Domestic War - Ad Noctum

I highly recommend this. This album is fucking great. I admit that xSeventh Daggerx can get repetitive. And i do not love most of Facedown or Strike First, as they tend to get too metal - or too christian. Well, this is hardcore. Straight up and down. Just heavy fucking hardcore.

Thick, strong, no bones about it, Metallic SXE HC ("Put the fucking bottle down!")Lyrics are a bit more elaborate than typical SXE platitudes; but the subject matter is the same. Angry, vengeful, bitter, unapologetic lyrics. Killer, vicious riffs; fast to breakdown, kung-fu inspiring madness. I anticipate being scared at a show. And, amongst all these breakdown bands shoving Christian rants down my throat, i applaud Track 7 - decrying the ultimate crutch, that Jesus guy. Also, i like them reppin all 3 X's, and not letting that 3rd one slip. Calling out fools who do not abide to the SXE credo of self-respect. *("Fucking everyone you see. "Don't smoke, Don't Drink, Don't Fuck." - What is it that you don't understand?")

FFO:
More Next Step Up than Strife for song 2; but that goes away. Buried Alive. Path of Resistance on Steroids. xTyrantx and Seventh Star, obviously. Thick as Blood, Figure Four. Harm's Way.

Review by Hutch (Empty Hands blog)
Label: Seventh Dagger
Year: 2011
Band's website

Stay Hungry interview

Stay Hungry started in the summer of 2008 as four veterans in the Swedish hardcore and straight edge scenes teamed up to show the kids what's up. Fast and in your face straight edge hardcore was on the agenda. Stay Hungry has just released new output, "Against the wall", which offers just everything the band is recognized for - powerful music and meaningful lyrics delivered with all the intensity hardcore got to offer!

Search Bloc hails from the city of Cleveland in the great state of Ohio and their sound is fast and pissed off hardcore, totally in vein of One Life Crew or Confront, laced with tight grooves and heavy hitting vocals. Read the interview to know why they're backed by Seventh Dagger and what should we expect to come out of this collaboration in the future.

Could you tell us something about “Against The Wall”? What were you aiming for with this album and are you satisfied with the end result?

I'd say that one aim we had was to make a more focused hardcore record, compared to the 12” on Reflections. That record kind of went in different directions, not knowing where to lay the focus. There's some metal parts in there. Those are gone with the wind on ”Against the wall”, which in my opinion is a true hardcore record from start to finish. We were aiming for a feeling of “positive aggression”, and I think we did a pretty solid job. I am very happy with the outcome.

Lyrically, is there any main focus with the new songs? What do you want people to take from the album?

As I said we were aiming for a positive aggressive feeling. There are a lot of fucked up things going on, so we didn't want to do a LP with overly positive lyrics, sugarcoating all the crap we see. But we also didn't want to be completely pessimistic and negative. I guess the title seems like that, but even that lyric ends with some hope. There are a few songs dealing with hardcore, a few dealing with straight edge topics, a few more political ones, one animal rights track etc, and then it ends with a true posi lyric, “Loose ends”. It's pretty varied. I guess I'd like for people to be angry, but also feel like there's something that can be done.

You new album is widely available on blogs and P2P networks. How do you feel about it as a band when most of the kids today rather download the album off the Internet that support the band and the label?

Is it really? We put up a four track promo ourselves and we will put up the whole album soon. So I guess that kind of answers your question. You know, I used to trade tapes back in the 90s. What's the difference, really? Except for that blogs are less time consuming. I am not in this to sell a certain amount of records. We have done 500 copies of “Against the wall”, and if that's all we'll do, I'm fine with it. I am proud of the record, it's something we've accomplished together, and it will allow us to tour. And having the album on blogs will let a lot of kids know about us. If kids come to the shows and sing along and stage dive, I don't give a fuck if they downloaded mp3s or bought the vinyl. We also have to realize that so far we've only done vinyl, and a lot of kids don't even own record players.

And how do you feel about how Internet is changing hardcore scene? I mean, it’s a great tool for getting information and keeping in touch, but on other hand, you don’t see that many paper fanzines around these days and shit talking is getting out of hand on message boards…

Like everything else it has its pros and cons. I have written about this in Law and Order zine #1. For a band like ours, it has made things a lot easier. I have just finished booking a tour. Without internet, that would've been immensely harder. And sure, there's all the crap on message boards, but fuck it. Let's just feel lucky that forums and stuff like that weren't around when we were fourteen and new in the scene. Because let's face it, we would've made asses of ourselves too from time to time before we learned better. I am obviously a fan of paper zines since I invest a lot of time and energy into Law and Order zine. I wish more kids would be into it, but things are the way they are. All we can do is push ourselves and do something that kids might be into.

Hardcore can have such a great influence on the lifestyle and mindset of its followers. What's the biggest life lesson that you learned from being a part of the scene?

Oh that's a tough one. I mean apart from the lessons I learned from “No thanks” by Uniform Choice, which kind of meant everything to me as a teenager, I dunno. Lessons from the hardcore scene can't be completely cut off from things you experience and go through in life in general. It's all a part of the package somehow. But being a part of hardcore and straight edge for so long definitely made me embrace the fact that I'll always be sort of an outcast. I will never live a normal life. I will always be into doing stuff that others can't understand. I've tried explaining how hardcore and DIY works to co-workers, and it just doesn't come through to them. They keep asking if we get a lot of girls and make money and play in front of large audiences. Like I could give a fuck.

And how do you feel about hardcore becoming more mainstream?

There are different sides to this. In the mid 90s hardcore was BIG in Sweden. Refused could play in every fucking small town and have large turnouts. And that was pretty fucking cool. Nowadays there's a lot less kids. I think hardcore and punk needs to keep a certain level of vigilance to keep out forces that stand opposed to the DIY ethics. But I would also like to see more people at gigs. I mean, it hurts like fuck to stage dive if there's no one there to catch you. I am not really afraid of hardcore becoming more mainstream. Trends come and go, we'll see who gets washed away when the tide retreats.

What part of Sweden you’re from? Tell us about the scene in your area and bands from that area.

Me and Andy live in Gothenburg on the west coast. We have some cool bands here, like Fredag den 13e, Repoman, the might Commitment Crew and several others. The scene is quite divided, though attempts are made to lessen these divisions. We organize shows in a pretty large crew called Gothenburg straight edge. The other three in the band live in Linköping, which is three hours away roughly. This has always been a central point for hardcore shows in Sweden, cause it's located in a good place and has had many influential bands, like Outlast, Nine and Section 8 (the latter came from a village outside the city, but still). There are still fests there a couple of times a year.

I know you cancelled your tour because of the new album. Are there any plans to hit the road now when the record is coming out?

Yeah, when we realized the record wouldn't be out when we were supposed to tour, due to various reasons beyond our control, we had to pull the plug. It sucked so much ass, but it was the right thing to do. We can't take time off from work etc if the LP isn't out. And it sucked cause we desperately wanted to tour with Skull Crusher. Their 12” is incredible. But we have booked a 16 date tour in April 2011. We will be going by ourselves this time around. We'll be playing Germany, Belgium, France, Spain, Switzerland, Italy, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary. I have a feeling it's going to be fantastic. It's been pretty easy to book, there are a lot of caring and nice hardcore and straight edge people out there, for sure. It's been a quite humbling experience to book it. It still feels weird that people give a shit about our old asses.

Are there any future plans you would like to share with us before we finish?

Come out to the tour, check out the record. Have a look at www.swehc.com. Check out the bands on the “We support Swedish hardcore, do you?” sampler CD. Be on the look out for new LPs by Anchor, Undergång and Angers Curse in 2011. Check out Boston Strangler, they did one of the best hardcore songs of 2010, “The truth”. KOTF 2011!

Barcadia - Violent Means, Violent Ends

One thing that is obvious about Barcadia is that they got their own opinions and are not afraid to voice them. They’re clearly comfortable with their chosen, non-conformist lane and they are not about making compromises. Hate them or love them, many people have been waiting for Violent Means, Violent Ends to drop.The band has poured loads of attitude and confidence to this album. Compared with their prior record the music seems to be more mature, with much more twists, but still maintains high energy and high impact. The band mostly wanders in mid-tempos now, with lengthier, drawn out songs, but there's a good combination of different styles with some faster, straight up aggressive parts as well. Everything seems to fall into place musically. The album is filled with menacing and dark atmosphere it suffocates and scrambles the senses of the listeners. The sound quality is heavy, bur raw. It’s not a type of music that needs to be that slickly recorded and I dig that aspect as well.

The standout aspect of this album is definitely in the lyrics. Barcadia tackles every form of sexual abuse or act of violence against the innocent. It’s really surprising this problem is so rarely taken up by hardcore bands. As the band explained in the recent interview; “The more I looked into sexual assault and saw how prevalent it is, the more disgusted and pissed off I became. I decided to use my band as a vehicle to drive all of this information into the heads of people who might not be thinking about it or who might not know about it. I also wanted to be a band that lets anyone who's ever been sexually assaulted know they are not alone and there is at least one band, one group of people in this world who care and who actively stand up against what ruined their lives.”

Violent Means, Violent Ends is a good album for Barcadia. Both the music and the message maintain the high energy level and it makes each track a strong and powerful statement.

Review: Dloogi
Label: Seventh Dagger
Year: 2011
Band's website

Edge Of Spirit - Edge Of Spirit

If you know anything about Japanese hardcore there’s a big chance that the name Edge Of Spirit rings the bells. The band has been around since 1997 and during that time has released a shit load of material – four big albums, couple of splits and appeared on countless compilations. With their fourth, self titled album, Edge Of Spirit brings to the table one of the more violent metalcore albums I’ve heard in a long time. It is packed with rage filled riffing, double bass played like an assassin, soul raping vocals and ultra mega breakdown grooves. The songs are complex and excellently executed. The band is focused on all-out brutality, taking you on a ride down the memory lane to the times when passion and honesty were a must in a metalcore game. They might be not the most technically skilled band around, but somehow I can’t be bothered by that. The guitar work here is pretty impressive anyway, delivering shredding riffs as violently as possible, but also laying some groove now and then throughout the album. There's a pretty heavy melodic, Swedish influence going on in the riffs as well, but they still know how to make it bite. Throat ripping vocals only boost the level of adrenaline, while the rhythm section is precise and on point. Production and sound are top-notch with every instrument and vocals having the great placement. I also gotta mention that the whole stuff is packed with a dope artwork.

The band may not be pushing any boundaries, but they surely know how to unleash a beast of an album. I am not that familiar with their previous releases, but it would be hard for me to believe this new album is not their strongest effort yet.

Review by Dloogi

Label: Demons Run Amok
Year: 2010
Band's Website

Search Bloc interview

Search Bloc hails from the city of Cleveland in the great state of Ohio and their sound is fast and pissed off hardcore, totally in vein of One Life Crew or Confront, laced with tight grooves and heavy hitting vocals. Read the interview to know why they're backed by Seventh Dagger and what should we expect to come out of this collaboration in the future.

Search Bloc hails from the city of Cleveland in the great state of Ohio and their sound is fast and pissed off hardcore, totally in vein of One Life Crew or Confront, laced with tight grooves and heavy hitting vocals. Read the interview to know why they're backed by Seventh Dagger and what should we expect to come out of this collaboration in the future.

For those who don’t know, could you just give a short introduction of Search Bloc and tell us a little about your background?

First of all, what's up Hardboiled, thanks for the support and giving us this interview. Search Bloc started 5 years ago here in Cleveland, OH with the goal of playing that fast Straight Edge brand of Clevo hardcore along the lines of Confront, Face Value, and OLC. Back then, and even still now, bands are trying to play beatdown, and metal, and trying to out evil each other, but that's a bunch of crap, we like hardcore, so that's what we play. After numerous line-up changes, the current line-up is Anthony Jochum and Rich Millard on guitars, hometown anti-hero Frank McGhee on drums, Large Robert on bass, and I'm Chopsey and I sing. Anthony's two older brothers used to be in Integrity until recently, when I don't know what happened, maybe they wouldn't drink the kool-aid and Dwid kicked them out because of that haha, but in any case I'm name dropping Integrity so in case you like them, their younger brother's in our band and you can check us out.

Give us a rundown on your collaboration with Seventh Dagger,. How did it come about?

We have to thank Joe Riverside of Rhinoceros a lot for that. Back in 2008 he put us on the bill for Seventh Dagger Fest and put in a good word for us. He's a really good dude, and we appreciate him for helping us out always. We got to play in front of a lot of people, including Danny Sober who runs Seventh Dagger Records. He liked us back then, and now three years later, we reconnected and he asked if we'd be down to do some things, and we said hell yes.

Apart from the t-shirt, there’s also 2010 demo included in the Cleveland Confidential package. Are there any plans for future collaborations? Any chances to record a new full length with them?

Definitely, the Cleveland Confidential: The Final Report demo are songs we recorded in 2008 and 2009, Seventh Dagger re-released it to get the word out about us in anticipation of our upcoming full length we're putting out in 2011. We're currently in the studio right now working on it, it's gonna have 16 new songs of the hardest shit you've ever heard come out of Cleveland in a long time. It's gonna be all out, all Straight Edge, full on gas pedal to the floor with no brakes, and no spooky stuff, no sad shit, just the sweetest shit you're ever gonna hear. It'll be the best thing that Seventh Dagger has ever put out.

Cleveland has been a breeding ground to some of the hardest bands in history of hardcore. How do you think being from over there affected your song sound?

Well, if you've heard us you can totally tell we're ripping off the old Cleveland bands, it's what we like, and been listening to for years now. It's what we wanted to do, keep that style going.

What were the first records and bands that influenced you when you were starting Search Bloc?

Well, it more less came down to this idea, what if there was a Cleveland band, that was actually really Straight Edge, and sounded like OLC, but wasn't a bunch of hillbillies saying dumb, racist, homophobic, sexist shit to get attention? So from that, Search Bloc came about to fill the void.

There are a lot of great bands aiming for that evil Cleveland sound, but most of them are not even from the city or even States. Compared to the days when Integrity or In Cold Blood were around, does it feel like there is a strong scene in Cleveland right now?

Actually none of those bands that jock the holy terror sound are from Cleveland. We have the real people who are the architects and innovators of that style out here, nobody's gonna put up with second rate knock-offs doing their best "in contrast of sin" impression. Nobody really gives a shit about out of town holy terror bands around here. Seriously, we can just go see the real Ringworm instead.

For you, what year represented the best time in hardcore for Cleveland and in general?

Hardcore is never as fun, exciting, mysterious, and scary as it was when you first got into it. So the best time for me, and I'm sure a lot of people, was not a specific year or era, it was that very first show I went to. You're a little nervous, a bunch of sketchy characters there so you're a little intimidated, but then once the band played those first chords, and that big rush of pure energy hits you, there's no other feeling like it. It's a life changing moment, for a lot of us it marked the moment we knew hardcore was going to be the rest of our lives.

Is there anything in the current hardcore scene you would want to change or something you'd like to see get better?

I don't really care too much what the current crop of young kids are doing. Hardcore's for the young people though, so I just ask that whatever you do you leave the hardcore scene in a better place than where you found it, 'cause sure enough most of you are gonna drop out, and then there'll be a another group of young kids who are gonna come along and fuck it up even worse than before.

What’s on your wish list for 2011 and what do you hope to achieve?

In 2011 our new record's gonna come out, hopefully with Seventh Dagger behind us it'll get us more exposure. Get out there and play more shows in places we've never played before. Put us on the map, make sure Cleveland stays relevant, and just have fun and enjoy the ride, it's really not that serious.

Anything you want to add to people who haven’t heard of you yet?

If you like hardcore, check us out. Up The Straight Edge, fuck sell outs.

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New merch in Seventh Dagger webstore

Seventh Dagger uploaded some new items into their webstore. Check out latest merch from Domestic War, One Choice and some other dope stuff.