Rise After Defeat

Rise After Defeat are five guys from Italy and they’ve just released their debut album on Strikedown Records. With a desire to play true music from the heart, they made spreading a hardcore ethics and integrity one of their top priorities. I thought it would be cool to get in touch with them and find out closer what they’re about and what is the scene like in their area.

Rise After Defeat are five guys from Italy and they’ve just released their debut album on Strikedown Records. With a desire to play true music from the heart, they made spreading a hardcore ethics and integrity one of their top priorities. I thought it would be cool to get in touch with them and find out closer what they’re about and what is the scene like in their area.

What's up with Rise After Defeat? How has 2009 been for you so far?

Hello Dloogi, I'm Carlo we're doing pretty good. 2009 for us it was a rough year, but it was also full of personal satisfaction. We can say that we have grown a lot since we started to play.

You guys recently dropped your new album, how has that been? What can we be expecting from it?

Yes, our first full length album was released just last Thursday . The album was released by StrikeDown Records, my new label.We recorded it in the end of September 2009. The album contains 10 tracks. 30 minutes. Hate, rage, pain, life and many sacrifices characterize this album. Nearly 200 copies have already been given to the DISTRO for the worldwide distribution.This is a great satisfaction !!

How would you describe your style of hardcore?

In a word? TRUE....for those who don't know us I can say that our Hc is for fans of Sick Of It All, Terror, and Death Before Dishonor. We take lots of inspiration from these bands and from everything we listen to.

Italy was famous for its strong hardcore/punk scene back in the 80’. Did bands like Wretched of Raw Power have any effect on you?

RawPower and Negazione, were two of the biggest italian hardcore band of all time. They were the first to turn around Europe and the States. They are a part of the hardcore history.

What's inspiring you to write your lyrics? Is there any running message for the album?

Almost all lyrics are written by me, I love songwriting, it's something that allow me to spit out my rage, and to express what I think of the situations I live. I don't like to talk about something I don't know. I'd rather talk about the situations that I live day by day, that I feel on my skin. Basically, I'd like to give people the opportunity to understand what we want to say, and give their own meaning to it. The situations we live are ours and no one else's, but there are lots of people that can make their own our message. The album has no specific message, it's just to let the people know what is like to live here.

Okay, so let's take it back. How did the group come about?

Matteo and me had a band in the past, but we didn't do anything good. This until Matteo called to tell me that he found three new members (Michele, Christian and our former bass-player),then we started playng,a little bit hesitating at first,but whit more and more passion as we went on.

When did your interests in hardcore start personally? What did you find most appealing about it?

I became interested in hardcore when I was about 12. I was a skater who listened to punk music. I went skating with Nicola and Andre of GOLD-KIDS,who at the time were members of TRUTH IN MY HANDS (the best Cagliari hardcore band of all time,IMHO). One day, Nicola gave me a tape with H2O and STRIKE ANYWHERE albums, I loved this music from the first moment I heard it, THAT was the music for me..Slowly I started to know more and more bands and to recognize myself in that life-philosophy, and I became, naturally as breathing, a hardcore-kid.

What has been the proudest moment with this band so far?

We think that our proudest moments were our first shows, the awareness of finally getting out of the rehearsal room and show what we are capable of. We still are very proud, and the release of our first album just the past week has enlarged our ego a lot!we're still humble,though...

What was the most stupid thing that happened to you on stage?

Once when we played in a show, I gave a kick in the air, but I lost balance and fell off... LOL...another time, Michele screwed up three times the starting of a song, and it took a while for him to recover from his paralysis and remember which song was to play..LOL.. well,shit happens.

What are your favorite current hardcore bands?

I like very much bands such, Terror, Sick of it all, Strife, No Turning Back, Death before dishonor and much more bands, Roby: Raised fist, Sottopressione, Terror etc etc, Matteo: Sick of it all, Hatebreed, Raised Fist etc etc..Cry : Terror / Black Flag, Minor Threat and many oldschool american hc bands etc etc.. Michele: Hatebreed / Terror / First Blood and many hardcore-metal bands.

What would you say to people who bitch that beatdown and breakdowns is not what hardcore is all about?

We love the breakdown parts, but the hardcore ain't just a 2-step and mosh-parts, it's something more. We aren't Toughguys or emocore-guys..we're a hardcore-kids, breakdown music parts are cool, but if you don't have the hc attidude or you don't have anything to say, you cannot say that you play hardcore music...hc is about playing kick ass music at its utmost, and spitting your hate as well.

"We're isolated from everything, that you could call "scene". We dont have a real hardcore scene, and there are no places to play, there's nothing here for us......" What do you think of hardcore scene in your area? Are things really that bad?

Sardinia is a small island, under the Corsica..isolated from everything and dominated by monotony and hypocrisy, all that was now is dead..The few hardcore bands who live in it , with many passion and sacrifices ,try to escape from this cage "called home", but this is not easy, such as playing in Italy, they're forced to cross the sea, and this is very expensive. Here, there are no places to play, only a few pubs for drunkards, and many clubs for trendy dudes. The clubs often don't pay, and there's not a movement that can be called hardcore scene..Most hc-bands are jealous of each other, and this doesn't lead to anything.. We are on good terms with the best bands in the Sardinian landscape, such as GoldKids (myspace.com/goldkids), Ashes of Betrayal (myspace.com/ashesofbetrayal), My own Prison (myspace.com/myownprisonhc), Curse This Ocean (myspace.com/cursethisocean) and Paintrue (myspace.com/paintrue)..With these bands we shared the stage and experience, they are our friends, between us there's support, help and many advices..this union gives us strength..

Your singer Carlo works at "Free Mind Tattoo" in Quartu S.Elena. Does everybody in the band got tattoos and what are some you’re most proud of?

MICHELE: just carlo and roberto are tattooed,but we other RADs would like them as well.We're just waiting for inspiration. Carlo is particularly proud about the "Sick Of It All" dragon in his leg and the "Overcome" writing(a terror song) on his knuckles.

What are your plans with the band for 2010? What goals would you still like to achieve?

We'd like people to know and enjoy our music, 'cause there's nothing more satisfying than a person who knows your songs and sings them along with you.We are looking forward for a tour in Italy and Europe

Any final comments?

Thanks to HARDBOILED WebZine for being interested in us. I hope one day all of you reading this interview can see us performing..if anyone of you is interested in helping us for shows or any other thing, you can e-mail us at riseafterdefeat@ymail.com or strikedownrecords@ymail.com....in the meanwhile, take a look at our web pages : myspace.com/riseafterdefeat - twitter.com/riseafterdefeat - riseafterdefeat.blogspot.com - myspace.com/strikedownrec......MORE STAGE DIVES!!!! Carlo Articolo

Rise After Defeat - Self Titled

Hailing from Italy, Rise After Defeat brings us their debut album with 10 tracks of metal influenced hardcore. The sticker on the jewel case says this is straight in your face real hardcore so my expectations were high cause that’s exactly the way I like my hardcore – served raw and on point.

Hardcore vibe is present here but they merge it with grooved out metal, more on the thrash side of the game. While most of the songs more or less follow the same pattern, the stand out ones come in the shape of No Fate and Always War. Both are metal influences, but while the first one opens up with a straight up thrash riffing, Always War is more dark and mid paced. Lyrically, their focus is on everyday struggles and the ups and downs of life in Italy. Lyrics are really well written and no matter where you’re from you can relate to a lot of things they’re singing about. This is probably my favorite part of this album.

There is some interesting guitar work in here and Rise After Defeat made sure every track is complex, but what lets this album down is the lack of dynamic in both speed and song writing. The band is at their best when their tempos are quick and in my opinion album should focus on this strength. When they play it straight, it’s all good and even the weak production doesn’t bother me that much. But when they try to branch out and start to do some experimenting stuff, things start to fall off. The problem is when some of the grooves or song’s transitions are poorly executed and instead of keeping things exciting, start to sound boring. The production doesn’t exactly make things any better. It’s flat and even though the band has two guitar players, it doesn’t really sound as powerful as it should.

This isn’t really a bad album overall. It has its share of solid moments and great songs. But mixed in with those songs are some weaker parts and missed ideas. The production doesn't help either. Overall, this album is a pretty decent release, but nothing really above average. There are many things the band need to work on to ensure their next release will rate higher with me.

Author: Dloogi
Label:StrikeDown Records
Year: 2009

Rise After Defeat at Myspace

Smash Your Enemies

Smash Your Enemies is a hardcore band representing Detroit scene. As you would expect from the Detroit band, it's all about keeping it heavy and breaking necks in the moshpit. These guys have just released new album on the On The Attack records filled with heavy rhythms and real life, no bullshit lyrics so make sure you check it out.

Smash Your Enemies is a hardcore band representing Detroit scene. As you would expect from the Detroit band, it's all about keeping it heavy and breaking necks in the moshpit. These guys have just released new album on the On The Attack records filled with heavy rhythms and real life, no bullshit lyrics so make sure you check it out.

You guys have just released a video for No Turning Back song . So how do you feel about the whole experience and are you happy with the finished product?

yea it was on short notice and we were running late lionheart and legend met us up around 430 and load in at the show was at 530 so we were really short on time but everything turned out great

Let’s start from the basics for all the kids not familiar with Smash Your Enemies. When and how did the band come to being? What did you expected for the band back then and what lead its creation?

IT STARTED AS A SIDE PROJECT REALLY AND WE DIDNT PLAN ON TAKING IT SERIOUS, THEN WE GOT ADDED ON A SHOW AND WE USED SMASH YOUR ENEMIES AS OUR NAME WHICH IS THE NAME OF A HATEBREED SONG BUT IT WAS ACTUALLY THE BAND NAME WE USED TO PRANK CALL PEOPLE WITH AHAH

And how did you guys personally get involved in hardcore? Is there a particular band or album that got you into it?

EVERYONE GOT INTO IT A DIFF. WAY. FROM METAL AND OR PUNK IT VARIES WITH EACH MEMBER

Being in hardcore band, what's the toughest part of it? What's the biggest wall to get over?

PROBABLY THE NEW SCHOOL KIDS WEARING CUT OFF JEAN SHORTS WHO THINK THEY ARE BETTER THAN EVERYONE ELSE WHEN IT WAS JUST ONE YEAR AGO THEY WERE WEARING THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA T SHIRTS, AND NOW THEY ACT LIKE THOSE KIDS ARE THE WORST THING EVER...IT MAKES ME SICK. YOURE NOT ANY BETTER THAN SOMEONE ELSE BECAUSE OF MUSICAL TASTE.

How would you describe Smash Your Enemies live show? What was the craziest reaction from the crowd you ever got at your show?

VIOLENT. WE HAVE HAD MULTIPLE SHOWS SHUT DOWN AND MULTIPLE PEOPLE SENT TO THE HOSPITAL AND VARIOUS OCCASIONS

How do you see today’s hardcore scene, especially with the media attention it’s been getting lately? Do you ever feel the movement seems to be evolving from a raw and dirty to clean, polished and user friendly?

LIKE I SAID EARLIER THIS WHOLE JEAN SHORT AND FLANNEL FAD IS KILLING IT...WE ALL GO TO SHOWS FOR THE SAME REASON WE NEED TO STICK TOGETHER,

It seems like bands from USA are getting a lot of love here in Europe so I wonder does it work the other way – are there any bands from Europe you guys are feeling and are like ‘damn, I wish they would to come to the States to do some shows’?

BORN FROM PAIN CAME OUT HERE...AND EVERYONE WAS LIKE FUCKKK YEA THE EUROPEAN HATEBREED I LOVE THEM!!! THEN THEY COME PLAY AND 30 KIDS COME OUT...ITS SHITTY I FEEL TERRIBLE ABOUT IT BUT IM GLAD THEY CAME OUT.

Let us know about your debut album which is about to be released in the near future via On The Attack records. Tell us more about that release, what can kids expect to here on there?

ITS CRUSHING. ITS VIOLENT. ITS INTENSE. HIGH ENERGY 100% OF THE TIME.

How did you hook up with On The Attack records and what made you choose that label? Is it because with all the heavy stuff they’ve been releasing, you guys feel like you fit this label musical wise?

I MESSAGED SAM AND TOLD HIM WE NEEDED A LABEL TO PUT OUT OUR STUFF AND HE WAS DOING SIMILAR STUFF AT THE TIME....SO WE WORKED IT OUT. WE ORIGINALLY WERE GOING TO DO AN EP AND RELEASE IT IN MAY BUT HE DIDNT HAVE ANY SPOTS OPEN SO WE HAD TO WAIT UNTIL DECEMEBER, WHICH WORKED OUT BETTER FOR THE BOTH OF US

Chad from the band Legend is dropping guest verses on the No Turning Back song. Are there any other guests on the album?

JOHN AND DAVE FROM TYRANT
LORENZO OF SWORN ENEMY
HEAVY JERRY EX-RECON
PHIL ANSELMO OF PANTERA....HE DOESNT KNOW WE USED A QUOTE OF HIS FROM AN INTERVIEW WHEN HE WAS TALKING ABOUT FAR BEYOND DRIVEN HAHA.

So what are some other bands from Detroit you support and are down with?

TYRANT
HOT ON THE STREETS
LEGEND
MAKE IT CLEAR
WILD AT HEART
HELLMOUTH
H8 INC.

WE TRY TO SUPPORT EVERY BAND WE CAN, WE DONT HAVE PROBLEMS WITH ANYONE AS OF NOW.

So, final question to wrap up the interview: what's your pick for best hardcore release of 2009 so far?

THE NEW HATEBREED
THE NEW TRAPPED UNDER ICE

Thanks for taking your time to do this. Any last shout outs?

SUPPORT YOU LOCAL HARDCORE BANDS, DONT BE AN ELITIST.

Smash Your Enemies at Myspace.

Skull Crusher to release debut album in February on Reflections Records

Reflections Records has announced the signing of Skull Crusher (New York). The label will be releasing their debut 12”/MCD, Blinded by Illusion, in February of 2010. You can check two tracks from the upcoming album here.

Band's bio:

A handful of bands throughout the last few decades of 'hard' music have been able to capture that elusive gray area of creative overlap where hardcore, metal, and rock morph into one crushing wall of sound where everything to the listener is somewhat familiar and yet still completely fresh. The list is pretty short, and most people fond of the underground would be able to rattle off at least a few of these heavy hitters. The underlying structures and ideas to this formula aren't anything mind boggling...it's rock-based music after all. But sometimes even the most simple sounds, when played right and through the right gear, can be devastating.

Skull Crusher is an attempt by obsessed fans of hard music to blend their favorite elements of the above. If you took a mixtape (cassette of course) of the Cro-Mags, early Metallica, Danzig, The Icemen, Underdog, Raw Deal, Judge, and Rollins Band, and had to try to form one sound out of them, Skull Crusher wouldn't be too far off.

Maximum Penalty - Life & Times

Ratout - Thick As Thieves

Ratout is a new Boston,UK hatecore band in very early stages bringin the pain! The band has been around just for a while but members have played in other local acts before. This track is one of the first they've recorded and it's done just as it should be done - fast and agressive with some slower parts for some mosh action. Check out their Myspace profile for the rest of their set.

Soul Train

Soul Train is an awesome new band from Massachusetts with some solid groove and rap vibes going on. They've already recorded a demo which you can download somewhere on this site.

Name: Soul Train

Location: Massachusetts

Active since: '09 Baby!

How do you define your overall style?

I would say it's straight forward hardcore, we don't have any bullshit "BR00TAL" breakdowns and we are very DIY. We like to keep a good tempo and just stay on point.

What’s your goal with this band?

As far as goals go we just really want to get our music out there. We already plan on a small week tour in Febuary and a full tour in the summer with the release of our full length. We are slowly establishing connections from state to state.

What do you have recorded so far?

We have our 5 song demo, that was recorded by our buddy Sean Wimer, and we are currently in the process of a full length.

Could you please give us some basic info about the band – Who ? where ? when ? and why?

Soul Train is a four-piece as of right now. Trey on vocals Dremus on Guitar Keith on Bass and me(Jon) on drums.

What do you feel was your biggest accomplishment so far was?

I would have to say our biggest accomplishment yet is the number of shows we are getting booked. We really are tired of this area and have been getting shows elsewhere which is awesome because we love to branch out to a new crowd.

You just dropped your demo so tell the readers what they should expect from it?

Expect a lot, I feel the demo is different from most bands from around the area. It's free for download on our myspace page so be sure to grab it and check it out for yourselves. 5 jams in less then 10 min is how I like to sum it all up.

Who are some of the bands you've been compared to or you feel have had been influenced by?

Some kid dropped a comment on the page saying we reminded him of Trash Talk which is cool. I personally can't say we really have an influence, we are just trying something new and so far we've had a lot of support in what we're doing.

Tell me something about the hardcore scene in Massachusetts? Any good bands over there to check out?

Massachusetts doesn't have that great of a scene, there are so many good bands and venues that don't get half of the attention they deserve and go unnoticed every weekend. As of right now we are branching out into new areas of MA and seeing what they have to offer. Some good bands to check out are Maker (www.myspace.com/thisismaker) they are cool dudes. Also be sure to check out Revenge (www.myspace.com/revengema) a bunch of heathens who bring down the house every show.

How supportive are kids in your area to the bands like yours?

Support comes and it goes in an area like this, we have alot of support from kids all over and we really love it. The more support we get the better it's a good feeling to know others love what you love doing.

So what’s about the beef you’ve got with the Emmure?

There is no beef, what people don't understand about that song is that it was freestyled, Sean pressed Record and me and Dremus jammed that out. It just shows how easy it is to be in a "BROOTAL" band these days. Most of it is generic and outplayed yet kids eat it up, which is garbage.

It seems like hip hop music have a big effect on you. Who are some of the artists from this scene you’re into?

Myself personally my biggest influences are good drummers, one of the first drummers who ever made me really want to drum fast and on point was Jeff from Bad Days. He's an awesome dude who rules at drumming. As far as Hip-Hop goes I like a lot of old school shit like Raekwon, and Big Pun. I'm also into a lot of horrorcore like Jedi Mind Tricks and Necro, I love rap where the artist has a solid flow.
I can't stand the shit that's on the radio where dudes are talking about taking girls to a candy shop and shit. That's fucking whack.

Have you ever played a show with a straight up rap act? Do you think it’s possible in the future?

Never played a show with a straight up rap act, but for the full length I do plan on doing 2-3 whole rap songs that I wrote a while back, hopefully people will be into them if not 'fuck em.

Is there anything you would do different if you could go back through your ‘career’ as a hardcore band?

I wouldn't do much differnt, I'm a real DIY type of guy, I've always just kept it real doing as much as I could for every band I've been in. I've always supported my friends and always backed those who have backed me and my bands and friends.

The year is coming to an end so how has 2009 been for you so far? And who are some of the bands, records, events in hardcore that we will remember this year by?

2009 has been an amazing year for us, we have some good shows coming up and some new places to travel to. some bands that I know I'll remember this year by (despite their genre) are Lions Lions, they have real good music and are all cool dudes. The Kidcrash Trey introduced me to them and I honestly love them. Darasuum, I will always back Gabe in anything he does he's one of the coolest dudes and if always keeping it real. We still have yet to kick it but he's always touring so I'm just waiting for him to come around again so we can grab some sushi. Revenge, love these dudes so much big shout out to them as well. We just can't wait to see what the new year brings.

Anything else you would like to add?

Be on the lookout for our full length this spring or summer. We are gonna put 2 tracks from it up on the page this winter. Merch will be availble in the future we have the money we just need to get it printed. Stay up to date and follow our blogger and twitter all the accounts are on our page. Keep up the support and keep it real!

FREE MUMIA!

Soul Train at Myspace

Lazare teamed up with NBAB for their debut EP

Lazare aka LZR (Rouen, France) have joined Nothing But A Beatdown for a release of their debut EP which should drop sometime in 2010. Official info after the jump:

We proudly want to introduce you to our new NBAB family member : our good friends from LAZARE aka the infamous LZR, comin' outta Rouen, France ! We're gonna help them releasing their debut EP in 2010. Watch out for an uncompromising hard band with a pounding underground attitude, that's so rare these days not to be mentioned ! Please add them & show some love, check their live video we just put up on this page and stay tuned for their next live acts !

New merch from Barcadia

This gotta be one of the meanest tees I've seen in a while - Barcadia are not afraid to let their stance on rape be known. I give props for them cause there are just few things in this world as disgusting as rape. The other design is Taxi Driver based and is cool as well. If you want some of these, click here.

Here are the new shirts:

New t-shirts from Overpain

Coming straight from Salonika city, Overpain are making sure the Greek hardcore is heard all around the Europe. The band has just released their new tee, which you can see on the left, and if you want one get in touch with them by clicking here.