Beggars & Gentry - Abwärts (Review)

Beggars & Gentry is a quite new band from Switzerland, with some ex-members of Fall Apart. It's a little bit funny, because all bands from Switzerland I know are pretty good in what they're doing. Well, to be honest I don't know too many bands from the land of cheese and chocolate, but that's just alright, it helps to maintain the perfect image of a country where there are only cool kids playing cool music in cool bands. Not to forget about Celtic fucking Frost.

OK, so Abwärts is the band's first proper release I guess, in 2010 there was "just" a demo. This full-legth was released by Take It Back Records and Wanne Eickel's infamous Cobra Records, so you know that you can expect a certain quality here. The artwork's really cool and coloured vinyl is avaible. So much for the facts.

Beggars & Gentry's music could be described as rocking Hardcore-Punk. Mostly in mid-tempo range those five guys play a kind of Hardcore that allows associations with bands like Poison Idea, Wipers or The Suicide File, always keeping a rough, grumpy Punk-attitude and sound. Cool guitar leads, that blend into the overall instrumentation, and sweet bass-lines make this record a quite interesting piece of music. Sometimes, while I listened to it, I thought that a little more speed here and there would do no harm, and now and then I thought that the record could risk to get a bit boring - but everytime Beggars & Gentry manage to come up with a nice break, a guitar lead, a cool line in the lyrics to turn it around and keep it interesting.

Speaking of the lyrics, they cover the whole range of post-modern twenty-something anger and frustration - isolation, alienation, broken dreams, solitude in our society - but political and social themes as well. What I totally dig about the lyrics that they're far from being pathetic or overdrawn but play a lot with cynism and bittersweet irony. And that makes them appear totally credible.

http://beggarsandgentry.blogspot.com
Beggars & Gentry on facebook

Buy this record directly from Cobra Records

YES, I made it, I really managed to write a 350-words-review about Abwärts without mentioning Fucked Up. This record sounds so much like early Fucked Up, the comparison would have been just too easy. On the other hand, this fact ensures a certain quality, doesn't it?

Millenial Reign - Bones...Dust...Nothing (Review)

This decent record could easily become a very sought-after collectors item, due to the fact that Damian from the almighty Fucked Up is doing the vocals. If that wouldn't be rad enough, Jordan from No Warning/Terror is playing guitar. So I guess this is enough all-star-line-up'ness. Millenial Reign's only goal was to worship Integrity, nothing more, nothing less. Well, they definitely succeeded in this, there's not much more to say about it. Heavy, Melnick'ish riffs, sick solos, Damian bawls the dark, metaphoric lyrics, so everything you'd expect from a Holy Terror worship is there and accomplished well. I mean there are many, many bands at the moment that try to do the classic Integrity sound, copying everything from A to Z and think nevertheless that they're the most innovative thing in the world. Millenial Reign copy everything, too, but, and that's what makes the difference, they never said they wanted to do anything else. And, as opposed to this whole "Holy Terror kindergarten", the lyrics are really worth to be read, and even come along with short liner notes. Conclusion: for sure not the reinvention of the wheel, but super well done and Damian is cool anyway. Go for it.

Hear it: myspace.com/themillenialreign
Buy it: A389 Records online store

Surroundings - Self-Titled (Review)

So here is my contribution to Lost In Sabbath. Another old jaded dude.It doesn't happen often nowaways that a band really catches a glimpse of my eyes and ears. I finally figured out that my taste in music stagnated somewhere in time and only few bands that formed and released their shit after 2003 interest me much but every now and then you cross something.

I stumbled across the name SURROUNDINGS in a thread about the beef between their singer and Mr give-me-my-burger-usa-rules (Let Down. Mother of Mercy, soon on a European Tour again). Apparentely they played a show together and the singer of SURROUNDINGS was watching Let Down in the front row with a beer in his hand (nothing better than having a beer in hand and enjoying the show of a mediocre band) and got his keg of beer kicked out of his hands and getting called a whiny faggot afterwards. So this incident founded my sympathy and I have started my researches. The result was well this something, a split record called "World Darkness" between Pellinore and SURROUNDINGS. [Yes, the word actually is WORLD and not this fancy fashionshit like VVorld.]

I have to admit that Pellinore are great as well but SURROUNDINGS really did it for me. Besides this split they have released so far a nice 7" called "Monuments in Ruins". This year Surroundings have now unleashed their first long-player (I guess you can call it that way) which is simply-put "self-titled". So why did I claim that I rarely listen to any new shit. Well, the new shit I mainly listen to sounds like old shit, like the good old days. I will now quote the influences that SURROUNDINGS stated on their myspace and as you will see, besides the name-dropping, they cover a nice range of influences, at least in my book: Eyehategod, Neurosis, Unsane, Discharge, Nirvana, Earth and Discordance Axis.

And if this isn't self-explanairy enough, I will give you a short description: SURROUNDINGS are playing their own interpretation of hardcore: lightning fast, heavy and slow, down-tuned riffage, distortion and ear-piercing feedback and heartfelt screams/yells. Calling them powerviolence won't do them justice, neither are they a Mind Eraser rip-off. They remind me of Drop Dead and Siege a fair amount of times and they have this southern sludge introspective nihilistic element. The lyrics are harsh and tell us that this world and what man made out of it is just a huge pile of shit, the songs are short and grinding. When you expect it the least SURROUNDINGS will turn around the song structure and let the song fall apart in a gritty way. Then you have deal with an unpredictable feedback-infested muddy slowpaced swamp and the notes keep dragging and dragging. While most (let's call them evil, depressived, dark) bands stick to a well-ridden dark and depressed formula: Let's just play real slooooow and let nothing else happen and bore the shit out of everyone, SURROUNDINGS present a different approach with the sheer rage, compressed negativity and the brick to your face.
The guy has a voice that I envy and I jealously wish was my own. He has a great feeling when it comes down to place the words and how to fit them in. Most vocalists don't understand that their voice is an immanent element of a band, another instrument to be taken care of, another piece to keep it all together and they give the sound their own gritty character. SURROUNDINGS know how to do it and how to do it right.
I haven't been excited about a band coming from the hardcore spectrum lately and that's why you should be too.

Tracklist:
1. World of Failure
2. Virgilkapelle
3. Harvesting Dirt
4. No Seed
5. Man Has Failed
6. Dead Mass
7. Five Suns
8. Trouble In the Dunes
9. The Jar Is Empty
10. Walls and Wires
11. Gluttony of God

Hear it: http://www.myspace.com/surroundings
Buy it: http://www.freecakefreecake.com/bakery/product_info.php?products_id=86

Starkweather - This Sheltering Night (Review)

Most of the time you pick up a record, listen to it two or three times, and maybe like it. You remember every song after the first listening, have your favourite ones after the second time, maybe already know some of the words. You understand the song structures, the riffs, the composition, if you like the record it gives you a good feeling. But sometimes you listen to a record that's very different - the music that beats down on you is so complex it's hard to follow the songs, with a shitload of riffs is packed into every single song, when you listen to the record for the first time you turn it off after three tracks because you can't handle it. If you knew Starkweather before their latest record on Deathwish (they're already around since 1989), you know what kind of record "This Sheltering Night" is: a complex, harsh, uncomfortable one. By the way, props go out to Deathwish for releasing awesome records like this and not only mediocre crap like Killing The Dream. So I think in a way Starkweather translated 70ies Prog-Rock à la King Crimson into (Post-)Metal, with all its weird riffs, chords, time signatures and guitar leads, all very heavy and very, very dark. The most outstanding thing about Starkweather is (and always were) the vocals though. It is simply unbelievable how one person can come up with so many different voices (and not sounding like someone who tries to fake them). From sung vocals to nearly guttural ones, screaming, whispering, it's all there and all good. As good as it is, I have to make clear that "This Sheltering Night" is definetely a record that demands a lot of time. I listened to it for quite some time now and still discover new aspects, new layers of guitar underneath the riff-storm on top or new sick breaks I haven't perceived before. So if you like to spend a lot of time with one and the same record, and wish not to get bored after two days, check out "This Sheltering Night", if you're looking for your rather generic Hardcore or Metal record, better stay away from this one.

Starkweather on myspace

Pulling Teeth/Shin To Shin split 7" (Review)

When I read the news that Aaron Melnick of Integrity/In Cold Blood fame would release a split 7" with his new band Shin To Shin and Pulling Teeth on the flipside I was so amazed I couldn't sleep for three days. Aaron Melnick is definetely in the 5 of the most influental guitarists for me - I stopped counting the riffs I stole from him. As you might guess after this introduction, I really expected A LOT from Shin To Shin. But when I listened to one of the tracks online as soon as possible, I was quite disappointed. On the one hand I probably expected to much, on the other hand I didn't really know what kind of sound to expect. Of course I ordered the 7" anyway, and after it took a few spins on my record player I had to reconsider my opinion. I think what turned me off the first time was the fact that Shin To Shin's riffs aren't in the fashion of Melnicks "early works". The music hasn't too much to do with the classic Clevo-Hardcore sound, but, in my opinion, a whole lot with first wave Black Metal, think of bands like Hellhammer, early Celtic Frost and, most of all, early Venom. This, a little bit of Motörhead'ish rock and Discharge's wall-of-sound brutality is what Shin To Shin sound like, well, at least in my ears. And the more often I listen to it, the better I like it. It's different, it's not very Hardcore'ish, but it's hard, and that's the important thing isn't it?

On the flipside, like I mentioned before, Pulling Teeth. This song was already avaible online for quite some time, sounds like Slayer meets Integrity and is awesome, like all of their stuff. Nothing more to say. Oh well, one more thing: the artwork sucks, what's the matter with a bunch of bugs? I don't get it.

Shin To Shin on last.fm

Pulling Teeth's website

A389 Records

Hatewaves - Taste The Beast (Review)

A while ago I received a five-7"-pre-order-package from A389 Records (what else...), but due to the fact that I fall asleep after 30 minutes at most after I come home from work, I haven't found the time to review that stuff. And if I keep up this rate I'll have all five 7"s reviewed in January 2011. Nice. Anyway, I'll start with the Hatewaves 7" because of all records in the package I like this one best. Hatewaves is another band with Dom from Pulling Teeth/A389 Records on guitar, so I knew already beforehand that this record wouldn't suck. Somehow this band reminds me of a faster version of Until The End, especially the style of the (backing) vocals, the production and, most of all, the super heavy moshparts. But don't expect this "mosh part during another mosh part"-thing Until The End celebrated in excess, Hatewaves keep it rather short, but nonetheless heavy. Throw in a few blast beats here and there, pissed-off lyrics (on this record is the first anti-facebook-song I know...), a bunch of catchy sing-alongs ("there's nothing free but death and air, I pay no taxes I refuse to share" <= I've had these lines in my head now for weeks) and you'll get a quite amazing Hardcore record. By the way, on the label's website it says "Brutal, stupid and awesome grind/hardcore". Now it's time for me to practise spin kicks. 

Hatewaves on pahardcore.com

Pale Creation - s/t 7" (Review)

When I heard that Pale Creation were about to release a new 7", I was more than stoked. I mean their last record was released in the last century, who would expect to get the chance to listen to new Pale Creation songs at all? Not me. And of course my expectations were quite high - to me, the Twilight full length is one of the most outstanding records of the 90ies. Surely rooted in Clevelands Hardcore scene, Pale Creation managed to create something really unique. It's not just Hardcore mixed with Metal, so way deeper than that. I'm not sure if Neurosis was an influence, but I think the comparison is not too odd. The factor that really made me an Pale Creation addict are the guitar solos: They're not of the Thrashy kind like those of Integrity for example (which are, of course, awesome as well), but more atmospheric, with loads of delay onto them, and a very smooth neck-humbucker sound. It's the kind of solos that let you shiver. 

To make a long story short: the new 7" doesn't sound exactly like the Twilight record, which isn't too surprising when you consider the timespan in between, it sounds different but still awesome. I'd say it's more a mix of the (split-) 7"s and the full length, soundwise, and the songs are just plain great, really, there's not much more to say about it. The song on the A-side, "Rose Colored Haze", comes with an super spheric intro, then the guitars all of a sudden start, and you get washed away by a whirl of harsh vocals, double bass, and the heaviest riffs pressed onto vinyl in 2010. The solo ain't missing as well and it completes the song in a way only Pale Creation solos can. The song on the B-side, "Wake Of temptation" starts calm, with sung (!) vocals, and leads to the chorus, where Dwid Hellion is doing guest vocals. And whereas I still don't like his vocals on the new Integrity full length, here he's doing an awesome job. All in all, I think "Wake Of Temptation" is arguably Pale Creation's best song ever, and for damn sure the best song released in 2010 so far. Seriously, I'm addicted to this song. It's emotive, it creates a tense atmosphere, it's heavy, dark... I don't know, it's hard to describe music in words. Just go get this 7", and if it's the only 7" you buy this year, so be it. There's not likely anything better to come. 

Pale Creation:

palecreation.com

A389 Records

Black Breath - Heavy Breathing

Black Breath got my attention sometime last year, when they got featured in the same fanzine like my own band. They had one record out, "Razor To Oblivion", a 10" I purchased shortly afterwards. A heavy, solid record for everyone who likes rough Hardcore and Swedish Deathmetal (so obviously this record was made for me, haha), giving you a good 50/50 mix of both genres. 
Their new record entitled "Heavy Breathing" was released via Southern Lord Records, somehow I missed to order it directly, so one day I checked the SL-site again when the vinyl version's gonna be released, and found out it was already sold out. Bummer. But Per Koro Records from Germany got some copies shortly afterwards, so I finally got mine. And, as you've probably heard somewhere else, this record is fucking awesome. It leans definetely more towards early Swedish Death Metal, sound- and songwise, a.k.a. Entombed "Left Hand Path" era, Dismember "Like an everflowing stream" era, or, not so Swedish but for sure influental for those, Autopsy. Heavy, groovy Death Metal riffs, uptempo beats but not ridiculously fast, that's the way it goes. Add a good dose of Motörhead and Discharge, put a Boss HM-2 pedal between guitar and the old Marshall, there you go: Black Breath. The vocals are the main factor reminiscent of Hardcore, but don't get me wrong: "Heavy Breathing" for sure eyes more towards Metal than the previous record. 
The first Black Breath full length should complement everybody's record collection (if available haha) who likes his Death Metal "Stockholmish", his Hardcore raw and/or his hair long. Amazing record that leaves me longing for more. 

Black Breath:
Myspace
Facebook
Southern Lord Records

Integrity - The Blackest Curse (Review)

The latest Integrity output called "The Blackest Curse" was maybe one of the most anticipated records in 2010. And 2009. And 2008, or since the date it was scheduled for the first time, when ever that was. Because of the growing attention towards the classic "Holy-Terror"-sound (whatever that term means, nobody really seems to know that, even bands that use that term to describe themselves don't know it; I'd really like to know what the idea behind Holy Terrorism is, if there really is one) during the last few years, a lot of people look at the originators Integrity and what they are doing within this sub-sub-genre. And, to be honest, I was quite curious myself. Would Dwid surprise/piss off a lot of people again by doing something different like Integrity 2000, would Integrity do a second "To Die For" record, or would they even go for a more "classic" Integrity sound à la "Humanity Is The Devil"? The truth lies in between the latter two options. The riffs are huge, the solos are awesome, the songs are all heavy and dark, in general they are a lot more raw and unpolished than those on "To Die For" - of course, due to the awesome, rough production, that even adds a punk-feeling to the sound. So song-wise, "The Blackest Curse" is definetely a winner. But not everything's good about this record: the total lack of any information about who actually played on that record, no lyrics, no credits, just nothing, could be interpreted as the artist's idea of focusing the listener to the music, but basically it pisses me off. I mean I'm not a fan of liner notes that are longer than the lyrics themselves, nor of never ending thanks lists, and I see that those would be pretty displaced in an Integrity record anyway. But at least some basic information about the record would have been fine, if all records I buy would be like this one I'd stop paying for them and download everything. I mean if you don't miss anything by downloading a record instead of buying it, why do it then? But the fact that makes "The Blackest Curse" just a good, and not an awesome record is Dwid's vocal performance. The vocals are monotone, too deep, and way too gargling, in a way they even sound a bit bored, you know, just sung somehow - no comparison to the grandness of the early Integrity recordings. After a while I really feel annoyed - and keep in mind, this is written by someone who "likes" the vocals on Napalm Death's "Enslavement" record for example.
To sum it up, if you dig the early records by this band, and don't need a super high-end sound like they had on "To Die For", you'll probably like "The Blackes Curse". But because of the substandard vocals and the lack of information I'd only give this record a 7 out of 10.

Integrity on myspace
Deathwish Records

The Love Below - Reproductive Rights 7" (Review)

The beginning of the first track reminds me of Napalm Death’s „Enslavement“ record, just because every record that starts with a bass drum with lots of reverb does so. Well, not the worst first impression I’d say. The Love Below are quite hard to classify, which isn’t a bad thing, somehow they sound like a tougher version of Left For Dead, which is a stupid thesis anyway because Left For Dead were tough as fuck. Next try. The Love Below combine the heaviness of bands like early Blacklisted and the rawness and riffs of bands like Left For Dead or the more Hardcore-ish songs of The Swarm, with vocals that remind me of spazzy Hardcore outfits like early Some Girls or even Swing Kids. The lyrics are quite personal, quite pissed, and more in the vein of Hardcore ca. 2001, but without all the sadness-thing. On their myspace page they state their influences the following: "godlessness. drug abuse. adult situations". I guess that sums it up pretty well.  The more often I listen to this, the better it gets, this record is definetely a grower. At first I thought something like „well, another Hardcore record, not bad, but not exciting as well“, but after a few more turns this record get’s damn awesome, and proves that you just can’t go wrong with A389 Records. Oh, and on the cover artwork there’s a lot of pink. Hint, hint. 

The Love Below on myspace
A389 Records

Virgin Witch - s/t 7" (Review)

Here we have a cool Hardcore item on a small label I unfortunatly haven’t heard about until now, Free Cake Records. In Virgin Witch, Dom from Pulling Teeth is filling on the bass and guitar duties, so I knew beforehand that this shit’s gonna rule. So what music can you expect from a one sided 7“ with two songs, the flip side of the record with a silk screened pentagramm on it, and a cover artwork that has everything what’s good (boobs, skulls, devil horns)? Let me say it like this, if the number of the Os in the word doom correlates with the slowness of the music, the first track is definetely a dooooooooooooom song. Sludgy, with nice twin guitar harmonies here and there, and realy slow, mean vocals, you know the deal. Nothing to bring you into an happy mood, though, like Grief when they had a really bad day. The second song is faster, not really super fast but a solid midtempo, a good Hardcore song in the vein of Pulling Teeth (sorry for the unoriginal comparison), and the solo is one of the best Dom has done so far. It could very well be on one of the earyl Angel Witch recordings as well. I love Angel Witch’s solos. Virgin Witch is probably only one of Dom’s many side projects, but a very good one and I hope that there will be more tunes of that band sometime soon.

Virgin Witch on myspace

Free Cake Records

Nails - Unsilent Death (Review)

Does anybody remember the movie 28 Days Later? In that film humans get infected by a virus, that is basically like to pure rage and turns its victims into some kind of zombies („some kind of“ because they are able to run and climb, something a normal zombie doesn’t). Why am I mentioning this? The first time I’ve listened to this LP, I thought that this record was pure rage pressed on vinyl. And I still think it is. At first I wanted to make the usual Dropdead-meets-early-Terror-comparison, and it still would describe pretty good what’s going on here, but this morning, on my way to the bus, I suddenly knew of what band Nails, especially the new record, reminds me. I think Nails are like a Hardcore-interpretation of Terrorizer (speaking of Terrorizer I only speak about their masterpiece „World Downfall“ of course, I never even listened to the second record because everybody kept telling me how shitty it was). Nails have the same „all go no slow“ meets unseen brutality attitude, a lot of blastbeats, typical Hardcore-rythm parts, with 20 Boss Heavy Metal pedals between instruments and amps, add the hardest moshparts since Hatebreed's "Satisfaction..." record, there you are. The angriest vocals on earth screaming some of the most pissed off lyrics in Hardcore's short but angry history: "Bow to no man, no pig, no book of myths/tolerate no deception, no ignorance/I'm not your fucking servant" ("No Servant") or "Show your true self/Your loyality runs thin/You want to be liked by everyone/Two-faced faker, fucking traitor/Your feet are firmly planted/On both sides of the drawn line/Coward" (Traitor). A lot of "me against the world"-attitude, which is cool if it's authentic like in Nails' case. Now I probably should write about who’s playing in this band, but I don’t think Nails really need that. This thing was recorded at Kurt Ballou’s Godcity Studios, but don’t expect something rather slick like the Carry On full length (no diss towards Carry On, I love that record), the production is really noisy and dirty, still super heavy and, well, brutal. What more can I say... this is one of THE Hardcore records in 2010, if you’re into bands like [namedropping mode on] early Terror or Hatebreed, Terrorizer, Mind Eraser, Dropdead, Entombed or Napalm Death [namedropping mode off] you’ll be blown away by Nails.

www.sixfeetunderrecords.com

Keept It Real #9 (Review)

Maybe you remember this post from March - I finally found the time to read this whole thing and write a review about it. First of all, the guy who's doing this zine, Apostolis from Athens, Greece, seems to be a very nice dude, so I didn't buy only one zine but six, so if you're from Germany and want to have one of those babies, drop me a line. Price is three Euros plus shipping haha. But back to the review. First thing you realize when you pick this up is of course the artwork, and this one looks really cool, as you can see on the picture to the left. It was done by a guy named Peio. Second, the paper is quite thick, especially the cover, but the normal pages as well, so reading this thing is also a haptic experience, which is cool. Zines that are made of this super thin paper (like MRR for example) always tend to annoy me after a while, because the pages get ripped up quite fast. No diss towards MRR intended by the way. Content-wise, this zine offers a good mixture of bands, and from a subjective point of view, of bands I can relate to. I especially enjoyed the interviews with Pulling Teeth, Poison The Well, Vitamin X (I didn't know Wolfi of Tangled Lines fame is drumming in that band now, I did an interview with him like five years ago) and above all (and to my own surprise) Greg Bennick of Trial. He has a lot of interesting things to say, and manages to do it in an entertaining way. The let downer is IMO the Lewd Acts interview, due to the LA-guy's laziness to come up with a little bit more interesting answers. The questions in all interviews are above the average you usually get to read, although I wish that Apostolis would have pressed on certain topics a little bit more. Then there's an article about Krishna consciousness, not something groundbreaking new, but on the other hand, 90 percent of today's Hardcore kids surely don't know about the connection between Hardcore and Krishna anymore. Personally, I always thought it was kinda strange, and this not only due to the fact that Krishna also involves some kind of organised religion, and with that, religious leaders, something that doesn't go to well hand in hand with Hardcore in my book. The other side of the coin is that I'm still siked about hanging out with the guys from 108, especially Vic, three years ago or something when we had the chance to play with them. Vic is cool, and for sure wouldn't be the person he is without all that Krishna-rave. But back to the Keep It Real zine, well, there's not much left to tell you, there's also a photo report from last years Fluff Fest, I never understood what's so great about festivals, because this is not what keeps Hardcore alive, but I can understand that a lot of people appriciate the chance to see a lot of good bands in a very short time. In addition to this content there are a couple of record reviews as well, I know people who only read the record reviews in zines. Whatever, to bring this to an end, this printzine is definetely worth your money, all in all it's nice to read, looks great and seems to be the perfect match with a hot summerday by the swimming pool, hanging out, drinking ice tea, and reading a zine. 

For info, orders, trades etc. pp.:

myspace.com/keepitrealhc

And like I said, I also have a few copies flying around, if you're interested, let me know!

Mourningside - Confessions Of Disbelieve

One day my friend Lars showed me the myspace site of a band, that, in his words "is a total Disembodied worship", Mourningside AD (actually I don't know if they have that AD now, or not anymore or whatever, because on the cover of my 7" there is no AD). Although Disembodied is probably a huge influence for this band they also remind me of other great 90ies bands, Mean Season for example or even Chokehold. Saying that, you should know what to expect: grooving, hard hitting Hardcore with a super heavy, metallic edge. The lyrics cover mostly personal topics, with a depressed but always combative undertone and a relation to political topics as well: "...we must come to the conclusion that we're on the brink of destruction. Liberation must be gained. Until we're free." (from "Life Deceived"). The production is perfect, not to "vintage sounding" and far away from beeing too slick, just as your favourite releases from New Age records for example.
Maybe Mourningside AD can't stand the comparison anymore, but it just fits so well; if this 7" would have been released 1995, it would be a sought after item now. Excellent stuff which makes me waiting for more! This 7" (released on Hard Press Records) should be avaible at your favourite mailorder or record store, get it.

Mourningside AD on myspace.com

Seed Of Pain - Blindfolded And Doomed (Review)

I already own this record for a while and wanted to review it all the time, but I always felt (and in a way, still feel) too incompetent to express this piece of art in proper words. A record of this monumental greatness isn't easy to describe, because it offers so much in so many layers, you really have to take your time and dig deep into it to discover everything. Anyway, I'll give it a shot:

Seed Of Pain from Lucerne and Zug (Switzerland) is a band I was into since the first time I heard of them. We played with them in Mannheim, and at that point (which was in late 2007 or something) SOP perfectly played Hardcore in the vein of Über-bands like Burn and 108, and I was always impressed by Samuel's guitar playing (and his collection of effect pedals hahaha). And although they, even at this time, were (and of course still are) better musicians and song writers than most other Hardcore bands, they have kept such a refreshing "don't give a fuck" attitude. They don't have 12 different shirt designs and, most important, they don't act as if they want to be the next big thing by any means. Although they easily COULD, and that makes them great alone.

The gatefold LP (released on Cobra Records) looks from the outside like a Hardcore LP, like a good one though, just a b/w picture, you can't see really much, some fingers, something that looks like black paint spilled over the photograph itself, that's it. Open the gatefold, now it doesn't look like a typical Hardcore, or Metal, or Punk record at all. Just the lyrics, printed black on a plain white background, and nine photographs that look as if arranged by accident, showing things like an embryo, a hand, a foot, a brain, a box, and some stuff I can't perceive. So the inside of the gatefold makes you think about it, at least it does that for me, why those pictures, what's the relation to the songs etc.?

Describing the music without perverting it is nearly impossible; you can still hear that the backbone of it is Hardcore like the aforementioned Burn or 108, the second mainstay is heavy music like Neurosis for example. Those two components are fused and held together by elements of Post Punk, Industrial and Shoegazing, add loads of samples, countless layers of guitar tracks, reverb and delay effects (among others) and sometimes instruments like a piano or a mandolin to get at least a small picture of what to expect.

The record starts with a poem by Gottfried Benn and builds up a tension that lasts until the final, fading notes of the last song. My favourite track maybe "Blindfolded", because it features vocals of Remo Helfenstein from the Swiss Post Punk outfit Les Yeux Sans Visage, whose voice perfectly matches the music and athmosphere, so perfect you'll get the chills.
If those four (sometimes five) guys would give a fuck about it they really could be big, not necessaraly in the (anyhow quite limited) Hardcore scene, but really in bigger spheres. They are one of the most exciting, refreshing and greatest bands anyway. 

Seed Of Pain on myspace.com

Blind To Faith - The Seven Fat Years Are Over (Review)

Although I'm not a big fan of "featuring members of...", in Blind To Faith's cause it's somehow justified, since we have here dudes of Rise & Fall, Amen Ra, Reproach and Insult, so you know that these guys know how to play Hardcore. Uh, I forgot, in an interview I read that BTF don't like Hardcore (...), so, they know how to play Punk Metal. And in fact they really do.
This 12" was released on Holy Terror Records, comes with sick looking artwork and is played from the inside, which may cause trouble on certain record players. At least the needle doesn't fall off at the end of each side (which it does for example on the first Dropdead LP haha).
The music could be best described as the bastard child of early Ringworm and Eyehategod - mean riffs, the speed varying from super fast blast beats to super slow sludgy rhythms, venomous vocals, a heavy, raw and dirty production - this is certainly the ugly face of Hardcore that has nothing in common with 99% of what is labeled as such, in so far it's really more Punk Metal that Hardcore. After 16 minutes it's all over and I know you'll flip over the record once again to repeat this nightmare.

Blind To Faith on myspace.com
Holy Terror Records

Overstand - Kali Yuga (Review)

First post in 2010, I'm sorry I've been a bit lazy the last weeks, but on the other hand I'm not so lazy in dealing with the rest of my life (that basically means: my studies), I don't know if that's an excuse but I'll try to update the blog a little bit more often again. I still have tons of decent records flying around here that deserve a post, and some ideas of bands to interview are stuck in my head as well, so there are still things to do. 
For now, I'll concentrate on the first CD that was sent to me to review since the glorious Final Expression times, which is a cool fact alone. The band: Overstand, from New Jersey, with three members of Charge, if that means something to you. As far as Shawn informed me, this CD features songs that were originally released on a 7" on The Essence Records from the UK in 2008, on a Split 7" with SIRENS from Germany on Cobra Records, and five new jams. The label GAOTU (Grand Architect of the Universe) Records is Overstand's own label, that get's them 10 DIY scene points from my side already.
So let's focus on the music; as a nice coincidence, just in the very moment I'm sitting here and writing this, the sun shines through my window for the first time since, I don't know, September 2009 or something haha. And Overstand's music perfectly fits the mood I'm in now. The foundation of Overstand is classic, tight Hardcore á la Cro Mags and Bad Brains, mixed up with loads of cool stuff from quite "unpunk" music like reggae or funk, infused with a lot of bluesy rock riffs, so that the result sounds like Bad Brains jamming with War Hungry. Maybe a weird comparison, but I think it fits. The production's perfect for this music, with a warm guitar sound, groovy bass, clear drum sound, so nothing to complain here either.
The CD comes in a really cool looking case made out of screen printet paper, with a big, copied inlay with nice live shots from the band and the lyrics. Another 10 DIY points. I love that.
The lyrics cover different topics like skateboarding, politics, friendship, being yourself, freedom etc., and a lot of lyrics seem to inspired by Rastafarianism, that's at least my impression when I read words like "Babylon System", "Jah love" and stuff like that. So there's definetly some religious content to the lyrics, but not in way it would disturb me. It's more about being positive, and making the best out of your life, and even though "Jah" isn't my cup of tea, a can accept it, as long as it doesn't mean dedicating yourself to organized religions whatsoever.
To sum it up, if you're into eclectic hardcore and miss that so many bands don't have a positive message these days, go and try Overstand, you probably won't be disappointed. When I listen to this stuff I want it to be August, my skateboard, and a decent skate spot to destroy. And not too many records give me that desire anymore.
 
Overstand on myspace.com  

Total Negation - Zeitenwende (Review)

At first this review was planned as a part of some kind of "best of 2009" thing I wanted to do, but I decided that those lists kinda suck, because you get bombed by them in every TV show and magazine around this time of the year. But since I have the opinion that this IS one of the best records of 2009, I'll review it.

"Zeitenwende" was released in I think April 2009, and the first time I listened to it (or to a CD-R, because it wasn't avaible in January, obviously) was while we drove to a show we had to play, and outside the sun was setting, and there was snow, and everything looked quite empty, calm and cold, and now everytime I listen to those four songs (with a total length of about 40 minutes all together) I think of that situation, because it all fit so well. So this is some totally misantropic, cold and depressing piece of Black Metal art. There’s only one guy behind the band, who played all the instruments and recorded and mixed everything by himself. But don’t expect some basement-sounding, raw and numb (and boring) shit, this record is really fucking epic. Besides the excellent, diversified drumming I really love the many different effects and sounds Wiedergänger (that's the alias of the guy) used for the guitars, everytime there is some athmospheric, long part and you think, "shit, this is atmospheric and intense as fuck" the guitar sound changes a little bit, or some chorus-like effect hits, or the guitar starts to „cry“ (I don’t know how to express it any other way, I’ve never heard anything like that), so that everything gets even more intense. But don't get me wrong, this isn't some shoegazing influenced easy listening (and boring) Black Metal, it's still heavy, with loads of double bass and mostly fast as hell, the difference to many one-man Black Metal projects is, that this record is perfectly composed. The lyrics are in German, and I really think they are like poems. Although they're written in simple words, they have such a heavy meaning, and you really realize that there was put a lot of time into them. If you read them while listening to the record, you kinda get sucked in by the athmosphere and darkness, and you could be in a room full of people, you'd feel desperate and lonely anyway. Even though Wiedergänger probably hates the comparison, if you dig Black Metal like Wolves In The Throne Room (music wise) there's quite a big chance you'll like Total Negation. But basically I just don’t know any band that sounds like this, it's really outstanding, intense athmospheric and thrilling music that demands your attention and is, like mentioned at the beginning, one of my favourite records released this year.

Total Negation on myspace.com

Temple Of Torturous (the label that put "Zeitenwende" out)

Juggernaut Demo (Review)

Austria, the second! At the beginning of December 09 we played a show in Wermelskirchen, Germany, and besides playing with this really, really aweful Metalcore band (fuck DON'T ask how much they sucked...) we got to know this new band from Vienna, Juggernaut. The guys of Mind Trap mentioned their name a few times, so I was curious to see them, and now I wonder if somebody dropped a talent bomb on Vienna. First thing, those guys are really chill, it was cool to hang out with and talk to them, it was kinda like as if we knew each other already for a while (this kinda sounds like a real romance haha). Second thing, although they had some bad luck with the PA sound, they were hard and awesome live. Third, their demo rules. I think everybody in Goldust bought or traded one haha, and that definetly means something. It starts off with a really hard, mid-tempo drum intro, evolving into the first mosh part (and there are loads to follow). On some songs (I think there are five all together) you'll get awesome guitar leads, and all in all this shit just rules. It's kinda like in between hard, grooving NYHC and Cleveland Hardcore, so you know that you have to expect some heavy shit. What I really like about their songs is that they get a hard and brutal sound just by writing hard and brutal songs, unlike so many bands these days that try to sound heavy by tuning down to dropped C and drowning in mid-tempo bullshit. Juggernaut definetly have this regular, fast Hardcore riffs, good breakdowns and moshparts, so what more can you ask for? I always like it when bands have moshparts that allow you to bang your head and/or smash the dude standing next to you, and Juggernaut have loads of these moshparts. I guess if this demo would have been released by some Belgian or Dutch band 5 years ago, they'd be on Reflections now, no shit. If they manage to keep up delivering the goods, this is gonna be big. The sound of the demo is quite raw, and sometimes you can hear some strange interference from the metronome or something, but whatever, it's a demo so it doesn't have to sound like recorded at Godcity. File under "must have".

Juggernaut on myspace.com

Juggernaut's blog

Mind Trap Demo (Review)

When we played in Linz (Austria) at mid-November 09, we played with this really young Austrian band from Vienna called Mind Trap. The first thing I saw were their shirt designs, and they used a font very similar to that of Mind Eraser, so I was hoping for something similar awesome. And what can I say, I wasn't disappointed! Imagine four really young kids (well, at least in comparison to old farts like us) blasting out some seriously ripping, hard and brutal as fuck Hardcore not unlike your favourite 90ies Powerviolence band or, if you're born after let's say 1990, not unlike bands like Trash Talk. They played so out of control, so wild and with such an fucked up attitude, imagine a glue sniffin' version of Infest and you'll get the picture. Their demo was already sold out, but they handed out sheets of paper with the download adress on it, so I downloaded it as soon as we were home again, and fuck man, the demo blew me of my chair, no shit. The songs are really powerful, well played and the production really kicks ass, I wonder if anybody will put this out on a 7", because the quality of the recording and the sound are so awesome. And what I think is so refreshing about Mind Trap, they don't seem to be like those suck ass trendy kids who are into Ceremony and Trash Talk but know shit about the roots of this kind of Hardcore, just the opposite. They've definetly done their homework and know how to deliver some raw, fast and brutal shit. You'll find the download link to their demo on their myspace page, so check that ouououot!

Mind Trap on myspace.com

Mind Trap's blog