Coldcuts Merch got couple of new Xibalba designs in their webstore. Click here for more info! Also, do not miss the upcoming split featuring the band that will be out on BDHW Records.
By My Hands
By My Hands has been steadily making a name for themselves in the scene both on local and international level. With couple of succesful tours and releases behind their belt, things can only get better as the new album, Growing Older, Getting Colder, is a major step forward in terms of writing heavy and catchy songs that makes you wanna kill everybody in the pit. Read the interview, buy new album, buy creatine, go to their show!
By My Hands has been steadily making a name for themselves in the scene both on local and international level. With couple of succesful tours and releases behind their belt, things can only get better as the new album, Growing Older, Getting Colder, is a major step forward in terms of writing heavy and catchy songs that makes you wanna kill everybody in the pit. Read the interview, buy new album, buy creatine, go to their show!
There is a few year gap in between each of your albums. What’s been happening with By My Hands since the "Another Lesson Learned" came out?
CHRIS: Another Lesson Learned came out 2005, so quite a lot of shit has happened since then!
First thing we did since that release was tour with CDC and In Blood We Trust in the UK, then we release a 8 track split cd (4 from each band) with CDC on the now defunct Zone 6 Records. After this we toured east coast, central and southern USA with Leavenworth. That was one of the best times of our lives - we got to play with some many cool bands, cool shows, and hang with really cool people. We even played Dypshorias reunion show, and How It Ends last ever show, so that was extra special.
After this all we have been doing was writing new songs, and playing shows. We toured the UK a couple times over with Palehorse and xRepresentx too. That's about it!
Can you give us a little background on the new album? How do you think it compares to your previous record?
CHRIS: I think it sounds totally different from the split, and definately completely different from Another Lesson Learned, but still ultimately sounds like By My Hands. Of course, we think it is more mature and greater than anything we've released before, but bands always say that, otherwise, what'd be the point in writing new shit?
The metal influences definately don't shine through as much as they did in 'A.L.L' but, instead these sound more hardcore, more groovy, if that makes sense. There's definately more groove to this record. I think if you listened to all 3 records starting for the earliest to the newest you can definately hear the progression happening.
Is there anything different on this album that people might not expect to hear?
CHRIS: There's some sweet samples, a solo, some guest appearances, and a whole lot of heavy hardcore. I think more of our hardcore influnces shine through than the metal ones here, but it still definately sounds like BMH. Hopefully it has something that everyone can get down to or relate to.
How did you decide on the title, “Growing Older, Getting Colder”?
CHRIS: It's a lyric from the song 'Real' that appears on the album.
It just seemed perfect fit for the album name, given the lyrical content, and more importantly how we all feel/felt as a band during the writing and recording of the cd. It's been over 4 years since our last release, , we were having a lot of problems with recording the cd at the time, the hardcore scene was changing, the political climate was changing, our personal lifes were changing, the world was changing. The title means is exactly what it says, and a fair representation of how we feel as a band. You are supposed to mellow out as you get older, but we certainly dont feel that way, let's say.
In my opinion, one of the strongest points of the new album are the lyrics, with themes ranging from personal to socio-political issues. Care to tell us what inspired you when writing some of this stuff?
CHRIS: Thanks man, that mean's a lot.
As you said, a bunch of different issues are covered from song to song, and I tried to be as honest as I could about my feelings when I was writing, whether they were viewed as cliched topics or not. I really wanted to make my feelings clear to anyone who heard or read these words, I wanted the conviction to literally drip from the page. I didn't want to pull any punches, and I think I did that the best I could.
'The Hate', was inspired by a great dislike, shall we say, for organised religion. We live in a city, and indeed a country with a deep seeded religious divide and in-built intolerance. Vulernable people live, fight and die by this fear-obsessed fairytale right wing fascist-fed bullshit every other day all over the world, and I guess it's made me more than a little intolerant of it.
The song 'Trapped' touches on this vaguely but overall is more of a song about our city, the class war, and the state it's in right now.
'Worlds Apart' is more like a bit of a political statement on war than anything else. As you know, we regretably come from a country which hearlds an army that has been party to more than a few illegal occupations of other countries, especially in recent times, with the Iraq and Afghan wars. It's hard to live here, and see people, family members, friends.....sign up to these wars to escape their own struggles, the monotany of a jobless penny-less life on an estate, so that they vindicate their lives....made to feel like they've made something of themselves due to the pressure and praise heaped on them by national news and the like.....when in reality they are sadly used as political cannon fodder in this money-hungry horseshit that's used to divide the people. This song was written at a time the Palestinian land-grab war was prominent in nthe news too (even though the struggle continues, coverage has dwindled), so I guess it's my feelings, over all, on war and occupation.
Other stuff such as 'Real' 'Dead Words (The Truth Hurts) and 'Bad Beat' are more of the personal nature about feelings, opinions, and thoughts on events in and around life, and to be honest, I think I've rambled on enough about this subject...but if anyone is interested enough to want to know about the lyrics of the album, then I'd welcome any questions. Get at us via myspace/facebook or email; deadweightbookingATgooglemailDOTcom.
How did you hook up with Marked For Death records?
CHRIS: Well, Manuel at MFD emailed us, literally about 8 months before the album dropped, as he knew we were writing and looking for label.
From day one he was really into the music, our style, and our message as a band. He kept in touch with ideas he had for us, emailed constantly to check on us, and generally seemed really interested. We definately wanted a label behind us who shared our values and the same passion for our music as we do, so the rest is history.
Support a real label.
http://markedfordeathrecords.bigcartel.com/
SEAN: Yeah for sure, we've had a lot of good feeback from up and down the UK and Europe so far over the years, being from Glasgow hasnt been as much of a disadvantage as it may seem. In this day and age, location is becoming less and less important for bands. Aslong as your cd is floating about on the internet, people will hear it regardless of where your from, if they can get it for free they will probably listen to it, even if they've never really heard of you.
For us, we've always had good ties with bands in London and for a while it was a place that we had a lot of friends, and a fairly good following. Some of our first releases were on a London-based label, so our records were readily available. This was beneficial for us when bringing out a new record, because a lot of the older heads were famiilar with our earlier stuff, it meant that there was no hesitation for hardcore kids down that way to check out the new shit, and in turn, put us on shows down there. Something which can be hard for bands who are trying to book their own shows.
And how do you feel about the way UK hardcore has recently been represented overall? How do you feel about the bands that are currently active in the UK scene?
SEAN: At the moment there are a lot of really good bands in the UK, and conversely, a lot of completely garbage ones. Unfortunately, as with most places, when one good band pops up, so do a million other godawful carbon copies. On a global scale, the UK is being represented fairly well I think. From being over the states recently, Ive noticed that being from the UK is almost becoming an excuse to check out a band if your American, and as a result, people just cant get enough of UK bands.. Bring Me the Horizon, Architects, Your Demise, Gallows, You Me at Six, Dead Swans amongst others are all well killing it in the states at the moment, some more than others of course, but doing good none the less. OK so they may not all be hardcore, but have been in and around the hardcore scene and its fringes here at some point, like it or not. I remember Taking Names went to the US years ago too. That was a good band. Here in the UK, there are a lot of good smaller bands who are developing their own sound and have good ethics, which is refreshing to see in hardcore. For a long times theres been too much of an emphasis on how you look or how many tattoos you've got, so its good to see what Id consider "newish" bands (like us) like Brutality Will Prevail, Broken Teeth, Basement, Deal With It, True Valiance, More Than Life, Departures, Breaking Point, Deal With It, Cold Snap, Last Witness etc just doing whatever the hell they want, playing shit they like, not caring if people like it or not, while being supported by great DIY labels such as Purgatory or Holy Roar records.
How do you feel the scene in the UK differs from mainland Europe in general?
SEAN: I think the main difference would be the divisions in genre. In the UK, there isnt much of a crossover in genres, and people generally tend to stick to one strict style or genre of hardcore. In europe theres a much better sense of unity, and people will usually turn up to shows regardless of whos playing, simply to support music in their area. Also, from a musicians point of view, European promoters usually treat bands a lot better than UK promoters. Not that UK promoters treat bands badly, but promoters on the mainland go above and beyond to make sure you are fed properly, have plenty to drink at all times and have a nice place to stay. It makes a nice change from having to go around the crowd asking people for a place to stay, you know?
“No cheesey fake "endorsements", no "paid for" fancy myspace pages, No "band management" with fax & paging numbers.” – is it something you see often in UK? Do you think that increasing popularity of hardcore draws a lot of kids who are not getting it right?
CHRIS: I think its a "problem" worldwide, not only in the UK. I hate seeing bands who have more professionally taken "photos" than shows they've played, or more merch for sale than the amount of songs that band has written, bands with management and representation that haven't played out of their home town.....you know?
I see it all the time now-a-days. To me, it's totally crazy. Live fast die fast bands. They spring from nowhere looking for a fast rise to "fame" or whatever, get none, then change their name and start again.
For me, it all stems with the internet, and how easy it is to access things, like new bands....this was a great thing for me when getting into hardcore, but it also has its bad side...it also means that you can drop a band as quickly as you picked them up, for something new because of the saturation of bands trying to rise to fast.
Everything is disposable.
For me a lot of things are lost, for example interaction with a band, communication, you get me? Most of our friends, shows, and friends have came about from talking with real people directly rather than using management to send contracts and official bullshit to promoters and bands, while hiding behind an over-produced website with no substance.
A lot of unity is lost this way. It makes things more 'plastic'. Hardcore's more than just look or a "sound". It doesnt matter how much you "sound" like a hardcore band, hardcore is a mentality, and I think kids forget that.
So, in your opinion, what are some of the most important lessons in hardcore? What kids should keep in mind?
CHRIS: haha, I hate telling people what to do like I'm some kind of expert, cause I'm not, but in my opinion the best things you can do are;
Talk to people at shows, via email, whatever...be yourselves, and try and concentrate on the music first before you do anything else. Good music and real people stand the test of time.
Before we finish, what are future plans for the band?
CHRIS: Yes! We have been a band for 7 years, and 6 of those we've been playing shows, and all we have managed in mainland in europe is one show. We need to play on the mainland as soon as possible, so hopefully we will do this before the end of 2010, or at the beginning of 2011. Manuel from Marked For Death is currently oraganising a huge show for his label in Augsburg, so we can hopefully use this as a starting point for a tour.
We are also currently finalising a tour in South Africa with a band called Conqueror (http://www.myspace.com/conquerorhc) from Jo'burg. I really can't fucking wait for that.
Other than that, we are just going to continue as normal, play as many shows as we can, tour the album, and hopefully write some new shit.
If anyone is interested in booking us at any time, just get in touch.
Any last words for the readers? Anything you want to get off your chest?
Yeah - Big up to Dloogi and Hardboiled! Thanks for the support.
Support the zines, support your scene, and support real bands.
Unfinished Business
Unfinished Business is a new hardcore band from Syracuse, New York. Their sound is heavy and with strong mid-tempo passages and slick faster parts. They definitely are skilled at what they do and if you're into metallic hardcore some of their songs will get caught in your head!
Name: My name is Tom, and I do vocals for Unfinished BusinessLocation: Syracuse, NY
Active since: I think the first show was February 2009
How do you define your overall style?
Just hardcore. Heavy and straight forward.
What’s your goal with this band?
Eventually I think we'd all love to tour full time. But also just to give back to the hardcore scene, especially in Syracuse.
What do you have recorded so far?
Well, before I was in the band, they recorded a four song demo. Soon after I joined (June 2009) we recorded a 2 song demo. Then this past December we recorded the 5 song EP.
How did you all come together to form the group?
Our old drummer and I have been friends for a long time, and I would go to practice with him every now and I just happened to be there the day Mike, the old vocalist got kicked out. I had never done anything besides bass until that point, but decided to give it a try anyways, and obviously it worked out! As for drummers, we had some trouble for a while, but Ben Shaw's been playing with us since February and it's been working great!
Your new EP is out. Tell us something about it and how does it stand compared to the previous recordings?
Well, honestly we've really been slackin' about getting it pressed, which is why we have it up for download now. We're planning on recording a few more songs and releasing something more official that will include the 5 from this EP. I definitely think that it's all around our best so far though, from production to music.
Lyrics were always a very important part of hardcore. What do you want listeners to experience while listening to your songs?
I really think it's counter productive when bands have lyrics that are just filled with analogy after analogy, and it becomes so hard to really understand what the song is about and to relate. Whenever I write, I want people to be able to read it and know exactly what I mean.
What’s good happening in Syracuse when it comes to hardcore? Any good new bands around?
Our friend TomDom is actually doing a show where anyone who's never been to one gets in for free and anybody who brings somebody get's in half price. I think we're all real excited and hoping it brings some new faces out regularly. We definitely have some cool bands coming out though. Born To Expire, Violent Side, No Remorse, Ghost Ship, and Oak & Bone, just to name a few.
How do you think the current state of the scene in your hometown compares to that of 90’ when Syrcause was a straight edge Mecca?
I think things have slowed down since then, definitely, but it's still alive and well. I'm not sure if any of the new bands will be as influential as bands like Earth Crisis, Another Victim, and The Promise, but We've still got a lot of good things happening. I especially think we're lucky to have one of the best HC labels around in our city, Reaper Records.
And how do you feel about the hardcore scene in general? What’s worth attention and what sucks?
I think there's a lot of alright bands that get lots of hype, and a lot of great ones that are rarely talked about. Also, I think as a lot of older people are "getting over" hardcore, the younger kids need to step up and start their own bands, start booking shows, etc. I think a lot of great bands are coming out now though, Especially from Texas, Cali, Virginia, Wilkes Barre, and Long Island.
How would you descibre Unfinished Business show?
This is tough, haha. It really depends on where we play I guess. We all play our best, and however the crowd reacts is up to them. I mean, we've played shows where people barely moved, and we've lso done a lot where the whole crowd has gone ham. Haha
What are some other bands that really impressed you live?
I think True Life played one of the tightest and heaviest sets I've seen when we played with them in june. There's also Terror, Trapped Under Ice, Bitter End, Cruel Hand, Mongoloids, and a lot more.
What are some of the movies every hardcore kid should see?
Personally, I'm a big fan of Will Smith, so I'd say anything with him! I'd say also Sin City, the new Karate Kid, Killer Klowns from Outer Space, and The Warriors.
What's next on your agenda?
We'll be recording about 5 -6 new songs in November or December, and we're planning a tour in the beginning of January with our dawgs in True Life.
Last words…
Wanna shout out to Hardside, Born Low, True Life, Double Dealer, PK and Cabal Screen Printing, Toxic Breed, and TomDom. And, anybody who ain't checked out our EP yet, quit sleepin and hit the pit! haha.
Check the band at their Myspace.
Alley Gods - Correcting Wrong Opinions
Correcting Wrong Opinions is pretty cocky name for an album but I’m glad to say that these tracks live up to the title. Just like on their debut 7” (which I reviewed some time ago), Alley Gods displays a style that is full of some classic 80’ hardcore influences but served with a modern twist. It’s nothing ground breaking, but those kids got skills.
They definitely have a solid foothold in the roots of hardcore which makes Correcting Wrong Opinions a solid tribute to a now distant era of hardcore when it was all about pissing people off, not giving a fuck and having a laugh. There are so many things that are right about this album - the tempos are fast and the song are sharp and short with occasional melodies, guitar solos and sing alongs. The meat of the album is made of pummeling riffs and shouting vocals backed up by a tight and fast drumming. The bass player is doing some crazy stuff with his instrument as well and thanks to the balanced production, it can be heard perfectly. Despite to straight forward approach, they somehow find a way to display their musical skills in these songs so it doesn’t get boring that fast. Sometimes even some classic Finish hardcore influences kick in (some old shit when punks still looked like punks with all the spikes and leather). I like their straight forward lyrical style –some songs are provocative, some touch serious topics while other are plain fun. It took me some time to get used to the screechy vocals. In the end, after couple of spins they don’t bother me that much no more, but still it’s not my favorite style of singing. Overall, it’s a solid old school album and the odds are pretty good that if you’re into this style you'll find plenty to like on here.Review by Dloogi
Label: Poolside Records/Psychedelica Records
Year: 2010
Band's website
Harvcore to release new Burdens album
Harvcore Records is happy to announce signing Philadelphia hardcore band Burdens. The Philly area has a rich history of great hardcore, and the new crop of bands is no different...so you can imagine how stoked we were when Burdens approached us to release their next record. After some personnel changes, Burdens emerged from The Skylight Studio with five tracks that redefine the band's sound. Vince Ratti worked behind the controls to ensure that these songs were a true representation of the recently updated line-up.
Kingdom leaves Eulogy Records, new Ep in works
From the band: "We've decided to part ways with Eulogy Recordings. We feel honored to have been able to put out our last release on Eulogy, but as a band looking to release vinyl it just wasn't really a good fit.
"Second, after a year on hiatus (which we spent getting fat, learning new languages, and relaxing if you were curious), we're now in the studio recording 6 new songs. We haven't signed to a new label yet but we're hoping to make an announcement on that soon. After the new record comes out we'll be hitting the road again with a couple of US tours, a South American tour, and a European tour. (Details when we have them!)
"We really want to thank Eulogy for all they've done for us, and thank all y'all for your support while we've been on the road and off."
"Second, after a year on hiatus (which we spent getting fat, learning new languages, and relaxing if you were curious), we're now in the studio recording 6 new songs. We haven't signed to a new label yet but we're hoping to make an announcement on that soon. After the new record comes out we'll be hitting the road again with a couple of US tours, a South American tour, and a European tour. (Details when we have them!)
"We really want to thank Eulogy for all they've done for us, and thank all y'all for your support while we've been on the road and off."
Casey Jones to release new album themselves
Straight edge punk-hardcore band Casey Jones has just entered the studio, after splitting with Eulogy Recordings, with plans of a self-release early next year. "Most of these songs have been written for over a year," said frontman Josh James. "We decided to release them ourselves because we all believe in them. They're some of the most intense, passionate songs we’ve ever written. All killer, no filler. We plan to take them on the road next year for Casey Jones fans, old and new." For now, fans can catch the band on their upcoming Florida dates followed by Persistence Tour with Sick of it All, D.R.I., Blood for Blood, Unearth, Evergreen Terrace and Cruel Hand in Europe.
Sawchuk
Raw and dirty hardcore from the depths of Michigan, Sawchuk is not a type of band to sing about holding hands and reading poems. Real men got no time for this shit! The main purpose of their music is to remind you how hard and nasty life can get and listening to their latest output, I can honestly say they accomplished this mission flawlessly. Check it out!
Band’s name: SawchukLocation: All over Michigan.
Active since: Sawchuk has been together sense 2007. but myself(brandon/Guitar) and jordan(Bass) joined in 09. After we joined the band we really changed our sound. Before me and jordan joined it was more punk rock with breakdowns. ha.
How do you define your overall style?
Sawchuk is hardcore, with negativity? im not to sure. I guess just angry hardcore
What’s your goal with this band?
Our goal is pretty much to just get the fuck out of michigan and play shows. Tour, Release shit. Have a good ass time on the road, away from home.
What do you have recorded so far?
We have an EP recorded. It is called "Miserable" we give them out at shows. and we have a free download of it up on our myspace (www.myspace.com/sawchukhxc) and its all over the internet thru blogs and shit. So anyone should be able to find it very easily.
When, how and why the band came to being?
In 07 Jerry and Tony wanted to start a hardcore band about drinking, hockey, and partying. So the rest is pretty much history
It’s not been long since the Miserable EP has been released. How do you feel about the release and what the response has been so far?
Its awesome. It came out better then we thought it would. Chris at "Stresstain Studios" does an awesome fucking job. As far as response to the EP, seems like everyone is liking it. Which is awesome.
What is it about Terry Sawchuk that made you name your band after him?
Jerry(drums) and Tony(guitar) were watching a red wings game, and hasek made some crazy save with his face. So jerry said " that was some fucking sawchuk shit right there" and then they started the band.
The overall tone of the lyrics is very dark and negative. Would you agree with that and is there any running message behind your music?
Yeah, Sawchuk is pretty negative. The overall message of our songs, pretty much is just, Tomorrow will be worse then the day before. Give up on life.
So how do you feel about the current state of the world and future of mankind in general? What are some of the main ills in the society that pisses you off?
This world is shit. Enough said.
How many shows do you play? What is the craziest thing that ever happened at one of your shows?
We play as many shows as possible. As far as craziest thing thats happened at a show, shit, i don't know. Matt gets drunk and talks a lot? He stood on some table at a bar and broke it? I don't know if that fits the definition of crazy. But it was pretty funny.
If anybody want to invite you to play the gig, what should they know?
They should know we'd love to. And that we're just lookin to have a good time. Whether that be, getting drunk, going swimming, whatever. Were just trying to have fun and play our music.
How is scene in Michigan compared to other states?
What are some good bands from over there? Im just going to skip this question.
What are some other future plans for Sawchuk? When can we expect a full length album?
Only time will tell for the future of sawchuk. We would like to tour, as much as possible. Maybe get a lable? And were going to be recording in Early October for another EP. Look out for that. its going to be probably 6 or 7 songs long. Also look out for some split EP's with some awesome bands. As far as a full length. We'll for sure be putting one out. Its just a matter of writing new songs and recording. Probably next spring, or summer, maybe fall.
Shout outs and/or last comments?
Listen to... Burdened, Stations Creation, Natural Disasters, Strength By Conviction, Life Exposed, Sleeptalkers, Straight Mangled, Mind Crimes, Reach The End, Some Mistakes, Lethal Scriptures, Full of Hell,
Add our facebook. http://www.facebook.com/pages/SAWCHUK/130234090329687?ref=ts
For some info on Terry Sawchuk, read this. http://sports.jrank.org/pages/4241/Sawchuk-Terry-Dark-Temper.html
First Blood to release new album
Roughly four years after releasing their last album, First Blood's latest record will finally be available next month. Titled "Silence Is Betrayal," the effort will hit stores on October 19th via Bullet Tooth. Pre-order details will be announced next week. The band is touring heavily to promote this stuff - check the show dates on their myspace.
By My Hands - Growing Older, Getting Colder
Just couple of days after I got this CD for a review I bought their previous album, Another Lesson Learned, on the Ebay just to learn that there hasn’t been any radical change in style between the two. By My Hands still delivers heavy, metallic hardcore with slick breakdowns, but somehow they sound less generic that most of the bands of this kind.
The first track, Real, is a strong introduction to the album and basically sets the tone for the rest of the songs. The riffs are heavy, the rhythm section lays down the tight groove while the vocals are on point and brutally convincing. The momentum continues on the rest of the tracks and the band manages to mesh the best elements of metal and hardcore. There’s not much variation here, but they focus on areas they best at so the outcome sounds strong after all. Content-wise the band addresses social issues like organized religion or corrupted politicians, but also find space for some personal stuff. The lyrics are written in dark and negative manner with no sidestepping about the ills of today’s world, luckily avoiding sounding pathetic or preachy. Let’s also mention the album features guests appearances from Derek Ski (xRepresentx) & Lee Marshall (Broken Oath).This was released by young but promising label called Marked For Death and they put a lot of effort to make sure the package looks nice. Overall, it all gets down to whether you’re a fan of this style or not. If you can appreciate solid hardcore album that is packed with mosh and testosterone, Growing Older, Getting Colder is definitely for you. I hope, this release get the right level of attention as it certainly deserves it. By My Hands proves that hardcore is strong and kicking in Scotland.
Review by Dloogi
Label: Marked For Death Records
Year: 2010
Band's website
