Defam Nation's long awaited collaboration efforts with Rude Awakening will be releasing on May 15th. Limited to 50pcs and available online and at the Rude Awakening record release on May 15th at Anchors Up.
M.O.R.A - Self Titled
Where did this one come from? I had totally no idea about this band’s existence until I found this CD in my mailbox. The band hails from Helsinki, Finland and its members had previously learnt their licks in bands like Black Betsy, Spoiled Betty, Confusa and Aurinkokerho. I am not even going to pretend I am familiar with those bands so it doesn’t say much to me and I am not gonna try to draw any comparisons. The artwork makes you expect some more crusty type of sound, but surprisingly there’s a lot of groove in here. After the short medium-paced intro which blasts with double bass and heavy ass guitar work, the first song, Feikki, kicks in and it turns out MORA is as hardcore as it can be.The music is tight technically, but at the same time quite fast and in your face all the time. You can hear a lot of old school hardcore influences, but there’s a slight modern touch to it as well. The drumming is awesome, the guy is on point all the time and controls the pace of the songs flawlessly. MORA has two female vocalists, one straight up screaming and the second one with more harsh vocals. Although it’s not my favorite style of vocals, it fits pretty well with the music and after some time I got used to it.
The girls sing in Finnish which is one of the coolest things about the album. I love bands singing in their native langue and it totally works for MORA. I got the translations along with the CD and lyrical-wise, it carries social and political observations and tackles problems like mindless violence, consumerism, fake people who talk too much shit etc. Usual shit, but the sharp and aggressive delivery leaves no doubt that they're serious about the message they want to put across.
I don’t really feel like breaking it down track by track, it’s totally useless with albums that blast 9 tracks in about 15 minutes. The bottom line is that this is a solid release.
Review by Dloogi
Self released, 2012.
Band's website here.
True Hearted - Californians
True Hearted hails from San Jose, Cali and delivers straight down the line NYHC sound with tight mosh parts and slick delivery. The drums sound kinda odd, I think they're programmed but I can't be sure. But it's nothing that would bother me that much and they got a real drummer now anyway. Overall, it's pretty solid demo and True Hearted has a lot of potential if they continue to write better songs. Just like the Vice Grip, a song the band has just recently released. This one is taken from the upcoming EP, it can be heard here and it's pretty sick. But until this new EP is out, check out their older material as well. Download it!
Upright posted songs from the upcoming Losing Touch 7"
Upright has posted new songs from the upcoming Losing Touch single. The 7" is due out soon on Collision, Green Menace and Street Survival Records. Check out new songs here.
New releases from Marked For Death: Beg For Life, For My Enemy and Anguish
Marked For Death has added new Anguish album to their webstore. The New Jersey-based band "delivers some heavy and pissed off metallic hardcore in the vein of bands like Lifeless, old Hatebreed, Shattered realm and Harms way. After their debut Ep called 'Badlands' the band took the next step to release one of the hardest mosh records in 2012." There's also For My Enemy vs. Beg For Life split. After their debut record on MFD called 'Dark days', For My Enemy are back with some new 90ies metalcore influenced tunes. Similar to bands like Arkangel, All out war or Congress. And last but not least Beg For Life from Yuma, Arizona are finally back with some new songs! After their release on Westcoast Worldwide this powerhouse is back with a vengeance. Beg For Life combines the best parts of metal and hardcore. For fans of All out war, CDC and Line of scrimmage.
Beg For Life Announces New LP, Releases First Single
Westcoast Worldwide Records is proud to announce the upcoming release of the “Mare Miseria” EP from Arizona based metallic hardcore masters Beg for Life. Mare Miseria is the much anticipated follow up release to 2009’s critically acclaimed “Doomed”, and is the band’s first recording with new vocalist Steven Jimenez. The recording duties were handled by producer/engineer Chris Hopkins at Earthbound Recordings in Chula Vista California.“We’re extremely excited about this release” remarks Beg for Life Guitarist Jeff Schuster. “We didn’t want to rush anything on this, and it was well worth it. We pushed ourselves to write the best stuff we possibly could, and we wanted to make a record that is unique sounding yet extremely heavy. We never want to be one of those bands that only strives to sound just like everybody else. We think that really shows on Mare Miseria. We wanted to write a record that is aggressive and hard as fuck but yet something that was distinctive.”
This statement is echoed by Westcoast Worldwide founder Mike Hood:
“Beg for Life is flat out one of the best heavy hardcore bands there is. The record is tough, and raw, and it’s got a big dose of super legit metal riffs that just knock you over. This record is a must have if you like anything heavy. Fans of many genres will be all over this thing, and it will leave them all wanting more.”
Mare Miseria by Beg for Life hits the streets by way of Westcoast Worldwide Records May 29th 2012 (May 27th in Europe via Marked for Death Records). In the meantime check out the first single off of Mare Misera entitled “Goner” below…….
2006-2012: Word For Word called it quits
One of the coolest bands around has unfortunately came to an end. Official statement from Arrest Records website: "Word For Word is coming to an end. We’ll be playing two, possibly three last shows. Our last Manchester show will be at Mad Bob’s Saloon Saturday June 9th and our very last show will be at Anchors Up Saturday August 25th. I once thought that it would be better to not have a last show and just pick up and play whenever, but when you only play shows in the same area and don’t write new material it’s just not the same. So instead of letting the band go stagnant we’d rather go out on a high note. Word For Word is very important to me. I’ve gotten to meet some amazing people through the band. We were lucky enough to get to go on 3 10 day tours (vacations) all of which resulted in me having a nervous breakdown. I’d like to thank Alex from Yellow Stitches/Ignorance for basically singlehandedly making the first two possible and coming along for the last; Josh Hynes for always hooking us up with great shows and filling in for us; Angry Al for doing ALL of our album artwork; Lumpy for putting together all our layouts and other design work. Thanks for everything to anybody who ever cared about this band, booked us and put out our music. Nothing has been more flattering then seeing people with Word For Word tattoos and homemade merch. Everyone of us has a side project now. Brandon and Nate both play in Yellow Stitches and will soon be dropping their debut full length “Good Times,Violent Crimes LP” on Brass City Boss Sounds. Pete and I have started a straight edge hardcore band called Freedom 35 that should be ready to start playing shows this summer."
