Hard Resistance - "Lawless and Disorder" Review (full length, Strength Records)

Getting into European hardcore in the mid/late 90s, it was impossible to miss Hard Resistance. Alongside bands like Right Direction, Backfire!, Brighside, early Discipline and a few others, Hard Resistance pioneered (or perhaps brought in Europe!) the original hardcore sound that stood out from the Oi and hip hop oriented hardcore trends of those times. Well, it is 2012 now and these guys are making a big comeback. They're here to cause some serious havoc and crush your fake attitude with a new record of totally in your face political hardcore. The newly form but already notorious Strength Records (Roger Miret/Onno Cro-Mag) is behind this record, so you know it's gotta be good!

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This whole record is one big surprise; I was pretty fucking astonished to find out how damn FAST Lawless and Disorder is all the way through. I definitely did not expect to be battered with such rapid-fire hardcore blasts, heavy vocals and 100% oldschool attitude. It's like, these guys are back and they're really pissed. Forget about slick metal riffs, don't wait for the 'hardcore anthem' which will sound good at a party. This is just real hardcore for the hard times we're living in. It might be a bit antisocial due to its intended lack of commercial value (no solos / catchy melodic choruses etc), but hey, that's the whole point! Just loud, mean and in yer face!

So, like stated above this record is all go/no slow badass hardcore music, but I also want to add that I feel a definite crust/punk touch. I mean if you played this to a bunch of punks they would surely like it and find common elements with Exploited or other UK82 type stuff. This record would also go down nice for fans of crust hardcore, since it brings this ongoing machine gun attack that makes your ears bleed. But most of all, this record will suit hardcore kids' apetite for fast, pissed off and unprocessed hardcore music. The vocals put the definite hardcore stamp, with a thick and raspy tone that will punish you during the 21:50 min that Lawless & Disorder lasts.

The common theme throught these 12 hardcore songs is a total resentment towards today's political system. Yes, by listening to this record we will feel Hard Resitance's burning political message and we will remember that this world aint no paradise. It's always good to witness bands taking the time and effort to attack this stupid, slave-breeding society we live in. Angst and hate against the system has alays been a part of hardcore/punk, and it must continue till the end! Therefore, Hard Resitance go all out and spit their guts about all the shit that has gone wrong through the capitalist values that have been forced upon everyone in the modern world.

I will recap by saying that this is a true hardcore record that shows how some peope never mellow out. This is the kind of music that makes you want to pick up something heavy and go break some stuff. Hard Reistance back their political message with such ferocious music that you won't doubt these guys for playing the part o anything silly like that. If this band's old school and legendary legacy doesn't convince you, then listening to this new album definitely will. This one's for the real oldschool diehards!

www.hardresistance.be

Final Prayer - "I Am Not Afraid" Review (Let it Burn Records)

Genre: Brutal/Street Hardcore

Location: Berlin, Germany

Band Website: http://www.finalprayer.de/

Label: http://letitburn.de

Through years of solid work Final Prayer have managed to establish themselves as kingpins of German (and why not, European) heavy hardcore scene. Yes, I am glad cause in this world of uncertainty at least I know what to expect from a FP album: groovy beats, heavy guitars, mean vocals and all the ingredients that make for a brutal, streetwise hardcore record. But watch out, the surprise on this album is that FP pack a lot of catchy parts (still heavy, don't worry) and memorable songs.

While Final Prayer plunder and pillage with their heavy-ass, beatdown-flavored hardcore action, it's like they pack the Midas touch this time around; I say this because every song is special, every song has character and  something unique to it. This record is mature, it is clever and catchy and and at the same time it is loyal to its roots and full of attitude. FP is not another band pretending to be tough and using the same old ingredients, on the contrary they have a lot of imagination and have made a record that goes beyond the fashions and cliches of today's scene. I bet that I will be able to listen to I am Not Afraid some 5 years later and derive the same pleasure from it as I do today. It's the type of HC that can stay untouched by the wrath of time.

You can understand that there is no necessity to talk about the quality of the production and so on; you and I both know that on a Final Prayer album and a Let it Burn Records release, shit like that is always meticulously delivered and this is also the case here. The production sound is huge, crystal-clear and thankfully for this style, not too metallic.

If you care about the hardcore scene and what it represents, I guess that this record will hardly escape you. You will meet somewhere along the way. If you are into hardcore for real, you will understand and become friends with the integrity delivered on I Am Not Afraid. It contains the essence that has always brought together fans of this music and lifestyle from around the world; it's the force that unites all of us with one common parameter, and that parameter is living by the rules of hardcore. While I listen to this record, I can imagine the cloudy Berlin skies and the city concrete that these hardcore dudes step on. Now it's taken on a worldwide level.

Review: Gacy's Threads - "The Ignorance of Purity" (Savour Your Scene Records)

Genre: Technical Metal/Hardcore

Location: Belfast, N. Ireland

Band Website: Official, Facebook

Label Website: click

 

John Wayne Gacy was a convicted serial killer and rapist, who has long ago been executed by the state of Illinois. I don't know if Belfast, Ireland's Gacy's Threads have taken their name from this creepy and fucked up character, but what I do know is that they play an awesome brand of technical, heavy as fuck metallic hardcore. I won't go as far as to term Gacy's Threads mathcore, because they have a pretty solid metallic base where their aural havoc stands, but they sure have a characteristically technical and complex sound!

I surely dig the bands who can more than play their instruments but don't forget to encapsulate the raw feeling that all heavy music should have. Gacy's Threads manage just the above by packing many elements into their sound, from shoe-gaze, discordant clean intros to slow, melancholic mosh parts, to straight on blastbeats and prototype all go no slow hardcore assaults. All this is blended nicely with off wall, off with their heads mechanical riffs that set the pace for a much more technical feel. The best thing about this album is that the band doesn't stick to one specific formula, but tends to a constant shuffling of cards - without, nevertheless, going overboard. This is the way shit should be done, period. The production sound is solid and much closer to a beastly, metallic hardcore sound as compared to the clean-metal, overproduced (and overused) mathcore/techinical deathcore sound prevailing these days.

It takes guts and knowledge to be able to belong in more than one territory, but Gacy's Threads do it very well and rather unapologetically. If we forget the specifics, we discover that this is just a very good dark/heavy hardcore band, the members of which happen to know how to use its instruments more than well. I have been playing this on repeat and all it seems to do is grown on me more and more. The solidified rhythm section attack, the discordant, angular painting of the guitars and the tainted hardcore vocals really won me over. An extra point goes out for the bleak song titles and the overall negative feeling! I am looking forward to see more from Ireland's Savour Your Scene records and Ireland's hardcore scene in general.

HIGH HOPES - New EP and Euro Tour

HIGH HOPES is an awesome Swedish melodic hardcore/punk rock band in the vein of Have Heart and Champion. They play neo-youth crew hardcore, which owes as much to the straight edge hardcore scene as it does to Dag Nasty and other melodic bands that ALL hardcore kids love. They are named after a Gorilla Biscuits song, so you know where these guys stand!

This is summer 2011 and there is no better time to get into some crucial Swedish hardcore that ain't Dbeat. So get into it like NOW, and visit the band's pages to leave an encouraging comment for their summer European tour! European Youth Crew Hardcore Rules!

Reproach - raw skate fastcore from Belgium

Hello again, dear TYS readers! The 2nd post for today is a guest piece by Rigas, who is a good friend of mine and a frequent TYS contributor. He's helped in the print TYS issues by contributing articles and reviews, and he's always discovering cool new shit to get into. The dude gets psyched with a lot of different stuff and makes sure his friends know about it! So here... enjoy this guest article!

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Fast Fixes & The most exciting punk vids: REPROACH

'Rat Race' (from s/t 2003)

Rat Race Lyrics:

Rat Race

Born into this shit

You got to be successful

But for what?

Life is a rat race

Sleep - eat - work, trapped in our routines

I'm sick of it, this is not for me

The only thing that matters to you is your money

Fuck you all, i want more in life!

RIGAS's RANT: There is a dose of truth in the following: we are competing each other, chasing the carrot on a stick with the force-fed illusion  that one day we can be the ones to climb the ladder and eat a bigger piece of the deciduous pie which is served by depriving the poor and ruining the planet. Well, let me tell you that inequality, injustice and ecological collapse are systemic and you and me are going to be kept always ‘under’ the elites and their institutions, which legitimize this error! I want more in life! Break the work-stress-consume treadmill! My life is fucking gold!

Reproach [definition]: Address (someone) in such a way as to express disapproval or disappointment.

An interview with Stijn from Reproach

When did you  start getting involved with hardcore punk?!? I got into it when I first heard stuff like Agnostic Front and Madball from my cousin when I was around 16, that’s about 16-17 years ago already. It sounded so raw, to the point and fast, never heard anything like it before and fell in love with it the moment I heard it.

How is the Flemish hardcore punk scene?

I really don’t consider “Flemish” a separate scene, Belgium is small as it is. There lots of bands in different genres, from ‘80s hardcore to crust and everything in between. The Filth ,Trouble Kidz, Vogue, Bite Down, Visions of War, Idiot Convention, Conviction, Sunpower, Havoc, Rise and Fall, Get Wise, Blind to Faith, Amen Ra, Cut here,  Drunk, and many more. Lots of shows too, the past few months been really busy. We’re also lucky to have nearly every touring band stop by in Belgium for a show. Heartbreak tunes and The Pits are always booking great bands. It’s a pretty small but very active scene.

What is the message of Reproach?

Play fast, play hard. Have fun, don’t take shit from anyone, follow your heart, do your own thing and stand strong.

Are you involved with politix-direct action etc. ?!?

No.

Great Catastrophe or Great Transition for humanity?!?

To say it with the words of Victims: “we’re fucked!”

You have 2 of the most exciting videos I have seen!!! -  I watched them already countless times. Who had the idea? Who animated the videos?

We’re very very proud of those videos. They’re made by Marco and Pierre, who run an animation studio called Imov Studios (www.imovstudios.com). It was a present from them for our 10^th anniversary as a band. We had no idea they would make the clips and it was an awesome surprise. They’re also gonna make a new clip for one of our new songs.

What are your favourite active bands at the moment?

Herätys, Despise You, Lack of Interest, Extortion and Direct Control.

What are the plans for the band? Are you writing new material?

Actually we just finished recording our new record called “the bitter end”. We’re working on the layout right now. Recordings and artwork are done, hopefully the record will be out around summer. Deep Six will put out the LP in the US and Crew for Life records is gonna do the CD in Japan. We can’t wait to have the new record out and start playing those new songs live.

'Onward to Destruction' from ‘You Deserve it’ split with ANS

Check their discography and keep an eye on the new album of Reproach!There  is also a new video coming!

Thrash!

Discography

2000: Loud and fucking fast! tape (Stand Apart Records)

2001: Trash mayhem 7" (Kid For Life Records)

2003: Reproach LP (Wölfpack Records)

2005: Is what it is EP (Wölfpack Records)

2008:you deserve it Split with ANS (Still Holding On Records, Gnarly Slaughter Records)

2009: live split LP with Sunpower (Crucial Attack Records)

Plakkaggio HC - 'Fronte Del Sacco' Review

What does Fronte Del Sacco mean? I have no idea whatsoever! What I do know, however, is that it's the title of these Italian bruisers' new album. I am not particularly crazy about Oi music aside from the basics (4Skins, Last Resort, the Business etc), but these guys make me want to reconsider all I know and dust off those old vinyls in my record collection. These Italians play some of the best and hardest streetcore/hardcore/metal that I have ever had the pleasure of listening to.

Right above I used the word 'metal', and I didn't use it lightly. Plakkaggio HC have incorporated a very strong metal element to their sound, making their catchy, heavy as fuck Oi sound even greater and meaner. The vocals come in a guttural, heavy hardcore tradition and are mixed with singalong choruses and heavy metal influences. This may sound pretty mad but when you listen to this record, it all comes together just fine. It's like putting Last Resort, Sheer Terror, Slayer and Bathory in a UFC fight and see who comes out winner. I'd say that Oi is definitley the meeting point and the base for Plakkaggio HC, but the hardcore and metal elements are also very distinct and hit you straight in the face when you least expect it.

The production is clear and heavy as fuck, and as a result aids the strong and solid, driving music lines and  so  to speak melodies these guys create. All this makes for a very incediary, riot inducing Oi album that you may want to hear before going out on a Saturday night, while working out or after a hard day's work. What's for sure is that if you  give Plakkaggio HC a few listens, you will come out feeling as strong as a bull and you will have fair possibilities of destroying anything that stands in your way!

All hail to this mad as hell Italian streetcore band. They have a lot of personality and their own distinct sound so I guess they deserve every bit of attention. They create nice, heavy uplifting music with a ton of attitude and guts and I can't ask for much more from a sincere hardcore band. They're on their way for sure, playing live often and having shared the stage with many known acts like the Varukers and Total Chaos, so all we can do is sit back and watch this monster grow.

Assorted Fast Reviews - February 2011/#1

OK, so due to the amount of stuff we have waiting to be reviewed, we've decided to throw a quick-piece of reviews for some of the records that deserve a mention and get a lot of luv here at TYS HQ. We'll try to be brief, but accurately descriptive at the same time. Let's go!

Bandage - self titled ep
We'll start things off with Bandage, an ultra-tight punk rock band from Athens, Greece. Punk rock with a distinct 90s Fat Wreck/Epitaph flavor is what Bandage specialize at, and they do it well. The 3-piece brings back the memory of fast 'melody-core' drums, with speedy guitars, rolling bass lines and catchy vocals. If you dig the original whiney punk rock of Pulley, Ten Foot Pole and NOFX, then this is for you. 6 songs of self-released happy melodic punk with excellent guitar work standing out. Did just I say 'happy'? Maybe I'm wrong; there's a definite bittersweet and melancholic feeling lurking in the background of these tunes [8/10].

Attrito - 'Indotto A Camminare'
Attrito come from Italy and play a style of raucous hardcore/punk that many will love, if they can deal with the singing in Italian. Attrito deliver 8 songs of furious Italian punk for Maximum RNR lovers, in a neatly designed gatefold CD case. The music is fast and furious, the vocals are screamed in your face (spitting included) and there are some extra post-metal elements that positively surprise and elevate the overall outcome. There are explanations of the clever socio-political lyrics in English, so you can know what's up in these songs. This is quality modern punk for skaters, hardcore kids, metalheads and squat punks alike [7/10].

Out Of Step - 'Sometimes Posi'

If you like no frills, feverish straight edge hardcore, then you should get into some Out Of Step. These Dutch guys have been around for a few years, releasing nothing but straight ahead sXe mosh music. Not too fast and not metal, but quite heavy and ultra-sold school, Out Of Step knows how to create real hardcore in the vein of Slapshot, Floorpunch and all of that sweet youth crew stuff - but with a harder edge. OOS have a clear in your face approach throughout their whole act, which makes them even more memorable. They might piss off some people, but they will psyche just as many kids. This is real deal even if not it's not that innovative [8/10]!

My Own Voice - 'A Perpetual State of Revolution'
MOV is another Italian band, but these guys are closer to that harder, moshy and metallic side of hardcore. Combining 90s hardcore with a strong metal (but not beatdown!) influence, they deliver the goodies through 14 songs of political, socially minded European hardcore. You can tell a great amount of work has been put into this album, from the perfect crunchy production to the artwork, the song interludes and the explanations/book quotes etc in-between songs. We could call this 'intellectual hardcore', but it still has a lot of guts and an ever-existing street spirit. You might need a few listens until this vast multitude of music, lyrics and ideas actually grow on you - work on the album and it will pay you back in return [7/10].

Desinence Mortification/Giht Shasie - Split
Wow... Last but not least, we also have some insane grindcore from Croatia. I think I haven't reviewed any grind bands since 07 or something. DM plays straight forward grindcore not unlike fellow countrymen (and grind legends) Patareni and even early Napalm Death. Just sloppy, intense punky grind for you, baby! God Almighty if I can classify what Giht Shasie play; let's settle for electronic experimental grindcore. This is some hard-to-listen stuff, holmes. Here are some 40 minutes of industrial grind in recorded, live and remixed forms. Try to see if you can take it and if you can, well go to Hyperion Records and get into some more extreme grind madness [6/10]!

GOOD 2 GO - self titled EP

If you haven't noticed already, Russia is lately expanding into a huge mecca of hardcore music and values. I don't how this change is coming about so fast, but be sure that Russian kids are putting their country on the international map of hardcore! I know for a fact that our zine here gets most of its hits from Russia, second only to US and Canada! This exceptional, huge country which stands out in so many other aspects, will now also stand out in hardcore! Straight Edge kids already know that xFlawless Victoryx is one of the best current sXe bands with their own sound, but my favorites are Good 2 Go, this awesome energetic hardcore band that I am listening to on full volume when I want to get naturally high!

Seryoga Posi is the name the dude who got in touch and send me this demo, which the band circulates for free through their myspace. He and his friends play a form of heavy but also positive hardcore, like a combination of Madball with Good Clean Fun. Awesome! Their sound is raw, with a very good production with a phat guitar sound and many cool, small solos in the background. They sing in Russian which sounds very good and they have many breakdowns and tempo exchanges to keep things interesting. 

As this is pretty fat sounding and raw like we said (music to lift weights with one hand and eat [vegan] burgers with the other), it takes a few listens to get used to it as well as the unknown language. But then you can appreciate this groovy, full of attitude hardcore band which gets more well known with every day that passes.

INSIDE ME / Внутри Меня

lyrics

There's something inside me

That keeps getting deeper every year

This is the engine in my chest

That pulls me forward

This is a string in my soul

It can never be broken

This is a fire in my eyes

That makes them shine

My way might be not easy

But I should walk it through

I can see you beside me

And we go the same way

But even if once I take alook around

And see nobody

I won't stop and turn back.

For Good 2 Go's complete, profound lyrics, go here!
Seryoga's (Cut The Strings Distro) myspace here.

DANFORTH - "Predator" Video

France... home of baguettes, violent dancing and beatdown mosh-core! It seems like the dudes in Danforth are really ripping shit up with their newest release of frantic, downtempo beatdown hardcore. Mixing in a generous dose of hip hop, this Paris crew is ready to take up space with the biggest and meanest of motherfuckers in the beatdown genre anywhere. Japan, Germany, your moshing crown is threatened, so you better do something!

This is some serious 3D action going on and as the band itself admits, it took a year in the making. The song is from Danforth's No Fear To Bleed EP.

FOREVER YOUNG "The Guarantee" CD Review

So it's summer and everyone is relaxing, but not us! We got a heap of albums, demos, DVDs etc that need to be reviewed, so now seems to be a good time to do so (what with the lack of shows, not many news etc-at least here in Athens Greece). And not to forget our new issue is almost ready to hit the streets. But we'll let you know on that...
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Here we got Forever Young, a superb Swedish sXe band,  and you know what's up with Swedish mucisians, right? They tend to have some sort of Midas touch. We could say that when it comes to music, everything they touch turns to gold. And this is the case with xFYx. They've made a fast and energetic hardcore album, a straight up mosher, which draws influences from both older youth crew as well as moshy hardcore with some newer influences. These guys don't play metal, but they do use a lot of beat-downs and double bass drumming all the way through this 13-minute album (that's right--10 songs in 13 min!). Top that with youthful angry vocals, gang shout-alongs and positive vegan straight edge lyrics and you get the picture about Forever Young. 

I love this shit; these guys open the album proclaiming 'a new generation of in your face positive  aggression hardcore' and this is exactly what they do. They got a youthful angry feel, but they are positive and I for one totally dig this approach of theirs. What could be better than delivering a positive message in an intense way? These guys sing about straight edge and they sing about veganism. I think it's totally rad to have huge breakdowns with shouted parts that say "go vegan, or go home"... In my book, this is called grooving for a good cause, even though some people take lyrics like these too seriously.

This CD (which I think has been released sometime in '09) also has a very neat packaging. It is kinda simple, but also really cool. It is a digipack case with the lyrics printed on it on very new school minimalist colors ( black, purple and green). The disc itself has a picture of a hand being tattooed with an X. Fuck! Get this, or go for the 7" version, or even check them on the notorious International Youth Crew Hardcore Compilation. And have fun!

www.myspace.com/foreveryounghc

www.monumenthq.com

www.myspace.com/selfxtrue

www.myspace.com/xthreatx

FRESH TRASH- 'La Jungla' album review

Ohhh yeah--it's time to move yer lazy ass!

Fresh Trash is a hardcore band from Barcelona, Spain that is ready to rock your summer with some kick-ass grooves and a high-energy, fun take on hardcore! 

To make things clear and simple, Fresh Trash don't sound metal at all (as you can probably guess from the cover art - heh), because they play a form of punky rockin hardcore which to me sounds like a crossover between California 80s hardcore (i.e. Insted, Uniform Choice) and some more trashy stuff like Ill Repute, Circle Jerks, even early Suicidal Tendencies. Add to that a serious pinch of unadulterated rock 'n' roll and you got the Fresh Trash cocktail!

A bit of background info on Fresh Trash is that they used to be Vicious Circle and this is their first release as Fresh Trash (15 songs, half sung in Spanish, half sung in English). It is out on Sell Our Souls Records, a label that specializes in messy/fast hardcore so you know this is the real deal! In the same vein of Vicious Circle's serious lyrics (i.e. If you don't like pizza, fuck you),  Fresh Trash sing about simple things we can all understand, like living close to the big city (La Jungla De Neon), bad habits (Weed & Paranoia, or Kids, Fools & Drunks) and some classic punk territory (You Don't Know Yourself, Right Or Wrong). As I said, they come from a beach town in Barcelona, so it's totally logical to have this lighthearted, 'we don't care' attitude. Maybe more of us should be like that!

All I can say is I love this all-out approach! If you like songs about food and happiness and like to take your stereo at the beach and disturb the trendies with some loud hardcore, then this is your record! As for me, fast energetic hardcore and cold coffee fuels me to the max! 

http://www.myspace.com/thefreshtrash

http://www.myspace.com/selloursouls

Better Left Buried - "Get That Bitch In The Backseat" (EP Review)

Everyday I wake up, and I thank God for European hardcore :)

I mean, there are so many good bands coming out all the time, it is becoming hard to keep track and it's a bummer to miss any good bands out there. Like I've said before, my belief is that European hardcore is basically the heaviest hardcore on earth!

So let's go to this cool hardcore band that inspired me to write the above. BETTER LEFT BURIED is an awesome heavy hardcore outfit from the Netherlands. These guys have got the groove and brutality down to a T. They manage to keep their hardcore clean while incorporating the right metal elements like full-on double-kick drums, breakdowns and some guitar leads (not solos!) that add a lot of atmosphere and maybe even darkness to the sound.

The vocals are fucking tough, but not death metal stuff. Just right, cleanly pronounced gruff hardcore vocals! You can think Hatebreed or Terror but Koos (the singer) has his own quality, so as you understand this guy is pretty good at what he does. The rest of the band keeps things locked with quality heavy riffage and mid-tempo to slow grooves, which are so rad that could keep a whole van full of hardcore kids bouncing up and down (rap style but with no hydraulics)! 

Most of all, I liked this EP for the variety of different sounds that keeps things interesting. I say this because in this genre it is not that easy to be versatile, usually it is just heavy/beatdown/heavy. Check these guys out and you'll believe me! Just some more quality ignorant hardcore for ya!

VITAMIN X - Live Saturday 24 April 2010

If there ever was a time that hardcore music was about FUN, there still is one band that holds true to this value. And of course that's no other than Holland's Vitamin X! The band owns an infamous status not only in the straight edge scene in which they wholesomely belong, but also in hardcore and punk in general. They stand out from the thousands of bands out there because they are one of the few who can keep it positive, carefree, true--any good word you could pin on hardcore music fits for Vitamin X. This Saturday, live in Athens motherfuckin city:

click on image to see full-size

World's Appreciated Kitsch, the well-known Greek hardcore label of similar insights and value with the above-mentioned band, is the one who sets up the show. In that way, you know it's all DIY and true, with a love for this music and not the $$$ or the fame.

So what should we expect to hear this Saturday on the music side? Well, nothing more than fast hardcore with a strong 80s flavor and many thrash elements! A few years back when fastcore and fast thrash were at the forefront of what was popular, Vit X were pioneering this particular sound. Throw in some crazy 70s hard rock influences and 'stoner' Black Sabbath riffage (just for the groove y'all) and you get the picture. 

With Vitamin X, the Greek supporting acts are: Slavebreed (grindcore/crust), Human Battle (UK82 punk), and personal favorites Faithreat (fast thrash-core).

p.s. Coming to think of it, maybe we should do a re-print of the 2006 Vitamin X from Take Your Shot fanzine #2... How about that!?

Face Your Enemy - Steal the Crown CD Review

Damn!

is the first that springs to mind when you flip Face Your Enemy's new CD in your stereo. This is beatdown hardcore from Italy, with no sidetracks what-so-ever. From what I've seen, Europe has a tradition of heavier bands with an urban/gangsta/thug approach. This is the style that made hardcore popular in Europe back in the late 90s, with bands like Backfire! and Only Attitude Counts, so it's nice to see it has survived and is still played today!

I got this CD from World's Appreciated Kitsch, the Greek hardcore label and fanzine which, along with a few others, released Steal the Crown (nice title by the way). And as Greece also has a strong liking for brutal hardcore, I can easily see Face Your Enemy coming here in Athens and hit the stage sometime in the near future!

Musically, nothing is really new here, except for some really brutal vocals (of the death metal sort) and some ultra-slow parts that catch your attention. Of course there are no solos or melodic parts, but there are shoutalongs, lots of swearing and cool breaks instead. In general it's the exchange between fast and slow that these guys base their sound on, so you get the picture. The production could be a little better but it's OK (I've heard much much worse)!

So if it sounds like your thing, you should go ahead and check these guys out! I think 2010 will be a strong year for 'em!
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http://www.myspace.com/casertahxc (Face Your Enemy Myspace)
http://www.myspace.com/keepitrealhc (World's Appreciated Kitsch Myspace)