Dwarves – Concept Album’ (Dwarves Records)

Dwarves – Concept Album’ (Dwarves Records)

After the blast off and the countdown, Blag and the gang are feeling great with a little slice of punk rock sunshine complete with lush harmonies and a melody to die for. How could The Dwarves ever be cancelled with songs this happy? It’s sunshine, rainbows and unicorns and a melodic guitar solo to swing your pants to. oh yes, and lyrics about masterbating (well it is the motherfuckin Dwarves for Gawds Sake). He’ll its the Dwarves boys n girls and if you don’t like it fuck you! Go listen to Nickelback. They’ve never been PC and anyone whose followed them or read Vadges book knows that this is who they are a bunch of depraved guys who happen to write awesome music and seriously dangerous live shows. Hell they’ve got a big pile of books made out of paper on the cover n all what more could you possibly want?

How haven’t the cancel culture warriors from the right not taken a swing at Blag and the gang. Tits on the artwork, songs about wanking and Satan and fucking. Oh and terrorism. Go Blag you crazy fucker I ain’t been this excited since dessert storm either.

‘Terrorist’ is full throttle don’t fuck with us Dwarves in full flight. The band sounds magnificent and the effortless energy is a joy to behold. In true Dwarves fashion its turns the amps up and let’s go, It’s off like a fuckin rocket. ‘Ages Ago’ goes through the gears before any chance of pausing for breath.

Wait what’s this, some horns honking, hand claps, and surfing chops on the guitar as ‘Dead To Me’ tells a twisted tale on this most fucked up of duets. Pure Blag genius and the organ is like they’ve kidnapped some prime-time Rudi Petruddi and his Fuzztones.

‘Do It All The Time’ is heavy as fuck chugging riff through a grinding rhythm like being high on spice when the weather hits 110 – intense. A couple of twists and turns through safe Dwarves territory and we hit the halfway point of this twenty-track masterpiece. Oh yeah, tipper stickers are ready to warn the kids of the content of this record as ‘ Everybody Squirts’ makes way via a seaway of testimony about a typical Dwarves day on the road before ‘Kill Or Be Killed’ kicks down some doors.

‘You Lose We Win’ is as hard and heavy as the Dwarves get Thrashing away like prize fighters. One of the highlights is ‘Parasite’ with its swirling organ (oh er mrs) and hand claps and some great licks from the guitars.

Wrecks everything ‘Comes Unglued’ on the unhinged brain fuck  of a track. ‘We Will Dare’ just glides by on one of those Dwarves’ melodies. It’s familiar territory but they do it so well. ‘Lean’ is punk if Slayer were to return as punks. It’ll fuck with your brain but I think it’s a Dwarves interlude to let the listener regain their composure before sailing off on ‘Ain’t Playing With You’ We’re in the home straight now as ‘Sixteen’ rocks out before Thrashing about on ‘Stabbed My Dad’, yeah perfect, what a pleasant title for a frenzied fling before signing off this beast of a record with ‘All For You’ and you know that Blag is being sincere here and bowing out letting us know why these depraved individuals who make up the Dwarves are true altruistic punk rockers who only do it for us the fans and nothing to do with sex, drugs, and money or self-gratification it’s all about giving and on ‘Concept’ The Dwarves have delivered once again. Give give give. And on behalf of Joe Public can I say thank you so much for delivering again and again. The concept is a winner and over time might well grow to be up there with one off their finest most consistent records yet. Just don’t die or get canceled. Buy it!

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Author: Dom Daley

The Mansters – ‘The Lessons In giving Up’ (Loyal Blood Records)

The Mansters – ‘The Lessons In giving Up’ (Loyal Blood Records)

Influenced by the punk and hardcore Norwegians THE MANSTERS have released a demo, three EPs and a full-length album since their inception in 2006.

Now in 2023, seven long years following that self-titled debut album, the five-piece group from Tønsberg are back with a new full-length album titled “The Lessons In Giving Up”, and it’s out on Loyal Blood Records. 


Recorded by Ruben Willem at Caliban Studio Storsjøen, ‘The Lessons In Giving Up’ is a high-octane blood brother to Fellow Northern Europeans The Good The Band And The Zugly. The band manages very nicely to harness that raw aggression of punk with the pummelling fury of hardcore and some speed metal thrown in for good measure. It’s been a style for decades now and trying to perfect it is hard many have tried and failed with some of the finest exponents of this style currently being Clowns from Australia and TGTBATZ.

Eight songs are on offer here kicking off with the frantic ‘Welcome To Hell’ with its pounding tempo and uncompromising style its a blinding opener and I love the stabs before the solo enters the frey like a chinook helicopter blade slashing and slicing. But hold onto yur strides kids because ‘Panic Boy’ turns up the pace and is off like a freakin rocket.

The bass grunt on ‘Underdogs’ gives you time to take a sharp intake of breathe before we speed off again in a flurry of drums bass and guitar. It’s a short but oh so sweet records with some variety – its not all thrash til you die they’re not savages for Gods sake. ‘Walls’ is a slower beast but is prowling round your speakers like some pissed off grisley bear weating to pounce. The melody on ‘Walls’ is an earworm you welcome. ‘Give Up’ is a frantic melodic slice of punk and again I love that bass sound they’ve hit on as it punches its way to your attention- ‘Give Up’ is a beast.

The final three offerings follow a pettern – pound – pound and pound again as the listener submits and throws themselves around to some mighty fine punk rock hardcore crossover. If you’re looking for some blood pumping top notch harn n heavy punk rock then The Mansters are your band. Get on it and give them some love and tell em the RPM boys sent you. They’re waiting

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Bloodclot – ‘Souls’ (Upstate Records)

Bloodclot – ‘Souls’ (Upstate Records)

Righto punk rockers after a debut album that was heralded as a hardcore classic right from the off Bloodclot were far more than the sum of their parts even if those parts were fuckin’ awesome. After the sad loss of Todd Youth the thought of a new Bloodclot album didn’t crop up on anyone’s radar I wouldn’t imagine. Then Boom! the power of the internet revealed late in 2022 that there was now music seeping out of the wounds of Bloodclot and whilst there was a huge Youth sized hole in the band they could continue if the material was anywhere near as strong as what was on the debut.

Mainstay vocalist and part-time Cro Mag John Joseph howls the battlecry of Bloodclot and as far as modern hardcore goes these are as good as you can hope to get and stand on top of the pile. Apparently, Bloodclot has been a going concern since the mid-80s kicking out the jams on the live front but it wasn’t until ‘that debut ‘Up In Arms’ were they laid down for eternity on some epic wax. Almost a decade later they follow up that debut with the stingy ‘Souls’ stingy in as much as there are only seven songs represented here but boy is it in your face hardcore. With Slayer gone and living it large in some retirement home someone needed to pick up those riffs and smash them down onto wax so why not Bloodclot.

There might not be many songs on this seven-track album but there’s a hell of a lot going on and it’s Hardcore as fuck with no second passing that isn’t going to devastate your eardrums or give you the slightest second to catch your breath. It’s Punk as fuck, Metal as fuck, Hardcore as fuck – Thrash as fuck it’s the whole freakin lot. My only complaint is the cost of getting this into the UK with the cost going through the roof currently thanks to Brexshit and the UK government dragging us closer to hell with their economics and cost of living but then again what better soundtrack is there?

When you find out that Joseph has recruited Tom Capone formally of the influential post-hardcore band Quicksand, bassist Craig Setari of Sick Of It All, and Darren Morgenthaler formally of Madball on Drums you might begin to understand why these guys deliver such a bone-crushing heaviness.

If it was possible this is heavier than ‘Up In Arms’ in a Slayer thrash sort of way its crossover at its finest and uncompromising. If I were to offer up a criticism then it would be the fact that there are only six original songs here with the album closing off with a rip through Bad Brains ‘How Low Can A Punk Get’.

‘Unhinged’ will pummel you ‘War Castles’ out Slayers early Slayer with a twist. Save the Robot’ is a little slower in tempo but not much, even leaning on early Metallica especially when you hear dim the light’s lyrics but why not. ‘Infectious’ is a slower more grinding heaviness and possibly the least enjoyable track on offer. But hang on in there ‘Relentless’ picks up the pace again with its tip of the hat to Lemmy and his Ace Of Spades (nice touch).

I’ll always be interested in a new Bloodclot album regardless of how many songs and how long it lasts because even if it’s not hit the dizzy heights of ‘Up In Arms’ it’s not too far behind and that’s still a rip-snorting place to be.

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Author: Dom Daley

Ditz – ‘Five Songs’ (Alcopop! Records)

Ditz – ‘Five Songs’ (Alcopop! Records)

Think post-punk think Joy Division, think a band who loves making a fuckin’ racket, barking like a dog and general anti-social antics like Pavement jarring rhythms riffing on Queen Zee songs.  Think Idles think Slaves think Wonk Unit think Queen Zee for sure It’s out there but just a little further.  Oh and of course Steve Lamacq loves em.

The collection will be the band’s first physical record and includes new single ‘Role Model’, as well as previously-released singles ‘Seeking Arrangement’ (Permanent Creeps), ‘Gayboy’ and ‘Total 90’, plus their limited edition cover of Peaches hit single ‘Fuck The Pain Away’, previously only released on a decomposing peach. Put that in your promotional ideas pipe and smoke it…

The quintet have released music irregularly, starting with a three-track EP in 2016 and then following on with a series of singles beginning in 2018. After the release of the EP, the band played constantly in their hometown and in London, honing their craft and growing together as a unit, waiting almost two years before hitting the studio again to record their follow-up, ‘Seeking Arrangement’.

DITZ released their single ‘Total 90’ at the tail-end of 2019 (the first for new label Alcopop! Records) picking up plays from BBC Radio One, The video for the track—which sees the band face off against a team consisting of members of friends from Slaves and FUR—was made to highlight discrimination and inequality within football. It was shot at The Dripping Pan, official ground for Lewes F.C. since 1885, and sees the band wearing Altrincham F.C.’s Football vs Homophobia rainbow coloured kit. They were also illustrated especially for the single release by badly-drawn sticker duo Panini Cheapskates. So whilst they might not have been prolific in recent years they are making up for it at the moment and might well ride this wave of enthusiasm from the likes of the Beeb.

The thumping bass throb is incredibly primal and on tracks like ‘Gayboy’ it hits you right in the chest and those guitar chords sound like riding a fuckin monster that’s awoken from a particularly nasty nightmare. They’d have fitted in nicely with the 90’s nomeansno and the Fugazi crowd who must have also been an influence?

‘Role Model’ is like a false intro before the huge avalanche of noise which is fleeting which only leaves that Peaches cover which I might add is nailed within an inch of its life. They should go on tour post-pandemic with Cabbage I think I’d enjoy that one.  check em out, kids that’ll piss off anyone who lives within 200 feet of your stereo no joke.

Website Label Page Here

 

The Good The Bad And The Zugly – Algorithm & Blues (Fysisk Format)

The Good The Bad And The Zugly – Algorithm & Blues (Fysisk Format)

It’s always a good day when The Zuglys drop a new record of any description.  A bunch of Oslo natives kicking out the jams on their terms – dancing only to their own tune GBZ as we like to call them, are a force of nature and you need to let them into your life it must be pretty empty without them, that’s all I can assume? Besides I’m declaring right here right now that this is the finest Deathpunk album since ’98s ‘Apocalypse Dudes’ which is quite some gap.

Album number four (or five if you include the compilation of early releases) it would be fair to say that Zugly are one of the best-kept secrets in all of punk rock land.  How? Fuck knows is often a few words we use to describe the phenomena or just that people generally haven’t got a clue what’s good for them.  Over the next few paragraphs, I’m hoping to either put you off music for life or help persuade you to click the red words below and go investigate this band of maverick noisemakers.

Right, let’s do this. ‘Algorithm & Blues’ contains thirteen songs of varying levels of intensity mostly stressful full-on in your face punk rock Oslo style without compromise or a hint of wanting to conform to reach a wide audience of nodding dogs who wouldn’t know a good tune from a puddle of piss. The opening track is ‘Welcome To The Great Indoors’ which is nice. It begins with some Angus like scales working out up the fretboard before the rhythm section joins in building up to the crunch point then bosch! We’re off as the guitars pin you to the back of your seat and we’re careering downhill at a frantic rate of knots.  Fuck this is how to kick off your album. Ivar Nikolaisen leads the charge with his uncompromising vocals and what a thrilling four minutes that was.

 

Forget Turbonegro and Kvelertak this is how to rock out 2020 style.  this is where the bar gets set, these are the leaders and others will just have to follow, simples. ‘Fake Noose’ is intense and has a really haunting melody through the vocals it’s like audio crack it’s that addictive but then when you tackle the subject of elected dying and going to Switzerland to do it its gotta be a little intense right?.  The quality charge continues as ‘Staying With The Trouble’ is up next with its triumphant guitars and pop-savvy melody on those backing vocals its a lighter side of The Zuglys for sure. Have they finally decided to sell a little of their soul for success and chart acceptance?

 

After the slight interlude of ‘Follow Your Dreams’ were right back at it hammering away on ‘Kings Of Inconvenience’. ‘The Man Behind The (Oxygene) Mask’ is the Zuglys on top of their game it’s bold, it’s grand, it’s epic. It gallops from the off (no great shock there to be fair) but the melodies happening are fantastic and the more you play these songs the more things jump out you didn’t notice on the last play and this song is one of the best examples of that. Remember what you thought when you first heard Turbo knock out ‘Apocolpse Dudes’ well, this is like that.

 

‘Fuck Life…But How To Live It’ is hardcore heaven. Uncompromising and just full of boundless energy like the Beastie Boys tackling early Black Flag. The second single off the album ‘Corporate Rock’ is anything but.  Hounding out fake bands with a huge riff that belted out like a 30lb hammer landing on your temple. I’m standing firm behind these boys they know the score!

 

‘The Kids Are Alt-Right’ is tackling the hot potato of today’s global politics but I hope they’re wrong on this one I hope that Hope Not Hate prevails and the Kids are alright and our children don’t head down a wormhole of Trump and tory hate for anyone and everything except money and not 90% are nihilists.  C’mon Oslo’s finest offer us some hope?  whilst there is a darkness I have to believe the kids are generally all right.

 

Blimey, for some light relief from the last one ‘Fuck The Police’ raises the alarm, Doh! bollocks lets go with them. Use the intro to inhale then prepare to enter the pit as the intensity escalates. “Fuck, Fuck Fuck the Police” if you can’t beat them join them. That my friends is pretty much where we get off this trip except for ‘Requiem’ and its one last hurrah!  Rounding off an absolute belter to kick-off 2020.  The Good The Bad And The Zugly are everything you want them to be they make you think, Smile, Laugh, break things, give yourself over to the noise they make, be grateful you have them in your life and you also have impeccable taste in hardcore punk rock and roll Oslo style.

 

As they said it themselves on this record “Don’t tell me that the sky is the limit when there are footprints on the moon” Go The Zuglys I’m rootin’ for you to break on through.  Let’s make this go overground! Just go Buy it! it’s because you’re worth it!

Buy Algorithm & Blues Here

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Author: Dom Daley

Clowns, The Broken Bones Gentleman’s Club, Glug – Bristol Exchange 18.11.19

Clowns, The Broken Bones Gentleman’s Club, Glug – Bristol Exchange 18.11.19

I’d still describe Clowns a new band  but then they’ve been doing this hardcore rock n roll lark for six years which would hardly make them new really, it’s a tough one but one of the best records released this year without a doubt is ‘Nature / Nurture’ and its a great move on the face of it signing for Fat Wreck Chords. About eighteen months ago I stood in the Ballroom at Blackpool Winter Gardens in the early afternoon and watched Clowns own the day and turn in a pulverising and quite beautiful set and that was before we even had a sniff of the latest album (which, Incidently is their best by a country mile)  and before that I’d seen them in one of the smallest stages of the festival a year or two before that where they’d just released ‘Bad Blood’ and that was a brutal – pulverising performance that made those present sit up and take notice of these Australian loons kicking the shit out of our ears with their punk rock.  Wind forward to a cold November in Bristol as part of their jaunt around Europe in support of Nature/Nurture’ Clowns are in the motherfuckin’ house boys and girls and it’s a school night and the place – whilst not packed to the rafters is in decent shape and very busy indeed.  Anyway rewind the evening a little and first up is three-piece Glug.  Two ladies on guitar and Bass swapping vocals in the briefest of sets that was basically ten minutes and a bit but ten songs and plenty of between-song banter. they were never going to steal the show they knew it and we knew it but it was great to see them doing what they do on a school night.

Next up were the four-piece local lads The Broken Bones Gentleman’s Club. who to be fair have been around the block and are used to this kinda Monday night punk rock show as they proceeded to smash out their tight set of Hardcore punk rock for the next twenty-five minutes or so.  Flip is a bundle of energy and turns the screw on the rest of the band as they get pushed harder and faster and tonight it really works.  Cookie is our prowling the audience poking for a reaction and its working.  Tonight The Broken Bones Gentleman’s Club are smashing it (as the kids say) as for what they played I couldn’t even begin to break it down as song titles were irrelevant. Maybe they played ‘Reasons’ maybe they didn’t but what mattered was tonight they were on form and took no prisoners and impressed those who’d bothered to turn up on time and give these punks the time of day.  Great effort.

Finally, Clowns are ready as the busy venue is up for what is about to unfold and I’ve been looking forward to this since it was announced. Stevie has a sharp new haircut (since last time) and after a few stretches were ready to go and without any fanfare and ‘I Shaved My Legs For You’ is riffing the fuck out of the room and from the off this is going to be something special. Hanny J is a great foil for Stevie as they are both penned in by the dual riff maesters Rod and Will either side as they unleashing the venom. What a blistering opener, then it’s back to the rapid assault of ‘Infected’ off the uncompromising ‘Bad Blood’ album and that’s where they stayed for the title track and low and behold they open up ‘These Veins’ as well and the band sound on fire.

Next track up is ‘Freezing In The Sun’ which was released as a single prior to the last album but it only gave a slight glimpse into what was to come as the band took a giant leap sonically from the first two albums to ‘Lucid Again’ and then ‘Nature / Nurture’ where they seem to have really come of age and grown into something really special. Some of the songs steered them into Janes Addiction Territory (when Janes were on fire of course) and this single was their most accessible track to date and tonight it was pounding and they executed it to within an inch of perfection.

The band then flip-flopped between the most recent couple of albums with the pick of the tunes from both slotting in very nicely indeed. It took Williams a while to get into the audience but when he was comfortable he was like a cat on a hot tin roof not standing still for a second as the band hammered home the tunes giving him the space to do his thing and boy did he do it.  ‘Like A Knife At A Gunfight’  grew into a swirling beast that it is but it was overshadowed by the monumental ‘, I Wanna Feel Again’ that showed how much this band has grown over their short tenure and all those shows are paying off because I wouldn’t want to be in a band and follow these on stage on this evidence. To suggest it was epic isn’t an understatement at all.

By the time we hit ‘Soul For Sale’ and a quick check of the time we knew we were reaching melting point in the set, the whole place was twitching at the very least as some lost their collective shit it was only ‘Never Enough’ to wrap up the evening. A  fitting ending to a superb night of Hardcore entertainment from a band that was on fire and one I can’t recommend highly enough they were simply a sight to behold.

If you get the chance you really should check these Clowns out. It’s never too late to pick up one of the albums, hell even go for the first one that they sadly neglected this evening but I guess its fair that you can’t have everything. Now, these and Bronx on a doubleheader would be just the best idea if someone could make that happen in 2020 I’d be grateful.  Clowns from Australia I salute you, you came – we saw – you rocked.  Fuckin Awesome!

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Author: Dom Daley

Slayer – 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗞𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆 – 𝗜𝗻 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗢𝗻 𝗡𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 6

Slayer – 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗞𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆 – 𝗜𝗻 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗢𝗻 𝗡𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 6

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗞𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆 – 𝗜𝗻 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗢𝗻 𝗡𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟲𝘁𝗵 – Uncompromising and unmissable, this one-night-only event features the short film paired with a full concert performance and a cinema-exclusive welcome from the band.

Find your nearest screening and book tickets online at https://www.slayer.film

For nearly four decades, Slayer’s onslaught has proven them to be the supreme thrash-metal band on the planet – the band that other heavy acts are measured against and aspire to. With their place in music history secure, Slayer – Tom Araya, Kerry King, Gary Holt and Paul Bostaph – in conjunction with Trafalgar Releasing, Nuclear Blast Records and Prime Zero Productions, will unleash the Slaytanic offensive on the big screen when “Slayer: The Repentless Killogy” debuts in movie theatres around the world on November 6, 2019. Uncompromising and unmissable, this one-night-only event will feature the short film paired with Slayer’s entire performance filmed at its August 5, 2017 concert at the Los Angeles Forum.

Revenge, murder, bloodshed and retribution. “Slayer: The Repentless Killogy” short film was written and directed by BJ McDonnell, who conceived and directed the three brutal music videos – “You Against You,” “Repentless,” and “Pride in Prejudice”- for Slayer’s final studio album Repentless (2015).

The “Repentless Killogy” motion picture begins with the powerful short narrative film that brings together the music of Slayer and the grisly story they wanted to tell. Opening with the trilogy of music videos assembled as one chronological storyline, we are introduced to the narrative’s main character Wyatt, a former Neo Nazi associated with “The Hand Brotherhood,” a gang whose signature mark was a bloody handprint left after a murder had taken place. Prior to the first music video, Wyatt had left the gang after he fell in love with Gina. The two had gone into hiding to escape his gruesome past and start a family, but The Hand Brotherhood was not going to allow that to happen, and Gina, pregnant with their first child, was savagely murdered as Wyatt was forced to look on. The film then segues into the present-time narrative that sees Wyatt on the run from law enforcement and the Nazi gang, but now dedicated to eliminating The Hand Brotherhood and seeking retribution wherever he can.

“The Repentless Killogy” stars many of the actors who appeared in the original video series: Jason Trost (“Beats of Rage,” “Hatchet III”) as Wyatt, Danny Trejo (“Machete,” “From Dusk Til Dawn”), Richard Speight (“Band of Brothers,” “Supernatural”), Derek Mears (“Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.”), Jessica Pimentel (“Orange Is The New Black”), Tyler Mane (“X-Men,” “Halloween !!”), Bill Moseley (“The Devil’s Rejects,” “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2”), Caroline Williams (“The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2,” “Sharknado 4”), and Sean Whalen (“Twister,” “The People Under The Stairs”).

Part two of “The Repentless Killogy” features Slayer’s entire live set performed at the Los Angeles Forum on August 5, 2017, and was directed by Wayne Isham who has directed videos for artists including Metallica, Foo Fighters, Michael Jackson, Kelly Clarkson, and Britney Spears. Presented in front of one of the most striking stage productions of the band’s career, Slayer performs fan-favorites including “South of Heaven,” “War Ensemble,” “Mandatory Suicide,” “Dead Skin Mask,” “Raining Blood,” and “Angel of Death.”

Die A Legend – Winning (Loyal Blood Records)

Die A Legend – Winning (Loyal Blood Records)

Sometimes, Just sometimes Hardcore is like heaven sent ear candy and the moment the chaos and brutality hit the ether it just resonates with you. Well, Die A Legend just did that to me.  I wasn’t in the mood for some loud, uncompromising hardcore pounding my peace and quiet but it did and I just sat back and marveled at its beauty.

The last time that happened to me was when I stumbled across Fireburn and they kicked the shit out of my ears as well. Funnily enough Bloodclot! did the same.  Now I don’t profess to be a hardcore connoisseur but I am very partial to some Pizzatramp and I also read that these guys toured with The Good The Bad And The Zugly so my attention was immediately grabbed because I love those guys.

Die A Legend is known among hardcore connoisseurs as Norway’s best-kept secret. The band started making noise back in 2011, rivaling bands within the infamous scene that was ‘Tromsø Hardcore’ – and released their critically acclaimed self-titled debut album in 2012.

In September, the Tromsø-based trio is back with their first release in six years,  A hardcore and contemporary commentary on the state of things right here right now.  From the opening strains of ‘Liars’ this bass throbbing heaving mass of hardcore riffs is straight down the line hardcore from the slow heaving intro before the vocal yelp in and the pace is raised towards the chorus where the gang vocals join in before falling back to the heaving riff-a-rama.

‘Bloodthurst’ is off like a sprinter being chased over hurdles by a pack of rabid dogs. The band is taking no prisoners at all and just dropping their heads and going for it! Harcore of the finest quality you should check this out if you know what’s good for you.  Pizzatramp, Clowns and Die A Legend should tour it would be lethal. Hardcore mana from heaven – get some!

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Author: Dom Daley

Christmas – Live & Lewd (Self Release)

Christmas – Live & Lewd (Self Release)

Not many bands are able to say that they played nearly 500 shows in nine years all over Europe but Christmas can. So, It all makes sense that right here right now ‘Live & Lewd’ just about sums up exactly where these hardcore punk rock and rollers are at.

Leaving nothing to chance and certainly leaving nothing on the stage (or the pit) Christmas are a full-force experience and this recording recorded last year proves that. It’s a 100% bullshit free zone with loud guitars and lots of full-throttle noise.

Classics like “Moonshine Love”, “Appetite For Self-destruction” or “Cracksong” as well as the new song “Go Hard Or Go Home” kick the shit out of anyone’s speakers. These German road dogs love touring that much is obvious and whilst the studio albums are treats its live where they rule and this is as good a representation as any.  Its real hardcore in your face no overdubs no bullshit and feedback howling fast as fuck punk rock.

 

At times these guys will give the likes of Poison Idea a run for their money and some.  the immense ‘Suicide Girls’ is right out of that old school Hardcore pocket and is brutal as fuck as is the pounding ‘Army Of Losers’.

Sixteen songs in half an hour I’d expect nothing less and to maintain the power, pace and intensity is testament to just how good a band Christmas is.  After songs like ‘I Hate’ played without any overdubs and just pounding the listener from the off I feel the need to go find someone just to hug them and for them to tell me everything will be alright. ‘You Bore Me’ is awesome a bit like pretty much all of this.  More punk than punk more hardcore than hardcore live and Lewd is exactly that exactly what it says on the tin.  Champion stuff indeed I suggest you get on this if you love noisy fuckers kicking seven shades out of their instruments with all the finesse and style of a prime time prizefighter Christmas deliver a live album just like you’d hope they would.  ‘Go Hard Or Go Home’ couldn’t have put it better myself – Ave it!

LIVE & LEWD will be released September 6th, on Digipack CD in a limited edition of 100 copies.

preorder Here

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Author: Dom Daley

Acid Blood – Acid Blood (JanML Records)

Acid Blood – Acid Blood (JanML Records)

Imagine if Zeke had a female at the front? Acid Blood from Sweden are that band.  Ferocious slabs of hardcore punk rock that’s uncompromising and right up in your grill with a stiff middle finger in your face.  ‘Dagger Eyes’ be fucked This band means business.’ Bleeding Out’, ‘Louder Than Death’ ‘Acid Blood’ I’m sure you get where they’re coming from.  It’s like they’ve taken The Cavemen and turned the dial-up or rather ripped it out and pissed on it. Acid Blood is the band and the album title and it would seem the opening track so don’t forget folks ‘Acid Blood’!  Beer, Nudity, Blood, Loud Guitars, frantic drums, vocals that have been mangled by gargling broken glass and barbed wire and dreamt that one day they can make a racket that marries Venom with Motorhead with Zeke With a pint of paint stripper and you’re almost there just toss in The Plasmatics on supercharge and you are on your way.

Acid Blood isn’t for the faint hearted its fast and furious punk rock as ‘Bullseye’ rips into a brutal ‘Bleeding Out’ and fuck you too. Gotta love their attitude and the fact they don’t sound like they are about to release an acoustic album or cover up for the censors. It might not be original in any shape or form but I love it. ‘Don’t You Die’ is good advice. Imagine seeing these go out on tour with The Good The Bad The Zugly and Clowns now that would be a devastating triple threat with guest appearances from the Dwarves for good measure.

They also get their rock on for ‘Wasted’ the album ebbs and flows from thrashing furiously (‘Harvest Day’) to… oh hang on its more a tsunami than an ebb and flow as the wall of guitars washes over you. Jojo Anderbygd is barking the orders from the microphone and I love it when they slow things down (just a smidgeon) like the Dead Kennedys like ‘Kill Screen’ – of course it doesn’t last before breaking out its what Acid Blood does. The closing marathon (ok so four minutes is long for these cats) of ‘Wartime’ has the feel and attitude of prime time Iggy and The Stooges absolutely stinking with attitude and the best song on offer here.

Fourteen songs – a shade under forty minutes – loose – reckless but very very tasty.  Get some Acid Blood in your life its a fuckin’ Blast!

 

Buy Acid Blood Here

Author: Dom Daley