HARDBOILED

Dogchains - eat good, stay clean, be awesome

First of all, Dogchains is a dope name for a hardcore band. These Germans will be dropping new Give / Take 7” that blend Boston/NY influences and bring the feel of the stuff good bands were putting out in 80’/90’. The ep is a collab between Straight & Alert, Life To Live Records and Balance Records and features 6 tracks which are really aggressive and fast, but also have just the right amount of groove. This is the kind of hardcore made for going wild out, definitely. The rockish vibe in these tracks makes you feel like going years back when much more bands were doing this type of sound. The band have shared the stage with likes of Mindset, Cold World, The Mongoloids, Expire, Rotting Out and that’s the company they fit in I guess. Two new tracks can be heard on their bandcamp and they’re tight as hell. You can order the ep through here. Don't want to sound too excited, but you'll be doing yourself a favor by seeking it out.

In other news, Straight & Alert will be also releasing a tape from Jack Move, a new band from Paris with ex and current members of Cut Loose, Get Lost and Money Time. Fans of angry and fast hardcore in vein of Mental, Outburst, Lights Out and The Rival Mob should check it out.

Kid Armor Interview

Kid Armor is a straight edge band from South Orange County that recently dropped Better Days ep to please all the kids into classic hardcore sound. If you dig youth crew and west coast punk rock, this is for you. The interview was done just after the ep was released.

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Listen to upcoming 7" by Kid Armor

Kid Armor is a really cool new youth crew band from Southern California and they will have a debut 7" Better Days released by Commitment Records. Pre-orders for the record have already started, check it out here. Musically, it's upbeat and raw, with tons of strong riffs and gang vocals. A lot of their lyrics deal with dangers of taking drugs and the band is not shy about their straight edge stance. I expect to see kids slamming hard to tracks like Better Days or Pound, great stuff!

Violent Reaction to release new album

Straight edge posse Violent Reaction is dropping new 12" album soon. Also, re-release of band's 7" is planned. As the band said: "In addition to the 12" that will be out in a few weeks, 6131 Records/Mind Rot are co-releasing a US press of our 7", should be out by Damaged City Fest in DC." Keep your eyes open! The band will be touring with Hounds Of Hate this summer.

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!

Listen to 'Life, By The Code' by Cleveland's Search Bloc

Life, By The Code is the title of new EP by Search Bloc. Four songs of that vicious Cleveland straight edge hardcore you either love or hate. You can listed to the entire EP here or after the jump. Life, By The Code is expected to be released on Seventh Dagger Records.

Listen to new songs from The Wrath!

The Wrath has posted rough version of the new songs on their Bandcame page. This new stuff sounds pretty bad-ass and definitely makes me hungry for the new album! More info about future release will probably drop soon!

Stoop Kid - Demo

Hard as nails hardcore out of Massachusetts, Stoop Kid delivers everything you need to start wanting fuck people up real badly. This is their first demo and it sounds tight. Pounding and crushing stuff delivered mostly in mid-tempos with the emphasis on groove and nice double bass work. The angry-ass vocals make you want to get your aggression out in a brutal way. Pretty sick. Spineless is my fav song, but all of them are solid. Download it!

GhostXShip - My Oath

Wrestling and hardcore come together in this new video for Ghost Ship.

No Zodiac - Chaos Reigns

If you're a fan of obscure horror movies, don't sleep on this one. And all you kids talking shit, you need to chill and don't take life so seriously.

One Choice - Forever War

For those unfamiliar, One Choice members have did their time in other prominent SoCal bands like Time For Change, Collision, Built To Last and Her Grey Earth. After debut Ep which came out at New Age records, this is their debut full length release. By the middle of the first track, the expectations from the rest of the album are set high. After short intro, Forever War sets things off with a damn catchy hook and hell of a chorus.

When Karl of Earth Crisis takes over the microphone, I really feel like these boys nailed it. It carries strong Trial influence, something which can be heard at different points throughout the album, but the band rises above your typical 90’-worship. The guitar work is awesome and the structures of the songs are tight and focused, but don’t lack melodies and plenty of exciting twists and turns. Being in hardcore band, it’s hard to inject emotions other that hate or urge for revenge into the music without sounding pussy. I dig the bands that know how to do that. And this is one of the things I like about One Choice – from personal pain to the disgust and disappointment with the world, they can get the feeling across to the listener in a way that it sounds honest and convincing. If those songs don’t move you, you’re a cold heartless bastard.

One of the standout aspects of the album is the number of guest appearances, which include Karl and Scott from Earth Crisis, Greg from Trial, Mike from Outspoken, Toby from H20, and Andrew from Strife. From Friendship Loyalty Commitment by 25 Ta Life I haven’t heard so many guests lending their vocals on a single hardcore album. All of these straight edge all stars contribute both to the songs, as well as give a short explanation in the gatefold of the album about what sober life means to them. The variety of people involved benefits not only the music itself, but shows that straight edge scene is still strong and vibrant. Pretty good move.

Highly recommended album. I’ve heard they plan to release something new this year, so keep your eyes open!

Review by Dloogi

Seventh Dagger, 2011

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.

Ghost X Ship - Cold Truth

Good hardcore doesn’t have to be too fancy. All it takes is substance, sharp delivery and some hard-hitting lyrics. And that’s what Ghost Ship delivers with its debut release. Cold Truth contain all the necessary elements that make a solid hardcore album, from raging guitars to seriously pissed off vocalist to insane breakdowns, all executed with a vivid flow and passion. The album’s sound is loosely possessed of the early Hatebreed or Throwdown but for the most part they keep it pretty fresh and avoid clichés. With no unnecessary tricks, distractions and experiments, I guess it’s the realness and commitment felt in those songs which are essential to what makes it work as a whole.

My favorite songs must be Enough, with very well crafted arrangement and catchy hook at the chorus. Monster of a song! On the production level, the album sounds just as it should – not too much raw, not too polished either.

When you pick a Seventh Dagger release you basically know what to expect messagewise and Ghost Ship is no exception. They take a strong and uncompromising straight edge stance but are pretty creative about how they get the message across. While some songs are more on the positive side describing band’s commitment to living a sober life, other will take you to the depths of the dark world of addiction and degeneration. The aforementioned Enough reminds us that addiction is not only about drugs and alcohol but it can affect a person on many different levels. Especially when money is involved, mass media and big corporations will go out of their way to fill your head and body with crap. As a person who tries to make conscious decisions about what to eat and what to buy, I can totally relate to the message in this song. And if you’re ain’t doing it, maybe you should? Everyone got a right to live their live as they want to but being smart is probably one of the best options.

To sum it up, Cold Truth holds all the tricks that make a good hardcore album. If you’re into stuff that’s heavy and aggressive, but still does not lack passion, don't sleep on this.

Seventh Dagger, 2011

Review by Dloogi

No Zodiac debuts new song

New No Zodiac song, "Chaos Reigns", can be heard here. No Zodiac is a Chicago-based Straight Edge band, you can download their demos here. The band will drop "Population Control", their debut release for Seventh Dagger, sometime this year.

Barcadia has called it quits

Damn, I missed this sad news when in January the band has announced they called it quits. Here's the update from the band's official FB site: "It's been a hell of a ride since 2005 and a lot of people have helped us along the way and supported our every move but we're going to be calling it quits. I (Michael) don't feel up to doing the band anymore and the rest of the band didn't want to continue on without me. There are way too many people to thank but a huge thank you to all of Reno hardcore and Reno straight edge...you made us who we ...are and without this city and all of the people here we would have been nothing. And thank you to everyone who checked out RAINN.org and did their part to help out a great cause. Continue to support what Reno puts out because there are some incredible people here. Thank you to everyone who supported us." You can still get some of their merch here.

Down to Nothing - Pipeline

Pipeline taken from All My Sons EP released by Reaper Records in 2010.

Dead Man's Chest - Hateline

The debut full length from the UK-based evil mongers, Hateline, picks up where band’s debut EP left off but first thing that hit me is how fatter and more forcing it sounds. First of all, the production is way better, giving these songs the beefy sound they deserve. The song writing is more complex, but still they focus on the right elements giving a music a vibrant and dynamic feel. The overall mood of the album is rather dark, which reflects best within the lyrics. Hateline explores themes of hate, contempt and disgust across ten songs of dirty heavy-ass hardcore. But instead of focusing on mental horrors and dramas, the band presents more down to earth approach in the lyrics which totally works for me.

The album sticks to mid-to-fast tempos most of the time and is proof that the best way to play hardcore is often by keeping it dirty and straight forward. This type of music is supposed to make impact by its sheer force not technical wankery, simple as that. That’s why I can connect to Dead Man’s Chest music, it’s abrasive and filthy brand of hardcore but far from generic or cliché. They take some influences from Clevo sound, but are far from just another band jumping on Holy Terror bandwagon. There’s also a surprising cover included as a bonus track but I am not going to spoil the fun, you have to check it for yourself. All I can say it’s probably the first band I hear to cover that track and they do the song a justice. Awesome stuff!

I can’t not mention that the artwork done by Janusz Kozak from Gore77 is great as always and overall Hateline is a good example of how the CDs should be released. While the front cover is not that impressive, the booklet got all the lyrics, horror-themed artwork and high quality band photos put together in very stylish way.

Before I wrap up, some extra knowledge. I don’t think it’s that much important fact about the band but Dead Man’s Chest consist mainly of Poles living in UK, some of them previously active in couple of pretty decent bands back in their home country. Most notably, the bassist Michu used to play for 1125, one of my all time favorite hardcore acts. Drummer, Andy Edge, used to play in Pignation, probably the only power violence band I listen to. If hardcore from Eastern Europe is still exotic to you, you need to check out both of these bands.

Seventh Dagger, 2011
Review by Dloogi

New 7" from Wolf City to be released on Irish Voodoo Records

Irish Voodoo Records have started pre orders for the new Wolf City 7" called "Better Days". The label is also selling 25 test pressings, hand stamped and numbered. If you're not familiar with the band: Named after the University of Nevada Wolf Pack, Wolf City was born in 2009. Calling Reno home, their sound is fast, mean, in your face, but not watered down.

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!