Trust Comes Tough update

Trust Comes Tough have introduced couple of new items to their collection. The message attached to Smoking Sucks t-shirt is simple yet totally true as it's a nasty habit. Finally, they've got a shirt not just for the edge or drug free kids, but the kids that support hardcore and feel it in their blood. They've also got new belts and booty shorts for the ladies.

Here are some of the new tees:

Darasuum has lunched their webstore. Check it out if you're interested in buying band's 2009 demo (limited, comes in a DVD box) as well as some cool looking merch.

Mosh It Up Clothing update

Mosh It Up Clothing is a brand for every boy and girl who admire a good mosh part but like to look good and stylish when doing those crazy moves in the pit. They've just released two new horror oriented tees and since there's nothing better in life than hardcore and some b-rated horror flick, I advice to check it out.

About the brand:

"Mosh It Up Clothing is for anyone who appreciates originality and consistent greatness in “mosh” music! It’s for all the people still out there representing their favorite hardcore bands by jumping around, singing along, headbanging, or being more active and rowdy like stage diving, circle pitting, or “Moshing It Up”. Bands love to see new as well as consistent fans dancing their hearts out as well as just having good old fashion fun. All types of “mosh” music have an intense, get rowdy presence with some more intensifying than others, but all mosh pits are for fans to have a good time. People who MOSH IT UP know there isn’t a comparable feeling then the adrenaline you feel in a mosh pit while watching one of your favorite bands. So if you love to MOSH... MOSH IT UP"

Darasuum

"We wrote, practiced, recorded and promote our band fucking hard before taking on any shows. New bands forget that a band is still a job. They shouldn't expect shit to get handed to them or take the first thing offered to them."

Name: Darasuum

Location: Riverside, CA

Active since: January 2009

How do you define your overall style?
If Hatebreed and Comeback Kid were to have a kid, it'd probably be our band.

What’s your goal with this band?
well i'd love to travel the world and just have a shit load of people singing our songs at the top of their lungs. Until that happens, i don't think i could ever feel that our goal has been achieved.

What do you have recorded so far?
So far we have a 3 song demo that was self released in a DVD case package. In early October we wrapped up 5 more songs for an EP that is set for release later this year or early next year.



So let’s start with the basics. When, how and why the band came to being and who is who?
Well Daniel (guitar) and I (gabe) were in another band a few years back and after several attempts of trying to start new bands we just figured that we work really well together and decided to start writing a bunch of songs that would be different than our last band. We had 5 songs done without an actual band. We just programmed drums and he did all guitars. In May 2009 we decided that we'd start trying to find members, so we got our old bass player Fick to join us. Our friend Mike had quit his old band Oblige because he hated playing bass, since he was a guitar player, so we snagged him. Our drummer Brandon was doing studio stuff with a dude from Jennifer Lopez's band and was also doing other stuff with bands like Mirror of Dead Faces, Earth From Above and whatever he could get his playing on. He was between jobs so i hit him up and everything just fell into place.

The band is still pretty new, so how has this first year been for you guys?
The first year has been great actually. Right after we put out our demo we immediately had interest from small labels and we have had an awesome response from tons of people. We mailed stuff all across the states already and have shipped to Germany, France, Italy and Costa Rica. Its crazy! We've passed out over 1,200 free CDs just to hype up our first and second shows. So i'm hoping all that really pays off for us. I just really want people to sing our songs!

For people out there that have never heard of you. Give us reasons why they should...
well the first reason being is that we're not fucking deathcore. People sometimes expect us to be this deathcore/metal band because of our band name and our location, but we're the furthest from it. We sing about shit that really matters to us and most of the lyrics, people can really relate to. From failed friendships to friends who have died of drug overdoses. We'd like to think we're a breathe of fresh air in a world being over populated with this deathcore phenomenon.

Where did you get the name Darasuum, which as far as I know means ‘eternal’? Since the name xDeathstarx was also based on Star Wars, Is there any special meaning to it or a hidden message expect that you’re big fans of Star Wars?
There isn't much of a special meaning behind the band name. Daniel and I were trying to come up with band names but nothing sounded good because its hard to find an original name these days in the english language. So Daniel pulls out this Star Wars book and says to look in the back of it, because there are all these Mandolorian words and i found "Darasuum" and we both just said "yeah that sounds cool and it has a good meaning." Daniel is a huge Star Wars nut. He even went as far as making a Boba Fett costume completely from scratch. Gun, helmet, uniform and all. Its sick as fuck!

You released your first demo just recently and the reaction to it was pretty dope. Are you happy with feedback you're getting?
Yeah, like i had said earlier, a lot of people have been saying its a breathe of fresh air. Its been real nice hearing positive things about my band. Everyone in this band has had shitty first bands except for Mike, since Oblige is just fucking incredible! And maybe Brandon, since him and Garza started Suicide Silence and xDeathstarx was well liked with the christian audience.

When starting this band, did you have any goals as to how you wanted it to sound and do you think that fans of your previous bands will feel what you’re doing with Darasuum?
I think Daniel knew what he wanted. He really loves the melodic hardcore sound and all he did was mix our older hardcore influence and add harmonics over everything. I can't see why our past band audiences wouldn't like what we're doing now. Its almost the same shit but without a million breakdowns and technical guitar times.



What are the lyrical themes that you guys delve into with Darasuum?
I've dipped into a few themes. Friendship, drug overdose, failed relationships, religion, and scene politics.

“An EP is to be released later this year but no official date has been set.” – could you please tell us how far are you with the EP and what kids should expect from it?
We're done with it. We just upped some rough mixes on our myspace. Those songs are more driving and people into circle pits would just love. I don't even think circle pits exist anymore and thats sad being from California and all. A lot of people really want br00tal breakdowns, but you won't get that out of us. You'll get tons of sing alongs though!

The band is pretty new but personally you’ve been around for some time. What is the toughest lesson you ever learned while being in hardcore scene?
for ME, i have to learn not to be as blunt with my lyrics. As a band we've learned that there's a right and wrong way to doing things. We can't just write songs and play the first show we're offered. We wrote, practiced, recorded and promote our band fucking hard before taking on any shows. New bands forget that a band is still a job. They shouldn't expect shit to get handed to them or take the first thing offered to them. All that "pay-to-play" bullshit is stupid. Bands can get around that so easy if promoters just see them hyping up their bands at shows. Go to Kinkos, make 6 flyers to a single sheet of paper explaining what your band is similar to (ie: for fans of..:) and go to a show and hit every car. We've been lucky enough SO FAR to get out of the "pay-to-play" shit. But i spend way too much money at Kinkos.

What’s next for Darasuum apart from the new EP?
We'll just keep writing. We never wanna stop writing, we wanna move in new directions and try new things. I would like to tour but theres people in our band that can't at the moment, but we can definitely do little week or weekend tour here and there. We'll just see what happens next year. For now, we just plan to keep writing and hitting every show we can to let people know who we are.

Thank you for taking your time to do this. Any last shout outs?
Thank YOU for taking the time for doing this. And thanks to everyone who has given us a listen whether they like us or not. We appreciate everyone's time given to us.

Check out the band at their myspace profile

Hardcore Knockout - Old School To New School

Here's the selection of couple new hardcore tunes from bands that have released recently or are about to release in the near future new albums or EPs. I've tried to keep it diverse so there's a new tracks from youth crew warriors by the name of The Defense as well aspunk influenced tunes from Boston's own Refuse Resist. The heavier and tougher side of hardcore is represented by Show Of Force who are sure to make some noise with their debut EP. Also, we got Last Round and everyone into blast beats and pig squils will sure like them.

The Defense

Let's start with this good old youth crew style. The Defense from Barcelona is one of the best that Europe got to offer if you miss those days when bands like Youth Of Today or Ten Yard Fight were rocking the scene. Not to mention one of the coolest band's description I've read in a long time: "Maybe we are not the best musicians ever, but we are really good facing and overcoming hard times...". Brilliant. The Statement track is taken from the just released 7" ep of the same title, while Dust is taken from Common Sense ep.

The Defense - Statement:


The Defense - Dust:

Refuse Resist

Let's stick with the old school sound as we present the newest track from Boston based Refuse Resist. I won't exaggerate if I said this band brings everything what's cool about hardcore - straight forward music and down to earth lyrics everyone can relate. The oi! influences in their music are obvious and that's where they score with me. The band is about to release the new album on Thorp Records and here's what Shawn Refuse, the band’s vocalist, got to say about it: "We are very excited about the new release. It's called Socialized because it's obvious that social networks are taking over our lives and becoming the drug of choice for people everywhere, myself included. While we wouldn't exist without them – we found each other on MySpace – they really do take up too much time in our lives. What ever happened to going out to shows, hanging out and meeting people for real?"

Refuse Resist - Middle America

Show Of Force


Show Of Force from Netherlands are about the heavier side of hardcore. While still maintaining the old school vibe, they're not afraid to add some metal elements to their sound. The vocals are mean and tough and the overall delivery is strong and aggressive. The band has just released the self titled EP on Real Recognizes Real Records and it's been getting pretty good reviews so don't sleep on it.

Show Of Force - Easy Target

Show Of Force - Self Defense

Last Round


Last Round from Belgium are all about that death core sound. Expect everything from blast beats to heavy breakdowns, from growls to pig squels. This is pretty decent stuff if you're into that type of music. This is their newest tracks and it's called Abandon All Hope.

Last Round - Abandon All Hope

New pics from Gore77 Graphics

Gore77 have posted couple of new pics on their myspace profile. This time it's all black and white but luckily they still stick to the horror and gore themes in their work. They're really good at giving these images that creepy look making you think of that sleazy old gore movie you've seen when you were a kid. If you're in a band, run a label or are a musician and are looking for a good, high quality design, check out their myspace profile and maybe you will dig their style.

Check out some more of their work:

xRepresentx - The New Inquisition

If you have a band with a name like that and the title on the cover says The New Inquisition you should basically know what to expect. XRepresentX is a type of band totally devoted to their clean and sober lifestyle and determined to get their message across.

Since the first notes on this album xRepresentx gets down to business with their no bullshit, no gimmicks brand of hardcore. Their style is straight-up raw ranging from aggressive fast parts to mid-paced grooves. Most of the beats on this album are very danceable and are sure to stir up some frantic pit action. The compositions in themselves aren't that complex but they maintain a good balance of fury, authenticity and testosterone. When it gets down to it, I don’t have anything against the bands when they use the same formula as long as they use it to create good music. I’m just letting you know xRepresentx are not the ones to experiment with the hardcore sound. It’s all about the feeling baby and you just cannot fake it. Luckily, these dudes sound pretty serious and devoted to their cause. So even if the album does no way sound original, they do have some good ideas. The band likes to throw in some metal influences now and then but you also get songs like Edgebreak, Facebreak, where pure old school grooves are dolled out with up-tempo beat and gang vocals. The production is way better than on the past material with thicker sound and a bit more punch.

The vocals itself are a take-no-shit type, spitting out straightforward lyrics filled with confidence, straight edge pride and despise for the moral degradation of today’s world. Lyricalwise, this is pretty aggressive stuff. Say what you want about the band but they aren’t shy about their beliefs and values and at least they got balls to take a stand for it.

This is overall another solid release from these guys and a record that most fans of their previous album will enjoy. They haven't made any radical changes to their music, but it all sounds more balanced and mature compared to the debut material.


Author: Dloogi

Label: 7th Dagger
Year: 2009

xRepresentx at Myspace

New t-shirt from xQuicksilverx

Electronic/breakcore/noise/whatever act xQuicksilverx got new tees with a strong straight edge flavor to it. I seriously can't get into their music but the tee looks pretty fine if you like to represent the movement when hitting the dancefloor.

[Un]titled hardcore photography book - an interview with Roman Laris

Here's the interview with Roman Laris and Patrycja Gagan who are one of the photographers behind the upcoming [Un]titled book. The album focuses on diy hardcore/punk photography and will be limited to 500 copies only. It should be available this winter. I really like the idea so I thought it's only right to ask the author few questions to give us some more info about the project and the basics of photographing hardcore shows in general.

Could you please tell us something about the Untitled project and how did it come about? What do you hope this book achieves?

Roman Laris: [un]titled european hardcore/punk photographers is a book of 6 diy photographers who are sharing same passion for hardcore photography. The idea came from me a year ago after I released my first paper photo book Black Sheep. I know Jan, Patrycja and Sheep from London hardcore shows, Marian is a friend of my Slovakian friends and Monika is a friend of Patrycja, and I know all of them are talking wicked pictures so I asked them if they would be happy to work together in one project, completely DIY it means that the book is paid by us, put together by us and its gonna be promoted and sell by us. There are no other parties involved apart of Shaun Ponton who helped us to designed the book and Adam Bobro who arranged the printing and professional advise.
I dont know what I want to achieve? Probably self promotion, promoting DIY ideas and letting people know that they dont need to have big names and labels behind them to achieve something. I love to keep things in my own hands and I love sharing it with others and I believe that whatever you do, you should share it with others, thats the only way to progress and go forward. On the end of the day I hope more young and diy amateur photographers will be inspired and start releasing their work or start to cooperate and talk.



Could you tell us who is involved in the making of the book and how do you think their style of photography differs? What type of themes should we expect from the book – is it focusing on gigs and bands pictures or did you also tried to portray other areas of the scene?

Roman Laris: You have to buy the book and see on your own eyes how different we are. Some of us are using digital cameras some of us analog, some of us are focusing on sing alongs, potraits or moshing parts, some on details or emotions...its all there and I love it! We are all different persons with different techniques of shooting. Jan is more into analog and old fashion cameras, Patrycja and Monika are more rockumentary orientated in this book, Sheep is a crazy man, in a good meaning of that word, and his photos are full of energy and driving force, Marian likes using fisheye lense capturing the sing alongs, and I love capturing energy of the gig, faces and emotions. This book is going to have it all under one roof! Promise!

Patrycja Gagan: Each of us have created a space for a so called short-photo-project, which I believe, defines individual style and presents the field of ones interests. “The scene” is a complex theme, so is capturing it. Therefore, [un]titled presents not only live shoots but everything which emerges from it. Each photographer’s section differs though. Roman Laris photography is all about being a part of the entire experience and his images are emotion orientated. I’ve seen him moshing and shooting at the same time, believe me. Monika’s section is a photodocumentary material presenting a Polish band called The Black Tapes. You’ll find images from shows, studio and backstage in her section. Marian Magdolen is a fish-eye-action man capturing gigs in, let me use this term here, “modern live shooting”. Sheep. When it comes to Sheep I’d love to mention that he’s been working on his individual photobook and I said to him “Look man, save your work for the book and try to came up with a short-photo-project which you could do for [un]titled without borrowing images from your main project”. We sat down in his room, started to browse images and I’ve noticed that he has got a massive collection of moshing people’s portraits. And I went like: “This is it”. Let’s look at it from the opposite perspective. Shows are not only what we see but also what bands see, how the crowd responds to their music and how the energy transforms. I’m calling Sheep’s section “Faces Of Mosh” and you better check it out, maybe you’ll find yourself on one of those images. My section is a tribute to a band called Sunrise. I’ve always wanted to give them something back since they gave so much to me. I own tons of Sunrise photos from shows, tours, studios, practice room, promo shoots, hang-outs etc. I have never managed to compile it into a separate project and I thought that [un]titled gives me enough space to finally present Sunrise’ images and let them know they were my family. Jan Urant is a photographic dino working with analogue cameras, which I adore in photographic context. He created a portrait vs. live shoot project with Down To Nothing and Have Heart in my opinion being his highlights. Jan is the last photographer, closing [un]titled with the sublime Dead Swans image, which I personally consider as the strongest hc photo of this decade.

What was the key to choose the right pics which would make it to the book?

Roman Laris: I can only talk for myself, because I have choosen mine and everybody else theirs. I did not have any key, I was simply selecting pictures I thought will represent my style and work. Because all of us are paying equal share of the book, we have chosen our own pictures, its our work and nobody else should not be telling us what to put in or not, thats the way we wanted it - total freedom of expression.

For the kids out there interested to know something more about being a hardcore photographer could you give a brief walk through your work flow? What they should keep in mind when taking pics at the show?

Roman Laris: See the term hardcore photographer is not really for me, because I am always saying I am not a photographer, I dont know shit about photography, I just set it up on the spot and then focus on shooting the right angles and scenes. Maybe its all about luck and timing, being on the right place in the right time. An a good show is a good show, if the bands and crowd is shit you probably would not capture the right energy and you will have only boring faces and bands in it...I love bands who are acting crazy, driving people nuts, where people are "losing control", but still care for each other.
You have to keep in mind moshing kids, cause you dont want your camera to be fucked up by some asshole who lost it completely. Hey kids, watch for shooters and take care of each other on the shows! Dont act like wild monkies, you can mosh and still have fun not hurting others!

Patrycja Gagan: We all have different backgrounds and different approaches to photography. Jan is studying photography at the London College of Communication, Monika studied photography in Poland and recently she came back to an art school again. Sheep studied at London College of Communication but drop it off at some stage. I'm studying portrait photography at Central Saint Martins in London. Roman and Marian are just extremely talented shooters. So, through such a reference you can easily tell [un]titled is multidimensional. In my experience of capturing live shows, I have come to realize how important it is for all, bands as well as the crowd, to be correctly attuned. Good image (when based on photographic skills) will be, therefore, the spark that emerged from such a collective experience. Personally, I love to think about photography as a process. So, it’s not only the moment you're trying to capture but also what is before and after. Before refers to photographer’s equipment and how he/she would select format of camera, lens, ISO sensitivity, camera settings to suit particular situation and by “after” I mean the whole process of editing and developing.

In general, during a session, how many pics would you say you take to find the right one?

Roman Laris: I normaly take 20 to 30 pictures for a bands set like a one film for a band, not usually more, depends on a band and their show. If there is nothing to shoot I usually take only portraits of the band members during the set. From a show I normally get from 5 to 10 worth shoots I am happy about.



What do you feel is the most challenging thing about photographing hardcore shows?

Roman Laris: Shitty color light effects fucking the white balance and stupid moshers who dont care for anybody else in the pit apart of themself.

Patrycja Gagan: Haha I love Roman’s answer to this question, especially that he’s shooter-mosher himself. I only want to mention that the hardest thing for me is compromising between being a show’s participant and show’s photographer. I’ve always found those two extremely hard to combine. Of course one can sing along and shoot at the same time, I saw that more than once and sometimes I’m doing this myself, but the question of someone's skills versus fortune is unavoidable in such situations. Hc/punk shows were and are a collective experience for me so being selective, or at least trying to be, is quite challenging.

Is there any band you would love to photograph but never had a chance to?

Roman Laris: There are bands from my hometown Bratislava or bands from Slovakia especially bands from the mid 90s, the era when I became part of our hard core scene and the energy of the mid and late 90s hard core in Slovakia were not captured properly. I was too young and broken not having enough money to buy camera, and even I had the money I was always in the pit going nuts hehe.

Patrycja Gagan: Swedish hc scene 1992-1995 era. Sunny Day Real Estate (not
that hardcore tho).

So when the book should be available for orders?

Roman Laris: If everything goes as it should, we are going to print it in mid November and I believe in the begining of December you can buy the book through us.
The book is limited to 500 copies divided between 6 of us which give us around 80 books each. People from Poland can order it via Monika or Patrycja, folks from UK can deal with Sheep, Jan and me and folks from Austria or Slovakia can ask Marian. I belive all of us can send and sell the copies via paypal worldwide. Just drop and get in touch with us, some distributions and small diy distros will be selling it too, but at the moment I cant tell you more. Check our myspace for more coming details.

Thank you for your time. Is there anything you would like to add?

Roman Laris: Thank you for your interest and help to promote our book. Its great people are starting talking about it and getting inspired by our work! Stay true!

Check out the myspace profile of [un]titled.

Check out also:
http://www.romanlaris.com
http://www.vivideyes.blogspot.com
http://www.xerinyescomingx.com
http://www.xsheepx.com
http://www.patrycjagagan.com
http://www.janurant.com
http://www.i-seedesign.com

New eagle design from 8Control

Here's the new tee from the French moshers 8Control.It can be ordered here. While you check out their webstore for more of the cool merch from the boys, don't forget to hit their myspace profile and download for free their latest EP called "You Should Have Cared".

About the band:
"Hardcore band from Toulouse / France playing metallic and moshing hardcore . Band started in 1997 with some line-up changes.

Over the years the band has played with such acts as Madball, Walls Of Jericho, Maroon, Born From Pain, Despised Icon, Cephalic Carnage, Arkangel, Bring Me The Horizon, Misery Signals, Most Precious Blood, Cave In, Your Demise, Shattered Realm, L'Esprit Du Clan, Providence, See You Next Tuesday among many many many others !!"