Joining AFI on their UK tour with Sick Of It All will be The Dear and Departed.

Supporting AFI on their upcoming tour will be Sick Of It All.

My friend (and artist) Phil Frost, who’s designs have graced the album covers for musicians such as DJ Shadow and hardcore group Sick Of It All,  currently has a show of his work at the newly opened Prism Gallery in Los Angeles; located on the Sunset Strip (former location of Tower Records).  The show is called Mind The Gap and spotlights the work of both Phil and fellow artist Barry McGee. 

The show opened on Friday, November 20th and will run until February 2010.  Apparently, Anthony Keidis (Red Hot Chili Peppers) and Joe Hahn (Linkin Park) were in attendance at the very successful opening night. 

If you are in the Los Angeles area you should take a moment to see the gallery; I’ve heard that both Phil and Barry really outdid themselves with incredible amounts of original work for the show.  According to some reviews the sizes of some pieces are truly staggering. 

For more on the show and pictures of the open night, click here.

Doar muzica… Enjoy!

Smut Peddlers – Playstation generation

Sick of it all – Souvenir

Monster squad – Fire the faith

Lucifer Wong - "Mammals" - Hellnote Records

“The Melvins-inspired cover art, the band name, the care-lookin’ bear with the pentagram etched into its forehead: Obviously I was going to get around to reviewing Lucifer Wong’s “Mammals” 7-inch sooner than later (thanx to KUGR radio for bestowing this upon me years ago).

The pleasant surprise is how well this has aged. There’s no stale burnout-grunge aftertaste, no outdated riffs and the vocals might just be the strongest aspect of “Mammals” (the “yin” side) throwing down like Page Hamilton used to for Helmet. There’s a reason this song was chosen for the Hills Have Eyes III soundtrack, people …

Groups like Sick Of It All, Shellac, Black Sabbath, Zen Guerilla, One Minute Silence, Unsane and, hell, maybe even Boris all factor in here, retroactively (or should I say posthumously?); that’s a nice little influence line-up if you ask me.

Things get really out of control when “Caesar of Outer Space” floats into your record player’s orbit. It’s a slower, hunkier jam that ascends like a winding spiral staircase and crashes to earth like a downed satellite.

No vox on this one — though voice samples abound — which sux, but that’s the breaks when you plumb a 7-inch purpotedly “Recorded in the summer of 1994 in our living room, bedroom, hallway and closet on our very own A-DAT that we bought out of the paper for $1,000.” (Oh, and it’s produced by one Mickey Eyes. Cool!)

For a 7″ slapped together on such meager means — back when home-recording wasn’t so easy or affordable — “Mammals” and “Caesar of Outer Space” definitely pass the “ich” test I give to every record that’s been sitting in my collection, waiting to be freed from its dank, dark hell.

Sabe o Flickr, né?

Pois é, um tempo atrás chiveta decidiu montar um grupo lá, o this is hardcore, not radiocore! Nele, pessoas do mundo todo enviam imagens ligadas ao hardcore, nada relacionado a bandas comerciais, MTV, rebeldes de shopping, roqueiros de condomínio/prediais etc…

Lá já temos fotos muito boas, como a que i8pixistix mandou…

Tirada no City Gardens em 1994 — e escaneada agora — juntando ninguém menos que Rancid, Sick of it All e Bouncing Souls! Tem uma do público de um show no mesmo lugar, uns seis anos antes, com Chain of Strength e Social Distortion que é sensacional também!

Ou ainda uma que Masked Malayan postou com os reis do queercore…

Limp Wrist, no Udondo Squat esse ano!

A Amanda Teixeira sempre encaminha alguns cliques direto de Porto Alegre, como esse…

Da banda Filhotinho — que vem da cidade de Estrela e vale dar uma bela escutada –, em agosto desse ano no Entrebar.

O Mauro Pimentel, baterista da banda carioca Halé, registrou a passagem…

…da caveirada sueca crossover do Dr. Living Dead pela cidade maravilhosa em julho desse ano.

Lá do Japão, o camarada Rafael Yaekashi, que mantém o selo Karasu Killer e toca no N.E.K. (que em breve lançará um split com o D.F.C.) e no Darge (com tour e lançamento agendados pro ano que vem por aqui), sempre nos manda…

Imagens interessantes, como essa do Zilemma em agosto numa aprsentação ao lado do Extreme Noise Terror, em Nagoya.

E ainda a arte e o talento no stencil diretamente de Goiânia…

de rustoff, que na foto divide o muro com PxPxCx e Mendez.

Tem nossas palhaçadas também…

Ou seja, tem espaço pra todo mundo que queira divulgar sua banda, seu trampo (profissional ou não), capas de discos, flyers e imagens de shows ou somente apreciar belas imagens ligadas ao mundinho hardcore. Quem quiser, é só dar um pulo lá!

atualizando: valeu Arthur por avisar que somente quem tinha conta no Flickr podia ver o grupo, agora tá liberado, tá tudo liberado… uhú!

This is about a week of catch up or so, so this is one fucking long list!

2009 – The Future Is Soon
Aggrolites, The – IV
Andrew W.K. – Close Calls With Brick Walls
Anti-Flag – The People or The Gun
As Tall As Lions – You Can’t Take It With You
Ataris, The – …Anywhere But Here
Ataris, The – Welcome The Night
Avail – Front Porch Stories
Avail – One Wrench
Bad Brains – Bad Brains
Barry, Tim – Manchester
Big D and the Kids Table, Brian Failure – Beijing to Boston
Black Keys, The – The Big Come Up
Black Sabbath – Paranoid
Briggs, The – Back To Higher Ground
Cloak Dagger – Lost Art
Common Enemy – Living The Dream
Converge – Axe To Fall
Death By Stereo – Into The Valley Of Death
Dost, Andrew – Columbus
Drive Like Jehu – Drive Like Jehu
Drive Like Jehu – Yank Crime
Flaming Lips, The – Silent Night
Full of Fancy – Sweet Baby Jesus
Gabel, Tom – Anna is a Stool Pigeon
Ghostlimb, Fischer – Split
Guns N’ Roses – Chinese Democracy
Hatebreed – For The Lions
Hot Chip – The Warning
Jizz Kids, Guts – A Safe Return To The Forest
Judas Priest – Hero, Hero
Lawrence Arms, The – The Greatest Story Ever Told
Longfellow – And So On
Lucero – 1372 Overton Park
Mad Caddies – Just One More
Mars Volta, The – Is Anybody There
Mars Volta, The – Live At The Electric Ballroom
Max Levine Ensemble, The – Ok Smarty Pants
Monikers – Wake Up
Morrissey – Years of Refusal
Motley Crue – Girls Girls Girls
MxPx – Secret Weapon
Naked Raygun – Jettison
Naked Raygun – Understand
Nerf Herder – American Cheese
Nine Pound Hammer – Sex, Drugs and Bill Monroe
No Use For A Name – Hard Rock Bottom
No Use For A Name – Keep Them Confused
No Use For a Name – More Bitterness
Only Crime – To The Nines
P.O.D. – Payable On Death
Protest the Hero – Kezia
Prozacs, The – Playing The Chords We Love
Real McKenzies, The – 10,000 Shots
Real McKenzies, The – Oot and Aboot
Rehasher – High Speed Access to My Brain
R.E.M. – Automatic for the People
Revolutionary Youth – Bleed Decay
Scorch, Al – This Lonesome World…
Sick Of It All – Call To Arms
Sick Of It All – Life on the Ropes
Sick Of It All – Yours Truly
Skatalites – Stretching Out Vol. 1
Skeletonwitch – Breathing The Fire
Smashing Pumpkins – Gish
Snow Patrol – A Hundred Million Suns
Star Fucking Hipsters – Never Rest In Peace
Strung Out – An American Paradox
Swellers, The – My Everest
Tool – 10,000 Days
Used Kids – Yeah No
Vandals, The – Play Really Bad Original Country Tunes
Vandals, The – Sweatin’ To The Oldies
Various Artists – Glory Daze
Various Artists – Mallrats
Various Artists – New Tales To Tell
Wrister, North Trolls – Split

Hardcore…

Death Before Dishonor – Break Through it All

Hatebreed – Live for this

Sick Of It All – Take The Night Off

… let’s celebrate that we don’t give a fuck!

Fat Wreck Chords estará editando un boxset de 3 cds, esto por motivo de celebrar sus 20 años de creación. La label empezo en 1990 pero edito su primer material dos años despues. El pimer disco incluria exitos del pasado, el segundo canciones raras o “lados B”, el tercero será el 7″ Club del 2001 en un solo cd.

El release incluira 88 canciones de Against Me!, American Steel, Anti-Flag, Avail, Bracket, Chixdiggit!, Consumed, Dead To Me, Descendents, The Dickies, Dillinger Four, Enemy You, Epoxies, Face to Face, The Flatliners, Frenzal Rhomb, Goober Patrol, Good Riddance, Hi-Standard, Lagwagon, The Lawrence Arms, Less Than Jake, The Loved Ones, MxPx, Mad Caddies, Me First and The Gimme Gimmes, NOFX, Nerf Herder, No Use For A Name, None More Black, One Man Army, Only Crime, Propagandhi, Randy, The Real McKenzies, Rise Against, The Sainte Catherines, Screeching Weasel, Sick Of It All, Smoke Or Fire, Snuff, The Soviettes, Star Fucking Hipsters, Strike Anywhere, Strung Out, Swingin’ Utters, Tilt, The Vandals, Western Addiction, Wizo y Zero Down.

Cecilia Frode och Petra Mede pucklar på varandra ordentligt i kvällens avsnitt av Roast på Berns! (Artikel, TV-klipp) Jag har sett de tidigare avsnitten och panelens deltagare får ofta ta emot minst lika mycket skit som den som ska rostas, och det är väl egentligen inte så konstigt? De är ju trots allt konkurrenter! Men frågan är hur väl man ska känna varandra för att ställa upp i ett liknande program… På ett sätt är det ju jäkligt löjligt att sitta och kasta skit på varandra, men å andra sidan måste det vara ett bra sätt att rensa luften på. Kanske kan man också ta åt sig något konstruktivt av kritiken? Vi kanske borde införa “rostningsgrupper” på arbetsplatserna! Vi sätter oss i en ring och kritiserar varandra under förespeglingen att det handlar om skämt! Skulle det fungera på din arbetsplats?

Länkar till andra bloggar om: Roast på Berns, Cecilia Frode, Petra Mede, teambuilding, musik, hardcore, sick of it all,

Oooh this is a hot one! First up in this weeks auditory mind assault is a full album download of down and dirty, psytrance from Xamanist…

Xamanist is 31 year old Sérgio Ribeiro from Portugal and he’s been messin’ about on guitar and bass and tweakin’ synths since diaper days. Then came what the man himself describes as a “life changing moment” - Boom Festival 2000 – and the next thing ya’ know Sergio is creating his own psytrance compositions. Together with Syul, the twosome formed Swan X-1, who performed live across Portugal until disbanding in 2007. Sérgio wasn’t quite done yet though, and hence, his solo project, Xamanist, was born. But, and I love this part, Xamanist still performs live on guitar and synths, at every show. This is not your average bot-a-track electronica. Rather, Xamanist is  like all good scotch, wine, coffee and smoothies an exercise in the perfection of the blend. Xaminist is old and new, darkness and light, melody and rhythm. This fusion philosophy is breathtakingly executed on Sérgio’s debut album, Initiation, mastered by Akhentek @ Ilum Studios. Sure, it’s laced with that good ‘ol Goa, but its also an amalgamation forged in the fires of a full-on, progressive style that provides an epic backdrop for creative storytelling. Personal favorite has gotta be the banging “White Magick”, but hey, I loved this whole album and it gets better with every listen. Oh and I almost forgot yo, that psychedelic cover art is from the delightfully curious mind of Adam Scott Miller – another interesting cat to say the least.

Download and enjoy all 9 tracks from Initiation by Xamanist here. FREE!

And now, in the immortal words of Monty Python, for something completely different.

modern day classic

You know Fat Wreck Chords and yes, by that I do mean precisely the independent punk label started by NOFX lead singer and bassist Fat Mike. The very same label we have to thank for the Punkvoter movement, which helped the U.S. rid itself of Bush Jr. by encouraging the youth to vote. The label that released material for Against Me, American Steel, Anti-Flag, Avail, Bad Astronaut, Banner Pilot, Chixdiggit!, Citizen Fish, Consumed, Dead To Me, Descendants, The Dickies, Dillinger Four, The Epoxies, The Flatliners, Frenzal Rhomb, Goober Patrol, Good Riddance, Hi-Standard, Lagwagon, The Lawrence Arms, Leftover Crack, Less Than Jake, The Loved Ones, Love Equals Death, The Mad Caddies, Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, NOFX, None More Black, No Use For A Name, Only Crime, Pour Habit, Propaghandi, Randy, The Real McKenzies, Rise Against, The Sainte Catherines, Screeching Weasel, Sick of it All, Smoke Or Fire, Snuff, The Soviettes, Star Fucking Hipsters, Strike Anywhere, Strung Out, Subhumans, Swingin’ Utters, Teenage Bottlerocket, Tilt, Western Addiction and Wizo.  Oh you did! Splendid! But yeah did ya know you can download a whole pile of tracks from all those acts for FREE right now? No you didn’t. HA! Now, now.. Hush. Its o.k. Thats why I’m here.

Click to get Fat Wreck-ed!

Have a wicked weekend y’all. Peace!

Volvemos con un episodio basado en grupos Españoles, y Latino Americanos. Podéis oir los siguientes:

Aloud
Face The Void
Arenna
Nikaia
Centinela
Easy Rider
Infernoise
Legion
Metal King
Silver Fist
Eletrika
Skizoo

Se comenta sobre lo siguiente:

Joe Marlett, Alan Doches, Korn, Queens Of The Stone Age, Sepultura, Killswitch Engage, Sick Of It All, Labryinth of Problems, Nebula, Muro, Hellfest, Wrathchild America, Claudio David

El podcast se puede descargar en formato que prefiere desde aquí:

O escucha online aquí:

A girl, looking like Joan Rivers skeleton, came in to day. She was looking for an “abstract snake, with her birth year making the scales”. So, she points to a Sick Of It All, and asks if I can make it the snake she wanted. She wanted as long as her index finger. I told her that wouldn’t work. She told me she’d be back after her dinner reservations.

She came back.

After three re-draws, and haveing to explain how you can’t do that much with a tribal snake that small, we nailed down an idea. She loved it. Another happy customer.

Finns det något bättre än när någon lyckas sammanfatta en hel musikgenre i en enda video? Sick of it Alls mäktiga “Step down” demonstrerar så fint kraften i bra hardcore och var en av de videos man satt och väntade på förr i världen när fru internet var ung och ZTV var kung. Videon demonstrerar ett gäng schyssta dansstilar som “The Gorilla”, “The Pizzamaker” och “Pickin’ up change”. Håll utkik efter “Los Angeles version of classic NY style” – det var inte bara rapparna som dissade varandras kuster på det glada nittiotalet.
“It’s not so bad, that hardcore music”.

Prestes a completar 10 anos em atividade, o Questions lançará nos próximos dias seus terceiro álbum, Rise Up, que sairá pela Seven Eight Life Recordings.

Antes do disco ser lançado, trocamos uma idéia com o guitarrista Pablo Menna, que nos adiantou detalhes do CD, falou sobre a carreira da banda, trabalhos paralelos, download X fita K7, Toro, Revolback, seguidores insanos, relação com straight edge e das influências — que vão de Sick of it All, Sepultura e Agnostic Front a Sonic Youth, Quicksand e Iron Maiden.

Clique aqui para ler a conversa no site da Ideal MegaStore e ainda saiba qual é a questão que eles não aguentam mais responder em entrevistas!

Eventhough a while ago we already gave shoutouts to our homegirl Heidi, we felt that especially today – USA’s independence day – is a perfect day to remind everyone that freedom is still not to be taken for granted. With her non-profit organization Built On Respect she went to Tibet to help provide direct help. Check out her website here and make sure to inform yourself through her YouTube-cannel. Click here to watch.

Allright, first interview here at Soulcraft! I feel like a real dickhead making it public after almost one year I received it (Flza sent it back at me on the 2nd of July 2008), anyway, here it is… just to remember one really good hardcore band of the last years!

First of all introduce yourself: who are you? What do you do in life? How much do you like the Cro-Mags?

I am Flza, I played drums in Iron Boots,  I enjoy NY Hardcore, watching movies, hanging out. I work construction for a living.  I install heat and air conditioning. My love for the Cro-Mags is beyond this world. I aspire to be as good as Mackie one day. I even named my dog Mackie. Another band I played drums in (Victim) played with FVK (Cro-Mags) for our record release and Mackie watched our set and afterwards told me I was really good. Basically it made my whole life.  I’ve been inspired by that dude for so long, its the best compliment ive ever gotten. He used my drums that night too and afterwards I wouldnt change the set up for like a month. I also have a Cro-Mag Life tattooo as well as own an O.G. Age of Quarrel Promotional Poster. I’m scared to hang it up.

Now let’s talk about Iron Boots – how did it all start out?

We (Jesse, Dave and I) were all on an insane warzone kick. Dave was still in high school, probably like 17 or so, he definately prayed at the alter of Raybeez. We just decided we needed to do a band together, I had been in seperate bands with both of them, and me and Jesse were always hanging out writing songs, so we figured we’d put some to use. We just wanted to sound like Warzone. We lived, breathed, ate, slept Warzone. We didn’t care about sounding too much like them, for us, the closer we sounded the better. I pretty much tried to play like Lukie Luke as much as I could. And I think it was just natural for us all. We all pretty much just listened to NY stuff for along time already. It was just natural progression. Our boy tommy who was in the band for all the records is like a guitar phenominon, he could play every Metallica song solo included when he was like 14 and Murphy’s Law is his favorite band ever so he was the prefect dude to do a Warzone style band. and the Scrappy is like a Harley Jr. the dude is good at Bass, its insane.

On the 31st of May you guys played your last show, what pushed you to call it quits?

Well, our boy Ryan Braces (who played in the band for a while) was getting married, and wanted to have a crazy bachelor party show, and we were one of his favorite bands and we were already talking about calling it quits, anyway he asked us to play and it just made sense. So we said deinatley! We’ve had line up issues alot, we would get offers to play crazy shows or tours and everything would be ready to go then, one thing or another would fall apart at the seams. So it kinda just discouraged us from moving foward, we were getting a rep for being huge flakes so we just didn’t try to do anything, we were like “we’ll just cancell it anyway, fuck it” then of course we were just kinda stagnant for a while, ocassionally we would try to get things going again but it just never panned out.

From 2003 to 2008 you guys released one demo and two amazing 7″s, was there an LP in the work?

Yeah there was, we wrote about 10 songs with the plans of doing an LP. It was going to be on Parts Unkown Records in the U.S. and Powered Records in Europe. We actually recorded the music twice, for the most part. The first time we got all but solos and vocals recorded on 8 of the new songs. But after listening to it we thought it just sounded like shit (the recording) I didnt like the way the drums sounded and didn’t like the bass tone really. So we said fuck it, and tried again. The second time, all of my drum stuff was locked in a storage unit where we practiced at because no one payed the rent. So I had to use some drums the guy had at his studio and use his cymbals which were cracked and sounded like donkey shit. So obviously we werent going to finish that session. Then we weren’t really happy with the songs and got an idea to re-work the songs, we actually did it, we re-worked them and we all stoked on them. It was definatley a progression of EZ green stuff, but we never took the next step. We’re cursed man…

I love the two songs on the “Generations” compilation, when were those songs recorded? Did you record more unreleased tunes during that session?

Actually both songs on the Generations comp were recorded at the same time as the Easy Green e.p. originally that 7″ wasn’t supposed to come out. 2 songs were meant for the Generations Comp, 2 songs were meant for a split with Cold World and 2 were meant to be exclusive tracks for our CD discography. But Cold World told us they were calling it quits so we decided to make it a 7″ instead.

Which one is your favorite of the records your released and why?

Mine is definatley definatley Easy Green. I love the tone of the record, I love how we kinda progressed from just sounding like Warzone, to adding alot of other influence, (Cro-mags,AF, Altercation) I feel like I reached a new high with my goal of playing like Mackie. Everything about it I was just a lot more happy with. I think the lyrics were more grown up you know, War Dogs is about our friends and families being sent to war. Where we live is a VERY heavily Military populated area. My family is military, my dad is in the navy my brother is in the army. A lot of kids we grew up with made a choice to join the military. That’s just us saying thank you to them, putting their life on the line. The main dude who that was written about (our boy Jeb) went to Iraq and back a couple times. He killed people, saw a lot of shit people in their 80’s will never see.  It’s just crazy to me people would be so selfless.

You guys have toured a lot, although you unfortunately never made it to Europe… favourite show/tour and cool tales from the road?

Dude I don’t know, I don’t have a favorite tour, certain pieces of each tour… but not a whole tour. We played CBGB’s which was a highlight of my life. Now especially that it’s gone, it was such a huge goal. The first time we played Canada was insane, especially Montreal, we went like 8 hours out of our way to pick up Hoodrack (War Hungry) so he could roll with us, that dude just makes a trip fun. He did a little Intro for us and we busted in Clobberin’ Time, I for real felt like I was at CB’s in like ‘87. The shit was so hard. We had DTN dudes fill in for us alot, they did a whole week in california with us (we leached off them) that shit was so cool. We played the first Sound And Fury that week, they helped us out with an east coast weekend like the next week, David played guitar Vinnie Stigma style (unplugged) it ruled. We hit the jersey shore hard. I for real can’t narrow it down. You have no idea how bummed I still am that our Euro tour got cancelled. It would have been insane.  Dead Stop’s last show. OOF

Tell me more about Victim and Stone Thrower (if I remember correctly) – what happened to those bands?

Victim was Me, Jesse, Scrappy Tommy and our Boy Snooky (old school dude for the VB scene, one of my best friends, he took me under his wing when i started going to shows) it was basically a more metal, crossover, meets Ball of Destruction worship band. We started Victim before Iron Boots actually. It was alot of fun, I’m really proud of the Victim LP. Definate NY influence. We called it quits at the beginning of the this year. We were just tired of playing the same show over and over.

Richmond, is it really the best place one will ever be? Any cool bands to check out at the moment?

I love Richmond, it’s been one of my favorite places especially for shows for years, I just moved here a year ago and Dave Boots lives here now too. There’s always stuff to do. The river’s my life right now. I take my dog there at least a couple times a week. It’s a young city. VCU is the the biggest school in Virginia so theres so many college kids every where, you can ride a bike or scooter everywhere. It’s just fun.

You definetly paid a good tribute to NYHC, list your top 3 NYHC bands, LP’s and 7″s…

It changes from time to time but its always in the same ballpark. Right now its:

LPs
Leeway – Desperate Measures
Cro-Mags – Best Wishes
Crown of Thornz – Mentally Vexed

EPs
White Devil – Reincarnate
Burn – Shall Be Judged
Alone In A Crowd

All so hard, all so creative.

Now that Iron Boots is over, are you guys into other bands or planning to do some new ones?

Actually yeah, Me, Hunter (Bracewar) Groater (DTN), Dave(IB) started something, it’s pretty Leeway influenced. Of course other NY bands as well but so far Leeway’s Desperate Measures is a big influence. I’m really stoked on it. Also I have another band with Ryan Braces called No Values, its’ not NY style, it’s fast kinda Suicidal Tendencies and Violent Minds style stuff. A little something different.

Last question: should we consider Iron Boots done for good or is there any hope for something new in the future?

You know I would go ahead and say it’s down for. I’d like to release those songs we wrote but we can’t ever get anything together so I’d say were done.

End this however you want…

Yo, thanks to you for the interview. Thanks to everyone in Europe who was into us. It was a big goal of ours to play Europe, sorry to let you down. We had a lot of fun with the band and that’s all we really set out to do. So goal accomplished. “Everybody out there. Always keep the faith”

Foto: Linnéa Olsson - SvD Nöje Festivalblogg

Sweden Rock Festival är i full gång och helt plötsligt känns det som om riksmedia, framför allt SVT, har fattat att det är liiite mer än bara ett gäng övervintrade medelålders män som dumpar fru och barn för en helg av öl och musik. Snarare är det så att hela barnfamiljer åker dit. I nyhetsinslag både i dag och, tidigare under veckan, rapporteras det från Sweden Rock Festival där man inte längre visar upp halvkorkade festivalbesökare som skriker CANDLEMASS mer tittarna som mottagare. Nej, det snackas om en växande scen och själv tänker jag “sedär, ni har fattat det nu”. För det här är ju inget som har hänt nu, det har ju pågått under flera år. Nämnda festival växer, precis som Metaltown, Peace And Love (som bokar fler och fler hårdrocksband för varje år), West Coast Riot och nykomlingar som Rockweekend och helt nya Sonisphere. Dessutom finns det massor av mindre festivaler runt om i landet som också drar fulla hus.

Även ordinarie konserter säljer ut snabbt, nu menar jag inte de stora drakarna som AC/DC, METALLICA och IRON MAIDEN, utan de som drar allt från 500 till ett par tusen besökare. Det som dock förvånar något är att Sonisphere inte är utsålt när man har METALLICA som dragplåster. Personligen misstänker jag att de konserterna säljer slut för att stekare, trendkåta och annat löst folk vill ha nått att stila med. Sedan har vi ju de bekväma som inte vill ligga i tält utan kunna åka hem när musiken tystnat. Som om inte det vore nog så har inte skivförsäljningen sjunkit lika mycket som för andra musikgager. Men det är ju allmänt känt att hårdrockare är väldigt hängivna och håller fast vid sina favoritband.

Det som förvånar mig lite är att ingen snackar om hur mycket värde det ligger i denna marknad. Jag uppskattar att bara biljettförsäljningen för SRF omsätter, i runda slängar, 70 000 000 kr. Lägg på kostnad för resa, mat & dryck (ej alkohol), i vissa fall logi och lite diverse så snacka vi lätt ett par hundra miljoner som rullar i samband med festivalen. Nu är ju inte alla festivaler lika stora som SRF, men ponera att 10 festivaler har 10 000 besökare som spenderar 2000 kr för biljett, käk & dryck, logi och diverse så landar vi på 200 miljoner kronor. Alla som har varit på festival vet att man spenderar lätt mer stålar än så ni fattar ju vilket värde det finns i denna marknad. Därför tycker jag det är konstigt att ingen snackar mer om det. Fast å andra sidan sett så finns det ju en risk i att en massa klåpare försöker tjäna pengar på en scen de inte förstår eller har ett genuint intresse för.

I slut ändan handlar det dock om musiken och vad sägs om banden som lirar i Sverige under sommaren.

HEAVEN & HELL
ZZ TOP
TWISTED SISTER
CANDLEMASS
GRAND MAGUS
METALLICA
MASTODON
MACHINE HEAD
FAITH NO MORE
SOCIAL DISTORTION
SLIPKNOT
MARILYN MANSON
NAPALM DEATH
SATYRICON
THE WILDHEARTS
W.A.S.P.
PARADISE LOST
THE BRONX
RAISE AGAINST
SICK OF IT ALL
AGNOSTIC FRONT

Bara för att nämna några…

Vi syns på piren!
//H

Because of this lack of updates some of these are pretty old, still these are some records that I’ve really enjoyed in the last months…

BIRDS OF A FEATHER – THE PAST THE PRESENT [Refuse Records]
myspace.com/xbirdsofafeatherx | refuserecords.prv.pl

I feel stupid reviewing this record almost one year after JP gave it to me last summer at Fluff Fest, no doubt procrastination is a big problem for me… anyway, at least I’m reviewing this while pre-orders are being taken for the vinyl version of the record, which is also featuring a 12″-sized book entitled “The Past The Present 1982-2007: A History of 25 Years of European Straight Edge” written by Marc and JP, documenting the history of the European straight edge scene through bands going from Lärm to Eye of Judgement as well as Mainstrike and whatever else can come to your mind! Musically expect the good old youth crew sound always backed by Bigma’s socially conscious and positive minded lyrics. Get your hands on the LP + book, definately a European hardcore must-have!

CRUEL HAND – PRYING EYES [Bridge 9 Records]
myspace.com/cruelhand | bridge9.com

Started as a side-project featuring members of Outbreak, this band got many people siked since their first 7″ came out in late 2006. Anyway, since then this band managed to put out an amazing LP, tour both the US and Erope and finally sign a deal with Bridge 9. In fact here they are releasing their B9 debut, “Prying Eyes”. Believe me if I say this is going to be one of the heaviest records released this year, and the 12 songs featured on this LP, a perfect mix of hardcore, metal and crossover influences, can only confirm what I’m saying. Aggressive and brutal are the best words to describe the sound of this band, bringing faster parts with some pretty heavy breakdowns, sure to be the soundtrack of some heavy moshing during their live shows. These dudes are constantly touring, so be sure you don’t miss the chance to have some fun on the dancefloor!

DANNY DIABLO – HARDCORE 4 THE COLD HEARTED [Countdown Records]
myspace.com/lordezec | countdownrecords.com

When you hear the name Danny Diablo you pretty much know what to expect, and this release once again confirms that the DD / Countdown Records combo is nothing but a winning team! After more than ten years of activity it’s time for this NYHC icon to have a collection release… and here it is! On these two CD’s you can find more than 50 songs that include Crown of Thornz, Skarhead and Icepick material as well as Lord Ezec’s solo projects featuring guest appearances of OG dudes such as John “Bloodclot” Joseph, Freddy Madball, Lou of Subzero, Craig Ahead, Roger AF, Danny Boy and Everlast of House of Pain, Skinhead Rob, Necro and many others… grab this shit and go TCOB!

H2O – NOTHING TO PROVE [Bridge 9 Records]
myspace.com/h2ofamily | bridge9.com

Finally, after a 7 years long wait, New York’s hardcore legends are back with a brand new record – and let me assure you it was worth waiting this long! After being around for more than 13 years, they couldn’t pick a better title for this record, as they really have nothing to prove at the point they’re at right now. The formula remains the same: hardcore in its purest form with a lot of melody and catchiness, great lyrics and an energy equal to no one around these days. If you were among those who were let down by their last effort “Go!”, as some people said when it came out, this record is definately going to bring you back on a heavy H2O trip. I really don’t know how they managed to do this, but there is no single song on this record that won’t stick in your mind and that you won’t find yourself humming while driving or walking in the street. Just like everything they released in the past, this is going to be a true classic!

IRON AGE – THE SLEEPING EYE [Cyclopean Records]
myspace.com/ironagetexas | cyclopeanrecords.com

Long-anticipated by last year’s “The Way Is Narrow” 7″, the new Iron Age record is something I was really looking forward to… unfortunately, not having too much time because of work and touring kept me out of date on this and I didn’t even know it was out, and when I did, it was already sold out (in a day?! amazing!)… curiosity pushed me to download it as soon as I heard t he news, so here I am listening to one amazing metal record, yeah, that’s what it is, it ain’t cheap metal played by a hardcore band, this is good metal played by an amazing hardcore band! Crossover influences of bands such as Crumbsuckers and Corrosion of Conformity perfectly melts with heavy metal and doom atmospheres. Tee Pee Records is re-releasing this in August to the masses, must grab this masterpiece!

OLDE YORK – EMPIRE STATE [Countdown Records]
myspace.com/oldeyork | countdownrecords.com

Two good friends involved in this release, my brother Luca of Countdown Records and my good NYC friend Blake Farber – the first one’s putting out this record while the second one’s playing guitar on it! Was really looking forward to hear this record and believe me, as soon as you put this into your CD player you’ll be brought back in time to CBGB’s matinees. While a lot of band nowadays are trying to get back to the NYHC thing, this is some real NYHC here, influenced by the likes of Warzone, Sick of It All and Breakdown, their fast and furious style is bound to turn heads. One old New York glory brought back on here too, Eddie Sutton of Leeway, featured on the song Talkin’ Smack. Plenty of good and danceable tunes here, so just make sure to grab this if you want some real New York hardcore!

RANCID – LET THE DOMINOES FALL [Epitaph]
myspace.com/rancid | epitaph.com

Six years passed since their last studio album and I’m pretty sure everyody into these legends of punk rock couldn’t wait anymore to listen to the new record! To be honest I was really excited when I heard the single “Last One To  Die”, it featured every single element that made Rancid what they are now, the catchiness and the intensity that only a classic band like them can keep through the years. Listening to the whole record you can hear how they got back to their earlier sound, the dope bass lines, the rocksteady influences, Lars and Tim unique vocals… it’s all there! Some say it’s already a classic, can’t say that as pretty much their whole discography is, but undoubtely an amazing new chapter in their career!

REMAIN – OUT OF ANGER [Not Just Words Records]
myspace.com/remain | njwrecords.com

Featuring ex-members of The Dead Scenestars and Spirit 84, this band already got me pretty siked with the first 7″ that came out a couple of years ago, and I must admit I really couldn’t wait to get this LP to see what was up with these guys right now. All I can say is that my expectations were fully satisfied – nothing has changed about them, they’re still all about straight to your face hardcore. The 14 songs featured on “Out of Anger” are strongly influenced by bands such as Judge, Floorpunch, Right Brigade and No Warning, with some amazing mosh parts here and there, a strong NYHC vibe, all topped by an energy equal to few. Within way too many hypes and meaningless poses, Remain’s taking back some real deal with no frills!

RUINER – I HEARD THESE DUDES ARE ASSHOLES [Bridge 9 Records]
myspace.com/ruiner | bridge9.com

Baltimore’s Ruiner are the perfect example of how a good DIY mentality and hard work can get you good results. These dudes started out by releasing everything by themselves and are now a world touring band releasing records on one of the biggest hardcore labels around right now. After 4 years as a band here they are with their 2nd release on Bridge 9 Records, which is  a collection featuring their “What Could Possibly Go Right” EP, their split with Portugal’s Day of The Dead as well as their first demo ever. Here’s a record to be considered a proof of dedication and loyalty to being a hardcore band.

THE RIVAL MOB – RAW LIFE [Lockin Out Records]
myspace.com/therivalmob | lockinout.com

I had never heard of this band until the first show of our US tour in March when we played The Democracy Center in Cambridge, MA and one of the band on the bill was in fact The Rival Mob. I must admit that even though I was as stoned as an orangutan I really enjoyed their show, these dudes decided to bring back some really old and unusual shit, influnced by bands such as Abused and Warzone what they do is straight up hardcore, some sweet mosh parts here and there, everything played fast and with no frills, shit is real! After the show their singer was cool enough to hook me up with this LP that I spin from time to time to enjoy some good ‘core!

TRAP THEM – SEIZURES IN BARREN PRAISE [Deathwish Inc.]
myspace.com/trapthem | deathwishinc.com

Allright, this is one of the hardest, heavier and most intense record that came out in 2008, get a fucking clue. People talked about this band called Trap Them and their descriptions didn’t really fit my taste so that I never really got to listen to them until we had the chance to play a show with them on their European tour last year with Grief… I stood open mouth from the first to the last song and ran to their merch table to grab an LP right after the show was over, couldn’t sleep on a band like them! It is pretty hard to define what these guys sound like, all I can say is that their heavy and abrasive sound is something unique and intense, backed by some truly awesome lyrics. The story of a ghost town called “Barren Praise” that will without any doubt make you think about your own life, at least that’s what it did with me…

Now playing:

• Cormega – The Realness
• Diplo DJ set yesterday night was the shit!
• Black Friday ‘29 – The Pursuit of Happiness