I've been waiting a long time for this... Being so that I was out of the country and missed the first time Integrity visited Athens (in a show that Chubby of One Life Crew fame allegedly broke down the snare drum!), I am eagerly waiting to witness this legendary hardcore band in action. This shit is going to be heavy.
I consider Integrity not only the best Clevo-core band (along with Ringworm, obviously) but actually more than that: Dwid Helion (Integrity's singer and main figure) is pretty much responsible for the whole Kvlt hardcore scene that has grown like a monster and is steadily getting bigger and stronger around the world. There are really no words to describe how important Integrity are for the way hardcore has evolved.
Long-running hardcore metal act Endsight will scorch our ears with the heavy role of the opening act.
Given that Disrupt is one of my favourite bands, it was really a hard choice which release to present here: The cult classic 7’’ split with Destroy! (1991) or their most influential and probably most complete work ‘Unrest’ (1994)? Although, Unrest is their only full-length that actually kept Disrupt alive in punk history I chose to write something about their split album with Sauna as representative of that era and their most crustcore output.
Disrupt was one of the best hardcore punk bands of their era playing unrelentless ferocious crust/grindcore, or more aptly termed in this case discore (Dis-bands). I particularly like their style because there are no metallic influences just pure punk energy and ethos, unlike most of the ‘grind’ or ‘polished’ punk bands of today. Disrupt, like most of their peers back then, were spreading anarchist values: DIY, abolitionist, anti-corporate, anti-authoritarian etc. (Check the anti-vivisection blast ‘A life’s a life’ from Unrest album).
Disrupt, hailing from Lynn, MA, US, were formed in 1987. They managed to release various splits, 7’’ and EPs in their short-lived career, which lasted only six years. They were in the same wave of bands as Dropdead, Destroy! and the likes. Actually, the songs found in this album were recorded only few months before their European tour (October/November 1993), after which they disbanded. Sauna, were a Swedish band and this is their only recording.
Recorded and mixed during two days (13th and 14th June 1993) at The Lanes studio in Boston, MA by Bill Miller ‘People Killing People’ contains some of the most consistent tracks of Disrupt. Between the necessary Discharge and Extreme Noise Terror influences, Disrupt’s skilful and outright intense delivery sets them apart from the early American crust/grindcore bands. The riffs are crashing, the drums are pummelling, the vocals are lacerated in urgency. From the d-beat holocaust of ‘Xenophobia’, ‘You’ve no one left to blame’, ‘Succumb to the pressure’ and ‘An end to white rule’ to the slightly faster tracks ‘Trapped’ and ‘Leave me be’, this split album is a manifesto of punk essence. They even included a cover of ‘Protest’ from the UK anarcho-punk legends Conflict.
Sauna’s side is a good example of Swedish crust, albeit a bit weaker in comparison with Disrupt. The production at Markstudio with Mats Andersson is more muddy and downtuned. Highlights are the desperate, shouted vocals and the typical d-beat cuts ‘Welfare’and ‘Love’.
Bottom line is that Disrupt delivered uncompromised music throughout their course to raise awareness and break the system apart. Their version of punk is stripped down to its pure, original essence: strictly political, rebellious and raw creating feelings of defiance and urgency. I suggest everybody should check them out. Disrupt were not playing punk, they were real punks. Not to forget also that 4 members went on to form the sludge masters Grief.
Until last week, Duckcore.blogspot.com was one of the premier DIY sites for free br00tal downloads. Its owner Ducky had uploaded hundreds of quality albums with deathcore as the main focus, as well as various forms of death metal and metalcore (technical DM, blackened deathcore, progressive DM, djent etc). Unfortunately his blog has been taken down along with all the links to the albums he uploaded. Needless to say this is a major bummer. Even if we don't upload stuff on this blog and only review music, we too appreciate free stuff and have downloaded albums through Duckcore for sure. We will miss it for sure!
In any case, the site is back at a new adress and Ducky has started uploading stuff again. Check the new version of the sitr called The Duckore here: http://theduckcore.blogspot.com/. Spread the word!
Also, check what Ducky himself had to say about the whole shutting down of his blog, as well as for the new site.
So listen as I'm sure most of you are
aware DuckCore.blogspot.com is no more unfortunately. We got completely
shafted by blogger. Anyways this is going to be the new DuckCore and I
know with all of your help we can restore this to it's former glory. So
please I'm not begging but if you could share this new blog with your
friends, post about it on facebook, show your mum, do whatever you can
to get this out there it would be really appreciated. We were almost at
two million page views and we were averaging almost 250,000 views a
month. So yeah needless to say, I'm pretty bummed.
Things will get better though and
with all of you guys supporting I'm sure that we can get back to where
we were. Thank you so much for taking the time to read this and I'm
going to be very busy with trying to get a new layout and get some sweet
stuff done for the blog so yeah, thanks again guys.
Great music-great musicianship and songwriting. Comrades delve into (mostly) instrumental, progressive rock and post-hardcore to eliminate musical boundaries and achieve a coherent whole. Enchanting melodies and captivating song structures, compiled here in a stunning release for the music enthusiast.
Genre: Rock / Post-hardcore
Country: USA
Label: Blood & Ink Records (link)
Band Website: Reverbnation
This is a rather unusual review for TYS, since Comrades’ music is much ‘softer’ compared to most of the bands presented here. Their sound might surely turn off some hardcore kids, but on the other hand it can surely please music enthusiasts. You can simple describe this as ‘good music’ without any terms and definitions. That is to say that these guys and gals, Joe, Connor and Laura, wrote some really inspired, good-sounding songs.
Now, more in detail, Comrades play rock with some post-hardcore hints here and there. That sounds like Sweet Cobra but Comrades invest more on ethereal, heartfelt melodies than sheer heaviness. There are surely parallels to post rock acts like Explosions in the Sky but again Comrades are quite different: their songs are more ‘unsettling’, featuring more changes and complex structures than the usual ‘building up climax to the point of distorted catharsis’ pattern. You can find some similarities to bands like Keelhaul, Red Sparowes or Burst (less), but although they share the passion of building ‘progressive’ songs with manifold changes of rocking riffs and melodies, Comrades are much less loud, sweaty and dissonant.
This album consists of 10 compositions, gathered over a span of time of two years as the title conveys. This is actually a compilation of 3 self-released EPs, as an outcome of their recent signing with Blood & Ink Records to be followed by a new album later this year. Most of the songs are instrumental and whenever vocals appear they just complement the message of the songs. The production is very bright and every instrument has its own place delivering all those timbres that you can expect from an instrumental rock band. Apart from unerring songwriting, Comrades’ are skilful players.
Riffs, melodies and tempo changes are intermixed in a very eclectic and captivating way. What really stands out here is the omnipresent enchanting melodies. The songs are utterly memorable and interesting to the point of ‘forced’ repeat. It is hard to talk about particular favourites here - all songs have something to say. They have a very grounded, human nature which is appealing directly from the heart of the musician to the heart of the listener: ‘Weight’, ‘Giants’, ‘Where Moth and Rust Destroy’ (the most HC song), ‘Hammerhand’, ‘Lend Me Your Heart’, ‘We Are Halves’, ‘Encourage, Encourage’. You can actually listen to the whole record through the following link:
Comrades are doing their part; they have built their own sound and have pushed some elements of rock, progressive rock and post hardcore further. It is like they distilled those music styles into a coherent whole in order to expand, or better abolish, their boundaries.
Comrades come from Richmond, Virginia, US and they have toured extensively playing in any imaginable place. They are also part of the ‘Motherland Collective’, which is dedicated to re-establishing respect, collaboration and mutual support in the scene. As Comrades put it in their own words:
“[We are] Three very different people trying our best to make honest music about things we believe to be important, such as (but not limited to) integrity, the remedying of social injustice, and our creator God.”
A compelling debut EP from Robert of the Square that generates great
hope for European avant-garde hardcore’s future. Rooted in both Botch-like
dissonant structures and more expansive post-rock/post-hardcore themes, they
explore the whole musical territory inbetween while treading in new ground.
They develop a mature sound before they even introducing themselves.
To be honest, the only thing I know about Italy’s hardcore is only some
bandanna thrash and oldschool hardcore punk. Robert of the Square, from Trieste
are remarkably different. They deliver a solid debut EP that is at least
promising of great things to come. Surprisingly, their sound is already
‘mature’ enough to explore, appropriate and combine their influences to craft
five ‘driving’ songs hard to go unnoticed. Well-written, skillfully-executed with
an outstanding production their sound rests equally on mathcore and more
expansive post-hardcore.
Although a comparsion with American peers like Achilles or The Minor
Times (who came into prominence in the latter half of the 2010’s) would be
valid, the listener soon realizes that Robert Of The Square consciously depart
from that sound to explore a softer, more progressive and atmospheric side of
the genre. For instance, the song ‘Dominio’ demonstrates most evidently their
European character with dark haunting melodic riffing while still keeping the
dazzling, palindromic Botch affairs all too well blended. Their sound is also
informed by post-rock aficionados Mogwai and Red Sparrows.
The first number ‘Time’ is quite representative of what Robert Of The
Square stand for musically: They enter the musical landscape with an
interesting 1 minute ‘showcase’ of their explorative sound palette that sets
the tone for the rest of the EP just to give place to typical mid-paced
‘cumbersome’ dissonance of Botch and the likes to fall back to more ‘stretched’
post-hardcore passages of earlier Swedish stalwarts like Burst and Breach.
There is no drawback in this EP, just plenty of memorable moment
throughout the whole set. From the exquisite slow second part of ‘Truth’ that
broadcasts some glimmers of unwinding hope to the dynamic complexity of
‘Impero’ which resembles some early-Norma Jean vibes and the monolithic
heaviness of ‘Ego’ the genre of heavy, experimental music has won a gifted
exponent. The vocals express insight and pressure, hard and throaty with no
exceptions.
Every song is a creation, every song is ‘driving’ with manifold changes
and tempo shifts intermingled, every song has a reason to be there altogether
creating an exciting flow in the album. This EP, unsettling and experimental as
it is, may open many musical paths for Robert Of The Square to follow. I
recommend everybody to check them out, because they are a great hope for the
avant-garde hardcore scene of Europe.
