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!

It's been since forever...

haven't used this blog since a very long time, so it's time to get things back together now... Finally got a new laptop and a lot of new records, tapes and cds to discuss... Expect this thing to be back up in no time!

Surge Of Fury - Demo Days

OK
As the header says, this one is about Surge Of Fury. It certainly is a subject that I cannot approach very objective, coz all of them are good friends, and yes, I love the music.
Nevertheless, I present you the Demo and Promo days (left the 2008 promo out since you can easily find it elsewhere, and all the songs are on the last CD anyway)
If you dig what you hear, come check them out live, and buy some of their Cd's and merchandise. Support hardcore.

DEMO TAPE 1999




"I'm violence when you call yourself justice..."

The first demo tape of these Liège city based heavyweights, and totally different to what they do these days. The style reminds a bit (?) of Trapped In Life (Paris band), and actually does to a few bands from that era and area. Sad Origin (Belgium) used to play a bit of this style too, but whit a more Arkangel twist to it. All by all, this is just fine for a demo tape (even has a pretty clean recording), but it has little to nothing to do with the Surge Of Fury known these days.


The Most Beautifulest Tape DEMO

"Guess who's f*cking back?"

The second demo tape Surge Of Fury ever released. Raw material, but it already shows their unique sound. Some songs even made it on the later released "It's Gonna Be" mcd, ("Give me one reason" & "Guess who's there... Guess who's back") be it in a better and cleaner way, they even re-recorded Guess who's there for the last album!
Compared to the first album it's clear they discovered a few bands they didn't know then (Krutch comes to mind), and I actually really love this demo. Has their first rhymes on it too, and you hear the band has the vibe which they now are famous for, but the recording sounds a bit too sh*tty from time to time. Notice the big change in the vocal style too.
"The Most Beautifulest End" later was used as backbone for the "Fury Deluxe Edition" song.
(artwork not available, will try to upload it later)


PROMO 2002

"Sometimes ignorance takes the brains place"





This is the promo that really opened my eyes and made me love the band. The first two songs made it on the "It's Gonna Be" CD, the third "Never Again" sadly enough didn't, to this day it's one of my favorite Surge Of Fury songs. The production on this one isn't too good, but it doesn't really matter, the songs are total blasts!

Promo 2005

"My fury style is ripping"





By the time this one came out, Surge Of Fury was already a well-established name in the Belgian hardcore scene. I still remember shows in Tournai that would really explode, it was a great time all-together (R.I.P. Mikey).
Once again, the first two songs made it on the later to be released "Fury Deluxe Edition" CD, while the third, "As those days goes by", didn't, and again, it's too bad.
This promo pretty much showcases what Surge Of Fury stands for: hard, fast & no compromise.

*Download no longer available*

The downloads to these demotapes and promo cds is no longer available, since they are gonna come out later this year on a new discography CD, put out by Clenched Fist Records... It should hold all the rare and hard to find tracks, just like the ones mentioned above and then some... wait and see!
Surge Of Fury Myspace

"It's Gonna Be", "Fury Deluxe Edition" & "In My Tox City" can be purchased through various webstores, distros and through the band.
try these:
Rucktion (their current label)
Goodlife Recordings
Filled With Hate Records
Reality Records

Krutch - Brotherhood Sisterhood

OK
This is one of my all-time favorite bands.
The sheer hardness of Krutch is something no other band has ever reached if you ask me. This mini-cd has been released on Release Power Productions, a Brussels based label that also gave us the Arkangel "Prayers Upon Deaf Ears", Crawlspace "Don't Get Mad..." and so much more (I might be putting up some more of their releases in due time)
I bought this one a few years back on the Ypres Hardcore Festival, and was happy as a little boy who gets his presents on Christmas! Everything from the band has been sold out for years, and is almost impossible to find (yeah, Ebay is the only way!) which is too bad, coz everyone listening to hardcore should possess this.
Tracks number 1, 2 and 4 are taken from the "Wheruat" demo tape, and the 2nd and 5th come from the "Greed & Pride" split with Surrounded on Back ta Basics (BtB#02).
Members of Krutch went on to form Wisdom In Chains (probably the best band in current hardcore) so check 'em out too!

Before the "Wheruat" demo, they did another one entitled "Stand Alone, Stand Strong" which I like even more, and have in my possession, but I can't rip it, since I haven't got the equipment for it, if someone could help me out on it, would be awesome!


Krutch - Brotherhood Sisterhood
Krutch Myspace

Darkside NYC - Suffer In Silence 7"

This probably must be one of my favorite 7inches, totally love the band!
They have some Sheer Terror members in it (they even did a cover of them on the full cd), and go for the Hardcore meets Celtic Frost sound.
Never done better imo.
The first song "Clawing & Tearing" is the same as the last one on the full cd "Ambitions make way for dread", accept it is not cut in half on the 7", which is for the best, coz the song is amazing, and it always used to upset me to hear the song on the cd...
They recently reformed, and plan to bring out a double CD on Satan Wears Suspenders.
Be sure to check out Everyday Dollars too, which is a side project of the Darkside NYC members, and totally blows everything alike away!



download "Suffer In Silence"
Darkside NYC myspace

E-Town Concrete

this is my E-Town Concrete collection, almost full, missing the anthony martini demo and the renaissance promo cd...

contains:

just move it - demo tape
prepare for kombat - demo tape
split w/ second to none - 7" on black on back to basics
fuck the world - cd on resurrection ad/cartel records
fuck the world - 7" on orange (Cartel Records #2)
fuck the world - 7" on yellow /500 (Cartel Records #2)
fuck the world - 7" on black with red ink on the labels (Cartel Records #2)
fuck the world - 7" on black with grey ink on the labels (Cartel Records #2)
time to shine - cd original press on back to basics
time to shine - cd second press on ressurection AD
time to shine - cd third press on razor & tie/roadrunner
the second coming - lp on yellow (Good Life Recordings)
the second coming - cd first press on triple crown records
the second coming - cd second press on razor & tie
the renaissance - cd on razor & tie/roadrunner
made for war - cd on ironbound recordings
jersey devils - cd on p.o.p. records/straight edge productions
split DVD w/ nj bloodline & agents of man - on On The Rise Records

also contains the "Two By Four - Ain'ts Ta Be Fucked With" 7" clear vinyl #35/100 & #90/100
released on Cartel Records (w/ original members of Hatebreed) (Cartel Records #1)


Bio E-town Concrete:

�One thing I want to stress,� says E. Town Concrete�s lead singer and Anthony Martini. �We�re not rap-core. To me, that whole genre should be renamed rap-corny. I don�t want to be pigeon-holed and lumped together with a heard of sub-par nu-metal bands. We�re simply a hard rock band who incorporates various musical styles to express the influence of the urban culture that we grew up in.� A single listen to E. Town Concrete�s Razor and Tie debut The Renaissance tells you that Martini knows what he�s talking about. E. Town � guitarist DeLux, bassist Eric DeNault, drummer Teddy P. and Martini on vocals � has created a heavy, hard hitting album that combines metallic fury with experimental and unexpected touches � from the dark metal attack of �Metroid,� the acoustic Latin guitar introduction to the anthemic �Let�s Go,� the dub-wise coda dropped onto the end of �Door Mats� and the prog rock, Zep meets Hendrix opening to �In The Heart of the Wolves.� While other bands were sitting home or shopping demos in the hopes of landing that magical label deal, E. Town Concrete was taking a more hands on approach towards success. E. Town, named after the slang nickname for Elizabeth, New Jersey, where the band grew up, earned their stripes in the unforgiving New York/ New Jersey hardcore scene. During their seven-year history, playing some 200 dates a year, the kids have made E. Town Concrete a force to be reckoned with. New York City�s 92.3 K-Rock gives them regular spins, on Seton Hall University�s WSOU Pirate Radio, probably the most popular college station in America, E. Town is the second most requested band, CMJ ranked them as one of the Top Five Loud Rocks Acts in 1998, they�ve outsold Metallica and Pearl Jam at many major alternative music retailers and rocked Japan in September 2002 on a nearly sold out tour. Not too bad for a group that started out as a side project. �The four of us were always in different bands together,� continues Martini. �The last one was a bit more serious, with me on guitar and Ted on bass. One day a friend left a set of drums at Teddy�s and we were jamming and wrote some songs - me singing and Ted on drums. We called DeLux and made a demo tape and it got more serious. We added Eric, quit our old band, and we�ve been at it ever since. That was when we were 15.� E. Town Concrete�s music has always been about the struggle to turn a world of negativity into something positive. While their lyrics address life�s adversities like domestic violence, poverty and child abuse, their underlying message is about taking the harsh reality of one�s past and using it to fuel your dream of a better future. �Elizabeth is the second biggest city in New Jersey,� Martini explains. �It�s industrial. It�s a container port city full of oil refineries, sitting right on the turnpike. It�s a filthy, shitty looking town, with lead in the water and dirty air. I write about my experiences in life, and that happens to be what average people can relate to. Nowadays kids are more screwed up than ever, so when I sing about my experiences and things that I�ve been through, they can relate.� �It�s the same with the music, which is why we don�t consider ourselves a rap metal band. Hip-hop is all around us, you can�t escape it, so it shows up in the music but it�s the same with Latin music. There�s a big Latino community in Elizabeth, and DeLux is Columbian, so that comes in too, as well as a bit of reggae or the classic rock I heard growing up.� E. Town Concrete has already released two indie label efforts, Time 2 Shine, recorded live in a marathon 10 hour session [�The tunes were all road tested, but the long session was done out of necessity,� Martini says. �We could only afford to book one day in the studio.�] and Second Coming on which they experimented with piano and acoustic guitar, as well as the F$uck the World EP and tracks on various compilations. But the band sees The Renaissance as the best thing they�ve done. So far. �The Renaissance is more mature then anything we�ve ever done,� Martini concludes. �Working with (producer) Scrap 60 (H2O, Ill Nino, Cradle of Filth) gave us the time to focus on the details and get everything nice and clear.� The band has built a reputation that has earned them the respect and admiration of both fans and peers. Bands like Poison the Well (emo/metal posterboys whose new album has been named one of the most anticipated releases of 2003 by Alternative Press), Shai Hulud (hardcore/screamo veterans), Hatebreed (the heir apparents to the Slayer/Pantera throne), and Candira (jazz-metal/math-rock � touted by Rolling Stone as one of the most important metal bands) have all stepped up with their nods of approval, including old school iconic metal band Anthrax, whose drummer Charlie Benante heard E. Town blasting from the studio next door during a recording session, and was so impressed he asked Anthony to guest on their new album. These might seem like unlikely supporters of rap-core, but E. Town�s music transcends barriers and continues to inspire people from all musical backgrounds and tastes.
(taken from Loudside.com)

visit:

http://www.myspace.com/etownconcrete2

Starters

What's up?

First blog, nothing much too say, but be on the lookout, next week tourpics and stories will be posted of the Pushed Too Far - For My Enemies Summer Tour!

Stay safe,

DMZ_nmc