New Blood: Cold Truth


Cold Truth are keeping it real in their area, which is Tacoma, WA. Definitely a band worth checking out if you're into hard-hitting, aggressive hardcore with a crossover vibe.

Tell us what people should know about Cold Truth.
We’re a straight edge hardcore band from Tacoma, WA. We just let the music speak for itself.

How did the band get its start?
I came along pretty early in the game. My understanding is that when Trevor, our singer, and Patrick, our bassist, were in Prepare the Bride half of that band went to start Singled Out. Trevor and Patrick decided to do a heavy band. Originally it was going to be like this early 2000’s Throwdown kind of thing. Then Trevor asked me if I wanted to play guitar. So, I wrote Choke, Life Lesson, and True Love pretty quickly, and Patrick and I collaborated on Mind’s Eye. We got Chris to slap some drums on it real quick and went to the Mukilteo Mansion and recorded with Cameron Heck. Then we had the South Sound Demo.

Review: Bloodlands - Nihilistic Dimension



Bloodlands hails from Finland and features members of Ratface, No One Is Safe and couple other local bands that make you expect quality. What they offer is heavy, thick metallic hardcore with an old school death metal twist. This combination is more often a miss than hit, but they kinda get this formula right. Over past few days I’ve been really getting into this album and the more I listen to it the more I start to appreciate its strong points
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While Nihilistic Dimension is not without its flaws, it is a very entertaining and solid release showcasing wide range of skill and ideas. Despite all the heaviness, the main vibe is hardcore, so it’s not straight up death metal and it’s definitely not deathcore. For the most part the music is brutal and to the point as they keep tracks time down around two minutes. The tempos range from slow to fast, and most of the songs are driven by thick midtempo rhythms, filled with tight riffing, tremolo picking, pounding drums and booming double bass. From time to time they toss in some badass solo, but it’s done in right amount. All the way throughout the album the band as a whole hold together tightly, these dudes know what they’re doing. The production is crisp, even sometimes too crisp for my liking as some more dirt and distortion would do this album good.

The record was put out by the band themselves, so if you dig their sound do your part and get to getting.

Life For A Life - new video, new ep



That new track from Life For A Life does not disappoint, but that's what I expected. I knew this band is destined for greatness. The band is dropping a new 'Soul On Ice' EP this coming May via Innerstrength Records. Very cool!

New Blood: Society Sucker



Society Sucker are a new blood from Wilmington, North Carolina who dropped really tight self titled debut ep last year. Check it out if you're into heavier NYHC style, it sounds like they were really pissed off when recording it. I can never get tired of this type of hardcore.

Society Sucker is straight up hardcore and I dig that 100%. When you were starting out did you have a clear idea what type of music you want to play or did it just happen?
In the beginning we just knew we wanted to be heavy but we also wanted to keep more melodic and "groovy" elements prevalent in the music, but we hadn't necessarily figured out exactly how we wanted to go about it. Our demo was our first stab at it but by the time the demo tape was out we had halfway written our EP where, in my opinion, we really found our sound. So I guess you could say it just happened, but we definitely wear our influences on our sleeve.

The future is now

2015 is shaping up to be another fat year for everyone into raw and gritty hardcore sound. It's been years since I found core and I still get excited about tons of new records, demos and bands that are popping up all over the scene. Here's a little run down on what I'm definitely looking forward to checking out this year.



1. New King Nine and Suburban Scum

Closed Casket Activities are going hard this year with a slick plan to dominate heavyweight division in hardcore. No joke. First, I hear they will be dropping new King Nine album, the album is due late 2015. Next thing I know, Suburban Scum will be releasing a debut full length "Ultimate Annihilation" this year via this very same label. More info coming soon, but I expect nothing but dopeness from this band. Scum bands never fails.



2. Lifeless

That is the type of a band this scene needs more of - working class hardcore, dedication, realness. I've heard some music off this new record and it's beyond hard.



3. Steel Nation

If you seen the new video you know these dudes cooked up some hard-hitting shit for this comeback album. Of all the records that are about to drop this year, this one I'm most stoked about.



4. Hardside

Honestly, not much is known about the new LP except the process of putting it together seems to be in an advanced stage. Plus, the band gonna drop a video for one of the new songs.

Review: Creepout - Ovskvre Tortvred Order



Japan’s reigning kings of hardcore Creepout come back with new ep which was put out by FWH Records as MCD (as far as I know, there’s a vinyl version of the release as well). One look at the front cover and you know they carry on with their Cleveland worship thing. Everything about the package, from the layout to the logo (designed by Dwid himself) screams Holy Terror. They are trying hard, to the point some might call it biting a bit too hard off of Integrity/In Cold Blood style, but since there’s nothing bad about the music as such I have no problems with that.
With the music taking a similar approach as band’s previous record, a split with Integrity, Ovskvre Tortvred Order brings on the heavy, metallic side of hardcore with a grim, negative twist. I remember Tribe Called Hardcore had more NYHC/OLC flavor to it, but this time it’s all darkness and depravity.
The riffs are bit more technical than before, the music definitely got heavier and the overall vibe drifted much more into darker corners. The vocals are brutal like they should, dude’s doing great job.
I am not sure I get all the lyrics though, some of it sounds bit odd. It's almost like they were trying to sabotage this record on purpose coming with some cheesy lyrics like ‘Shut the fuck up and go away (4x)/ Fuck you bitch ass (3x) / I want you nothing’. It’s like Dwid going all out Rick Ta Life style. Either they were not giving a fuck at all or were trying too hard. I look at the lyrics are integral part of harcore, so this made record’s impact lesser than it should’ve been. But other than that, the record is dope. Check it out!

Video: Hollow Truth - The War Economy



Hollow Truth have new video out for The War Economy, which is a new track off the upcoming 7" of the same name. When I first time heard this band I was hyped and it's cool to see them still going strong. This new song is assisted by Ronnie of Warhound and sounds more dope than any track at Next Level or Enemy. This new ep, due out via Powertrip Records, is shaping up to be really something to look for.

Yeah, the filters they used for this picture might come off as hipsterish, but just try to get past through that and enjoy the music.

Check out the interview I did with the dudes back in 2013.

New Blood: Shadow Of Doubt


Some dudes in Texas teamed up for this new band and they're killing it all the way. It probably helps that some fo them had previously sharpened their craft in bands like Bitter End or Hardside, but they hold their own even if you put that 'all stars' bullshit aside. I've got admit, debut demo by Shadow Of Doubt was one of the highlights of recent months for me. I can attest it is dope, no only because it includes Telltale cover, but basically each track is tight. Far from generic hardcore but still sharp all the way. Here's an interview with Ely (vocals).

Can you give us some introduction to Shadow Of Doubt? How did the band come together, as a whole?
Well shadow of doubt is patrick from (hardside) on guitar, my man jake on bass, Lorenzo on drums and me on the mic.
I asked Patrick if he would be down to write some riffs and we kind of pieced songs together and kind of just asked the rest of the guys if they would be down to jam and play some gigs. And our bass player jake recorded all the music.

Review: Life Sentence - Marked For Death


Life Sentence are from Albany, New York and this is their debut ep which dropped last year via Panda Claw records. Marked For Death is definitely my type of shit, aggressive and no bullshit. The band lays down heavy but tight hardcore that place them somewhere along the lines of Last Dayz, Soul Search or Death Threat. It’s not a rocket science, you just gotta put together some tight riffs, strong drumming and pissed off vocals and that’s it. The track Under Siege is a fine example of band doing it right - a monster stomp with furious vocals. This shit is pretty basic, but take it as a compliment. The title track also gets the job done and is my another favorite. Another proof that most of the times simplicity is the best. Truth be told, none of the 4 tracks in here go below a certain level of standard.

The lyrics are down to earth and with lots out of the gutter attitude that makes this stuff very relatable. Some of this stuff might seem bleak and negative, but the ultimate message is to hold your own. Every kid reading this can relate to that type of real life poetry.

All in all, this is a solid record which seems to have slipped under the radar when it came out. If you haven’t checked it out, you’re missing out.

New music: Coldburn

Coldburn are working on the follow up to The Harsh Fangs Of Life and to get a taste of what's to come you can check two of the new songs below. Both tracks are solid and there's something to them that really get the head nodding. The video has so dark and negative vibe to it I am starting to feel some empahty for these dudes. Whatever type of problems they got themselves into, hope they get through it soon.

I think these dudes have potential to come up with really strong album, if they only don't fuck it up with too much of that Joy Division shit and keep it sharp all the way. Pre-orders are here.