A Riot Of My Own

Old flyer

noreply@blogger.com (xroldx) — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 08:21:00 +0000

I'm moving, DO YOU KNOW?

noreply@blogger.com (xroldx) — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 09:48:00 +0000

Hi all so you might think I'm not up to much these days. Well you're wrong. I started to collaborate with Pim Said and Done on his site Some Will Never Know.

To check out the latest hardcorepunk news, interviews and reviews I suggest you can and visit Some Will Never Know.

I don't know if I'll keep updating this blog. But for now everything I'll write I'll only post on SWNK.

See you there.

Agnostic Front: 'Everyone thought Lars Ulrich was an asshole'

noreply@blogger.com (xroldx) — Mon, 16 May 2011 08:10:00 +0000

Damn, it's about time I get off my lazy ass and start posting some more. Interviews with Rise Against and Title Fight are coming up soon. But let's start with Agnostic Front's Mike Gallo who talks about how the dinosaurs of NYHC keep him sane and off the streets.

Victim In Pain is 25 years old. I bet you are influenced by that record. What does Victim In Pain as a record mean to you?
'Well to me VIP is the most important record in nyhc history. It set the standard. You can never capture the raw energy like that again. If Roger and Vinny never got together to do this record, i would be miserable working some bullshit job i hate for the rest of my life. So this record made nyhc what it is as well as giving me a life!'

My Life My Way is the new album title. Is it about living live Agnostic Front-style, and if so how does that lifestyle differ from the life your parents wanted you to live?
'The title fits Agnostic Front and everything we stand for. They always done things on there own terms.

Actualy my parents were musicians so they supported me and still do. Im greatfull to come from such a good family. They always had my back in what i pursued in life as long as it was realistic.'

You were also in On The Rise and released a record through Bridge 9. Now you’re a member of Agnostic Front a band most well known because of Roger Miret and Vinny Stigma. Do you feel you can put as much into this band as you did in On The Rise or are you more bordered know because of AF’s legacy?
'I actually put more into Agnostic Front than i ever did in OTR. That band was my baby. I started it and wrote most of the music. I took that band as far as we could before everyone just stoped getting along. Then it just wasnt fun anymore. So we ended it. Being in AF gives me more to strive for. This band makes me work harder. Its everything i worked so hard for in my life to be. So i never get bored. I helped write the last few records as well as my other band Stigma. in case you didnt know me and Vinnie do that when were not on tour with AF. Roger and Vinnie will always be the face of Agnostic Front. This band is their baby. I just help them keep the legacy alive.'

As one of the younger guys in the band do you keep up with what’s happening in today’s scene and do you tell the old timers in AF all about it?
'I absolutely keep up with whats going on in the scene today. Theres a lot of good new bands i like these days. Wisdom In Chains is my favorite. Also Chosen Ones and check out this band Live Fast Die Fast. I just produced ther new full length cd that will be out in april. Look out for those guys. I always play new music for the guys, but there still involved with the scene too. So just because there older dose not mean they dont know whats up. They started this shit...'

Recently a lot of older bands have started to play again like Supertouch, Sheer Terror etc. How do you feel about that? Do you see yourself only doing shows based on the old records and not writing new songs anymore?
'I see nothing wrong with old bands coming around a playing shows. It brings everyone together again. I think its great. Everyone should take advantage of having that oportunity to keep playing music.

I my self personaly will never stop writting music. Its all i know. But if i were given a chance later on in life to come back a play a few shows with i band i been in before. I would definitly do it as long as i was having a good time. I do understand where your coming from about bands touring on old material, but if people are gonna come out to see them play, why not.How ever I do have much more respect for bands that are still relavent and continue to make records today.'

AF is still seen as a New York Hardcore Band, but of that scene it’s mostly the old bands that are still around like Madball, SOIA and H20. Isn’t there a new generation of bands? Where did the old bands succeed and do the newer bands come short?
'There is definetly a new generation of ny bands still carring on the hardcore spirit. Bands like Backtrack, This Is Hell. I mentioned a few more earlier as well. I dont feel they fall short of anything. There out there working hard as the older bands still are. It all depends on how long they continue to keep it up as a band. Longevity means everything.'

Freddy Madball assisted you guys in the studio. Where there no fights between both brothers?
'No fights at all. Roger and freddy get along great. All we did was laugh and eat! We had a great time in the studio creating this record.'

Just a couple of months ago Roger also released a new record with the Disasters. Do you think Roger doing both bands makes Agnostic Front more hardcore and not as punk as during the Somethings Gonna Give period?
'At the time they were just a 4 piece band when they came back to unite in the late 90's. Vinny plays more of a punk style hardcore. Later on we added a second guitarist so We can play our full catalog which calls for two guitars. This way we can give our fans from every era of the band what they wanna hear. Roger doing the Disasters gives him the focus to just play more punk stuff.'

This is already the third record on Nuclear Blast a label more known for their metal releases. What makes AF stick with the label? Or are you guys big metalheads?
'We have good relations with NB. The owner marcus is an old fan. He believes in us. Thats the reason why we are still with them. We are all fans of metal. Agnostic front being a hardcore band is just as much as part of the scene as any other metal band. We have thrash roots in our music since the early 80's.'

Ever since AF released it’s first 7”the music scene has changed, can you guys keep up with declining recordsales, are you relaying more on shows and merch for your income?
'Things are definitly not the same with everyone stealling music. So we do have to rely on making money on the road. Everyone thought Lars Ulrich was an asshole for fighting against napster. No he was fighting against what is going on today. He knew it was gonna destroy the music industry. I have to give him credit for that. But we will continue. We just have to work harder..'

How does a typical day of you look like when you’re not on tour or recording and how many days like that do you have in a year?
'Ahahah I have to laugh to cause this is the first really long break we had in a long time. So we been home since december after we finished recording the record in Florida. So I'm out of work and starting to go nuts! I try to keep busy by going to the gym as much as possible. Writting music, I dj at a small bar in the lower east side of manhattan called 3 of cups. So I try to keep my self busy with out causing to much mischief on my time off. I slowed down in past few years. Trying to grow up! Haha its slowly working..'

Is AF still a popular band in the US or is Europe your steady fanbase?
'We still have a good cult folowing that still allows us to tour the States. Europe is definitely where our stronger fan base is from. I think Europeans have a stronger passion for music than people do in the States. But South America takes the cake...'

Reflections Tour wrap up

noreply@blogger.com (xroldx) — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 13:59:00 +0000

Whereas I initially planned to be a part of this tour for all ten dates due to circumstances I only ended up attenting the first two shows of the tour and the last one. But hell it was a great time.

Reflections Records turned 15 years old this year. I still remember getting to know Reflections through the magazine they did which eventually grew into a label releasing bands like Reaching Forward, American Nightmare, Modern Life Is War, Paint It Black and No Turning Back to name but a few.

To celebrate this six current bands on the label played ten shows together all over Europe.

The whole thing kicked off in Ibbenburen Germany where a full crowd moved to the likes of Deal With It, Ritual and No Turning Back as you can see here:

The second date was in Mol, Belgium at the same venue where True Colors said goodbye last year. This show was great as well if only for the awesome hangouts behind the distro and the boys of Deal With It singing boisterous songs.

The next couple of days I couldn't attend but I sure as hell didn't want to miss the last show in Den Bosch. Deal With It did an impressive cover of Life Of Agony, Midnight Souls and New Morality both showed why they're the future of European hardcore each with a style of their own and Ritual raged as usual. No Turning Back finished it all off with one last set full of singalongs.

To have such a package of bands go on tour with only great shows... amazing.

Most Precious Blood: 'Hopefully absence makes the heart grow fonder'

noreply@blogger.com (xroldx) — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 09:28:00 +0000

Practically out of nowhere touring monsters Most Precious Blood returned with a new record. Guitarplayer Rachel tells all about it.

The bio that came along with 'Do Not Resuscitate' could make a fine script for a movie on it’s own. So what happened with MPB between 2006 and now. Did you guys decide on a short break which took longer and longer?

After 'Merciless' came out in 2005 we pretty much toured nonstop until 2006. Through all that touring, though we sort of felt like we were banging our heads against a wall and things just seemed to be going downhill rather than progressing further. I guess after all this time as a band, we had hit our limit and we all were quite burned out on touring and the whole music business. We decided after the last tour we had planned in Australia and New Zealand that we would take a break.

We didn’t set a time limit on this break but we figured when the time was right, we would start up again. We all sort of went our separate ways at this point. I moved to Baltimore in 2007 to attend graduate school, Matt got married and moved back home to Atlanta to pursue photography, Rob got married and became a personal trainer, Colin got married and got a government job, and Justin got very active in politics and fundraising.

We played 2 shows the following year and finally decided to start writing for a new record. The record took about a year to write because none of use was in the same state. We didn’t want to play a show at that point until we had something new to offer so even though we probably would have been ready to play a year ago, we didn’t see the point without having the new record for sale.

So a break that probably would have lasted maybe 3 years, ended up lasting close to 5.But hopefully its true that absence makes the heart grow fonder.

Already in 2009 fans thought ‘DNR’ was recorded. So are you now releasing a two year old record? Why wait for such a long time to release it?

DNR was recorded from the end of 2008 to the beginning of 2009. We were hoping it would have been ready to come out in the summer OF 2009. Unfortunately due to money issues as well as delays on our part with artwork, the record just kept getting pushed further and further and back. We finally just had to set a deadline and be like, if this stuff isn’t in it’s never going to come out. We felt that the record was still a good representation of us though, even though at this point it is a couple years old. Unfortunately with all the anticipation and delays for it to come out, the expectations for the record seem a lot higher and we hope people are not disappointed.

Between ‘Mercilless’ and ‘DNR’ a lot has happened within the music scene and globally. Is MPB ready to be a band in the age of bandcamp and twitter or are you guys just planning to do what you’ve done ever since starting the band: playing as many tight shows as possible?

It’s insane how much has changed with the music scene. We sort of feel like we were frozen in time for awhile and woke back up like 20 years later and have to navigate a new planet. We do have band Twitter, Facebook and Myspace accounts although I’m not sure we’re on bandcamp.
It’s still crazy to me that CDs have become somewhat obsolete in such a short period of time but at the same time it’s awesome that vinyl has really made a comeback. I was a big vinyl collector when I was younger.

I think its funny though that these days when you put out vinyl, people expect a free digital download with it. In the “old days” if you wanted a portable version of a record, you had to either buy it in another format or record it on a cassette!

I think that people don’t put as much thought into record artwork these days because so many people will never hold it in their hands and will only see it on a screen. But for us, we’re stubborn and really wanted to have our record out on CD and vinyl and to play a record release show, etc.. like how we’ve always done.

Are you going to tour as much as in the past or are you going to take things more slowly?

None of us are in a position anymore to tour like we used to. We all have full time jobs that we aren’t willing to give up permanently. We are just going to do things on our own terms. When we want to play some shows, we’ll book them or if we’re offered some and we want to play them, we’ll do it.

Some of the MPB members started their own label Morsecode recordings. Record sales are declining, isn’t doing a label a dangerous business to do nowadays?

I started MorseCode Recordings with my boyfriend. He approached me with the idea first and I didn’t think it was such a great idea because of how poorly the record business is doing. However, he convinced me that if things are done a bit differently there are ways for a label to survive.

Plus it’s given me a chance to put out the vinyl version of DNR. It’s a nice feeling having complete control over what you are putting out. It’s also been a good way for me to learn exactly what the record business is like these days.

While not being active with MPB did you go out and see other bands play these last few years? Which newer bands are you into.

It’s funny because there have been so many of the bands I loved when I was younger getting back together now that the majority of the shows I’ve been to, have been bands that I haven’t seen in forever. It’s great because it makes me feels young!

However there are a couple newer bands that I’ve seen that I do really like – Incendiary from NY are great, Torch Bearer from New Jersey and The May 4th Massacre from Delaware whose record we are putting out next month.

I read about an Indecision dvd coming up. What’s going to be on that one?

The Indecision documentary has been in the works for a couple years now. We had so much VHS footage to compile and go through and then all members were interviewed as well as people who were close to the band. It’s the story of the band as well as a representation of what it was like to tour in the days before there was so much technology as a band that had little backing and little in the way of connections. So it will have tons of old VHS footage, lots of live footage, interviews as well as a lot of extra features. We hope to have it out by April.

Defeater - Empty Days & Sleepless Nights - cd/lp

noreply@blogger.com (xroldx) — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 10:07:00 +0000

Though there are still new bands around that make me all excited about hardcore, none of them manages to release a record that make me want to listen to only that one record for a week in a row. However great a record may be there are still enough other records I want to hear in a week.

Defeater is probably the exception to that rule. I have to admit that the first time I heard 'Empty Days', I was a bit dissapointed. After the 'Lost Ground' ep I expected the band to come up with ten versions of 'The Red, White and Blues' I guess and they didn't.

'Dear Father' is a song that could have been on the 'Lost Ground' ep but tracks like 'Empty Glass' and 'White Oak Doors' show a band that has progressed from their 'Travels' debut and dare to go further. Some parts of those songs remind me a bit of Touche Amore's 'To The Beat Of A Dead Horse' while other songs give me the same feeling as I had when I first heard American Nightmare's debut 7".

With 'Empty Days' Defeater probably released one of the best records of 2011 and one of those few classics that come around each year. If that's not enough there's also 'Sleepless Nights' four great acoustic songs which are as good as any material by Chuck Ragan or other punkrock singersongwriter hot shots. 'I Don't Mind' is a song that finds a place in your mind and doesn't leave for days.

Defeater might not appeal to everyone who's into classic hardcore, but if you're open to a band that has the courage to step outside the borders I doubt you will find anything better then these Boston boys.

The Outsiders - zine

noreply@blogger.com (xroldx) — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 08:07:00 +0000

'Start a band, do a zine, put on shows if you know what I mean.' Those words were written by Ensign spin off band Weapon X years ago and still ring true today.

To me a good hardcore scene has great bands, great shows but also zines. With the rise of internet less and less people seem to be doing zines. I understand why it takes a lot of effort and some money if you want you magazine to come out great. Not everyone has that much time.

The Outsiders is a new zine from Belgium done by some guys from Accept The Change. Issue 1, which I got my hands on at the Defeater show, features in depth interviews with rising stars Touche Amore and Midnight Souls as well as some reviews and columns (of which one is written by me, so yes I'm a bit biased here).

Besides all that the editors also managed to interview True Colors vocalist Packo right before their last show ever. He looks back on his time in True Colors which makes for a great read.

I suggest everyone to get in touch with the editors and get yourself this zine, be inspired and do one of your own.

Defeater + Carpathian + Striking Justice, Eindhoven

noreply@blogger.com (xroldx) — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 10:52:00 +0000

Hardcore show number 2 for me this year and one that sold out in presale. Since I helped putting the kids in their pj's I wasn't on time in Eindhoven to see Striking Justice play.

However I was in time to inhale all the smoke that was in the bar. In my opinion it really sucks that lots of people are starting to smoke in venues and bars again. Please keep that shit outside.

Australia's Carpathian released a mediocre record called Isolation some time ago. There's nothing wrong with it, but there's nothing special about it as well. It's Modern Life Is War meets the lyrics of Ian Curtis with a Deathwish touch. Therefore unsurprisingly the band couldn't hold my attention on stage. Yet to see so many Dutch kids go wild was a good thing.

The only band that mattered today though was Defeater. Debut record Travels is an okay record but the Lost Ground ep really opened my eyes. When the acoustic track 'I don't mind' found it's way on the internet I was sold.

Suffice to say expectations were high for this show but Defeater made it real. Opening acoustic and the rushing into songs like 'The Red, White and Blues' and the new song 'Dear Father', causing mayhem on stage with singalongs and stagedives and an overall intense feeling made me enjoy this show a lot. I somehow got the same feeling as I had when watching Touche Amore in Belgium last year. Another newer band setting a new generation of kids in flames with an intelligent approach to hardcore.
(Though it still is kind of strange seeing teenagers singing that they're lying in the trenches of World War 1 etc.)

I picked up the new Defeater record, which surely isn't dissapointing as well.

This is the ending of the Defeater set as taped by Nico Welmer:

Pics by Anne Carolien Kohler. Go here for more pictures.

Mother Of Mercy - IV Symptoms Of Existence/ More nineties hardcore than most nineties hardcore bands

noreply@blogger.com (xroldx) — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 13:04:00 +0000

Some records are hyped almost years before their release. Others quietly find their way in the world. Most hypes eventually lead to dissapointments whereas between those low key record releases gems are to be found.

There's a lot of talk about the new Defeater record on the other side I have yet to read the first raving review of a record that's already out: Mother Of Mercy's 'Symptoms Of Existence'. After a surprisingly good show in Tilburg at the end of last year I was pretty curious about this record and the band doesn't let me down.

If Mother Of Mercy was around in the nineties they would have deserved a spot somewhere between early Earth Crisis and Intergity. The band plays hardcore with metal influences but stays away from the often duplicated Hatebreed sound.

In fact Mother Of Mercy sounds more like a nineties hardcore band than let's say the latest Earth Crisis. The artwork by Paul Romano sets the place for a record that's not optimistic about human kind, but shows that people into bands like Undertow, Congress and Integrity don't have to rely only on the past for records of their liking.

Stick Around - When We Ran cd/ The Irish Title Fight?

noreply@blogger.com (xroldx) — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 12:16:00 +0000

Stick Around is a band from Ireland. Basically it's a poppunk band done by hardcore kids, or that's what I think. You know the type: Polar Bear Club, Hot Water Music and Title Fight are best known examples.

Recordopener 'Belgium Sideburn' is a very great musical intro. But also points out the big weakness of the band. This song is good because there are no vocals on it. The other 7 songs on 'When We Ran' are full of some of the most off key vocals I've heard in a while.

I shouldn't sing about people singing off key, I'm no great vocalist myself, yet when you try and compete in the poppunk genre good vocals are more important factor than let's say if you're doing a band like Infest.

Maybe the band should find a new singer or decided on another musical style to play cause 'When We Ran' isn't the kind of record that will make a lot of listeners happy.

Check the songs out for yourself overhere.

Carpenter - Sea To Sky cd/lp

noreply@blogger.com (xroldx) — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 09:41:00 +0000

Why haven't I heard from this band before? Which orgcore fanatic doesn't want other people to get into this Canadian four piece?

Carpenter is one of the many bands out there with members who've played in punk and hardcore bands before and who want to do something different. This usually ends up in either slow, boring shoegazing type of stuff or weird, out of this planet type of crap.

Carpenter stays away from all that and brings a record that's a melting pot of Bruce Springsteen, John Mellencamp and later Bouncing Souls and The Loved Ones with just a flavour of Texas Is The Reason.

Sounds good?

Well it is good. This is the kind of record every punk and hardcore kid in his thirties and with a side love for Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash and Bruce Springsteen will like.

'Sea To Sky' is a record for late nights, book reading and relaxing when you don't have to go to another show or the kids are finally in bed. This one will be definately be in my top 10 records of 2011.

Fire At Will - Hoping For The Best... Expecting The Worst cd

noreply@blogger.com (xroldx) — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 08:58:00 +0000

After the more than good Together ep from I For Us Records, the label dropped another release in my mailbox. Looking at the artwork I expected one of those modern deathcore bands. You know the ones with flashy shirts, black hair and too small pants?

When reading that Fire At Will is from France my expectations for another solid release were even smaller. I still have to discover the first real good hardcore band from France.

Well in the end the first part of the title of this record is fortunately more true than the second part. Fire At Will aren't a terrible deathcore band with French accents. They're a modern Comeback Kid-esque band with some punk influences.. and French accents.

Fire At Will isn't a bad band, but the songs aren't above average either. Plus I got pretty tired of the whole production of the record. It sounds too clean and polished for my taste.

Onward - Survive Death

noreply@blogger.com (xroldx) — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 07:59:00 +0000

A couple of days ago Oslo City Straight Edge band Onward did a reunion show together with Supertouch.
Anyone who knows his classics, must agree that Onward was one of the few bands keeping the spirit of youth crew hardcore alive during the midnineties. Besides Mainstrike and Mouthpiece there weren't that many bands playing this kind of music and especially not many bands doing it as good as Onward. Check this clip and get the These Words Still Pray record.

No Turning Back - Take Control - cd/lp

noreply@blogger.com (xroldx) — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 10:05:00 +0000

'Take Control, take a stand, take the world in your hand'. Ever since getting the new No Turning Back record at the record release show in Tilburg these lines keep popping up in my head.

I have never been the biggest fan of No Turning Back, though I prefer their later records over the early more beatdownesque stuff. I've seen this band grow and do things not many other European hardcore bands have done before. For example the 'Stronger' world tour which brought them to all continents except for the North and South Poles.

Unlike most bands No Turning Back never went for a drastic change in the music they play, they always keep things within the bounderies of hardcore.

'Take Control' might therefore be received as an another No Turning Back record. If you hear one, you've heard them all. If that's your opinion, you're not really listening. Play 'Damage Done'(probably the best NTB record to date) and after that 'Take Control' and you'll hear the subtle differences.

'Take Control'is in a way similar to Terror's 'Keepers Of The Faith'. There are hooks and guitarmelodies which make the songs more melodic without resulting in a melodic hardcore record.

If anything 'Take Control' is as much about anger (Justice) as it is about looking back (Always Will Be). It's the comfort of meeting up with old friends, discovering not everything has to change over the years (Strife).

'Take Control' is a new milestone in the discography of No Turning Back and shows a band that's cool with what they've acomplished so far, yet still eager and hungry to take things to the next level.

Here's some footage of the record release show in Tilburg:

Happy New Year and Stay Hungry

noreply@blogger.com (xroldx) — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 09:27:00 +0000

Let's start 2011 with an interview with one of the best European Straight Edge bands around at the moment: they're from Sweden, they're hard, they're hungry: Stay Hungry. Staffan Snitting was kind enough to answer some questions.

First of all how does it come that hardcore and punk are such strong scenes in Sweden. People all over the world know bands like Refused, Millencolin and Satanic Surfers. Right now there seems to be a whole new generation of good bands coming from your country like Atlas Losing Grip and yourselve.

First of all I have to say that I can't think of any other country in Europe that has the same level of quality and quantity when it comes to bands as Sweden at the moment. Finland is great as well right now but don't have as many bands. We most definitely have a large amount of bands that are amazing. Punk rock bands, fastcore bands, NYHC-type bands, crust bands, early 80s hc bands, straight edge bands... There is a lot of diversity and for some reason the quality is high all over the field right now. It's hard to say why, or at least I don't have an answer to that. Except for the fact that we have a lot of people in different cities that are working hard as hell to make it happen.

'Against The New Wall' is the new record. In my opinion it's more varied, melodic and a bit less fast. What do you think are the main differences between your debut and the new record?

Is it really not as fast? Hell, we should do a bpm check. Personally I am sort of a speed freak (I once walked into a tattoo studio in San Francisco to get "play fast" done on my knuckles, thankfully they had no open slots that day). There are surely some really fast songs on the first 12" but I think tracks like "Dedication", "Disgust" and "Ingen plikt" are just as fast. Out of the 14 tracks on the new LP, including the intro, 10 are one beat fast ones, that is OK in my book haha.

But to answer your question, I think the main difference is that the small metal influences on the 12" are gone with the wind. We actually stole riffs from black and death metal bands on that one and twisted them around a bit to make it sound HC. Nothing new, Slapshot has done the same. It might be true as you say that it's more varied, but we did work hard to make it a more genuine and focused hardcore record. In that process we scrapped a bunch of ideas and whole tracks that didn't fit in. It's more Floorpunch and less metal, I guess.

Am I right in thinking Against the Wall is also some kind of tribute to older bands I mean titles like 'Against The Wall' and ' Something Must Be Done' sure remind me of other bands. As well as your songstructures which have more in common with bands like Judge than a new band like Defeater.

The idea when we started the band was to do a fast one beat in your face straight edge band in the vein of Internal Affairs. I guess we are closer to that now than before actually. But yeah, there are loads of references to more or less old hardcore in the lyrics at least. Some more obvious than others. Uniform Choice, Minor Threat, Antidote, Battery, Youth of Today... I personally like stuff like that, such as when Skull Crusher used a line from Judge on their 12". As for the music, I think we just went in to do a fast hardcore record without pretentiousness or metal influences. "Against the wall" is what came out.

Are you the kind of older guys who tend to dwell in the past or are you as stoked on newer bands as well and if so which newer bands do you really love?

Nah man I wouldn't say so. Sure we all love the old stuff and most covers we have played are so to speak semi old (as in late 80s, Citizens Arrest, Chain of Strength, Project X etc) but we all follow new music quite a lot. I can't say I enjoy everything that comes out, but who can?

One of the things I have enjoyed a lot the latest couple of years is the new wave of straight edge bands in the US that have sought their way back to the roots of it all, to hardcore PUNK and all that comes with that both sound and attitude wise. I'm talking about Black SS, Blank Stare, Sick Fixx, Coke Bust, Poison Planet... Awesome stuff.

What is the Swedish song on the new record about and why did you decide to keep that one in Swedish.

"Ingen plikt" can be translated to "No duty" and is about people who consider drinking to be their personal business even though it makes them a part of a social problem in society. It's not meant to throw punches at alcoholics and people that have real problems that they need help with, but rather all the people that get pissed on weekends, glorify drinking and refuse to acknowledge that they're a part of the problem. We decided to do a short and really fast song in Swedish and I think it turned out really cool.

I think a lot more people recently got interested in your country since the popular books of Stieg Larsson as well as the whole story about the mystery sniper. Sweden doesn't seem to be the peacefull quiet country were all is good, which I imagined it would be growing up. So what is the situation in Sweden like at the moment? How is it to grow up there?

Well I recently sat down and discussed drug policy with the guys in Coke Bust, who are from Washington DC, and our opinions definitely clashed but we also realized that our perspectives vary due to our radically different environments. They spoke of a "murder rate" and I mean...

Sure people get murdered here as well, but nowhere near that level that they are used to. Anyway, this will be an answer that reflects my opinions since we all don't see things the same way in the band.

Sweden is still a very good country to live in. For sure. But like any other western country we have seen the public sector and welfare system being slaughtered the last three decades. It's a horrible and tragic development that escalated with the membership in the European Union in the 90s. The thing is that the Swedish working class has been completely defenseless against the attacks of the right wing, big business and so on.

Which is a bit ironic since our unions are famous for being large and strong with massive organization levels. The thing is though that it all rested on a system of class cooperation between labor and capital. And when capital ended their part of the cooperation, starting in the 70s and accelerating in the 90s, the main labor organizations just continued dwelling in the past. Absolutely no attempts whatsoever to counter the massive attack on all the things the workers had gained during half a century of positive development. These things take forever to build up and seconds to destroy.

I've witnesses this first hand as an auto worker in the Volvo factory in Gothenburg, where we had to battle both the company and the union sitting idle, silent and obedient in their lap. A couple of months ago the right wing government that has been sitting since 2006 got re-elected.

The political climate it so perverted that the conservative party campaigned as "the new worker's party" and such nonsense. Anyhow, long story, but all this has led to drastic widening of class differences and injustice, which in turn leads to social unrest of a spontaneous and unorganized fashion, especially in areas of the larger cities dominated by immigrants, who rightfully believe they have been left outside in the cold. This election also saw the entrance of a right wing populist party into the parliament, for the first time in Sweden really.

There was one party in the early 90s but it was a one time thing and they didn't pose a threat like these assholes are doing. Unfortunately some workers fall for their crap. I see co-workers sometimes with their party logo. It's very disheartening. But to sum up and return to your question, I think you need to look upon the recent shootings in Malmö through this perspective, even though I am quite sure the guy responsible is more of a looney than a political strategist.

Sweden is getting more and more segregated, the welfare state is dismantled, more social unrest is around the corner. My only hope is that the latter will take a positive form.

You were supposed to do a eurotour with Skull Crusher, why didn't that happen?

That cancellation was a pain in the ass to go through with. We were really looking forward to touring with Skull Crusher, their 12" is amazing. Basically, we had to make some tough decisions when Reflections pulled out of our LP. They were supposed to do the record but in the end had to face the fact that they had too much going on right now.

So all of a sudden we stood there with a recorded LP, a tour booked and no one to release the record. We decided to release it ourselves, which feels great, along with our friends Daniel from Green Menace Records and Dave from Get This Right Records.

Obviously it felt shitty not to have the LP on Reflections, as we truly felt at home there and Johan and Suzanne are just the greatest people alive more or less. But we decided not to whine about it, but rather make the best out of the situation. But with this new development we realized that it was highly unlikely that the LP would be out in time for the booked tour. And we just can't tour without the record being out. We have jobs and stuff and when we take days off, we need to choose the opportunity wisely. So we cancelled, and it turned out to be a good choice since the LPs arrived several weeks after the tour was due to start.

What's the story behind the new swehc website?

We originally started talking about doing an online blog where we could post articles from out of print issues of Law and Order zine, which I am involved in. Then my co-editor Fredrik (of Law And Order Records) started planning a (more or less) free sampler CD of many of the most interesting Swedish hc acts together with Daniel from Green Menace Records. These two ideas sort of merged in Fredrik's head and swehc.com is what came out of it.

It's mostly done by the three editors of Law and Order zine (except for me and Fredrik, there's also Marcus) but we are hoping to get help from more people. We will post news, short interviews, video clips etc that for most of the time have some sort of connection to Sweden and hardcore. Apart from Swedish bands it can also be foreign bands touring Sweden, old video clips that were filmed by Swedes and haven't been seen online before etc. It's a way to cover hardcore and support the Swedish scene that is meant to complement the zine, which is the main focus still, at least for me.

What are Stay Hungry's plans for 2011?

Well we just got the LPs last week and all the pre-orders have been shipped. We're also working hard booking a tour for April. We will do 16 shows. A lot of it is already booked but anyone interested in helping out can get in touch, we still have slots to fill. We are booking this tour by ourselves so our whole operation is pretty DIY now which feels cool. It's been totally mind blowing how helpful people have been so far. So the main focus now is to spread the word about the LP and finish booking the tour.

We also just added our friend Johan on guitar, so we are now a five piece. We have done two shows with him so far and having two guitar players is a big step forward for the band, without a doubt. I guess we will start looking at new material next year. We live in different cities so we have to sort of focus on whatever lies ahead and is the most important task. Right now that is obviously to get ready for the tour, new songs is kind of secondary I guess.

Together - The Odyssey ep

noreply@blogger.com (xroldx) — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 10:55:00 +0000

When first hearing the bandname Together I expected a band inspired by Insted and Youth Of Today. After seeing them at the Midnight Souls release show I knew I was wrong, yet I was also hooked. The band played a great set of Defeater/Verse like hardcore with great melodies and lots of energy.

But as everyone knows there is often a difference between the live performance of a band and their recorded material. Based on the six songs available on 'The Odyssey' I have to say Together manages both tasks pretty well.

Songs like 'Love.Sinner.Thief' and 'The Odyssey'are as good as most material by Defeater. Which is in a way is also the only negative thing I can say about these Germans; they should work a bit more on their identity.

All in all Together is one of my favourite newcomers for 2010.

Antillectual: 'We can't force people to listen to the whole album'

noreply@blogger.com (xroldx) — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 11:53:00 +0000

With a right wing government cutting on everything cultural and environmental friendly it's good to have a band like Antillectual around who still struggle for a better world by singing about change. Their new record 'Start From Scratch' recently came out one more labels than there are documents published on Wikileaks. Without further ado read what drummer Riekus has to say about downloading, guestsingers and punk.

You have spammed the international punkrock community a song a week for the past months. Besides getting some attention from everywhere this also might make people judge the record as a whole based on the snippets they hear. Aren't you afraid of that?
People will always judge a band by individual songs, there’s no use denying that. Whether it’s that one song they hear on your myspace page or the lyrics of a particular song, certain songs will stand out more than others. As a band, we like to think of an album as a whole, more than just the songs by themselves. Not everyone will share that opinion, so be it. We do encourage people to listen to the album as a whole, for example by putting a full stream + free download of our album online after the release date. We can’t force people to listen to the whole album rather than just their favorite songs, nor do we intend to force them. I guess the most we can do is offer the whole package and allow people to listen to it in whatever way they prefer.

'Start from Scratch!' is the record title. Do you also see it as a new beginning for Antillectual, it being the first record with a new bass player?
The album title is a quote from the first song, which is about the crises we are facing these days, and how we feel these crises allow us to improve things or start over. We chose the album title because this theme recurs in quite some of the songs. Of course, we as a band are also facing a somewhat new start, with Yvo leaving the band and Tom joining, and we feel this ‘new start’ has presented us with a lot of opportunities to change and evolve, but that’s not the reason why we chose the title.

As a political band with a somewhat left-wing ideology you guys must be very happy with the new Dutch government. Finally there's something to really be angry about. Or do you rather see a total leftist government?
There is no government like no government! But the new government sure provides us with enough inspiration for a whole new album, if not a double album! But it would be rather cynical to praise the new government for being inspiring for revolt. I’d rather see a government taking care of ALL its people in stead of the already wealthy white males. A total(itarian) left wing government doesn’t sound very appealing to me either, China and Cuba don’t seem very nice places to me. I don’t think any government can fulfil my needs, let alone all people in one country, but I’m sure we can easily do better than what we came up with now. On the other hand, why worry about politics when commercial enterprises have so much more influence on our daily lives than any government can ever have?

I guess working with thousands of different labels on the release of 'Testimony' paid off for you guys, since you have even expanded the amount of labels releasing the new record. So what are the benefits and what are the negative aspects of doing things this way?
Working with several independent labels on “Testimony” payed off really well for us, indeed. The main benefit of working this way is that each label is extremely specialized in their own region. They know where to promote our album, where and how to sell it, and where to book shows to promote the album. I don’t think any one (European) label can cover the areas we cover all together through the different labels, from the USA to Europe to Russia. On the downside, working with 10 labels at the same time requires a lot of time and communication, to have everyone on the same page, and have the same agreements with everyone. With the experience we have from releasing “Testimony”, it has become easier to arrange all this, and in the end we’re extremely glad to have the support of all these labels. The benefits are definitely bigger than the negative aspects.

One of the new songs features Chris Hannah of Propagandhi. From a commercial point of view this is a good thing, because more people got to know the name of Antillectual. But being a punk band wouldn't it be more logical to ask the local tramp to do some screaming? Why of all people you could have asked did you go with Chris?
I don’t really see how ‘being a punk band’ makes this a strange decision? Chris has been in a punk band for years himself. We like to aim high, but we never counted on it to actually work out. When it did we were happy as little kids. Having said that, we also have our local hero Heleen from Midnight Menace doing guest vocals, but I don’t think she would appreciate being called a tramp ;)
On a more serious note: Propagandhi is a band that has inspired us for years and years. To have one of their members contribute to our album is a dream come true. We didn’t ask Chris to contribute from a commercial point of view, and if we had done that i doubt he would even have considered helping out. Actually, according to the Propagandhi Facebook it cost us 7000 dollar to get him to sing on our album, from a commercial viewpoint a very bad idea.

Whereas you probably could write a record full of punkrock hits, you choose the difficult way. Why?
Interesting! We feel this album is a pretty big leap towards a more accessible, poppy sound. Compared to “Testimony”, the songs on this album are far less complicated or technical, and more melodic, so it’s interesting to hear that we still choose “the difficult way”. I guess it has never been our intention to produce only punkrock hit songs and anthems, and honestly, that would make a pretty boring record. We are not such good songwriters that we can actually chose or decide to write hits or not, it’s more trial and a lot of error in our case. Let’s leave the hit albums to the Pennywises and Bad Religions (pun intended!). We enjoy a lot of styles of punkrock, hardcore, orgcore and emo (even some metal), and i think those influences find their way into the styles we play on this record. Difficult? No. Variation? Yes.

You must have done some interviews already about the new record. What was the most original question, and what did you answer?
We’ve been getting quite some creative questions lately, but i think the weirdest one must have been an interview from an English magazine we literally got this morning containing only 1 question: “What was the one thing that has completely changed, or ruined your life? Please use around 500 words”. The answer was a pretty obvious one: this band. On the other hand we got an interview from the Incubate Festival website asking us if we had played in Holland before and, if yes, what was our experience.

What are the plans from here? Touring, touring, touring? Any new countries you're going to explore?
Yes, touring, touring and more touring! We sure wish to play at least all the countries where our record is released, and that includes the USA and Russia, of which the latter is new to us. Besides that we are planning to play shows and festivals in places we haven’t been before, Slovakia for example. We’re always interested in going new places and returning to places we’ve enjoyed playing. Willem will be doing some acoustic shows too, something we haven’t done for a while. And we will be doing everything we can to get our record out to people. To begin with, we’ll be offering all our music for free download at http://music.antillectual.com as of November 1st. Please go on, download and enjoy!

Touche Amore + Midnight Souls - November 18th - Tilburg

noreply@blogger.com (xroldx) — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 11:58:00 +0000

Another hardcoreshow that proved me there's still hope for hardcore in The Netherlands.

Rebuild, formerly known as Set It Off, opened up with their mix of Verse-like hardcore and more screaming parts. The band wasn't really tight but did their best.

Midnight Souls; I have seen them a lot of times this year and everytime their performance is good and different from the show before. Singer Donny spend most of his time off stage, stirring up the audience. The band played yet another energetic set. This in combination with the fact that all bandmembers seem to be nice guys, makes Midnight Souls one of my favourite new bands of 2010.

Germany's Lighthouse were up next. The very ugly merch of this band didn't set my expectations on a high level and after a song or two I was already bored. I don't really like bands who pretend to have a whole artistic thing going on. Just play good music or go home and make a painting.

Touche Amore is one of the most talked about bands around. I love their debutrecord and was curious to see how the band would do on stage. Tilburg isn't the place to play for hot and happening bands I thought, well I was wrong. There were a lot of kids at the show and they rushed the stage to singalong with songs like 'History Reshits Itself'. The band played a great set and singer Jeremy Bohm seemed to be really happy about being in Europe and playing great shows. The night ended with 'Honest Sleep' and on last assault on the stage, massive singalongs and all around chaos.

There is still hope for hardcore in The Netherlands.

All pics by Anne Kohler. See more here.

The Gaslight Anthem + Chuck Ragan - November 12th - Tilburg

noreply@blogger.com (xroldx) — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 12:20:00 +0000

Everytime I leave a show of this size I promise myself not to do it again, yet every once in a while a show comes along I simply want to see. This time being The Gaslight Anthem and Chuck Ragan in the biggest venue of my hometown.

We arrived early just to anticipate on a whole load of morons who wanted to get rid of their coats and start filling up with beer. Showopeners Sharks are everything you expect from a hyped British punkband: all the right poses, no great songs.

Luckily Chuck Ragan did a much better job playing his folkmusic. Though I guess a large part of the audience were only there for The Gaslight Anthem thus didn't think there's something wrong with talking way too loud throughout the whole set. Well Ragan played lots of songs from both his full lengths and in the end, in my opinion, was the better act of the night.

The Gaslight Anthem are probably one of the most popular bands to emerge out of the punkscene in recent years. I love their latest record and wondered if the band was able to pull of a performance better then the one they gave in Eindhoven last year. Fortunately Brian Fallon didn't try to sing this time, the band put in full gear and played probably every song on '59 Sound' and 'American Slang' much to the appeal of most of the crowd.

Thought their performance was pretty good I still think the band can do better, they proved this themselves during the encore when they finally made some connection with the audience and showed they can be one exciting live band.

Highlight of the night was the announcement of the Revival tour coming to Europe and Chuck Ragan en Jon Gaunt teaming up with Fallon to play a so far unreleased song.

Dave Smalley + The Real Danger and more - October 24th - Tilburg

noreply@blogger.com (xroldx) — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 11:25:00 +0000

Still somewhat tired from the Bane show the night before, my wife and I decided to go and support Shield Recordings by attending the show they'd set up in Little Devil.

Because of dinner we missed Ravens but were right in time for Swiss punkrockers Hateful Monday who played a very nice set of uptempo punkrock.

Gert and Fieke of Shield Recordings had been on tour for two weeks with The Fake Boys and this was their homecoming show. Though I like The Fake Boys on record, their live shows are a bit too boring for me. I do have to confess that I've spend much of the time behind the Shield distro selling records.

The Real Danger were up next and ripped through a set of their best songs. It's always a pleasure to see this band. Uplifting, energetic, catchy punkrock.

As a last minute headliner of the show, Dave Smalley of DYS, Dag Nasty and Down By Law fame took the stage, for an acoustic set. I didn't really know what to expect, but it was good. Dave played songs from Dag Nasty as well as Down By Law, shared lots of anecdotes on his past and played some covers by bands that inspired him. In the end I ended up doing his merch at the show. Which is always a good way to spend a night.

At Daggers Drawn - Serving Sorrow

noreply@blogger.com (xroldx) — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 09:11:00 +0000

Berlin is a city with history. I guess living there you're always reminded about certain aspects of the past. Events that have cast their shadow on the whole world as well as decisions made elsewhere that scarred the city.

Out of that Berlin comes At Daggers Drawn, a band often compared with Modern Life Is War, Life Long Tragedy and La Dispute.

Anyone who has been to Berlin recently will see a city of change, a city that is looking towards the future. At Daggers Drawn doesn't seem to be the band that symbolizes that Berlin. They might look at the future, but they see things in a grim light. The mood isn't full of hope. Things are looking bleak and desolate in At Daggers Drawn's Berlin.

The music is slow, dragging yet with lots of melody. Lyrics are spoken, shouted, echoed out of the gutter.

Berlin is a city of change. It's the variation of the city which I miss so much on this record. There are no real highlights, it just goes on and on. At Daggers Drawn is a band still set in the Eastern part of Cold War -era Berlin. Everything is grey, all buildings are the same. There's tension in the air and no hope in the minds.

Antillectual - Start From Scratch! - cd/lp

noreply@blogger.com (xroldx) — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 13:45:00 +0000

Antillectual has been spamming punksites for the past couple of months, streaming one track of their new record once a week. To be honest based on those streams I expected a record that I would enjoy less than 'Testimony' their previous full length. Well I guess I am an old fashioned 'album guy' because hearing all the songs together has made me change my thoughts.

If you don't know who Antillectual are, they're Face To Face with the political mindset of Propaghandi and borrowing the acoustic guitar from Tom Against Me! once in a while. Or you could say they're a bunch of Dutch leftwing punks who listen to nineties skatepunk, contemporary emo and sometimes grow a beard to appeal to the recent orgcore crowd.

Today the Obama government has lost a lot of votes to teadrinking, conservative, crazy Republican candidates. You kind of wish everyone of those voters who made this happen received 'Start From Scratch!'. Antillectual seems to cover part of the election topics being the crisis ('Every Crisis Is A Moral Crisis') and the fact that the US is not longer the superpower it used to be ('Chinese Takeover').

I do doubt if conservative Americans would like to hear a catcy song about America as a negative role model ('America's Worst Role Model') and that eating meat isn't all that good ('Some Of My Best Friends Are Meat Eaters'). Well I guess the band would be missing their reason to exist if they didn't fuel the left wing fire here and there.

'Start From Scratch!' is the most melodic Antillectual record to date. The band tended to get lost in their own music on previous releases thus making their songs less catchy than they could have been. This time however the band has succeeded in writing a record that balances their political views with enjoyable punksongs. The additions of guestvocalist like Chris Hannah from Propaghandi doesn't add that much to the song ('Out The Ground From Under Our Feet') but it's cool for any band to have a person they are inspired by cooperate on a track. Then again the extra vocals from the lesser known Heleen from Midnight Menace ('Buyer's Remorse' and 'So Much More') do add that extra flavour.

This record is a new highlight for the Dutch punkscene and together with The Real Danger they are the leading force not only in The Netherlands but in the whole of Europe. Both bands are as good as any of the bigger US bands.

'Start From Scratch' can be downloaded from music.antillectual.com but I suggest you head over to the Shield store because the artwork is amazing enough to get the 'real' thing.

Ritual - Kissing Pavement - 7"

noreply@blogger.com (xroldx) — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 08:38:00 +0000

The German masters of hardcore, style and great shows are back. 'Kissing Pavement' is the new two song 7" from one of the best hardcore bands around in Europe at the moment. Exaggerating? Just put the needle on the A-side of this 7" and hear a band that comes close to the quality of The Hope Conspiracy without truly emulating said band.

The song ' Greenest Meadows' is somewhat faster than the songs on Ritual's previous full length 'Beneath Aging Flesh And Bone'. Whereas the song on side B ' Kissing Pavement' has the same tempo as the songs on 'Beneath Aging Flesh And Bone', yet bring new structures, melodies and great guitarwork to the Ritual sound. Almost making it sound like a mix between The Hope Conspiracy and Refused.

This ep is a teaser of the new Ritual full length which will be released next year. It shows that these Germans have grown and it makes anyone into this kind of hardcore want more.

The 7” is packed in a big fold-out poster consisting of six photographs demonstrating the yin and yang-metaphor that lies within the songtitles 'Greenest Meadows' vs. 'Kissing Pavement' - natural vs. urban elements.

Bane - October 23th - Gent

noreply@blogger.com (xroldx) — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 13:11:00 +0000

I loved the early Bane recordings, but kind of lost touch with them after 'Give Blood'. So I never checked out 'The Note' when it came out and only did so years later. It's easy to say that Bane is one of my favorite active bands around. They have the message, the music and the shows that keep me interested.

Their new records are solid. And after my wife got to see them in New York it was my turn for some Bane action.

Johan Reflections, Bust! and I geared up for a roadtrip to Gent. After setting up shop in the venue and eating some fries it was time for the bands to begin. And for me to sell records.

As for the bands: Belgium newcomers Hessian played a solid set of metalcore, not unlike Rise and Fall who in my opinion aren't as good as they used to be. Their set just didn't rip like they used to. Los Angeles band Alpha and Omega have released a pretty good record, but couldn't live up to it in Gent. They seemed to be going to the motions and not really interested in the show. When Trapped Under Ice hit it, they do it good. Though I'm not into their style, I can appreciate a band that knows how to set a whole bunch of hardcore kids on fire. And tonight was pure mayhem.

Bane. Swan Song, Count Me Out, Can We Start Again, Pot Comitted. New songs and old ones. Good words between the songs. Stage-dives and singalongs. Up front with x-es on my hand.

I can still see the reasons
that I opened my eyes to this scene in the first place.
I can still feel my beliefs growing stronger - stronger everyday.

Pics by Anne Kohler.

Touché Amoré - ...To The Beat Of A Dead Horse - cd/lp

noreply@blogger.com (xroldx) — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 07:04:00 +0000

After 7 different presses on vinyl and just in time for the European tour 6131 records is finally releasing Touché Amoré 2009's debut full length ...To The Beat Of A Dead Horse in a nice digipack.

If you're still looking for the next best thing in hardcore, don't look further. Ever since the release of their demo in 2008 this Los Angeles based band (which is on the road all the time) have been bopping more heads than any other new band in hardcore around right now.

Whereas some people were very quick to categorise the band as a second hand Modern Life Is War or American Nightmare, I beg to differ. There are many similarities between the three bands, yet there are as much if not more differences.

Ofcourse singing about 'going to Morrissey to answer my questions, because Ian Curtis has left me hanging', does place a band in a certain section of the hardcore scene.

And the raw emotion in the voice of Jeremy Bolm does bare some resemblance to the sound of Modern Life Is War singer Jeffrey Eaton. Yet you only have to listen to 'Always Running Never Looking Back', on which Eaton does some guestvocals, to hear these are frontmen with different styles.

Touché Amoré is less straightforward than either American Nightmare or Modern Life Is War. Yet they pull off their 'arty' sound without scaring me and other people into plain and simple hardcore away.

At first I wasn't that much into the sound of the whole record. And I remember even having a discussion with Rob Moran (bassplayer of a certain band) about it. In the end I have to admit he was right. The sound of ...To The Beat Of A Dead Horse is different from what is considered the right sound nowadays. But it's also refreshing, when you have warmed up too it, to hear something different than another Kurt Ballou, Jay Maas or Bill Stevenson production. It adds a flavour to the band.

If you are looking to invest in a hardcore band I would say Touché Amoré is the band to go with. They got the style, originality and personality to become the American Nightmare of this era. The only thing left to wonder is, will they be able to write another full length as good as this one?