One Choice - Forever War

For those unfamiliar, One Choice members have did their time in other prominent SoCal bands like Time For Change, Collision, Built To Last and Her Grey Earth. After debut Ep which came out at New Age records, this is their debut full length release. By the middle of the first track, the expectations from the rest of the album are set high. After short intro, Forever War sets things off with a damn catchy hook and hell of a chorus.

When Karl of Earth Crisis takes over the microphone, I really feel like these boys nailed it. It carries strong Trial influence, something which can be heard at different points throughout the album, but the band rises above your typical 90’-worship. The guitar work is awesome and the structures of the songs are tight and focused, but don’t lack melodies and plenty of exciting twists and turns. Being in hardcore band, it’s hard to inject emotions other that hate or urge for revenge into the music without sounding pussy. I dig the bands that know how to do that. And this is one of the things I like about One Choice – from personal pain to the disgust and disappointment with the world, they can get the feeling across to the listener in a way that it sounds honest and convincing. If those songs don’t move you, you’re a cold heartless bastard.

One of the standout aspects of the album is the number of guest appearances, which include Karl and Scott from Earth Crisis, Greg from Trial, Mike from Outspoken, Toby from H20, and Andrew from Strife. From Friendship Loyalty Commitment by 25 Ta Life I haven’t heard so many guests lending their vocals on a single hardcore album. All of these straight edge all stars contribute both to the songs, as well as give a short explanation in the gatefold of the album about what sober life means to them. The variety of people involved benefits not only the music itself, but shows that straight edge scene is still strong and vibrant. Pretty good move.

Highly recommended album. I’ve heard they plan to release something new this year, so keep your eyes open!

Review by Dloogi

Seventh Dagger, 2011

Outcast Mentality tees from Crowd Deterent

Crowd Deterent has new tees up in their Crew Life webstore.

Organized Crime Records to reissue classic All Out War album

Organized Crime Records have announced it would reissue the debut full length from New York’s All Out War, Truth In The Age Of Lies. The vinyl LP version comes with expanded artwork and bonus tracks and is being pressed on white vinyl (500 copies), red vinyl (150 copies) and grey vinyl (350). The CD version also includes the band’s 1992 demo. Vinyl version includes digital download of LP plus the 1992 Demo. The demo itself is going to be released on limited 10" vinyl. Click here for more info and preorders, which are due out April 17th.

Sawchuk to Release 'Blackened Minds, Blackened Hearts' this May

Sawchuk is dropping new EP this May in collaboration with 13th Floor Records. 'Blackened Minds' will be released on both cassette and CD. Here's the message from the band: "We will have a new EP out May 25th. Here's how its gonna work. We are doing a limited number of cassettes (50) with 13th floor records. That will be called Blackened Minds, blackened hearts. Then we will also be releasing a CD version of the EP called blackened hearts, blackened minds. The cassette will have two songs that won't be on the CD. So to hear those two songs you're going to have to get the cassette. The cassette will also have a different cover than the CD. We are really proud of this EP, and are extremely excited for everyone to hear it."

Blade signed to Seventh Dagger. New album in the works!

Blade, Belgian Straight Edge hardcore band, is now part of the Seventh Dagger family. The collaboration will result in the release of band's new album, "Armed with Abstinence". Blade describes its sound as "bleak, dark and aggressive hybrid of hardcore and metal, but still staying far away from the current metalcore style. In fact everything about Blade is influenced by the earlier, angrier days of new school hardcore." The band has so far released a split with the German band Golddust on Break Out records, and a 7” named “Lambs To The Slaughter” on Ugly And Proud records.

Show Of Force posted new song, 'Left Behind'

Show Of Force has posted new song on their Facebook profie. "Left Behind" features Jonne from New Morality on guest vocals and can be heard here.

Bitter Taste Of Life Interview

The Swedish band has been around since 2008 but it was last year when it dropped its debut album, ‘Trapped In Lies’, on World vs Cometh records. Bitter Taste Of Life’s influences are pretty broad, you can hear some modern elements in their music, but they have a firm foothold in more traditional sound as well. They have a tour all across Europe, from Portugal to Poland, planned for May so make sure you show them support when they come to your area. The interview was done some time ago but for various different reasons is being published just now so please excuse if any questions seem to be outdated. It’s still a good read though, and the band is definitely worth checking out!

The Swedish band has been around since 2008 but it was last year when it dropped its debut album, ‘Trapped In Lies’, on World vs Cometh records. Bitter Taste Of Life’s influences are pretty broad, you can hear some modern elements in their music, but they have a firm foothold in more traditional sound as well. They have a tour all across Europe, from Portugal to Poland, planned for May so make sure you show them support when they come to your area. The interview was done some time ago but for various different reasons is being published just now so please excuse if any questions seem to be outdated. It’s still a good read though, and the band is definitely worth checking out!

Let us know some basic info about Bitter Taste Of Life? How and when it all started, who’s in the band etc...
First of all, we'd like to say thanks for the support and giving us this interview. Keep up the good work with Hardboiled. It all started in late spring 2008 when Olle contacted us. Niklas, Niva and Rickard had another band that weren't going that well, so there was no doubts, we teamed up with Olle. Olle knew two other guys Joel and Marcus who where into hardcore so they tagged along. Unfortunately for us Marcus who played bass at the time had to leave for studies in the US. So we played our first show without bassplayer and for the upcoming shows Niklas and Joel took turns playing bass. After a bunch of shows and a quite unknown demo, Niklas went away for studies as well. Then we decided to put the band on hold for a while. Then in early 2010 Rickard, Joel, Olle and Niva started talking about reviving Bitter Taste Of Life again. During this period we got to know Simon, so he joined us. And by then Niklas was finished with his studies in Portugal and moved back home to Sweden, so we asked Niklas if he’d like to team up with us again and here we are. So now Bitter Taste Of Life is Rickard (vocals), Olle (vocals), Joel (guitar), Niva (drums), Simon (guitar) and Niklas T (bass)

How did you guys come up with the band’s name? Is there any deeper meaning behind it?
We were just brainstorming for a band name and when Bitter Taste Of Life came up we just felt, "this is it". So no, there's no deeper meaning behind it, just a band name that we felt fitted us.

Has anyone of you been in any other band apart from BTOL?
Olle, Joel, Rickard and Niva played in a band called Negative Vibes. Simon was in a band called Orson Sparks and is currently playing in the metal band Arreat Summit.

Can you tell us something about “Trapped In Lies”? What kids should expect to find in there?
It's a 6 track MCD with the signature Bitter Taste Of Life groove, grit and pit starter, with political and angry lyrics.

Lyrically, is there any concept to the album? Can you touch on some of the lyrical focuses of your songs?
The lyrics is related to things you encounter in everyday life, what we've been trough and what is happening around us. We think it's very important to be aware of what's going on in our society now a days and how it affects us. Religon, addictions, exclusion and antifascism is some of the thing we touch in our lyrics.

How did you hook up with World vs Cometh?
Christian (also known as "Boris", "Chris") who runs the label is one of our best friends and we asked him if he was up for releasing the MCD and he said yes. And nowadays our guitarist Joel is part of World vs Cometh too. Make sure you all check it out and support them!

You guys are quite different from stuff I usually hear from Sweden. What’s your opinion about the scene in your country and what local bands you support?
A few years back the scene was insane every show was well crowded and everyone went insane when the bands played, but then something happened and the interest in the scene grew a bit cold for a while, not saying that people stopped putting shows up and so on but it felt different and many people you used to see at every show just stopped showing up. Big ups to all the elder ones who's still in the game and going strong. At the moment the scene is on the uprise again, at every show you see new kids, there's loads of new bands coming up and bookers who putting shows up. Shout outs to Norrköping Hardcore, SSE, GBG SXE, Sunpower Bookings, 026 Hardcore, KF Stationen, Västerås SXE and all the others who's putting shows together. There's loads of good bands coming outta Sweden you better check them out! Dead Reprise, Vulture Mob, Decades Of Blood (RIP), Stay Hungry, Elapse, Lose The Life, Keep Rising, Chain Reaction, Guilty, Angers Curse, Kaos, Kris & Helvete, Anchor is some of them.

What is your opinion about Refused? Would anyone get lynched in Sweden for saying their music sucked balls?
Haha! Personally I (Rickard) don't like them at all and I hasn't got lynched yet so I think it's ok to say that they sucked. But there's other ones in the band who likes them. And no question that they was and is a very important part of the Swedish hardcore scene and the development of it.

Let’s get political. In case Greece eventually falls down, followed then by Italy and then probably Ireland, Spain and so on, do you think we should gear up for Mad Max scenario in Europe in any near future?
Well, there's a chance it could get to that point, maybe not as extreme as Mad Max. As long as all the greedy fucks craves for more and can't see the effects of their actions, there will always be people who's going to make their voices heard, whether it's through violent actions, civil disobedience or on a political level.



So another year has ended... what were the best albums of 2011?
Expire - Suffer The Cycle, Grankapo - The Thruth, Vulture Mob - Feeding Time, 45 Stainless - O.G.B.D, Alley Gods - North State Of Mind, Q-Unique - Throwback, For The Glory - Some Kids Have No Face. That some of them… can't remember them all, haha.

What are the next steps for the band? Any chances for European tour?
We're playing at an awesome festival (Killing The Legacy Fest) in Turku, Finland in january, then we're going to focus on writing new songs for a upcoming 7" split with our brothers in 45 Stainless from Finland who will be released sometime around April or may on World vs Cometh. We're going on a European Tour in May between 11/5 and 26/5. It's going to feel good to be on the road again. Otherwise we got some shows planned here in Sweden and in the end of July we're going to play Zvera Fest in Latvia. And during the autumn we're going to work on a full-length cd and try to sort out a mini tour i east Europe.

Ghost X Ship - Cold Truth

Good hardcore doesn’t have to be too fancy. All it takes is substance, sharp delivery and some hard-hitting lyrics. And that’s what Ghost Ship delivers with its debut release. Cold Truth contain all the necessary elements that make a solid hardcore album, from raging guitars to seriously pissed off vocalist to insane breakdowns, all executed with a vivid flow and passion. The album’s sound is loosely possessed of the early Hatebreed or Throwdown but for the most part they keep it pretty fresh and avoid clichés. With no unnecessary tricks, distractions and experiments, I guess it’s the realness and commitment felt in those songs which are essential to what makes it work as a whole.

My favorite songs must be Enough, with very well crafted arrangement and catchy hook at the chorus. Monster of a song! On the production level, the album sounds just as it should – not too much raw, not too polished either.

When you pick a Seventh Dagger release you basically know what to expect messagewise and Ghost Ship is no exception. They take a strong and uncompromising straight edge stance but are pretty creative about how they get the message across. While some songs are more on the positive side describing band’s commitment to living a sober life, other will take you to the depths of the dark world of addiction and degeneration. The aforementioned Enough reminds us that addiction is not only about drugs and alcohol but it can affect a person on many different levels. Especially when money is involved, mass media and big corporations will go out of their way to fill your head and body with crap. As a person who tries to make conscious decisions about what to eat and what to buy, I can totally relate to the message in this song. And if you’re ain’t doing it, maybe you should? Everyone got a right to live their live as they want to but being smart is probably one of the best options.

To sum it up, Cold Truth holds all the tricks that make a good hardcore album. If you’re into stuff that’s heavy and aggressive, but still does not lack passion, don't sleep on this.

Seventh Dagger, 2011

Review by Dloogi

No Zodiac debuts new song

New No Zodiac song, "Chaos Reigns", can be heard here. No Zodiac is a Chicago-based Straight Edge band, you can download their demos here. The band will drop "Population Control", their debut release for Seventh Dagger, sometime this year.

Pre-orders launched for debut Ep by Redemption Denied

Save My Soul Records has put up the preorders for the Redemption Denied EP, hardcore from Belgium and the Netherlands, featuring (ex-)members of Blade/World Gone Mad/Blindside. There will be 3 colors: 50 on gold vinyl only available in the preorder package with a 2-sided RD shirt, 100 on white for a upcoming release show and 150 on black vinyl for regular orders. These should be ready to ship late April / early May. Check out band's new song "life sentence" here.