Life To Live records launched Provider 7" pre-orders

Life To Live Records have launched preorders for the forthcoming 7″ EP from New York’s Provider, entitled Wasteland. . Provider is from Long Island, NY and is influenced by a lot of stuff like Madball and Outburst.

Final Prayer to Release New Album in May

European Hardcore's pack leader Final Prayer will release their new album "I Am Not Afraid" on Let it Burn Records on May 25, 2012. Chris (Let it Burn CEO) comments: "I am absolutely stoked to have Final Prayer officially back on Let it Burn Records. Infact they never really 'left' the label. Both the cooperation and the friendship easily outlasted their short 'excursion' in 2009. Since releasing the band's debut album in 2006 I had known that Let it Burn Records and Final Prayer is a perfect match and I am tremendously looking forward to releasing and promoting the band's new album which is spinning on my computer in this very moment."

Final Prayer about reuniting with Let it Burn Records: "After some very busy months, a lot of hard work and intense songwriting and studio sessions, we're more than happy to announce, that we're ready to release our third studio-album called 'I Am Not Afraid'. With our buddy Dennis (Black Friday '29) on board, the new songs are much more varied with a lot of styles and influences. Catchy melodies meet heavy breakdowns and epic sing-alongs. Over and above we're supported on two songs by two very charismatic voices - be prepared! All in all the 10 songs of this album start where the "Berlin" EP has ended and are by far the best ones we've done so far! Label-wise we feel very comfortable, that the record will be released by Munich's famous Let It Burn Records. This might appear like a big change to some people, but after a quite moving period for the band, working together with our old friend Chris feels just like coming home. We're extremely satisfied with the songs and think that he's the right guy to spread our message. But enough words for now. The Releaseshow of the album will be on May 26th at Festsaal Kreuzberg, Berlin. We're psyched to see you there and show you what this album is really about. - the final prayer collective"

"I am Not Afraid" was recorded and mixed at Daily Hero Studios, Berlin and mastered at Time Tools Mastering, Hannover. The artwork was created by the Design Armada. Expect our promo-mailout and more info within the next days.

ThugxLife 'All eyez on you' 7-inch on Refuse Records

Don't be misled by the name of the band. Right, ThugXLife stands strong, but on the positive side of the thing! Their music and lyrics are filled with youthful passion and they're full on straight edge HC with a good dose of anger. After well-received "You're the boss" demo and successful "Drug Free Tour 2011" with Cymeon X and Regres, this band from Poznan, Poland is coming with their debut 7". There's 8 songs influenced by the bands like Internal Affairs, Ten Yard Fight, Get the Most or Chain Of Strength. ThugXLife is a prove that the Edge isn't gone dull yet in Eastern/Central Europe! Songs "War" and "I still believe" from upcoming 7": thugxlife.bandcamp.com

I Want You Dead Interview

As a brief introduction, during almost four years of its existence, the band has released a successful album in 2010, ‘We Are The Legions of Scums’, which was followed by ΑΩ EP that came out just January this year. The seven inch definitely bands and showcases that the band is getting steadily better. As the situation In Greece gets worse, the music of I Want You Dead seems to get more dark and tense. The new ΑΩ Ep is a massive slab of brutal and sinister hardcore that cleverly makes use of metal elements but still pays its homage to the roots of the genre. Here’s the interview which hopefully sheds some light on underlying intentions and ideas behind their music.
As a brief introduction, during almost four years of its existence, the band has released a successful album in 2010, ‘We Are The Legions of Scums’, which was followed by ΑΩ EP that came out just January this year. The seven inch definitely bands and showcases that the band is getting steadily better. As the situation In Greece gets worse, the music of I Want You Dead seems to get more dark and tense. The new ΑΩ Ep is a massive slab of brutal and sinister hardcore that cleverly makes use of metal elements but still pays its homage to the roots of the genre. Here’s the interview which hopefully sheds some light on underlying intentions and ideas behind their music.
What would you say about the music and the lyrics of the “We Are The Legions of Scums” album? What was your main inspiration?

Musically speaking it is an album of heavy, agressive music. We believe that dark lyrics suit our music in the best way and create a suffocative and intense atmosphere. Our debut is a hardcore album made by people who love hardcore music. We got inspired by the bands we love of course (Slapshot, Integrity, Cursed, Carpathian, Reign Supreme, Celeste among others) but also from other non-music stuff such as movies or situations we are involved in. You can drag inspiration from anything actually. We prefer dark concepts.


What feedback have you received since its release and how are these new songs coming along in the shows?

We have received a quite positive feedback. Kids seem to dig our music and the shows are getting better and better! We tested our new tracks on tour and all is good! We think it is very important to be able to play live everything you listen in the record and this is something we always have in mind when we compose new songs.

What is the meaning behind “We Are The Legions of Scums” and how did the band decide on this title?

Actually it is a cool in-your-face title that we think gives you a good impression of what you are about to listen in the record. There's no big meaning behind it. It is just our way of telling you we play aggressive music. Plus it suits the “apocalyptic” concept we so much adore!

You recently released AÙ 7inch. How is it different from your previous release?

The ÁÙ 7inch is a big step for us, a critical release. We had a line-up change between this and our debut full length, specifically in the vocalist position. We also made a pretty observable change in our sound towards darker, more intense, black metal influenced hardcore. We worked hard on the new songs in order to achieve this and fortunately our new vocalist turned out to be a perfect match for our sound. We are really satisfied we the outcome of this 7inch and we believe it is the first step towards forming our own unique sound.

Lyrically, those new songs bring some really dark and intense tone. What was your inspiration during the writing and what do you want to convey to the listener?

Even though we live in a country known for its sunny weather, there are stuff going on here on both national & personal level that affected and inspired us, in order to write those lyrics. For the past years we have been receivers of bad news and cruel reality due to the situation our country is in. This affects literally everyone. Our families , our friends & ourselves.
Financial crisis and state suppression are now part of our everyday life and these are things we can't ignore. We try to be positive on a personal level (which is difficult) in order to deal with the situation but our anger and despair builds up inside us and expressing this through our music and lyrics is inevitable and kind of a vital matter for us.

To those who have opposing viewpoints from yours, what do you hope they take away listening to the album?

We don't really hope for anything. We make the music we want to make and we sing about the stuff we like. Sure we know that some people may not agree with our views/lyrics. But this is the message we want to spread. Embrace it or reject it.

How do you feel about the fucked up situation Greece has found itself in? It seems there are millions of explanations about why did it happen, but what’s your perspective as someone from there?

The explanation is pretty simple...A few people took decisions for the lives of millions and the only thing that mattered for them was personal profit. Capitalist pigs took advantage of a whole nation in order to make money. They borrowed money, on behalf of all the greek people, and now they can't pay back their debt. This is something that now affects everyone over here. They actually ruined our future as we have to pay for their mistakes. People of Greece are innocent, they are casualties of a financial war they never took part in. Politicians are cunts and deserve the worse ,for the impact of their greed destroyed our lives.


So, how do you feel about the future?

We can't really say we're optimistic about the future...Every single day major changes happen over here. New laws, new restrictions, suppression. We believe in the freedom of people and we are against all kinds of oppression. It is dark times for us here but we are not willing to lose the control of our lives even if this means conflict with the state and the police.


Is there any political or social movement that you sympathize with or that you're a part of?

All four members of IWYD are involved with political and social movements. We support the squats of our hometown and we are active on several levels. We live in a country where many things have happened the last years. It is almost inevitable to be involved in sociopolitical stuff. We, as a band and individually, despise any form of oppression, authority and racism.

Your music is hard to pin dawn – was it the idea from the start to combine different styles of hardcore? Where does I Want You Dead draw their inspirations?

Well, we listen to various styles of music and inspiration -as told before- can come from anything.Though we don't really have rules for our music, the plan is to sound pissed off. We love hardcore in general and we take the elements we like from any style of it. This just happens ! We listen to a lot of the old classic Boston stuff but we also dig modern bands such as The Banner or Rise and Fall and their approach to hardcore. Our sound is a combination of our influences plus the personal element of each one of us. In the future we won't hesitate to use in our music anything that satisfies us whether it's hardcore or not.

Can you tell us a little about how the band formed?

We formed in 2008 in order to play the music we love, tour and have a good time. The four of us study in Patras University and knew each other a while before forming the band. We had a different singer at the beginning who quit the band in order to focus on other stuff. He now is replaced by Michael, the singer/guitarist of Fields of Locust (excellent post-metal/sludge outfit! Check 'em out!). We are more than satisfied with this choice, the dude rocks!

Would you like to say anything to the readers?

Yeah. Come to our shows and don't go to church.



MPO - Deny Life

MPO, previously known as Monsieur Po, has been active in the vibrant Paris scene since 2002. Still under the previous name, they have released ‘There Was Life’ MCD and split with Una Vida which I reviewed some time ago. Deny Life is not only their debut release as MPO, but also the first full length recording overall.

Band’s music is best described as metalcore, but the one along the lines of All Out War, Sentence or Arkangel and not the one which is about tight pants and pig squealing bullshit. It might not deliver the apocalyptic atmosphere as the mentioned bands, but still it doesn’t lack a bite. Since the first notes on the album the band lays out pretty dynamic and heavy sound coupled with intense and forceful vocals. All the elements seem to blend together seamlessly and the music is thought out and well played, but sometimes it lacks some catchy hook to hold on to. MPO can write really incredible and complex tracks, but what this album needs is more diversity between the songs as sometimes it’s hard to tell one from another. But that doesn’t take away that Deny Life is a solid effort. MPO isn't really breaking new ground here, but the mosh parts are solid and do the job and in the end, it’s good to see that metallic hardcore can still be played with a focus on passion not fashion. Anyone into that type of sound should give it a try, there are good odds you will find something you like.

Giant Leeches Attach, Cruzade Records, 2011
Review by Dloogi

In Clear Sight released debut album on Clenched Fist Records

For those who missed this one: In Clear Sight has released their debut album 'Fuck Fairytales, This Is Reality' on Clenched Fist Records. The album was recorded by Sven "Svenchi" Janssens (ex-Aborted, The End Of All Reason) at Red Left Hand Studio. In Clear Sight is a relatively young but promising band. Their style can be described as heavy hardcore with metal influences and heavy breaks. Think of bands like: Wall Of Jericho, Stick To Your Guns, Terror, First Blood, Pay No Respect, The Setup...

Reaper and Solid Bond to release Friend Or Foe's 7 inch

Reaper and Solid Bond records have teamed up to do a limited 7" for United Blood. A limited amount will be available soon in the Reaper DIY Store as well. Friend Or Foe features members of Bracewar, Fire & Ice, Iron Boots and Tough Luck … straight up hardcore Richmond style!

Hibernation and Slavebreed split available

The long awaited split 7” between Hibernation & Slavebreed is now available co-released by World’s Appreciated Kitsch & Noise Attack Records. The split is limited to 500 copies in gatefold packaging and on black vinyl. Two songs from Hibernation, three from Slavebreed.

New Sai Nam track posted at band's facebook

Head over to the Sai Nam facebook page to hear the new track "Live Fast" from the forth coming album "Crush". Some info about the band: Looking to start a new project in early 2011, New York Hardcore Stalwart guitarist, Mike Dijan (Breakdown, Crown Of Thornz, Skarhead) called on sonic co-conspriator drummer, Lou Medina (Breakdown, All Out War,District 9). The two long time friends and bandmates went right to work, hammering out a batch of blistering heavy material.. Dijan then reached out to acclaimed producer, Dean Baltulonis (Sick Of It All, Hope Conspiracy, Supertouch) about a vocalist for this unit. Dean strongly suggested (Trapped Under Ice) frontman Justice Tripp, with whom he had worked with on TUI’s breakthrough LP Secrets Of The World. As destiny would have it, TUI were headlining NYC’s Santos Party House that very week, where Dijan and Tripp talked about jamming together.

The fit seemed perfect and Tripp was fully up to the challenge. So without a single show or rehearsal, the band joined up with Baltulonis at Wild Arctic Recording Studio in NYC to record their debut 10 song LP, CRUSH. Right from the start, Sai Nam was firing on all cylinders. From Dijan’s heavy Rock-esque riffage to Tripp’s rapid fire vocal delivery, to Medina’s thunderous/chaotic drumming, to Baltulonis’ colorful production, and bass work, Crush promises to deliver the goods in stylish fashion. Hardcore icon, John Joseph (Cro-Mags) appears as guest vocalist on the album to ice the cake.

With their debut full-length in tow, Sai Nam is ready to hit the road and play shows across the globe, bridging the gap between two generations of hardcore music.


Plead The Fifth Interview

Sacramento, CA-based Plead The Fifth has just recently released their new seven inch, ‘Life Sentence’, on Arrest Records which a must hear for everyone into old school hardcore sound. Definitely one of the raddest records of 2011. I have caught up with Alex, the vocalist of Plead The Fifth, to talk about the release and what the band is up to now when the EP is out. !
Sacramento, CA-based Plead The Fifth has just recently released their new seven inch, ‘Life Sentence’, on Arrest Records which a must hear for everyone into old school hardcore sound. Definitely one of the raddest records of 2011. I have caught up with Alex, the vocalist of Plead The Fifth, to talk about the release and what the band is up to now when the EP is out.
Last time we spoke it was in 2009 and it seems there have been some changes in the band since then. Can you tell us what’s been happening with the band during that time?

Since then we have had a few member changes and have played all over the West Coast a bunch. With the new members I've felt that our song writing has grown quite a bit and our current songs blow anything of the previous stuff out of the water.

Tell us something about Life Sentence? How is it different from your previous recordings and why such title?

"Life Sentence" is different in the fact that we actually took the time to write the songs and think everything out and making them good. It wasn't just writing random parts and throwing them together. I also worked much harder on my lyrics than before. I just think it smokes everything else we've done, we're all super proud of it. as far as the title goes, it comes from one of the songs on the record with the same name. The song is basically about being stuck in your own head and thinking about everything too much. Not being able to forget bad shit from my past and carrying that around with me everyday.

In the previous interview you said the message is an important part of hardcore, as well as of your music. What are some of the topics you cover in these new songs?

There are a few. Personal stuff like what was mentioned in "Life Sentence", most of the songs are about stuff like that. A couple are about things I see in the world and in people that piss me off. I don't know if there is necessarily a message to any of them, but I feel like people could relate to them.

How did you hook up with Arrest Records and how does it feel to have your music released on vinyl?

We hooked up with Johnnie and Arrest Records when he and I were talking about his band Word for Word coming out to California for some shows. I was gonna help him book the shows and we were gonna play the shows with them. Around that time we were starting to write new songs that we wanted to be put out on a 7 inch. i just asked Johnnie if he was interested and he said he was and it pretty much went from there.It feels awesome having our stuff on vinyl. Of curse every hardcore band wants that to happen and now that it finally has it's fucking awesome.

What’s your opinion about current state of hardcore? Musically, it seems kids start to appreciate raw and fast hardcore bands, judging how much support acts like Rotting Out, Backtrack or Take Offense have been getting.

I think the current state of hardcore is awesome, best it has been in years. Besides the bands you've mentioned, which are all great, there are so many more from all over the country such as Expire, Soul Search, Downpresser, Minus, Ill Intent, Truth Inside, Kicked In, Incendiary, and a ton more. I could go on forever. Hardcore is fucking awesome right now.

And beside hardcore what are your favorite tunes to bump?

Everyone in the band listens to all sorts of different stuff. Lately when I'm not listening to hardcore/punk/Oi I've been listening to a lot of hip hop.

Any new and upcoming bands from your area that we should be aware of?

Shambles from Sacramento is a really good new band. We share a couple members with them. Really rock/grunge influenced hardcore, it's really cool.

What’s the best show you played in 2011?

We played a lot of awesome shows in last year. If I had to narrow it down, it would be a tie between, the Rotting Out record release show, Sound and Fury Fest, and Trapped Under Ice/Backtrack/Take Offense at my house. That last one wasn't really a full blown set, we hopped up during our boys' Pressure Point's set and played 3 songs, but it was fucking awesome.

Finally, what are you looking forward to for the band this year?

Looking forward to playing a lot more, touring a lot more. I wanna go all over the place this year. We're also writing some songs right now that are coming out really fucking great. I'm not sure what they'll turn into but I'm really excited about them.