No Man Is Just A Number

Number 6: [referring to the chess game] Why do you use people?
Chessmaster: Some psychiatrists say it satisfies the desire for power. 'the only opportunity one gets here.
Number 6: That depends what side you're on.
Chessmaster: [quickly] I'm on my side.
Number 6: [quickly] Aren't we all.
Chessmaster: You must be new here. In time, most of us join the enemy - against ourselves.

Smash Your Enemies - No Turning Back

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Down To This

Name: Down To This

Location: 252 North Carolina

Active since: Sept. 08

How do you define your overall style?
Bare bones hardcore ha ha !

What’s your goal with this band?
Keep it real and inspire kids to be real

What do you have recorded so far?
A 6 song e.p. On Faction Zero out this October

You guys are in the process of putting out your first ep or it might even be out already. What’s the deal with that and what people should expect from this stuff?
It's pretty much the top 6 songs from our early setlist. It's kinda diverse from rocking 2 step shit to brutal mosh without being metal.

How would you describe the ep when it comes to the lyrics? What was your main inspiration for them?
It's kind of a mix of us venting about stuff that's happened to us and the state of the fucked up "underground scene" and also there are some anthems about brotherhood and how important sincerity is in a time of trendiness and passing phases in hardcore.

How did you guys meet in the first place?
Me and the drummer and bassist were in a shitty death metal band with nothing going for it and we all kinda looked at each other and knew we wanted to do something more sincere and honest. Our bassist had been jamming with Alan in another project and they wanted to do stripped down, beatdown hardcore and since me, John and Josh wanted out of the band we were in we kinda began writing with Alan and it came together super quick.

Who or what do you feel has motivated you to start this band?
Being sick of all the flavor of the month shit going on in our scene and wanting to take it back to basics.

Is getting your music released by a record label something you'd try to achieve with down to this or you plan stick with the diy approach in the future?
We definitely want to work with a legit label that understands hardcore and also understands that we want to get rewarded for what we put into this. There is nothing wrong with taking this shit as far as possible while staying true to where it all came from. We want to expose all the kids to the way we rock ha ha. But seriously we want to go as far as possible or until we kill each other.

What do you feel the biggest events for hardcore scene were in 2009 so far and which albums do you think really stood out from the rest?
I think the $10 for $10 tour was a huge success in getting real bands out there on tour together and reppin' the real shit to a bunch of kids that may not have ever witnessed anything like that. The new Trapped Under Ice album is very unique and brutal in its own way. The new Death Before Dishonor shows a real sense of individuality and trueness to self in that it mixes punk with oi and metal in a seamless way that just keeps moving forward.

How do you feel about the hardcore music coming from the North Carolina? What are other bands from this area everybody should check out?
The hardcore scene still a very tight knit, underground kinda network that seems to refuse to let the mainstream infiltrate it. There is a huge metal legacy in this state that has reluctantly embraced hardcore so it exists but is still not getting the love it needs. Bitter peace, struck out and conquer me are a few NC bands keepin hardcore alive.


What's your opinion on the European and Asian hardcore scene?
Oh my god I fucking love the London scene! Knuckledust, TRC, and No Turning Back are sick! Any European BFL band owns! Also my boy Hiro's band Loyal To The Grave rep hardcore so hard in Japan. I feel that Europe and Asia support it way better than the states ever will. Also those dudes don't fuck around. They are very protective of the culture form what I've seen.

Thank you for the interview! Any last words?
You are very welcome. It's very flattering that you guys are even interested in a shitty band like down to this ha ha. On a final note I wanna say that this thuggish violence has got to stop at the shows. We should be fighting the bouncers, cops, drug dealers and asshole thugs and not each other. Hardcore kids need to team up to keep it going not kill it by making people afraid to go to shows.

Down To This at Myspace

Matinee: Photographs from CBGB's 1983-1985

"Photographer and film maker Drew Carolan returns to the scene of a series of photographs he made of the CBGB hardcore matinee's from 1983-1985 on the Bowery in New York city."

[Un] titled

UN TITLED is a photography book put together by 6 amateur diy photographers from European scene: Sheep, Marian Magdolen, Monika Chilmon, Jan Urant, Patrycja Gagan and Roman Laris. It should be out this winter and from you can see at their MySpace profile, it’s gonna be some top quality stuff. It will be limited to 500 copies only so don’t sleep on it. Watch for updates on their MySpace profile. It’s a shame that with some many good photographers around there are so few initiatives like this one. Let’s hope that the idea will catch on enough that we'll see some more of such goodness being released in the future.

And All Was Silent

"We remember when Hardcore wasn't a fashion show and bands weren't trying to get famous playing it. For us it isn't and never will be about any of that. We just want to play as many shows as possible and have fun and meet some cool people while we're doing it."

Introduce your band to our readers and tell us where your bands from.
Yo we're And All Was Silent, from Woonsocket Rhode Island. Victor (vocals), Jimmy (Bass), Brandon (guitar), Brian (drums).

How did the band start?
(Brandon) In 2005 Brian originally played guitar, I sang, and we had another drummer. We started out playing high school battle of the bands, and breaking shit.

Can you tell us why No Turning Back is worth a listen, and what should kids expect from it?
(Brian) I think its not your average cookie cutter hardcore cd, its a straight up beatdown record, with mad breakdowns, and sexy 2 step parts.
(Jimmy) Its a good album and after you listen to it your gonna wanna come out to a live show.

With song titles like "Put this in your mouth" and "Better off dead" it seems you're not beating around the bush when it comes to writing lyrics. How would you describe the lyrical content of the cd and where do you find your inspiration?
(Victor) The content is simple and straight to the point, my inspiration comes from everyday occurances and situations. I hate people who talk shit but cant back it up, thats what "Put this in your mouth" is about, and "Better off Dead" is about people who were served a silver spoon and have never changed there mentallity, thinking they are better than everyone else.

So what is your label situation and where can kids buy your EP?
(Brandon) Our EP is self released on our own label, Hit The Deck Records. Its available at andallwassilent.bigcartel.com, interpunk.com, and off our myspace myspace.com/andallwassilentri . Were looking for label support and distro in europe, and as well as a label for our next record which is ready to be recorded early 2010.

You guys are working with japan based Retribution Network, how did this collaboration come about?
(Jimmy) We started selling our EP on ebay, labeling it for fans of Boston Hardcore, a few people in Japan bought it. Shortly after Retribution contacted us requesting a bunch of merch, because kids in japan were asking for it.

"We remeber when hardcore wasnt a fashion show and bands werent trying to get famous playing it" is a quote off your myspace page. So how do you feel about the hardcore scene today? Do you think that media recognition helped to spark a revival of the genre or rather made it just another trend?
(Brian) I think the recognition of hardcore bands is good for a few reasons to bring new kids to shows, theres nothing wrong with that, but in my opinion the genre of hardcore is over used and not understood. Im sick of all these shitty little kids wearing chicks pants, crying into the microphone, having a shaggy haircut, and playing breakdowns and thinking there a hardcore band. Real hardcore isnt about how many people can see your nuts in the pants your wearing, and real hardcore isnt just about breakdowns, which most kids dont understand.

What is the hardcore scene like in Rhode Island?
(Brandon) All the venues got shut down, so now its hard to even have shows. When there is all ages venues shows go well theres a decent amount of kids who still care.

What are the bands plans for the future?
(Victor) Keep doing what were doing, play as many shows as possible, and record a new full length cd. Also we want to play outside the USA, and get fucked up!

Anything else you would like to add?
(All) Check out our stuff on myspace if you like it buy it help us out, we would also like to thank Dloogi for hooking us up with this interview. Shout outs to our boys in RI, MA, and All in Crew in CT.

Boxcutter -The Ill Testament

Polite, sensitive, mature, gentle ...Boxcutter is none of these things and less. The band is known for the hip hop tinges to its music and this is what separates them from your regular hardcore band. To kick things off the CD opens up with Kingz Of Thugz, which is purely rap joint with violin-filled beat where the band is flexing their lyrical skills to give you idea how it is in their world and what type of topics you’re about to experience on the rest of the material.

Things haven’t changed that much since their last album and their delivery is still rugged and raw meaning that they didn’t try to change their attitude to fit the scene. With all the rap going on, the band has struck a fine balance so there’s enough hardcore breaks here to get you moshing. And when they get heavy, they’re at the top of their game! The biggest banger must be Crown Of Righteousness, one of those songs that you'll listen to several times, before you proceed with the rest of the album. James Ismean’s son features on a joint and he kills it! It’s rude and outrageous and packs a lot of adrenaline. I also must mention BLF Soldier and Get Up as songs that seriously get my blood pumping. What I like are the references they make both in hardcore and rap tracks to the classic hip hop acts like Mobb Deep, Biggie, Run DMC, Slick Rick among others.

The Ill Testament is best when it goes in hardcore direction musically, while the hip hop tracks don’t appeal to me that much. It’s peaks are very high, but the rap joints on the album seem to be filler to some degree. That’s the problem, there are some great hardcore tracks here where the band’s delivery is fat and forceful but they are broken up by rap tracks that are formulaic and occasionally boring, very often begging for a faster, more dynamic flow. To my surprise, the hip hop track I’ve found most entertaining is The Recipe, which blends club beats with some gangsta swag and while I’m not much into this type of stuff usually, this song is ain’t that bad at all. I guess it’s because compared to the rest of the hip hop material it’s rather up-tempo and fast. Still, I don’t want these criticism detract from the truly impressive work that this album is. It has it flaws but it doesnt take away from the fact that The Ill Testament is a solid effort.


Author: Dloogi

Label: Goodlife/Screaming Crow
Year: 2009

Boxcutter at Myspace
Screaming Crow
Goodlife

Bad 2 The Bone II documentary

Australian graffiti documentary from the mid 80's. Interesting watch if you're into this stuff. It covers both graffiti artists as well as police officers trying to bust em.

Strength For A Reason/No Turning Back - Split 7"

You can’t go wrong picking up two of the best hardcore bands from USA and Europe on a single piece of wax. And hell yeah, this is some real shit!

Strength For A Reason takesa side A with two songs lifted from their latest full length. Both of them kick ass and what you can expect is that the band gets right to the heart of what hardcore is. There’s really something fucked up with the world today and those guys are seriously pissed off about it. Next comes No Turning Back which probably is the most known European band nowadays. All I can say is that they totally deserve all the attention they’re getting. Not only because they worked hard for it, but just for the fact that when it comes down to it, they know how hardcore should be played. The musicianship is top notch and the compositions are full of aggression and intensity without losing a sense of melody. The lyrics are honest and something every kid can relate to.

Both bands represent everything that epitomizes what hardcore is about. Dope lyrics, powerful music and somehow positive vibe despite the aggressive delivery - everything a hardcore kid could ask for. And if you are a record collector you will surely appreciate the superb artwork of this picture disk.

Author: Dloogi

Label: Filled With Hate
Year: 2009

No Turning Back at Myspace
Worth The Pain at Myspace
Filled With Hate Records at Myspace