Steel Nation - Stormcore - Twitching Tongues - Empire Of Rats - Seventh Circle

It's been quite a while since I posted on here, so here comes the next one!
I'm gonna do a long post today, because I noticed that it takes some time to get new posts out here!

First of today will be a picture of all the Steel Nation 7"s I've collected by now. Sadly enough I didn't come across test presses so far, but I've managed to get the 2 other hard-to-come-by items...

Their first 7" was "The New Nation", which was released by A389 Recordings (which is one of my favorite labels, the quality he puts out is just amazing). As far as I know there are only these two versions of it, next to the test pressing.  The regular (black) pressing with the normal artwork and the pre-order version on blue vinyl and with alternative artwork /100.



Their other 7" is actually a split with Crucified, and was put out by Double Or Nothing Records (very cool label that put out their full length too, but is now defunct). There's the regular version on 3 colors (baby blue, grey /100 and clear orange /200) and the tourversion on baby blue vinyl and with alternative artwork out of 33.

Steel Nation is one of my favorite bands, their first 7" The New Nation already struck me by it's hardness, and the fact the recording is so raw that it just makes you creep... But the last full they put out (for now), Forever Wounded (on Double Or Nothing Records as well), is one of the best albums of the last years for me. The music is spot on, real hardcore, with heavy parts as well as solos and slower parts, just a fine example of how good hardcore can really be. Best thing for me about Steel Nation though are the lyrics, which are really good. Most talk about struggles in life, and do it with a sincerity rarely found in hardcore nowadays. But more on this next time, when I'll certainly cover this full album! They also have a new album in the works, so keep your eyes open...



Next up is an old band from France, called Stormcore. They were from the Rennes area, and stopped some years ago. This year though they did a few live performances (which I had to miss every time because I had to play myself with Pushed Too Far or attended to Ninjafest in London to go and see Steel Nation), but as far as rumors they won't be really restarting the band... Which is too bad because they were a great band. One of the first European bands to really get the "kickboxing-style" in the pit too, so a lot of today's bands in European hardcore should be pretty grateful.

The first album they put out was a mini-cd called To The Point (on Hardside Records), but it wasn't until they put out In For The Kill that I really started to like them. The record is really great, still has a good vibe to it today (it was released in 1997). It was released on both CD and vinyl, and those are the ones in the picture. There's the regular black vinyl, but also a nice blue vinyl with black splatter and a half green, half brown one. The blue/black one is out of 50 according to the Mad Mob Release page, but I haven't yet been able to find a source on the other pressing info... Pretty much never knew they existed until I saw them a few years back on a trading list...

After In For The Kill, they also released a live 7" called Rennes In Blood (yes, in reference to the well known Slayer song that is), which I've bought years ago on black vinyl, but found a while ago on red vinyl too. To my knowledge these are the only versions existing, but as with the In For The Kill vinyl, getting confirmation on this seems to be pretty hard!

They also put out a live split cassette with Tekken, a split 7" with the almighty Krutch (more on them later), and a 3-way split with Comin' Correct & ESIP. If memory serves me correctly the last few songs they ever recorded were included on "The nightmare remains... In this other land" compilation (a great French hardcore compilation featuring some amazing bands, think Kickback, Drowning, AWOL, ...) and a KDS crew compilation.

Anyway, if you don't know them, be sure to check them out, because the In For The Kill album is a real french hardcore classic! There's also a pretty good review on the music side of Stormcore by Hardboiled Webzine if you follow THIS LINK.


Next up is my Twitching Tongues 7" collection. I've managed to get my hands on a few bits and ends some time ago, so it's time for the family picture!

I already had the three regular versions of the Preacher Man 7" (black /300, black/clear /100 and clear /600), and now (finally) got the This Is Hardcore version /100. Finally because it took me 3 attempts (and a lot of lost cash on sketchy sellers) to finally have it delivered... Come to think of it, there's also a 2nd press of it on red vinyl (/500 if I remember correctly) that I have to buy. Best thing about this 7" without any doubt is the Candlemass cover, such a great track...

The Insane & Inhumane 7" I first bought when I saw them on their first European Tour in Liège (on a boat!), so it was the tour pressing, as at that time they didn't yet receive the covers of the regular pressing. I took a random copy out of the bin and got number 1/75, so I was pretty happy with this! I counted on ordering the regular version afterwards, but it sold out so quickly I totally missed out. Since they are a pretty popular band ever since, I never got the chance to get me a copy, until some time ago when Photobooth Records put up some copies for sale from a batch they forgot they still had or something, and I was fast enough to respond this time... Pretty happy with this one too!

The last one pictured here is the picture disc that came as a sweetener for the In Love There Is No Law album (what a great album that is). It came out on Closed Casket Activities and is limited /500, and the only bad thing to say about it is they didn't include a download code... As always with Twitching Tongues though, it has a really great artwork!

Not included on this picture is the split they put out with Wisdom In Chains (Durty Mick Records - black and splatter /300), but that one is in the picture here underneath!

By which I can immediately continue to the next topic, my new Wisdom In Chains vinyl...

All these are different versions, first and second press of the We Never Sleep 7" and the split with Twitching Tongues.  I'll go deeper into these next time, as I'm still missing the color Reality Records put out exclusively because of bad communication and stuff like that, but it's on the way, so expect a new post about that soon!


While talking about completing sets, last Ieperfest I found the yellow vinyl of the second pressing of the Empire Of Rats - No Peace 7", so that one is complete now!

Sadly enough, Empire Of Rats called it quits to the same weekend... Really hate that, because their last album was my personal highlight of 2013 (out on A389 Recordings, did I tell you already what a great label that is?).



But so time moves on and bands come and go, so here's something fresh...

Seventh Circle is a newer band from the H8000 area (I know H8000 is extinct, but they are from the same region, and would perfectly fit the time and area) and play some ferocious hardcore metal or metal hardcore or whatever name makes you understand that this music is made to make you tear down the walls with your bare hands and make your enemies eat the debris after you took them with you to hell... They first put out a demo CD (DIY, regular version and release /25) which quickly after was released by Kick Out The Jams on tape (black /20, pink /20, black w/ grey case /20).

They pretty fast made a name for themselves and got a deal with Dead Chemist Records from the UK to put it out on vinyl as well. There's a regular version on black /250, as well as a test pressing out of 5. I am happy enough to know the singer and his girlfriend, and after a short negotiation managed to get my hands on #2/5... Thank you Fien!

Anyway, get to know them, because they are cool dudes, make great music, and are one of the most promising and original bands in Belgium for the moment!



Next time I'll cover some 12"s, just to keep it diverse!

Scared To Death!

The new King Nine records has been out for a few months now, and I've been meaning to put up a post about it, so let's take some time and do it!

As we try to kill each other off

All that remains of us is dust

Who really laughs last?

Because I know it can't be us

First of all, "Scared To Death" is one of the better albums that came out last year.  It's not perfect, the sound is pretty bad in my opinion, but hey, the music is hard, the lyrics about the streets and just coping with existence, and it just has a general flow through the album that makes it so good.  From time to time it reminds me of Everybody Gets Hurt, one of the most underrated NYHC bands out there.  Next to that it could be compared with Backtrack and (older) Trapped Under Ice, but it's rawer, less sophisticated, and more negative, certainly compared to Backtrack.  The vocals are raw, shouted, and sound sincere in every word he screams.  Technically not the most impressive, but I just love it when you hear the singer pushing his voice to the limits... (On a side note; this is probably my biggest problem with Madball, the first few albums were straight up hard, and that had a lot to do with Freddy's voice being this fed up, while the later albums display his vocal talents better, it's sang perfectly, but to me it misses the feeling it had back in the days where he just went loose. But hey, this was supposed to be about King Nine right!)

Now, this album got released on Mass Movement Records, a new label based in Baltimore.  I could be wrong, but I believe King Nine is the first release they did.  Not a bad way to kickstart your label.  The first press sold out in the blink of an eye.  I managed to get my hands on two version, namely the Orange and Blue vinyl, both out of 100 copies.  If memory serves me correctly, there were 300 black ones, which seems to be confirmed by the Discogs page of the album (but hey, those are not always as accurate as they claim). My orange vinyl also came with some black and red strokes.

Some time later Mass Movement Records came up with a second press, also pictured above.  This time only two colors, Yellow and Black, with the yellow being out of 300 and the black out of 200 copies.  The yellow has some black and white/light yellow strokes on it on my copy.  The label also changed the labels, as pictured underneath.  Side A now has the label info on it, while they changed the picture on side B too.  I could be mistaken but I believe the new one has been taken on the release show of the record on November 24th 2013.

The first press also had a small sticker on the paper sleeve, stating the artwork had been done by Lauren Moran.  The second press hasn't got this sticker, and has no other mentioning of it either.  To me it seems they forgot to put it on the sleeve/inlay and had to put a sticker on the paper sleeve to at least mention it.  Somehow sad for the artist they didn't mention him again on the 2nd press, or even better rectified their mistake by adapting the inlay.  I must say that I don't like the artwork that much though.  Both presses also came with a sticker of Mass Movement Records and a download code.  Since I have a few, the download code on this picture hasn't been used yet, feel free to use it (first come first serve!)

To make things more interesting for European vinyl nerds, Ratel Records also put out Scared To Death.  They did 150 copies, of which the first 90 came with a pre-order sleeve.  The records are all black, and with the labels being just the same as the Mass Movement Records 1st press, it's safe to say that they just mailed 150 copies and Ratel made up different sleeves.  While I already mentioned I didn't like the American artwork, the European one is something totally different.  Both the regular (live picture) and pre-order sleeve (Lady Liberty & Graffiti) came out great, so Ratel Records did a great job on this one!

On the picture of the labels underneath you can clearly see they're the same as the American 1st press, only difference is that Ratel Records put their logo stamp on top of the A side label.

They also did a different inlay for the records, and this time the Mass Movement version wins in my opinion, with the American version being the white one and the European version the black one underneath.

So, that's the round-up on the vinyl, now go check out this album yourself, buy it on Itunes or whatever, go to the Mass Movement Records Store or the Ratel Records Store, they both have got some copies left, or ask your local distro, if they haven't gotten this album yet, they're missing out!  If you're low on cash, than check out the footage from their record release, looks like one hell of a party there!  Catch you next time...

Local & London

So... after a long time away again, it's time to get things back on track...

Let's start off with Core Of Anger.

Most of you probably don't know them, and that's just fine.  If you are interested in their official biography you can go HERE or THERE.  The last one is a bit more complete, since it already mentions the band called it quits...  Anyway, this band is not mentioned here for it's musical qualities (which they have none the less, don't get me wrong) but simply because this band was from Roeselare (Belgium) were I grew up.  I knew the guys prior to the band and when they started playing shows I've seen them quite a few times.  Line-ups changed but the band never lost sight of who they were.  I believe somewhere in an old sketchbook I still have some drawings I made for the time they were called "Murder 101" (which was really short).

Anyway, they released a first demo in 2002, which I sadly enough no longer have, so no pictures here, but I've found a few mp3's on an old hard-disk, so I'll include these too.  If memory serves me correctly me and my friend Junior even wrote a lyric each on this one, but hey, it's been a while... Quality-wise this is not a game-changer, not to say it's pretty bad.  The songs themselves are pretty straight-forward metalcore beatdown or however you wish to call it.

Two years later they put out another demo and now some things had changed... The line-up had become a bit steadier, the band had more experience, and it shows on this demo.  I've also managed to get my hands on a promo of the demo (yeah, let's make it complicated), and the third song is a different one than on the demo itself... While the demo has "Brotherhood Foundation" as a third track, "Life" is presented live at the Frontline on the promo.

After they did a small tour with Everybody Gets Hurt (certainly to be covered here later) they managed to get signed to Reality Records, a DIY hardcore label based in Belgium, that had already put out Madball, Kingpin, The Setup, Settle The Score, Everybody Gets Hurt and others, so it was a pretty nice deal!  I remember they did a tour with Arkangel a bit later, but as it mostly goes with bands, things didn't last.  People started studying further away, getting jobs, throat problems, you name it, so in 2007 the band called it quits... One of their members still sings in Restless now, the rest of them I have no idea...  I could bore the hell out of you with more stories about them, drunken times and all, but I'll keep those for at the bar... I'm not going to include their last cd, I'll have a word with the guys in Core Of Anger before I do so.

DEMO 2002

HATE CONQUERS ALL DEMO

PROMO

And though I like local bands, and people should learn to appreciate them a lot more, I can't help but like almost everything that comes from London, and more exactly everything that Rucktion Records puts out... Great bands like Beatdown Fury (what a great reunion show last year!), Bun Dem Out, Deathskulls, Injury Time, Blades Of Unity, Maldito... I'm not doing the list coz I'm gonna forget too many bands I adore...

BUT.
I will make one exeption.  Kartel have always been one of my favorite bands coming from the big smoke.  They have the coolest vibes, funniest shit to say on stage and mix the oldschool New York style perfectly with the harder stuff... And next to all of that, the guys themselves are simply great. First thing I heard from them was the Skeen Demo, a four track demo that was great, so I checked out the Southbound Split they did with Ninebar & Diction, two other great bands from London.

Great stuff from all the bands, but it wasn't until the "Rise Of The Guttersnipe" album came out that I totally realized just how good this band is. The lyrics were awesome, the music was hard but yet had some distinctive sound to it... Nice oldschool parts, hard breaks, LBU shoutouts, everything about the album just worked.  Sadly enough not too long after that, one of the vocalist (Mean Pete) parted ways with the band, which left only DBS on the vocals.  During some time they have been looking for how to cope with this the best way, but when their free sampler cd of "Gutter Music Volume 1" came my way I understood that they had found it.

What I didn't realize was that they did way more than this.  When the album finally dropped, it truly blew my mind.  Music-wise all was still about the same, but this time they had a superb production to it.  The lyrics are practically some of the best I've read in a long time on a hardcore record, the vocals are diverse and crushing, really nothing about this album is flawed...  If someday soon Knuckledust would be calling it quits, which we all would very much hate of course, Kartel is ready to take over the throne of London Hardcore.

Not content to stand in line waiting just to die

We're rising up to claim our piece of the pie

No time to take aim come out shooting from the hip

To push us too far was to let your grip slip.

Get yourself this album through the Rucktion Webstore or anywhere else, you won't be disappointed!

THE SKEEN DEMO

GUTTER MUSIC VOL.1 SAMPLER

Demo Fever

So, as mentioned yesterday, this one will be about a few demo's...

I love collecting 7" records, but for some bands demo's just seem the right format.  I always feel as if a lot of bands loose their hardness/rawness when they get something properly produced, so I find myself listening to demo's quite a lot. Even remember a friend telling me like; "hey, it's cool to have that tape from E-Town Concrete, but the songs on it aren't that good right?" and really giving him a hard time about it. I don't know, the bad sound quality really doesn't bother me that much, it just feels like it's sincere, so yes, I really listen to them (in the E-Town Concrete case even just as much or even more than the rest).

Anyway, we're drifting off.

First band I'd like to mention is Denied.
This is one of my favorite bands, since in my opinion it's the hardest of them all. They don't have the same hardness Fury Of Five has, but go for a more Bulldoze approach (their first CD "Together As None" also appeared on Kevone Bulldoze's label Time Served Records, and has "The Truth" by Bulldoze as a hidden cover track), so this is an old-school beatdown band, just the way I like them.

They have a split 7" with Relentless (which I will certainly cover later) on Respect Due Records, a split CD with Beatdown Fury on Rucktion Records, a fourway split "Step To The Plate" with Full Court Press, Down My Throath & Strength For A Reason on Thornz Records, "Prayer For The Enemy" full-CD on Filled With Hate Records and the aforementioned "Together As None" CD on Time Served Records. Next to that they also have a demo that I'll be covering today.

In fact, I have two versions of the CD. One comes with black and white artwork, and one with some sepia colors and a colored logo on it. Weirdly enough the one with the black&white artwork has a colored Denied logo sticker on the CDr, while the other one who has a colored artwork has just the name written on it. Anyway, this demo came out when they came on tour in Europe, so the songs are not in the same vein as the "Together As None" session, but are rather comparable to the ones on the "Step To The Plate" spit. The last 4 tracks are also live-tracks, but it's not mentioned where they've been recorded.

I know for a fact that this demo also came out on tape, but haven't been able to get my hands on it so far...

Download this demo right HERE.

If you're looking for a better discography on Denied, check out THIS PAGE on the Filled With Hate Records site.

Second band for today is Capitol Punishment.

This band has never released anything more than this demo, and probably didn't do that many shows either. I remember seeing them once somewhere in Belgium, small venue, not that many attendees. But hey, this demo is a real banger. It's hard as nails, the vocals are as deep as you can get them, and the production is not bad at all for a demo. Think I bought this demo somewhere around the same time I bought the Nasty "The Beginning" demo, and I must say that they probably spun equally much. Something in this music just does it for me.

As you can see, again there are two versions. Both are called "Infernal Necro Beatdown", but the second one is the "Tour Version" numbered out of 25 I was able to buy at the show. This tour version also has been remastered, which gives it an even deeper sound, bit less raw, bit more bass, I liked them both. If memory serves me correctly, which sadly enough isn't always the case, the guy singing in this band was Norman from Fuck This Recordings, whom also released a few Nasty CDs, Surge Of Fury, The Boss and a few more. I even believe some members of Capitol Punishment went further and started a band called Panzerhölle, whom released a CD on Warcity Records, but that's something I'm not that certain of... Anyway, Enjoy!

Download it right HERE and HERE (Remastered Edition).


Last band for today is one on request, Age Of Disgrace.

They released a mini-CD "...Those Who Persist" that was distributed by Filled With Hate records, a demo in 2002 and this one. If I remember correctly I got this demo through Toni, the big boss at Beatdown Hardwear Records.
Music-wise it's a tough guy band like there were quite a few at that time, straight forward, a lot of hard breaks and grooving for the rest, and all that with a little metalcore twist. Not their best for recording quality though, sounds like it's recorded in their bathroom. Got to see them live and they were pretty cool, but they never really got bigger. If I'm not mistaking they had a little break in between the mini-CD and this demo, and they released this demo to try to get some shows all around. Guess it didn't really worked out. Not too bad this demo, their mini-CD you should easily be able to find.

Download their 2005 demo HERE.

Thanks for reading, next time something more old-school!

Empire Of Rats - No Peace...

This one is about one of the best bands in the last few years, Empire Of Rats.

I've first heard one of their songs right before they did the pre-orders for the "No Peace" 7inch through Get This Right Records. Since I was blown away by the sheer hardness of it, I just ordered it.

That got me the regular black vinyl version and the pre-order one, which was a coke bottle clear one with a special cover, picturing Brice Davis Colopy. It also comes with an apology letter for taking quite a time to arrive.

After receiving it I got in contact with the guy running GTRrecords and was able to get my hands on a test pressing! And it got even better when the same year I went to the Ieperfest, Europe's best hardcore festival for years. Some band played and while looking at their merch-table I found a few copies of the "No Peace" 7inch. Looking further I saw they were regular covers, but some had the same coke bottle clear vinyl as the pre-order version. I bought one of course, and got to talk to the dude selling them, which of course was somebody related to the GTRrecords. He told me they did a few limited edition "Empire Of Cats" versions for the This Is Hardcore Fest, and that he possibly had one left at home. And you already guessed, a few weeks later it arrived at my place... Seemed that next to the fact it had a limited edition cover, it also had another color of vinyl, being solid yellow. Seems they did a second press I didn't know about, so that one's on the list to buy in the short future!

Anyway, here's the Empire Of Rats 7inch collection so far, when I get the solid yellow copy, I'll do a complete collection picture with the "No Peace" tape and the new LP, so stay tuned!

If you'd like to hear what it sounds like, go visit their Bandcamp, you can listen to the entire 7inch, and download it at a "name your price" principle... You should just do it, coz this is one of the best 7"s to have come out in the last years!

E-Town Concrete Collection Update

So, after a long time of silence it's time to jump back into the game...
Let's start off with the E-Town Collection I posted earlier.
Since then I've managed to get a hold on three more items.

There's the "Fuck The World" 7inch that I already had, but there's some more colors to it:

 The green one at the right bottom and the black one with yellow labels at the left top are the new ones.
The green one is most probably a pre-order version, it's numbered out of 100.
I'm curious to know if the colored vinyls also come with the other colors of labels, so if anyone has a colored one with a different label, get in touch!

I've also found "The Second Coming" LP on clear, the previous one was a solid yellow one, which seems to be the most common color. I've got it through Edward Goodlife, so if you're looking for one yourself you might always try and ask the man himself!

Anyway, more coming later!