Overreact - Self Titled (Knives Out Recs)

The debut ep from France’s Overreact does not disappoint. If bands like Integrity, Ringworm, Vitality or Kickback are your shit, this ep will be a dope front-to-back listen as it showcases the band just wrecking shit through 4 tracks with a real nice vibe on the 90’ evil and grimey metalcore tip. Some real hard shit on this one. Those dudes ain’t ashamed to admit they’re heavily influenced by old school metalcore sound which seems to be a kind of hype in some circles. But make no mistake, this ep hits so many right points that it’s clear they’re not some new jacks jumping on bandwagon but real dudes with sincere love for the art of hardcore.

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Review: Length Of Time - Let the World with the Sun Go Down

Anything Length Of Time touches is full of intensity and focus. At ‘Let The World With The Sun Go Down’, the band is a fucking war machine. It’s amazing to see that after so many years, they haven’t lost it. Over the years, the band has leaned more towards the metal side, and this album is a natural consequence of this path. It’s definitely more metal than their early albums, and much more aggressive than Antiworld.

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Bottom Out posted new track

Bottom Out posted new track on their bandcamp profile, entitled Letters From Earth! So see the ruse, with it's end in bloom, to see this strife and these vices tear their way through you. I always knew, to put no faith into the shit you talk, and the hate you spew. If the Devil is the author, then I serve as the pen. Watch your seed rot; wicked, through the hearts of men. So as I walk, and I'm shadowed by death I beg you bury me face down, tired and faithless.

Bottomfeeder Interview

It seems that the sole purpose of Bottomfeeder’s existence is to bring the glorious style of 90’ tough metallic hardcore back on the map. No band can go wrong when taking Merauder, All Out War or Earth Crisis as their musical influences, and Bottomfeeder executes this style for perfection. If you mix it with hard-hitting lyrics that jump from personal issues to more global concerns, it’s an ultimate killer. This interview is for those who dig band’s latest output, II ep, as well as for those not familiar.

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Length Of Time streams Maleficious World

Belgium's legendary Length Of Time has posted brand new track from the upcoming album, 'Let The World With The Sun Go Down' due out via GSR Music. You can listen to Maleficious World here. Place your pre-order for the upcoming album here. The record comes on cd in a digi pack and features 5 brand new songs and a bonus track, as well as on picture disc 12" with the full demo "We Choose The Violent Way" as a bonus. Out November 16th!

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Morpain to release new 'Deny The Truth' EP

Morpain, a french Métal Hardcore band, will release new EP " in a week or two. Here's a teaser of how it's gonna sound. It will be a digital release, available for free streaming and download on bandcamp.

Abolition streams 'Alienation'!

[official info] Abolition went back to the studio to record the successor of their self titled 12". Today we are beyond psyched to announce that The Essence will be releasing the new 7" entitled "Language of Violence" - definitely the finest effort Abolition has ever produced. More details on release date and pre-orders to follow soon. Check out new song Alienation and lyrics here!

Oblivion to release 7"

Oblivion (Tacoma, WA) streams two songs from the upcoming 7" ep. Listen to Doomed and Noose Of Hope here. Musically, it's something between hardcore and death metal, but don't confuse it with any deathcore bullshit. It actually has been up since march, but if you haven't heard it before give it a try.

'Sic Semper Tyrannis' by Territory available for free

From the press release: "Escapist Records and Territory are offering up the debut LP, Sic Semper Tyrannis, from the Tucson, AZ hardcore band for free digital download. Our goal has and will always be the same: we want to share the art – the music and the visual – with as many people as possible. Below you will find a links for the music and lyrics as well as the website of the artist involved with the work throughout the entire layout." The album is is also available as an 12" LP here.The band takes influences across metal and hardcore with a sound appealing to fans of Buried Alive, Crowbar, Foundation, Obituary, and Kickback.

Born From Pain streams entire 'The New Future'. Pre-order packages available!

Groove, riffs, melody and defiance to the powers that be come into one - this is how GSR Records describes new album by Born From Pain. The label offers 3 different pre-order packages. More about the album: "This is the musical reaction to creeping oppression, anti-human policy and fear mongering by the powerful few of this world against the people. This is a cry for the better and new future we all deserve. This is the result of a 15-year journey of a band coming to full awareness of the world around them and daring to stand up for their beliefs, musically coming of age with more melody, hardness and atmosphere than ever before. Fear won’t stop us in our tracks…THIS IS US!" You can listen to the entire album here.

Organized Crime Records to reissue classic All Out War album

Organized Crime Records have announced it would reissue the debut full length from New York’s All Out War, Truth In The Age Of Lies. The vinyl LP version comes with expanded artwork and bonus tracks and is being pressed on white vinyl (500 copies), red vinyl (150 copies) and grey vinyl (350). The CD version also includes the band’s 1992 demo. Vinyl version includes digital download of LP plus the 1992 Demo. The demo itself is going to be released on limited 10" vinyl. Click here for more info and preorders, which are due out April 17th.

Blade signed to Seventh Dagger. New album in the works!

Blade, Belgian Straight Edge hardcore band, is now part of the Seventh Dagger family. The collaboration will result in the release of band's new album, "Armed with Abstinence". Blade describes its sound as "bleak, dark and aggressive hybrid of hardcore and metal, but still staying far away from the current metalcore style. In fact everything about Blade is influenced by the earlier, angrier days of new school hardcore." The band has so far released a split with the German band Golddust on Break Out records, and a 7” named “Lambs To The Slaughter” on Ugly And Proud records.

New Havenside album set for release in April

Sacramento, California hardcore outfit Havenside is all set to release their much anticipated new album entitled “Nemesis”, April 3rd, 2012 via Westcoast Worldwide Records. “Nemesis” is the follow up to 2010’s critically acclaimed “Recognition”, and is the bands third release. The album was recorded at Castle Ultimate Studios in Oakland, California, and was engineered/produced by Zack Ohren (All Shall Perish, Arsonists Get All the Girls, Suffocation, Conducting from the Grave). “We really feel that “Nemesis” is more than anything, a statement of our roots”, states vocalist Brandon Wells. “This record is just a wall of sound that will make you feel like you are getting assaulted from beginning to end. It’s a big, heavy sounding record, and we can’t wait for people to not just experience, but really feel it”.
Check out the lead single from “Nemesis” called “Resilient” here.

I Want You Dead Interview

As a brief introduction, during almost four years of its existence, the band has released a successful album in 2010, ‘We Are The Legions of Scums’, which was followed by ΑΩ EP that came out just January this year. The seven inch definitely bands and showcases that the band is getting steadily better. As the situation In Greece gets worse, the music of I Want You Dead seems to get more dark and tense. The new ΑΩ Ep is a massive slab of brutal and sinister hardcore that cleverly makes use of metal elements but still pays its homage to the roots of the genre. Here’s the interview which hopefully sheds some light on underlying intentions and ideas behind their music.

As a brief introduction, during almost four years of its existence, the band has released a successful album in 2010, ‘We Are The Legions of Scums’, which was followed by ΑΩ EP that came out just January this year. The seven inch definitely bands and showcases that the band is getting steadily better. As the situation In Greece gets worse, the music of I Want You Dead seems to get more dark and tense. The new ΑΩ Ep is a massive slab of brutal and sinister hardcore that cleverly makes use of metal elements but still pays its homage to the roots of the genre. Here’s the interview which hopefully sheds some light on underlying intentions and ideas behind their music.

What would you say about the music and the lyrics of the “We Are The Legions of Scums” album? What was your main inspiration?

Musically speaking it is an album of heavy, agressive music. We believe that dark lyrics suit our music in the best way and create a suffocative and intense atmosphere. Our debut is a hardcore album made by people who love hardcore music. We got inspired by the bands we love of course (Slapshot, Integrity, Cursed, Carpathian, Reign Supreme, Celeste among others) but also from other non-music stuff such as movies or situations we are involved in. You can drag inspiration from anything actually. We prefer dark concepts.


What feedback have you received since its release and how are these new songs coming along in the shows?

We have received a quite positive feedback. Kids seem to dig our music and the shows are getting better and better! We tested our new tracks on tour and all is good! We think it is very important to be able to play live everything you listen in the record and this is something we always have in mind when we compose new songs.

What is the meaning behind “We Are The Legions of Scums” and how did the band decide on this title?

Actually it is a cool in-your-face title that we think gives you a good impression of what you are about to listen in the record. There's no big meaning behind it. It is just our way of telling you we play aggressive music. Plus it suits the “apocalyptic” concept we so much adore!

You recently released AÙ 7inch. How is it different from your previous release?

The ÁÙ 7inch is a big step for us, a critical release. We had a line-up change between this and our debut full length, specifically in the vocalist position. We also made a pretty observable change in our sound towards darker, more intense, black metal influenced hardcore. We worked hard on the new songs in order to achieve this and fortunately our new vocalist turned out to be a perfect match for our sound. We are really satisfied we the outcome of this 7inch and we believe it is the first step towards forming our own unique sound.

Lyrically, those new songs bring some really dark and intense tone. What was your inspiration during the writing and what do you want to convey to the listener?

Even though we live in a country known for its sunny weather, there are stuff going on here on both national & personal level that affected and inspired us, in order to write those lyrics. For the past years we have been receivers of bad news and cruel reality due to the situation our country is in. This affects literally everyone. Our families , our friends & ourselves.
Financial crisis and state suppression are now part of our everyday life and these are things we can't ignore. We try to be positive on a personal level (which is difficult) in order to deal with the situation but our anger and despair builds up inside us and expressing this through our music and lyrics is inevitable and kind of a vital matter for us.

To those who have opposing viewpoints from yours, what do you hope they take away listening to the album?

We don't really hope for anything. We make the music we want to make and we sing about the stuff we like. Sure we know that some people may not agree with our views/lyrics. But this is the message we want to spread. Embrace it or reject it.

How do you feel about the fucked up situation Greece has found itself in? It seems there are millions of explanations about why did it happen, but what’s your perspective as someone from there?

The explanation is pretty simple...A few people took decisions for the lives of millions and the only thing that mattered for them was personal profit. Capitalist pigs took advantage of a whole nation in order to make money. They borrowed money, on behalf of all the greek people, and now they can't pay back their debt. This is something that now affects everyone over here. They actually ruined our future as we have to pay for their mistakes. People of Greece are innocent, they are casualties of a financial war they never took part in. Politicians are cunts and deserve the worse ,for the impact of their greed destroyed our lives.

So, how do you feel about the future?

We can't really say we're optimistic about the future...Every single day major changes happen over here. New laws, new restrictions, suppression. We believe in the freedom of people and we are against all kinds of oppression. It is dark times for us here but we are not willing to lose the control of our lives even if this means conflict with the state and the police.


Is there any political or social movement that you sympathize with or that you're a part of?

All four members of IWYD are involved with political and social movements. We support the squats of our hometown and we are active on several levels. We live in a country where many things have happened the last years. It is almost inevitable to be involved in sociopolitical stuff. We, as a band and individually, despise any form of oppression, authority and racism.

Your music is hard to pin dawn – was it the idea from the start to combine different styles of hardcore? Where does I Want You Dead draw their inspirations?

Well, we listen to various styles of music and inspiration -as told before- can come from anything.Though we don't really have rules for our music, the plan is to sound pissed off. We love hardcore in general and we take the elements we like from any style of it. This just happens ! We listen to a lot of the old classic Boston stuff but we also dig modern bands such as The Banner or Rise and Fall and their approach to hardcore. Our sound is a combination of our influences plus the personal element of each one of us. In the future we won't hesitate to use in our music anything that satisfies us whether it's hardcore or not.

Can you tell us a little about how the band formed?

We formed in 2008 in order to play the music we love, tour and have a good time. The four of us study in Patras University and knew each other a while before forming the band. We had a different singer at the beginning who quit the band in order to focus on other stuff. He now is replaced by Michael, the singer/guitarist of Fields of Locust (excellent post-metal/sludge outfit! Check 'em out!). We are more than satisfied with this choice, the dude rocks!

Would you like to say anything to the readers?

Yeah. Come to our shows and don't go to church.

MPO - Deny Life

MPO, previously known as Monsieur Po, has been active in the vibrant Paris scene since 2002. Still under the previous name, they have released ‘There Was Life’ MCD and split with Una Vida which I reviewed some time ago. Deny Life is not only their debut release as MPO, but also the first full length recording overall.

Band’s music is best described as metalcore, but the one along the lines of All Out War, Sentence or Arkangel and not the one which is about tight pants and pig squealing bullshit. It might not deliver the apocalyptic atmosphere as the mentioned bands, but still it doesn’t lack a bite. Since the first notes on the album the band lays out pretty dynamic and heavy sound coupled with intense and forceful vocals. All the elements seem to blend together seamlessly and the music is thought out and well played, but sometimes it lacks some catchy hook to hold on to. MPO can write really incredible and complex tracks, but what this album needs is more diversity between the songs as sometimes it’s hard to tell one from another. But that doesn’t take away that Deny Life is a solid effort. MPO isn't really breaking new ground here, but the mosh parts are solid and do the job and in the end, it’s good to see that metallic hardcore can still be played with a focus on passion not fashion. Anyone into that type of sound should give it a try, there are good odds you will find something you like.

Giant Leeches Attach, Cruzade Records, 2011
Review by Dloogi

Skinfather- Atheos

Skinfather comes from Orange County, California and delivers some seriously dark and aggressive hardcore, taking a lot from Clevo sound or straight up thrash influences. The vocals are massive! Check out band's webstore if you want to support them by buying some merch. Download!

Always War - Vengeance Prevail

Always War is relatively less known compared to some other Swedish bands so before I got this CD I had no clue about bands existence. According to the bio, they started out in 2007 with a mission to combine classic crossover hardcore sound of Agnostic Front or Cro-Mags with some heavier metal influences. After struggling for some time with typical newcomer issues like unstable line-up changes, "Vengeance Prevail" is band’s first official release and fits pretty well with the its stylistic aspirations. The music is built around solid hardcore base but with tons of thrashing riffs and double bass action. It’s a little bit like more metal version Terror, Lionheart or Since The Flood, although the band lacks the natural and easy flow of the mentioned bands. It might no not in the league with the best, but when the band is on form, it is immense and sharp. The fact that they keep the songs vibrant and dynamic all the way throughout the album plays definitely to their advantage, with no mindless deathcore crap or clean vocals nonsense. I back up their decision to keep the album short, as it offers only five tracks, of which most barely clock past three minutes. It keeps it more focused and dense, which combined with solid musicianship and some heavy-ass vocals makes it a worth listen.

Nature Always Wins Records, 2011
Review by Dloogi

New Purification album “A Torch To Pierce The Night” due out February 2012

After 15 years from our debut 7”, “Vessel of Wrath”, Purification’s legacy continues with the release of a brand new CD called “A Torch To Pierce The Night” due out February 2012, courtesy of the Germany based label Bastardized Recordings. The CD will feature: A spoken word by John Joseph (lead singer for the Cro-Mags); Artwork done by Dave Quiggle; New versions of Legion & Lex Talionis. For further news, merchandise & music, you can check band's Facebook page!

Harm's Way to release new album at Closed Casket Activities

The time has finally come for a new LP from our own Harms’S Way. Just over 1 year from the 7″ release of the “No Gods No Masters” EP Closed Casket Activities will be bringing you the new full length entitled “Isolation”. This record is 8 new tracks that truly shows their progression into their own style of metal influenced hardcore. Recording has been finished at Brick Top Recordings in Illinois by Andy Nelson (Weekend Nachos) and original illustrations for the project has been handled by Jon Macnair to bring the audio and visual aspects of the recording to life.

In anticipation of the announced Harms’S Way – Isolation LP we will have a 7″ single for the song “Breeding Grounds”. This will be a tour exclusive on the upcoming East coast run with Expire and Venia and limited to 300 copies. The track will be available for a free download shortly at Closed Casket Activities but for now can be streamed here.

Edge Of Spirit Interview

Edge Of Spirit is a long running Japan hardcore band with a heavy metallic sound. They take a lot both from classic metalcore sound as well as straight up metal and they do their thing just right. Their new self titled album is a proof they know how to handle their shit, delivering strong and tight performance while avoiding genre clichés. I just have to add that this interview has been actually done couple of weeks before the tragic tsunami that hit Japan and I just hope that no one from the band was harmed during these tragic events.

Edge Of Spirit is a long running Japan hardcore band with a heavy metallic sound. They take a lot both from classic metalcore sound as well as straight up metal and they do their thing just right. Their new self titled album is a proof they know how to handle their shit, delivering strong and tight performance while avoiding genre clichés. I just have to add that this interview has been actually done couple of weeks before the tragic tsunami that hit Japan and I just hope that no one from the band was harmed during these tragic events.

Your latest album self-titled has been released recently. What can people expect from it?

It's pretty simple, I would like people to have a listen to it, crank it, and enjoy it. All we can do is just to output music, so If I could have people feel what they feel from the music, I would be happy enough then.

Now that it hit the streets, how do you feel about it? Are you satisfied with the outcome? What has been the response so far?

We're very satisfied with it. We have inputted all what we think and what we want to do into the album. The response has been so far so good, everybody says it's cool.

Has anything changed, music wise, since the bands previous release?

Nothing really has been changed basically. We take pride in the fact that we have kept producing original metallic hardcore sound and we will never change our own ethic.

What is the main inspiration when writing lyrics and is there a theme or themes behind the writing of this record?

The theme of the album is "revolution". I don't mean anything political, but I mean the theme is about how we can achieve what we can't, how we can make our things better, how we can solve our own frustration and struggle by ourselves around our daily life. The theme statement is, let's make a revolution in ourselves day by day. So, my inspiration mostly comes from anything around myself.

What is your label situation? How did you hook up with Demons Run Amok records for this release?

In Japan we have been on a label called OCH. I'm satisfied with deal and activities with them very much. Our manager Hideki enabled us to hook up with Demons Run Amok in Europe. He has been our fan for years and keeps trying to spread our music to the world. He's a brilliant manager.

What are some of the moments that stand out to you when thinking back about the band’s history so far?

Way too many good moments in this 14 years to name though, we got to known with friends in Korea, Canada, Australia, and America through our music by touring. That's what stands out to us.

What are some main influences that have shaped the band?

Musically all kinds of hardcore music and metal music have influenced us a lot. In terms of attitude, hardcore mind has influenced us a lot.

Describe hardcore scene in Japan at the beginning of the 21st century.

It has been excellent that various type of hardcore bands came out. Every year many overseas bands come over here, and everybody gets together, supports each other and trys to make an excellent scene. It's DIY level though, I think it's very good scene.

There are many kids saying that the hardcore is constantly changing and adapting. How do you feel about the progress in hardcore in terms of music and lyrics and how do you see the future of the scene?

For sure music is constantly changing and adapting. Rather than that, I think how we make a change with music is way more important. It's not like the newer music is, the better it is. Who and what kind of person plays the music is more important than what the music it is. The fact that new kind of music keeps coming out is very exciting and good, however I would like young people to check out where current music came from and try to understand that as well. The scene may be going to be bigger or die off. I can't really say what is going to happen in the future. I can't predict the future. If we don't really care how we should enjoy too much and everybody makes sure keep loving the scene, then the scene will stay good I think.

What is your definition of real hardcore and what is your formula for staying true to the roots of the genre but at the same time giving your music some fresh flavor and exploring themes not commonly done in hardcore albums?

My definition of hardcore is to stay true to yourself, not to change your mind by others' opinions. There are many kinds of music out now, but what kind of hardcore music you play doesn't really matter to me. What is important is your heart. I even sometimes feel hardcore mind from some of people who play other type of music. Our formula is to keep stepping and progressing with hardcore mind.

Beyond just hardcore bands who are some people you feel represent true hardcore?

Talking about here back in the ancient, samurai warriors represent hardcore!

Pick 3 words that describe your live show?

Passion, Heaviness, Chaos

Thanks for the interview. Any last shout outs? So what are some other band’s plans for the future?

We are going to go and tour Europe on May! Please check out www.mad-tourbooking.de for more info. I would like you to see us live and enjoy music together. If we visit your town, then please come and have fun with us!

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