actual metal bands you dig?

Justin: I've always been a big Metal head even before I got into HC/Punk so I still listen to a lot of Metal. For new bands? There are some cool ones from MA such as HIRUDINEA and WITCH TOMB. There are a good group of guys from around here that know their shit and have great taste in Metal and Punk so we tend to play shows together. There is a cool Doom/Stoner band from around here called ELDER. Remind me of Sleep meets Electric Wizard. There is a band from NJ called FUNEBRARUM that plays that old school early 90's sounding Swedish/Finnish Death Metal. Also features Daryl Kahan from Citizens Arrest. Also, Brendan from Mind Eraser has a Black Metal project called HILLS OF IRON who are also really cool so check that out.

Your lyrics are very dark and fateful, and in addition also quite metaphoric. So in what kind of mood do you mostly write those lyrics? And how do you write them, is it more like you have a certain idea for the topic, or do you start with some expression that came to your mind or whatever?

Justin: Usually I need to hear the music before I write the lyrics. I try to write the lyrics to compliment the type of song it is. As far as topics, I usually just try to write what is on my mind. I don't go out of my way to prove a point or preach or whatever...its mostly just an expression of what is going on in my head

Is Mind Eraser the first band where you are doing the vocals?

Justin: No, I sang in a Hardcore band in high school called Schmegmatic Youth. We played a few shows but didnt really do much after that. It was cool, sounded like Minor Threat with Citizens Arrest style vocals.

Two possibilities, choose one!
Napalm Death or Terrorizer

Justin: Napalm Death but only because they have a richer catalog
CC: Repulsion

No Comment or Crossed Out

Justin: Crossed Out
CC: Infest

Metallica or Slayer

Justin: Metallica out of nostalgia
CC: Megadeth. Just kidding. Possessed.

Hardcore in the early 90ies or Metal in the early 90ies

Justin: Early 90's Death Metal
CC: Grunge.

To sleep or to eat

Justin: Sleep
CC: Both at once.

Summer or winter

Justin: Winter
CC: Fall (seriously)

Pepsi or Coca Cola

Justin: Neither
CC: Micro brewed root beer.

Last one, it's for a survey I'm doing, where is the best place to read a fanzine? What's your favourite fanzine? If you feel like you have to add something, the chance is now! Thanks a dozen!

Justin: Man, everyone knows the best place to read a zine is in the bathroom. My favorite zine? Hmmm I loved Town Of Hardcore fanzine but my old school pic would have to be Schism probobly... Don't have much to add. thanks for the interview and I hope we play Europe some time before we all die.

CC: Best place to read a fanzine... in bed maybe? Favorite fanzine... Bust Super-Fanzine.

Mind Eraser's blog
Painkiller Records

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Interview with Frightener

This Interview was also done last year (2008). In the meantime Frightener has disbanded. The only thing I'm really corious about is if the second full length they talk about will be released sometime.

To start, who's Frightener? Since when are you making noise and what have you released so far? Are there any other bands some of you guys play in?

Rhys: Jack and Sam wanted to start a band that sounded like Integrity, Ringworm (etc). Rhys moved to London from Perth, Western Australia in 2006 and wanted to play music. Rhys started jamming with Sam and Jack. Steve and Dearlove joined later. We released a demo, LP, split 7'' and recorded for a second LP. We’ve disbanded as Rhys has moved back to Australia, Jack has moved to Rio and so on. Steve played in ABANDON SHIP up until a week ago. Sam plays in HELLBENT DIEHARD. Dearlove plays in DIRTY MONEY. Rhys plays in EXTORTION, DEFEAT, GRIEVING MOTHERS, ROCKY SOLAR SYSTEM, FIST & CHIPS,CHRIS MAINWARING IS DEAD and GRANNY BASHERS back in Australia.

I'd like to know how the scene is in England right now and if there are any bands that have similar influences like you.

Rhys: Fuck, I don’t live in England anymore. As someone who existed on the periphery of the scene over there, I would say it's EXACTLY like anywhere else. There are the pro-active people, and then there are the slack cunts that expect shit to be handed to them. The only real difference is, there seems to be a higher population of apathetic people in England, as it is an intrinsic part of their culture as a whole. Not to sound pious or anything, but I moved from the other side of the world, worked 6 days a week in a shitty job, ate bad food, partied 4-5 times a week, took loads of drugs, drunk my body weight in warm beer, paid high rent and still managed to play/practice weekly in 4 bands and tour Europe, the UK and America in under 2 years. Meanwhile most British bands rarely leave their fucking lounge room/computer screen.

You released a split 7" with Pulling Teeth and you were on tour with them only a few days ago. How did this connection come? And how was the tour?

Rhys: Jack met Dom at the god-awful ‘’Ninja-Fest’’. Ninja Fest is a bogus hardcore festival that is nothing more than an attempt by the uncutous promoter and the egregious people running the Camden Underworld to make lots of money. From that initial rendezvous, we have toured the UK and US with Pulling Teets.

The US tour was a fuckin trip brah, as we spent weeks in the midwest and the deep south. What can I say about trailer parks, guns, knives, cocaine, cheap booze, skanks, freaks, crack-whores, records, driving, rats, driving, stitches, driving, the hells angels, nazis, Mexicans, Viagra, Valium, bars, crime, random-hellholes, conspiracy theories, the pentagon, international terrorism, fights, smashed bottles, preservatives, bus trips, squat houses, no sleep, hard floors, headaches, uunatural sex and maximum ass-kickery that has not been said before?

Next questions are about lyrics and stuff, so it would be cool if someone who's into writing those could answer them. Quite a lot of your lyrics deal with topics from the Greek mythology, what is that makes it so fascinating for you? Would you say that those myths can be used as metaphors for today's problems and feelings?

Rhys: Jack is busy climbing trees in Brazil. Maybe this will help him lighten the fuck up and stop him pontificating about magic cards, Ben-Hur, X-Men, Dungeons & Dragons and similar fantasy-related shtick.

Jack: My mum is an archaeologist so I grew up around all that stuff. I love stories, I think that myths and legends by and large are great when you take them at face value and don't go around burning people at the stake for not taking them literally. I used ideas and stories from Classical civilisation as I find that stuff a hell of a lot more interesting than derivitive Biblical twaddle, besides which, Greek myths are harsh as fuck and contain more blood than most other myths and legends. I think a lot of myths from Greek times are still relevant because they deal with almost eternal precepts but at the same time I think they're all open to interpretation. Daedelus is about my opinion of Icarus. At school you get taught that they both went flying, and because Icarus was reckless, he ended up dead, the moral of the story being 'Don't fly too close to the sun' etc. From my perspective, Daedelus grew old and died heartbroken, whereas his son actually did what he wanted, though he died for it. I think I am rambling now so I will stop.

The lyrics in general are very negative and written from an inside perspective, would you call yourself a depressed person? Or do you use writing as an outlet to get rid of those depressing feelings?

Jack: I used to suffer from depression. I hate depression more than anything else in the world. I think that society as a whole revels in depression and unhappy feelings, in fact large segments of our economy are built around making people unhappy, 'curing' them of it and then repeating the process. I think people who revel in being unhappy are by and large utter cunts who have never really had to deal with depression. I originally wrote a lot of songs as a vent for anger at this situation, but in the end I was venting at myself for my own failings and personality flaws. Self criticism works in mysterious ways.

Listening to Frightener is like listening to a Caterpillar which came alive and is slaughtering people, so what I want to say, the music is unbelievable brutal. Could you imagine to play something much much less brutal? Is the intention of Frightener to play as hard as possible or could you imagine that there could be some melodic elements on future releases as well?

Rhys: That is a very interesting analogy. Have you watched Dune recently? The intention of the band is and has always been to be as brutal, heavy and violent sounding as possible. There are some slight hints of melody in 1-2 songs on the next record.

Speaking of releases, are there any planned releases? And when will you tour old Europe again? You did tour Europe already, didn't you?

Rhys: We played Trashfest plus 2-3 other shows in Europe. Dirty Money plays in Europe all zee time. I wish we could have toured Europe more.

What's your favourite track on the Guillotine LP?

Rhys: Daedelus. Very necro.

Who did the artwork for your lp? I think it fits the music perfectly, and it reminds me on early UK and Swedish Hardcore records, so that's pretty cool.

Rhys: Jack did it. I guess he was going for that cold, austere imagery to match the music.

Jack: The cover is one of the makeshift morgues from the Srebrenica massacre.

I guess Frightener is not a fulltime band, so what are you doing for a living besides the band? Oh and, where exactly do you come from? London?

Rhys: The band was based in London. Sam is an audio-engineer and blazes zoots. Jack works in the papers and practices various martial arts. Dearlove works in sales and wears 'clusive garms. Steve works at a production company and combs his hair. Rhys works in an office and works in an office.

Your top ten English Hardcore records?

Rhys: Discharge - Hear nothing..., Rudimentry Peni - Death church, Heresy - 13 Rocking anthems, Voorhees - Spilling Blood..., Disorder - Distortion to deafness, Chaos UK - Chaos UK, Sacrilege - Beyond the realms..., Amebix - Monolith, Sedition - Earth Beat, Warwound - Demos, Antisect - In darkness, fuck, and a million more....

Ok, last one! It's for a survey I'm doing, where's the best place to read a fanzine? What's your favourite fanzine? If you'd like to add anything, come up with that now, thanks a lot for your time and effort!

Jack: We have an LP coming out sometime this year, dunno any details, me and Rhys recorded our parts before we left the sinking ship like the rats we are.

Rhys: Best place to read a fanzine is where you are when you have absolutely nothing else to do of any importance. The best fanzine is Distort fanzine by a mile. Thanks for the time. Chainsaw Safety and A389 have thousands of our records left.

Frightener on myspace.com

A389 Records

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Why?!

So you may ask, why the hell another senseless blog on the internet? Well, basically because I want to release some interviews with bands I have done last year. Actually I planed to release a second issue of a small fanzine I did, called No Comment. But since I am a lazy fuck just like most of you, it never happened, shame on me. Anyway, I think the interviews are worth reading, and I still want to support the bands, so I decided to use this medium.

Besides that I have some ideas what else to post on this blog, nothing groundbreaking actually, but you know, maybe some of you are interested anyway.

To get started, it's pretty obvious where I have the name for this blog from, it's the title of a 7" released by the band MAYDAY. They released some of the fierciest, heaviest stuff in the early to mid-90ies. Unfortunatly they are mostly forgotten by now, since the kids today only know about Integrity and Ringworm when it comes down to "Clevo"-Hardcore, whatever that term means. So you should get into that: Mayday - Lost in Sabbath 7" (found here, you can find there countless of other 90ies rarities and must haves as well)

I guess I'm going to post the interviews in the next few days, so stay tuned.

Chris