Terror - The New Blood
New Terror video pays respect to the true hardcore tradition. Keepers of the faith!
I Want You Dead - AΩ 7inch
AΩ, new 7 inch from I Want You Dead, is a follow up to their 'We are the Legions of Scums' LP and showcases huge progress the band has made. The Greeks have put together some seriously heavy and menacing tunes which despite superb production sound as evil and dirty as they should. Even without reading the lyrics, just from the way it sounds I can image the type of sick thoughts being spat in these songs. Disgust, hatred, vengeance, contempt are some of the themes explored here and they sing it like they mean it. As always, the band is offering their music for free download but if you want to cop the vinyl, click here. Download it.
Strikedown Records has launched pre-orders for new Hardway CDEP
Towards The Light, new EP from Italy-owned Hardway, will contain five songs of heavy and reckless hardcore. "More intense, visceral and relentless compared to the debut album, such as the lyrics more gloomy, describing anger, hope, pain and dreams in drastic vision," as described in the press release. The songs were recorder in February/March last year and mastered at Swift Mastering (London - UK). You can place your order, as well as check out one of the new songs, here.
Six Feet Under releases new music from Current, Gypsy, Wrong Answer and Guilty
Six Feet Under has started 2012 strong with new releases from Current, Gypsy, Wrong Answer and Guilty. Apart from Wrong Answer, I haven't heard any of these bands but they all seem interesting. Continue reading for official description of each release from the label.
GYPSY - Giant's Despair 12"/CD
This was a long time in the making. Finally seeing the light of day is the debut full length from GYPSY. "Giant's Despair" is 10 tracks that have been well worth the wait. Sounding even more now like Knapsack, Jawbeaker and Dinosaur Jr than the 7" did, the LP features top notch production from Will Yip (Blacklisted, Mother Of Mercy, War Hungry). Oh and they feature members of Cold World, Mother Of Mercy, Stick Together, and the dude who books United Blood, if you're into that sort of thing. The track Sleep Well can be heard on the SFU Homepage. The LP will be available in 3 colors on a first come first serve basis. There will also be a deluxe edition out of 50 with a special color limited to 50 and containing one of the dreamcatchers used in the cover photo shoot, along with a few other extras.
CURRENT - Peace, Love 7"
Another new band on the roster, CURRENT hails from Syracuse, NY and came to our attention after we heard their impressive demo earlier this year. After several sporadic gigs in upstate NY opening for Polar Bear Club, Harvest and some others they got it together to write this 7" for SFU and despite us taking forever to get it out its finally ready for preorder. 6 songs clocking in at almost 13 minutes, sonically appealing to fans of everything from Burn to Quicksand to Bane to Modern Life Is War with ex members of Meltdown, Forfeit and Unholy and current members of Reign Supreme.
GUILTY - s/t 7"
We are pleased to bring you Sweden's finest export, GUILTY. Their demo also caught our eye earlier this year after our friends at Control Records told us to check it out. The demo is great and the new 7" is even better, featuring 4 new tracks drawing influences from the Cro Mags, Madball and a healthy does of Master Of Puppets era Metallica. Don't sleep on this 7", it's one of the best we've heard here in a while.
Being released in conjunction with in Sweden and Carry The Weight Records in the UK. SFU will have 2 colors of vinyl available, 400 pressed total, and the other labels will have 1 color each.
WRONG ANSWER - Cross A Black Cat's Path 7"
Philadelphia's premier naughty youth crew band, WRONG ANSWER are back with their new 7" and first for SFU. After 2 records on Harvcore and tours of Europe and the US, Wrong Answer is a welcome addition to the SFU Family and we are pleased to be working with Ogden again (i think?).
GYPSY - Giant's Despair 12"/CD
This was a long time in the making. Finally seeing the light of day is the debut full length from GYPSY. "Giant's Despair" is 10 tracks that have been well worth the wait. Sounding even more now like Knapsack, Jawbeaker and Dinosaur Jr than the 7" did, the LP features top notch production from Will Yip (Blacklisted, Mother Of Mercy, War Hungry). Oh and they feature members of Cold World, Mother Of Mercy, Stick Together, and the dude who books United Blood, if you're into that sort of thing. The track Sleep Well can be heard on the SFU Homepage. The LP will be available in 3 colors on a first come first serve basis. There will also be a deluxe edition out of 50 with a special color limited to 50 and containing one of the dreamcatchers used in the cover photo shoot, along with a few other extras.
CURRENT - Peace, Love 7"
Another new band on the roster, CURRENT hails from Syracuse, NY and came to our attention after we heard their impressive demo earlier this year. After several sporadic gigs in upstate NY opening for Polar Bear Club, Harvest and some others they got it together to write this 7" for SFU and despite us taking forever to get it out its finally ready for preorder. 6 songs clocking in at almost 13 minutes, sonically appealing to fans of everything from Burn to Quicksand to Bane to Modern Life Is War with ex members of Meltdown, Forfeit and Unholy and current members of Reign Supreme.
GUILTY - s/t 7"
We are pleased to bring you Sweden's finest export, GUILTY. Their demo also caught our eye earlier this year after our friends at Control Records told us to check it out. The demo is great and the new 7" is even better, featuring 4 new tracks drawing influences from the Cro Mags, Madball and a healthy does of Master Of Puppets era Metallica. Don't sleep on this 7", it's one of the best we've heard here in a while.
Being released in conjunction with in Sweden and Carry The Weight Records in the UK. SFU will have 2 colors of vinyl available, 400 pressed total, and the other labels will have 1 color each.
WRONG ANSWER - Cross A Black Cat's Path 7"
Philadelphia's premier naughty youth crew band, WRONG ANSWER are back with their new 7" and first for SFU. After 2 records on Harvcore and tours of Europe and the US, Wrong Answer is a welcome addition to the SFU Family and we are pleased to be working with Ogden again (i think?).
Sentenced To Fight Interview
I did an interview with Sentenced To Fight when they back in 2009 just short time after they released their first demo. Fast forward to 2012, they’ve already released two albums and plans for 2012 include a split with Hold It Down from Indonesia and next Insurreccion, new full length expected to drop this Fall. Not bad for a band with no label support, huh? You definitely gotta give them props for sticking to do-it-yourself mentality. On the other hand, it puts to shame all the lame ass bands crying about not getting proper support from the labels. Anyway, here’s the recent interview I’ve done with the band. It’s about their current activities, the past and the future, but also gives pretty cool insight into Puerto Rican hardcore scene.
I did an interview with Sentenced To Fight when they back in 2009 just short time after they released their first demo. Fast forward to 2012, they’ve already released two albums and plans for 2012 include a split with Hold It Down from Indonesia and next Insurreccion, new full length expected to drop this Fall. Not bad for a band with no label support, huh? You definitely gotta give them props for sticking to do-it-yourself mentality. On the other hand, it puts to shame all the lame ass bands crying about not getting proper support from the labels. Anyway, here’s the recent interview I’ve done with the band. It’s about their current activities, the past and the future, but also gives pretty cool insight into Puerto Rican hardcore scene.It’s been a while since the last interview we did. What’s been happening with the band during that time? Tell us something about the latest album, Declaracion – why kids should check it out?
Well I think our last interview was back on 2009 , and we where about to release Jauria Guerrera our first album. During that time we continue playing at shows and representing until late 2010 . We took a new member on our family Jose Moran . we called him "Goldo" hahaha wich is of the best musicians we had in the band so far. While we where working on something new , we didn’t know that our first album was traveling the world via internet . Then When we decided to release a preview the new album , one of us wrote Sentenced To fight on google and the support was amazing . People from places like Indonesia, all Latin America , US , Japan and Europe knew about us we had messages in Greek , French , Japanese , French we even got to use google translate to write those brother back. We never thought that LA JAURIA will grow that big.
In July 30 2011 we released our second album "DECLARACION" WICH IS AN EP. It has 6 songs . Kids should check it out because this album defines what STF's all about . Declaracion is full of positive hardcore made for achieving supremacy of self esteem and to make people remember what HC is about. The songs we all in the band had a particular favorite song , but we all have in common two songs : LOS MUERTOS VIVEN which is about the old school people from the scene all around the world are coming back to make scene kids remember what this was all about from the beginning. The other song “Union y Fuerza” , this one is very special because talks about our believe in LA JAURIA our family , strength and union , respect , honor , loyalty values that had been forgotten. Overall The album is sick.
How has your sound developed since the first demo?
Sentenced To Fight has evolved into a more complex sound , more fast roaring riffs mixed with a little touch of beatdown . It has been a long work but finally we are hearing how we have been changing our sound through the years to a more complete sound.
Declaracion is a strong name for an album. What is the meaning behind it and what message you want to convey with it?
We have seen through all these years how people passed a long our scene and leave and never learned a damn thing about life . Declaracion is a clear as water statement , its a war declaration to ignorance and iniquity. We wrote this to make people understand that our moral values those forgotten thoughts must be brought back by ourselves. This album is about achieving self supremacy and learning how to achieve a better way of life without losing your pride.
Although Declaracion is just out, you told me you already work on new release. Tell us something about the songs? How are they sounding?
Yes actually we have two releases to make on 2012 . First is a split album with indonesian band Hold It Down . This record will be great this band reminds me somehow of nyhc style. Right now we are working on whats gonna be our third album "INSURRECCION". So far the new songs are incredible, we are making better music each time we sit to make new sounds. Its going to be a 10 song album. So Stay tune "INSURRECCION" FALL 2012.
What are some of the struggles you have to face when running a hardcore band in Puerto Rico?
Since our scene is strong but little , its not easy to get money together to produce albums and merch, but we still do this you know. It's hard but if you like this you do it period. And this has never been abut the money but unfortunately it is necessary to make some things happen.
Do you have and defined goals to achieve with this band?
I think every band even if hardcore or not had always goals to achieve. Ours is to continue delivering good sounds with a positive message to “LA JAURIA” worldwide. And of course we want to travel and play at shows in different countries and we are looking forward to do it this year. Make people know PRHC through the words of STF's music. But the most important goal is never forget where we came from and what this has always been about . That’s the main goal.
What artists/bands or albums changed your life? Why and how?
Man , first time I heard Madball it blew my mind it was back in 2000 when at school my best friend's father put the record “Demonstrating my style”. I just loved the sound and avery part of the music speaked for it self. From that day on I knew I was gonna do this for the rest of my life . Other bands like Agnostic Front , Warzone , Cro-Mags , Skarhead , Minor Threat and 25 ta life. Local band “Golpe Justo” make awesome music and shows when we were younger , and keep that “ I live this shit” going on always.
What is the hardcore scene in Puerto Rico like nowadays? What band we should check out?
Hardcore scene right now is crossing some difficult times but later on 2011 people start going to shows again and old bands are coming back Hardcore still Lives , We fought to maintain it alive and now is coming back there a lot of people working on making things happen again and its good for the scene once again. You should check local bands like : Clear Convictions , Quejidos del Seol , Bajo Presion , Rise in Sorrow , With Open Force and Golpe Justo is back in business one of the pillar bands on hc on the island you should check them out!!
What are some of the best and worst hardcore albums of 2011?
Best albums probably be: of course it’s our opinion: Lionheart- Built On Struggle, And Agnostic Front – My Life My Way. Worst album : any album that was not make this year , we support hc worldwide if you doing something to keep this alive its good!!
Cornered - Fuck Off
Wow. No big adjectives or obscure words here. Just "wow". This shit is impressive. Taking a push from NYHC crossover like Leeway, mixing in some present day like Mind Eraser and Rival mob and Terror; but mostly i would liken this to Shipwreck and Living Hell and the most apropos comparison - which coming from me is the biggest compliment - is Palehorse. They sound very similar and i am the most grateful for that. I loved Palehorse. and all that mentioned, this band is from Holland. Anyway, in the landscape of today's hardcore, Cornered stands out. even though i was quick to throw some "For Fans Of..." names, these guys have a distinct sound. Heavy. Cornered however 'influenced' by metal tendencies, definitely stand strong on the hardcore side of the metal core label. I mean can you hear the late 80's crossover compared to 7 Seconds or Uniform Choice? Of course. but the rhythms pummeling through your speakers are for the moshers. the pit will be satiated. Check the bass intro to the song "Fuck Off". Agnostic Front could have written that. Your ears get cohesive attack from all members and their instruments. Vicious, seething screams from the vocals spit condemnation and warning to this fucked up world. Again, to draw on similarities to Palehorse, there are lyrics of world collapse, illuminati, secret societies in control and the like. Musically, the sharp riffs and quick drums never let you rest. This shit is fast and time changes galore keep you on your toes. and swinging your fists. There is a bounce and the EuroHC sound is in there; which harkens the NYHC love again. this band is so good. "Betrayal" is stand out - so fast! and then the breakdown would be sure to bring down any venue. "Lies" is of the same ilk, crushing riffs sped up forcing all in ear shot swear allegiance and start kicking and punching. i truly can not get enough of this ep - bring on the full length! fo real - this is a refreshing change to some of the formulaic HC out now. and as i said, they ain't re-inventing the wheel, just bringing a sound that is powerful and invigorating. this is on the soundtrack to change and revolution, no doubt. It has the speed, the fury, the hate, and the energy to remain steadfast amid the chaos.
6131 Records, 2011
Review by Hutch from Empty Hands blog
Death Row and Power Play pre-orders launched in Ratel Webstore
Ratel Records has launcher pre-orders for upcoming Death Row and Power Play 7"s. Death Row plays reckless, honest and in your face hardcore and they proudly represent Warsaw, Poland. Power Play is a Kiev, Ukraine-based hate machine which is sure to make heads roll with their debut EP - Roar of the Street Dogz. All orders ship early February 2012.
