New Blood: Väistä

Vaista is a new band from Turku (Finland) with some of the members from now unfortunately defunct Alley Gods. I was big fan of that band, but Vaista is very cool as well. They still keep it 100% core, it's fast and in your face stuff that begs for circle pits and stage dives. On top of that, they sing in Finnish which is also pretty dope cause how many bands you know which do that?

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Cutdown Interview

Cutdown is definitely one of my favorite bands I have been fan of their music for a long time and am beyond stoked to have them featured on this site. Below is an interview that I've done with band's vocalist, Esa, touching upon range of topics from band's beginnings, his thoughts on scene in Finland to recent record titled Harsh Reality and more. I hope you enjoy reading the interview as much as I did doing it.

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Video: Bolt - We Never Left

New video for We Never Left taken from the Helsinki veterans' self released 'True Colors' LP. That album was definitely one of the dopest releases of 2013, check it out if you haven't already. The video itself is very nice. Mix some live action with crew posing ad this is how hardcore video should look like.

Bolt is about to drop new album 'True Colors'

I've always been a huge fan of the hardcore scene in Finland and no doubt Bolt is one of my favorite bands from over there. And I'm damn happy they're still going strong. The band has recently posted couple of new tracks from the upcoming record True Colors. The album should be out in a couple of days, and it's gonna be a vinyl release!

Unity Fest III announced

Norrköping Straight Edge And Norrköping Hardcore are putting together Unity Fest III. The date is September, 28th and fist confirmed bands are Bolt, Iron To Gold, Bitter Taste Of Life and ThugxLife. More info here!

Ill Omen on Bandcamp

Finland's Ill Omen has launched bandcamp site where you can listen to all the stuff the band has released over the years. This means self-titled 7" and their side of the split with Get Stitches! The band is working on new material as well!

Cutdown streams two new songs

Cutdown (Helsinki) streams two songs from the upcoming 7" ep, Harsh Reality, on their bandcamp. Make sure you give it a listen. Real heavy hardcore played right.

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Watch Your Back - Last Man Standing

Fast and no-bullshit hardcore is what to expect here. Watch Your Back comes ripping through nine songs of straight up and stripped down hardcore. All the tracks focus on pure dopeness instead of slick production or technical wankery This seven inch demonstrates some furious tempos and crazy-ass grooves so if you’re looking for heartbreaking melodies or abstract poetry, this album is not the one. But if you’re chasing that feeling when you first heard Pitboss or One Life Crew, you’re at home.

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New 'Last Man Standing' 7" by Watch Your Back

Watch Your Back (Finland) has just released new nine-song 7" vinyl called Last Man Standing. Fast and reckless hardcore is what to expect. Truth is, you can't go wrong with a band that names Negative Approach and One Life Crew as their top influences. Order it through band's Bandcamp or just drop them e-mail to settle the deal.

M.O.R.A - Self Titled

Where did this one come from? I had totally no idea about this band’s existence until I found this CD in my mailbox. The band hails from Helsinki, Finland and its members had previously learnt their licks in bands like Black Betsy, Spoiled Betty, Confusa and Aurinkokerho. I am not even going to pretend I am familiar with those bands so it doesn’t say much to me and I am not gonna try to draw any comparisons. The artwork makes you expect some more crusty type of sound, but surprisingly there’s a lot of groove in here. After the short medium-paced intro which blasts with double bass and heavy ass guitar work, the first song, Feikki, kicks in and it turns out MORA is as hardcore as it can be.

The music is tight technically, but at the same time quite fast and in your face all the time. You can hear a lot of old school hardcore influences, but there’s a slight modern touch to it as well. The drumming is awesome, the guy is on point all the time and controls the pace of the songs flawlessly. MORA has two female vocalists, one straight up screaming and the second one with more harsh vocals. Although it’s not my favorite style of vocals, it fits pretty well with the music and after some time I got used to it.

The girls sing in Finnish which is one of the coolest things about the album. I love bands singing in their native langue and it totally works for MORA. I got the translations along with the CD and lyrical-wise, it carries social and political observations and tackles problems like mindless violence, consumerism, fake people who talk too much shit etc. Usual shit, but the sharp and aggressive delivery leaves no doubt that they're serious about the message they want to put across.

I don’t really feel like breaking it down track by track, it’s totally useless with albums that blast 9 tracks in about 15 minutes. The bottom line is that this is a solid release.

Review by Dloogi

Self released, 2012.
Band's website here.

No One Is Safe - Strike First Strike Hard

As a general rule, every hardcore band that got at least one member with tattoos on his head is bond to get a good review on this website. Luckily, No One Is Safe’s music would hold its own even if they were bunch of skinny jeans-wearing hipsters. But they’re totally not. On both musical and lyrical side, the album boils over with pride, anger and testosterone. Even though the production is quite slick, everything is raw and uncompromising as it should. From the fast parts to breakdowns, everything seems to be in the right place.

The heavy as fuck beats and massive guitar work provide a good foundation for dual vocal assault of Jouko and Timo. Those guys have both strong and aggressive voices which they carry with confidence and charisma. The things get even more intensive when they get couple of their mates to lay down vocals in some of the songs. Resist Forever is a monster of a song with bunch of people, like Matti of Cutdown, Abu from Third Man Down, Ville of Breamgod and Finnish rapper Eme, contributing their vocals. I like this type of crew mentality. The lyrics makes the package complete. No sissy stuff, it’s all about holding your own and standing up for your family and friends. Nothing too ignorant, but no poetry either. Bands like Cutdown, Bolt or Ratface have already proven that Finns got knack for this type groovy and aggressive brand of hardcore. No One Is Safe quite pretty well with those bands and I didn’t even suspect that album gonna be that good.

Review by Dloogi
Poolside Records, 2011

.45 Stainles - OGBD

The band hails from Turku, Finland, and since starting out in 2009 they’ve had a goal of playing the heaviest beatdown music possible. They don’t hide their influences, mentioning bands like Shattered Realm or Bulldoze as their biggest inspiration, but .45 Stainless they deliver that kind of aggression?

The album starts with a short intro which sounds like 15-minutes of heavy Fruity Loops engineering but when finally drums and guitars jump in it’s not that bad actually. Dual vocals get definitely the job done, guitars sound heavy and strong while the rhythm section lays down some tight grooves. Nothing ultra fast here, but the pace and tone pick up surprisingly often for that type of music. Two first songs after the intro, Endless and Hated, are probably the best on the album. The vocals deliver strong attitude and the tight performance by the band shows off their skills to create some memorable moments. Orighetto State Of Mind starts with a massive mid-tempo passage, but the energy somehow gets lost as the song progresses. The same goes for Wardrumz, the song got some powerful build up at the beginning and then progresses into some mediocre NYC-flavored hardcore. The tempo kicks up during the last song, At War, which delivers more bite with strong vocal performance while the rest of the band provides a solid and tight background.

The album surprisingly is better that I initially thought and after couple of spins I start to appreciate what they do here. I wouldn’t say it is spine chilling experience or anything ground breaking, but I doubt they had such aspirations anyway. All in all, I don’t care that it’s predictable, generic and there is rarely anything that would make you mosh around your room. Very often experimenting with its sound is the worst thing a hardcore band can do. Consciously or not, the band has definitely not fallen in this trap. My biggest gripe with this album however is that the band’s attitude is not entirely convincing. From the band’s name, to the lyrics and sound samples of gunshots between the songs, it’s all to much gangsta for my taste. Is living in Turku really that hard? On the other hand, it might be a joke, a gimmick, but if it is, it ain’t funny.

BDHW, 2011
Review by Dloogi

No One Is Safe to Release First Full-length

No One Is Safe, a Finnish hardcore band from the cities of Lappeenranta and Helsinki, will release their long-awaited debut album "Strike First - Strike Hard" via a DIY hardcore/punk label Poolside Records (Turku, Finland). The release date is February 22, 2012. Expect 11 tracks of aggressive and metal-influenced hardcore. The album will be released as a package with both 12" vinyl and CD included. A couple of songs from the album have been posted on the band's website and Stereokiller page.
Tracklist
A1. Intro / Luulot Pois
A2. Dead in a Second
A3. Family First
A4. Die Hard
A5. Hated for the Truth
A6. Loyalty Takes Its Toll
B1. Strike First - Strike Hard (feat. Sakke Bleeding Heart)
B2. Prevail (feat. AJ Worth The Pain)
B3. Respect
B4. Resist Forever (feat. Eme, Ville Breamgod, Matti Cutdown, Abu Hammertime)
B5. No One Is Safe


No One Is Safe will be doing as many shows as possible during 2012. On the record release week they will be doing two record release shows sharing the stage with Providence:

22.2.2012 Pigfarm Beatdown vol. 2 @ Club Rockstars, TALLINN (EST)
w/ Providence (FRA), NMR (EST), N.C.B (EST)

25.2.2012 Kovisteluiltamat vol. 2 @ Pelikenttä, HYVINKÄÄ (FIN)
w/ Providence (FRA), Out For Justice (FIN), Fit My Crime (FIN)

Ill Omen

Finland based Ill Omen don't play around when it comes to hardcore. Somewhere on this website I've said they're like the attitude of New York and the evil of Cleveland combined in one. Add a little bit of Detroit's coldness and you'll get the whole picture. The band has recently released 7" (read review) and split Ep with Get Stitches!

Finland based Ill Omen don't play around when it comes to hardcore. Somewhere on this website I've said they're like the attitude of New York and the evil of Cleveland combined in one. Add a little bit of Detroit's coldness and you'll get the whole picture. The band has recently released 7" (read review) and split Ep with Get Stitches!

Things have been pretty busy for Ill Omen recently – you’ve got split with Get Stitches! just couple of months after your 7” came out. Are you satisfied with the way things been going so far?
Markus: The Split 7" was supposed originally to come out soon after our own 7", late 2009. We went into studio with a rush to get our songs tracked, but it turned out that Get Stitches! faced some problems and they recorded their songs in couple sessions, so it took a bit more time. I'm just happy that the record is finally out and that Get Stitches! are now getting back to active (they were in hiatus after they recorded their songs). Split turned out to be very good and we're happy with it, i hope that people will like the songs from both bands. With the split we kinda are showcasing also our hometown, Turku's hardcore scene.


I have to admit the new songs sound fucking reckless. How long did you spend on them in terms of writing and recording?

Markus: I think that Dear Friends was written around time we got our "S/T" 7" released and we started thinking about writing some new songs. I had been talking about doing the split with Aku, original drummer of Get Stitches! (who plays on the Split and GS! demo) for awhile after our 7" came out. So when all the plans came reality and we decided to really do the split 7", we started working on our another song, TCHC. I think that the process was something like that.

Heikki and Teemu usually write the songs and then i write the lyrics and arrange them, but them we think of it together to make everything fit perfect. I think that TCHC was actually written little time before we had studio reserved and we rehearsed it quite a lot in very little time, but it's good since it turned out to be a real fucking bomb. Huge thanks to our brothers who came down to lay off some guest vocals, so Pirkka, Juuso and Oskari really made the song complete, bringing some true "Turku style" to the song.

We asked Ville from Breamgod to do some guest vocals on Dear Friends, couple weeks before we hit the studio and he was glad to come, so our side of the split shines because of our friends helping us out, haha. Tracking itself was done in one day, Teemu and Heikki laid down drum and guitar tracks, then all the vocals, gangshouts etc and after that Heikki did some guitar leads etc, it took one whole day. Big ups for Ansa Studios for making us sound great again and stretching their time to our use.


Your sound seem to mix up a different styles of hardcore, what are your biggest influences when writing?

Markus: I can say only behalf of lyrics, since Heikki is our main songwriter musicwise, but i think the overall sound comes from shit we all love, bands like Death Threat, Terror, Metallica, Cold As Life, Furious Styles, Merauder, Integrity and of course all the Finnish bands who have probably influenced us the most. I love so many hardcore bands, as you might have guessed, but things i write are mainly about what i see in life and what caughts my eye. I'm trying to say things i think need to be said, my view on things, good and bad. There's a lot "basic" issues about how our world is bound to go to hell. Humanity is the devil, that's the truth, we are our own devils and human's capability to doing evil is another endless inspiration, you see shit every day in news, you wouldn't ever even imagine could happen. I also draw influences from other stuff i'm into, graphic novels, horror literature, movies and things like that, there's a quote from perhaps the greatest graphic novel of all time, The Watchmen (by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons) on our song No One Watching Over Us, that's on our 7". There's also couple other quotes i've used, including something from bands i love like The Smiths, Machine Head, E-Town Concrete and so on. You'll see the contrast there, i mean we all got really broad tastes on music. Influences, quoting and loaning things are cool, but they can't be everything, so i'm just trying to have my say, you know.

Was it important for you to have your music released on vinyl format?

Markus: For me it is, i think all of us love vinyl records, only our bass player Ode doesn't own record player, but i think he digs 'em still. It's the most impressive and most hands-on experience when you pick up an 7" or 12", check out the artwork, lyrics and take the record and drop the needle on the plate. Nothing beats listening music like that. I think it also sounds better, only downside it that it's really damn expensive to put out a 7" or LP. I hope we put out more vinyl releases in future, but it would be cool that our stuff would be available on CD as well and i'd like to have "digital download" -coupons included, if we in future put out another vinyl release.


Do you have any goals set for the band with the split? Like playing more shows or even tour Europe?

Markus: Most important point with this Split was to get some attention to both bands. Fuck YES we'd tour Europe, if there's any interest and we get things rolling right! So any show organizers, we're all ready to come and take a chance to check out how hardcore's doing in Europe, or anywhere else! I've been talking about getting something set up in Denmark and it's pretty solid as we speak, we are going to play probably 2 shows in there in January 2011, one in Copenhagen and one in Fredericia maybe, after those shows we're heading to Sweden to play Deadfest Winter Edition 2011. Please contact us if you are interested on helping us out and setting shows four us. Only downside it that Teemu, the drummer is going to study exchange to Belgium for couple months in February 2011, but after he comes back, we're down for anything! Another goal of course is to write more material and release stuff, there’s couple new songs already and we’re trying to write more all the time.


And when you started Ill Omen, did you have a distinct vision of what you wanted the band to be or you just go with the flow?

Markus: In the very, very start i think we had some kind of vision to play heavy hardcore, but no significant direction. After we started playing together, it all just came down to what Heikki had came up with, he's making all the riffs and as i said, they build up the songs together with Teemu. Ill Omen was my first proper band, so i was just really excited to get into this, trying just roll on with what would come, learning the ropes and all. I think we just wanted to play hardcore, that was only thing we knew when we started playing.

What’s happening in Finland in terms of hardcore?

Markus: It's going strong. I've been going to shows for some 8 years now and things have changed a lot, but nowdays the scene seems to be growing bigger. There's been quite little of trend shifting, but it has happened here as well. Couple years ago everyone was into really heavy, rugged, streetwise hardcore, but nowdays it's not very cool. Some kids seem to shift "what they are into", through the years in cycles andmost do found their own place eventually, some went away and dissappeared. We got punks, metalcore kids, melodic hardcore / emometalcorewhatever kids, beatdown kids, youth crew kids and so on, but most important is that we got true hardcore kids, who like stuff across the plate and stay true to their ways. Hardcore holds so many different styles under it's label nowdays and everywhere there's always different factions, but there's no fights at shows or anything stupid, people get along but some just tend on liking their own stuff and staying with their own crowd. I think our scene is really good, there's shows happening and people travel from city to city to see shows. There’s lot of independent labels putting out records and kids keep on setting shows, so I think we’re doing fine here, I’d hope that kids all around would check out more Finnish bands!




What are some of the bands from over there we should check out?

Markus: Where do i start... let's see. St. Hood put out a new album and we were fortunate enough to play at their record release show, check that shit out it's on Combat Rock Industry and titled "For The Dead", heavy streetwise hardcore that has also cool heavy metal vibe going on. Then probably heaviest record ever came out from Helsinki is the new album Cutdown, "S/T" is out on Fullhouse Records, they are only getting better and better all the time, heavy shit for everyone who are into Dirty Jerzey shit and man do i love that sound! Last of the "bigger" bands, Bolt put out a stellar new full-length, "Behind Obstacles Lies Truth", Helsinki NYHC like they way it should be played, so good album, it's also out on Fullhouse Records. Then i gotta mention new Alley Gods album "Correcting Wrong Opinions", just out on Poolside Records and Psychedelica Records, it's hard as hell and fast as fuck old school hardcore, it's our drummer Teemu's first band, by the way. There's still more, man i could go on forever, then is You Can't Keep Me Down from Lohja, they play heavy, heavy beatdown hardcore with lotsa humor in it, not a joke band of anything, really good shit. YCKMD has a brand new split out just now with Helsinki's own H8 Inc., Third Man Down, who got little more punk-sound on the split, check both those bands out and pick the split, it's self-released. This years probably two hardest releases are Hammertime 12" and Become A Threat - Method In This Madness LP/CD, both out also on Fullhouse, check their whole catalogue! Foreseen from Helsinki (ex-In On Piece playing NYHC crossover) have gotten their 7" out too, as have Last Laugh and Remissions, so keep on checking out Killing The Legacy for latest great Finnish releases! I could go onforever dropping great names, haha. Peep also Poolside Record's catalogue from their MySpace here: http://www.myspace.com/poolsiderecs

I know you’re working on the first paper issue of the Killing The Legacy fanzine. How far are you with it and what should we expect to find in it?

Markus: First issue is pretty much done, but it's still in progress, graphics and shit need to be done, i think it's out this year, hahaha, at least i hope so. First issue will feature some really random shit by me and Toni (who's doing the graphics etc.), interviews with Trapped Under Ice, Hammertime and Become A Threat + new band Fit My Crime. Trying to make it so that next issue won't take too long after the first one is out. Killing The Legacy -blog is also back on track with reviews and downloads of Finnish bands and old classics, keep on checking it. We have also Killing The Legacy Fest 2011 coming up in Turku city, it's 7-8.1.2011 at S-Osis, Turku, two day fest with some of Finland's greatest bands: Become A Threat, Hammertime, End Begins, Last Laugh, Enemyblood, The Jacklads, The Random Sickos, Ill Omen, Get Stitches! & Ronskibiitti.

Best horror movie ever made? And what do you think about Halloween 2 from Rob Zombie and the guy in general?

Markus: This is a hard one, since i'm a huge horror fan. I'd say as a best horror movie, probably Evil Dead 1, that's it classic shit. I went to see Halloween By Rob Zombie on theater and when it came out and i gotta say it was brutal. The sense of violence was there and this is coming from a dude who loves to see gore fly and guts being spilled, i think Rob made the movie disturbing by purpose. It was a good movie thought, not too shocking but somehow too dull, don't know. I liked the Friday The 13th re-make more, even lots of people say it was crap. I think Rob doesn't make very good music, but House Of The 1000 Corpses and Devil's Rejects were really good movies and probably i'm gonna see Halloween 2 as well, but i'm not waiting very much of it. I love also zombie movies (there's zombie samples from George Romero's Day Of The Dead on our demo), check out Lucio Fulci's movies like City Of The Living Dead and Zombie Flesh Eaters, those are the shit, George A Romero is the man as well.


Tattoos, you’ve got a lot of them! What is your favorite one?

Markus: Yeah of course gotta be inked, haha. Hard to say what is my favourite, most important ones i got are my first straight edge tattoo, x'd hand grabbing my arm, gangsta-ass penguins on my leg and my still in progress backpiece.


Working gloves or tight pants?

Markus: Working gloves, mother fuckers.

How realistic is Ill Omen putting out full length album in the near future?
Markus: We got three or four songs now ready and we've been playing two of them live for some time. We've been planning on putting out an mini cd or something as a next release, don't know yet what's going to happen, but a new release will come out eventually. Were writing new songs currently and hope to record something before Teemu leaves to exchange, but we'll see. Making a full-length is really hard, but we'll do our best, what may come and I hope it’ll come out good.


Anything you would like to add before we wrap it up?


Markus: Thank you a lot for showing interest on us and making this interview!

Ill Omen / Get Stitches! Split 7" is out and available and can be ordered from Poolside Records (http://www.myspace.com/poolsiderecs). Check out "Dear Friends" on our MySpace. Check out Get Stitches! and Poolside Records, thanks to everyone who's helped us out. Anyone interested on booking us to play at your area hit us up: illomenhc@gmail.com

We have a free 3-song sampler available for download, it features “Dear Friends” from the Split and two songs off our “S/T” 7”, so feel free to download it and spread the link: http://www.mediafire.com/?mx16t15rt24plc1

Ill Omen - S/t

I remember posting their first demo on this website and now, when I listen to this new 7”, I am pretty much impressed with the progress this band has made. Ill Omen brings four tracks of heavy, reckless hardcore with a slick, metallic edge that puts them somewhere between New York and Cleveland sound.

There are a lot of good things to be found here and all the songs come with a solid dose of exciting hooks, dope riffs and there are even solos from time to time. The rhythm section is on point and provide the right amount of groove. Their biggest strength is how they easily mix up different influences while staying focused on straight up in your face hardcore executed with a lot of energy and finesse. There’s nothing forced here, it can be heard they know what they want to achieve with their sound and how to get there.
Putting any more dopeness into these songs would probably result in exploding as this is some high-quality stuff. I definitely hope to hear more from these guys in the future. In the meantime, I am gonna cop their new split they’re putting out with Get Stitches!. I hope Ill Omen will be soon picked up by some serious label for their debut album so they will have the opportunity to finally connect with a wider hardcore audience.



Review by Dloogi
Label: Poolside Records / Killing The Legacy Records
Year: 2010
Band's website

Ratface - Ratassed

Ratassed, first full-length of Ratface came out already in February, but since i was in hiatus during the time, i decided to do a bit late review. Ratface's first mcd Demon Dayz made huge impact on the Finnish scene at the time, bringing ultra-brutal and funny, thrashy beatdown hardcore back with a bang. Since the mcd, they have put out a S/T 7" on Fast Rock Factory and in February 2010 their first full-length came out on Fullhouse Records.

Ratassed features a good bunch of heavy, thrash-ridden hardcore, that has all the beats and breaks you would ever wish for a hardcore album. This time they got some hardcore all-stars on the board with them, starting with UK's most notorius beatdown band, Six Ft. Ditch's vocalist Peachey. On the title track Ratassed, they've taken one of the most known SFD lyrics and turned it into their own, as Peachey screams; "Get drunk motherfuckers, get drunk!". With a quite banger to start with, the album is what you'd expect it to be, energetic, metallic hardcore and with MC. Respektor's awesome, even rap-influenced screaming they're taking this shit to another level, again.

Song titles reveal more of what's to come, Nightwish 4 A War and Crazytown Coolio, won't let you down and to top it, there's markings on the artwork on every song if it's a "party-tune" or a "hangover-tune". Second featuring artist is David from Denmark's metallic hardcore juggernaut, Shatterproof, who's singing some inexplainable words, (in Denmark maybe?) on Burana 1000 and dropping a killer line in there; "Denland Finmark connection giving all you PC-kids a stupidity injection". I'm also sure there's something connected with ovaskainen räppikäinen on that song? More Booze More Sex features Pussy Rat Dolls on backup choir, it's very sing-a-long type of party anthem, heavy shit mixed with ultra fast shredding parts. Also finnish hip-hop is represented on Ratassed with King King Of Bling Bling, when Shaka drops some skilled bombs on the latter part of the song, working spectaculary well. Ending the "real" record is In Satan We Trust, with Respektor's old band mate (from Pitfiend days) Jakefiend, who nowdays sings for The Jacklads, they share some tender moments on worshipping of satan, of course, what else.

But this is not the end, hence the "Afterparty Area", where we hear hardcore band turn into a "reggae" band with I Don't Like Hardcore and welcome their last visitor, DJ Pataässä, delivering the final killing blow with; Güte Scheisse, an epic full on techno assault. Last two songs are very much at your own risk, so listen if you dare. Also note that you'll have to have a sense of humour to listen them, so tightasses (and dickheads!), don't bother. Ratface has proven that they are here to stay, they have kept on playing and having fun and there doesn't seem to be end in sight. For all fans of hardcore music in general, and who can take a joke, should really check Ratface out if you haven't yet. Ratassed is available on vinyl and cd, both formats available straight from the label, Finland's finest, Fullhouse Records.

This review was taken with permission from the excellent Killing The Legacy blog.

Label: Fullhouse Records
Year: 2010
Band's website

Ill Omen - Dead Friends

Here's the new track of this promising Finnish band taken straight from the still hot split with Get Stitches! Check out what they're about here.

Alley Gods

I've had a chance to follow this bands since their first 7" and have been steadily impressed with their music. Alley Gods brings nothing but a fast and angry hardcore with a straight in your face lyrical delivery. Make sure you peep their new album I've reviewed somewhere on this site recently - they still know how to instantly get your anger level high and the blood flowing through your limbs! Check out the interview for some info on the band, new album and hardcore scene in their hometown, Turku.

I've had a chance to follow this bands since their first 7" and have been steadily impressed with their music. Alley Gods brings nothing but a fast and angry hardcore with a straight in your face lyrical delivery. Make sure you peep their new album I've reviewed somewhere on this site recently - they still know how to instantly get your anger level high and the blood flowing through your limbs! Check out the interview for some info on the band, new album and hardcore scene in their hometown, Turku.

Correcting Wrong Opinions has been out for a while. Are you satisfied with how this album came out and the response it’s been getting?

O: Yes. We wanted to do a traditional straightforward album without messing too much with the hardcore trends going on and I guess we succeeded.

R: We’ve been happy to hear what people think of the album whether they’d like it or not but the feedback has been mostly positive.

Can you give us an insight of the writing and recording process for the album?

L: Just before we decided to do an full-length album we begun to have a clear image of our own style to work things out. Meaning, the composing part suddenly was so easy and there were solid songs coming out without planning them properly. We were sort of jamming the songs together and that’s when we thought it would be a good time to concentrate to the big picture which of course would be the full-length.

T: The most effective way for us to keep things solid has really been purely to just play and have good time instead of planning too much. Letting the songs just roll on. And what comes to the recording part, it was quite easy aswell cos we already had some experience of how it all works in the good old studio with the good old producer. In the studio we just polished the songs with adding all the little details, but I guess that’s just how it should be in the first place. It was a relatively easy process altogether.

If you ask me, Correcting Wrong Opinions is a perfect example of an old school album that sounds fresh and exciting. What bands you look to as an inspiration?

O: We all have a wide range of music we listen but when talking about hardcore I think it can be heard in the album that besides of old school bands we also know what’s going on in present. The list could be endless but to name a few hot finnish bands of who’ve made an impact; Kieltolaki, Last laugh, Cutdown, Ratface…

T: …Finnish bands because in hardcore going to shows is a big part of it and those are some we’ve heard live and digged.

L: And because our style can more or less be described as old school; Minor Threat, Outlast, Gorilla Biscuits to name a few, not saying we try to sound like them.. I just like bands playing fast. Old or new ones.

O: And to counterbalance the fastness; Kickback, Irate, Integrity and Nasty are bangin.

Explain what the name of the album translates to and how it relates to the music…

L: It’s meant to sound provocative and cocky but you can also turn it over by correcting your own opinions. In hardcore lyrics there’s a lot of principles that people adopt without questioning them. By correcting wrong opinions you can also mean changing them and, indirectly, learning something. Basically it’s just against all too strong opinions cos things tend to have more sides than people want to see or understand. If you find the lyrics radical or offensive, it’s just our side of the coin. We’re not saying it’s the absolute truth that we declare.

I’ve read about The lyrics on the new album are something most kids can relate to, no matter if they’re from Finland, Spain, Poland or any other place. Is it important for you to have people taking something from your music?

R: It’s great if the lyrics are something that people can relate to and get something out of, but mainly they’re our own opinions and thoughts about the things we face daily in our lives. Whether they’re provocative or not, the subjects are not that positive or nice, cos that’s how we see the world.

O: After all the lyrics reflect our personal feelings at the moment written down as an expression of dissatisfaction and anger.

What are some of the songs from the album that are most important to you and why?

R: I’d say the title track and “Generations of hate” because those two show our music’s variability. It’s boring to make songs that fit exactly in to some genre and these songs break the norms of traditional hardcore just right.

L: My favourite is “Still the same” cos it matches my vision of how I wanted the album to sound like, musically and lyrically.

O: Every song has their own meaning to me but to pick one, “Black & white”. It’s about a local football club.

T: I can’t get bored with the song called “Mistakes” because of it’s intro which is never played the same way.

How did you guys get into the whole hardcore thing? What was it about it that appealed to you the most?

L: We all went to the same junior high school and traded punk records at the schoolyard and eventually found hardcore which became more important after getting into the local punk/hardcore scene. We went to gigs and got impressed enough to start a band. HC as its best has got that certain passion that is hard to find elsewhere.

What are some of the headaches you deal with playing in hardcore band?

R: Hangovers.

And what are some of the most rewarding aspects of it?

O: Getting to play. The feeling you get if you got a gig and the crowd is active and the playing goes well. It’s a reward by itself. The satisfaction of getting the anger channeled to something.

T: Recording is also a big part because you can get a concrete proof of your work.

Have you had any crazy experiences when playing live?

L: That’s got to be the gig when we tried to cover “Raining blood” as an intro and I failed big time. One should not play that song wrong. There’s also some gigs in the past that were ruined by playing too drunk but it’s not a problem anymore cos we’ve learned that the satisfaction of playing tight and getting drunk later is greater.

R: Nothing too crazy so far. Just the usual; broken amps and drums falling apart. Girls-only –pit is worth mentioning too…

What are some other hardcore bands in Turku? How is the scene over there in general?

O: Turku scene is doing well except of the recent loss of our legendary venue TVO, which has been the center of punk, HC and bunch of other underground music happenings for ages.

R: To mention a few active bands from Turku: Get Stitches!, Ill Omen, Kylmä Sota, Anvils Drop, .45 Stainless and early mentioned Kieltolaki. The HC scene in Finland is quite small but it’s the reason people from different cities are so connected with each other.


It seems like the emo movement is losing its momentum – what do you think will be the next thing to ruin the good name of hardcore?

R: The trends aren’t really that noticeable in Finland. Seems like people just make the music they want and don’t really give a fuck what’s going on with the latest movements. Of course there is always some influence from the trends going on but it doesn’t affect on us in any way.

Before we finish up, tell us how did you guys come together? How long have you been a band?

R: We started in 2005 when we got to play together at my parent’s garage. At first it was just playing some street punk but after few months when Oskari came to vocals we just started to play hardcore. We all know each other from way back and have been playing together in various lineups at junior high.

Ok, thanks for the interview. Anything you would like to add?

L: Thanks for the interview! There’s been some talk about touring Europe some day so if you’re reading this and feel like you could maybe book us, feel free to contact. Check out our and Poolside Records’ myspace:
www.myspace.com/alleygods

www.myspace.com/poolsiderecords

alleygods@hotmail.com

The band is:
O = Oskari (vocals)
L = Lauri (guitar)
R = Roippe (drums)
T = Topi (bass)

Killing The Legacy Fest 2011

Killing The Legacy Fest will take place in Turku City and will include bands like Ill Omen, Become A Threat, Get Stitches! and bunch more. From 'Killing The Legacy' blog: "That's right motherfuckers, KTL Presents a two-day hardcore extravaganza in S-Osis of Turku City, Finland. Dates are 7-8.1.2011, shows are happening on Friday and Saturday."

Line up is currently showing something like this:

Become A Threat (Hki) - http://www.myspace.com/becomeathreat
Hammertime (Hki) - http://www.myspace.com/fullhouserecords
Last Laugh (Hki) - http://www.myspace.com/helsinkill
Enemyblood (Lahti) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBbSIQiOgTI
Ill Omen (Tku) - http://www.myspace.com/illomenhc
Get Stitches! (Tku) - http://www.myspace.com/getstitcheshc
End Begins (Lahti-Tre-jne.) - http://www.myspace.com/endbeginshc
The Jacklads - (Lahti) - http://www.myspace.com/thejacklads
The Random Sickos (Espoo)


There will be band or two more. Tickets won't be expensive and door times will be released later when a poster is done. If you want a nice showcase of Finnish hardcore, i'd recommend to come around this time."