Wise Words from Rob Dyrdek

It's been many times that extreme sports athletes have given this zine inspiration. I don't know what it is exactly that brings together hardcore and extreme sports, but I am pretty sure the connection is there. I guess it all has to do with being into alternate, intense ways of having fun, and being drawn to high action. The passion and dedication is also something that is common between people into hardcore and extreme sports fanatics.

For me, Rob Dyrdek is a character who inspires me a lot because he's so driven and motivated but still maintains a high level of craziness and total reckelessness. Below I have written some funny / motivational quotes from a recent Fantasy Factory episode (Dyrdek's own, funny as hell reality show on MTV).

Enjoy!

- Number One: Your doubting makes me wanna prove you wrong. I don't know if you're doing it on purpose, because you want to see me doing something amazing.

- Any time you guys have a dream and you think you're gonna be great at something, go and do it to find out if you suck.

- The reality of it is that sometimes, if you sound like a champion, you become a champion.

Simple stuff, really, but remember kids: Reality, and success are ultimately simple!

AS HEAVENS COLLIDE- 'What They Fear the Most" Review (Full-Length,2011)

When I listen to stuff like AS HEAVENS COLLIDE, it makes me angry for the amount of whack musicians and bands out there with no technical proficiency and inability to put together good songs. AHC is the exact opposite of that. I had their new release sitting on my "To Review" list for quite a while, and now I am furiously asking myself WHY I didn't listen to this earlier so I could groove to it and mosh like a mad dog!

This may very well be the best brutal metal/hardcore I heard in 2011 so far. AHC go all out and manically destroy everything that stands in their way, moshing all the way through - breaking, ravaging and tearing apart. They only stop every now and then to throw you into some mysterious avant garde halts that give you the creeps and throw you in a meditative state of altered consciousness... of death!

It is so hard to pin down this band; they may base their shit on metallic downbeat hardcore, but have so much technical skill that they can go from tech-deathcore to epic symphonic metal to old school hardcore breaks like it ain't no thing. There are so many influences and mixed genres in What They Fear the Most that I cannot even begin to explain, I would just bore you. What YOU need to do is go and find this album and get ready for some really heavy stuff.

If you like listening to cool music with tons of layers and are not afraid of mixing melodic death metal with rabid, huge hardcore parts and a new age feel, then please do yourself a favor and listen to this band. It's totally TYS approved!

www.asheavenscollide.com

www.asheavenscollide.com

www.asheavenscollide.com

www.asheavenscollide.com

ON THE OFFENSE - Demo 2011 Review

Growing up as a hardcore kid in the 90s, I didn't listen to metalcore; I didn't listen to no 'thug'-core and I certainly didn't listen to boring, watered down ex-hardcore post stuff. No! I listened to stuff like ON THE OFFENSE: honest, driving, hard-hitting hardcore music with an intense message I could relate to.

Back then all the kids were kind of trying to get as many records from the Victory Records catalogue as possible. Cause even though it was hard to find HC records, at least there was a good hardcore label that we could depend on and spent our money on stuff we knew we would 99% like. ON THE OFFENSE is reminiscent of those golden days. They play hardcore the way it used to be, and do an awesome job at it by staying close to the roots of this music and by showing lots of respect for it. I can trust a band like this to take me through the hard times, or after a long day's work. It's the HC friend I need because it's so honest.

Each one of the fours songs on this demo is a NYHC blast that takes you straight to NYC (or any other big, dirty-ass city for that matter). Yeah... this demo takes you down to dark places where creeps live, where life's no fairy tale and where you gotta be strong and hardened to pull through. It is just a wrecking ball which represents what I'd call... the honest,  working man's hardcore! Fans of Warzone, Akward Thought, AF, early SOIA, or later NYHC revival stuff will love this, I swear.

Take my word for it if you're a true fan of NYHC or heavy, old school hardcore in general. You won't be disappointed!

FEAR rules

It doesn't matter if you are a straight edge kid... no matter who you are, you can definitely still enjoy FEAR's sheer intensity and punk rock tunefulness!!! Here is a band that I think many newer 'true' kids have somehow skipped during their punk rock education. It's time to restore FEAR up there as one of the top-5 classic punk bands!

This song is angry, sarcastic and nihilistic. This song IS punk! Have a beer with fear?

NERVOUS BREAKDOWN - "A Relationship Between Oldskool Hip Hop and Nationalist Socialize Ideas" (New Song)

I never know what to expect from Indonesian punk kids Nervous Breakdown and their unexplainable song titles, as every time they come out with something different musically. Last time they sent me a single A side release of a wonderful powerpop / punk rock song that could easily get radio plays, but I also know that normally they tend to incorporate a lot of noise elements and rough hardcore punk in their sound. So what should I expect this time?

Another surprise, I guess! Oyi (the genius mastermind behind this punk gang, second from left on the pic) dedided to go to the very roots of hardcore and take us all the way back to the early 80s and a proto-core sound swinging between Black Flag and SSD. The song opens with 0: 41 seconds of multiple layered distortion and feedback, before plunging into some mid tempo, youthful, crazy hardcore with blown out guitar solos and of the hook drum patterns. It is like Jimi Hendrix jamming with a heavier Adolescents or something, so you get the picture: this is good! If it was on Alternative Tentacles you would have bought it already!

Summing up: if you like unadulterated, noisy yet catchy hardcore then this is for you! You won't be dissapointed if only to hear Oyi wishing his mom "happy birthday from your son" at the end of the song... Great stuff!

STEP X ASIDE - Awesome Old School sXe HC!

I guess that when it comes to personal favorites, for me nothing can beat a new dose of furious straight edge hardcore! STEP ASIDE from Tucson, AZ deliver some seriously energetic & upbeat hardcore that you should check right now! They have a harder edge to their sound which could be compared to old school stuff like BROTHERHOOD and JUDGE, and of course YOT. Their music hits hard but they still have that positive approach in their lyrics. A band I didn't know until today but I will def be playing on top volume from now on!

Totally old school,totally straight edge, totally awesome!

Check STEP ASIDE and their crucial songs on FB: STEPXASIDE

Spirit of Hardcore - THINK I CARE

Think I Care was an awesome band that was around a lot when I was studying in the UK a few years back. I clearly remember how all the UK zines wrote about 'em, and for a food reason, too: THINK I CARE fucking destroy - what a legendary band of our times! Can you say INFEST worship? Well, this is what this is!!! It is your 01:52 fix of furious anger... Enjoy!

WITNESS THE FALL - "001" EP Review (2011)

Well it's about time to make some metal signs up in here! Witness the Fall is an awesome modern metal band from Scotland -  a country which seems to produce many new bands full of totally talented, technical musicians.

These Scots play a style of metal that is fresh and modern, but still filled with the basics: lightning-speed riffs, driving melodies, technical parts and an overall sound that is totally heavy and chunky. I'd say it is a combination of NWOAM (that's New Wave of American Metalcore, fool!) with some distinct metalcore breakdowns and patterns in the vein of As I Lay Dying and Unearth. I just have to mention that the double bass drumming is totally fucking relentless, as it races alongside the head crunching, flaming metal riffs. All this is topped with some pretty incendiary political lyrics about the fall of man and modern society! Yeah baby! This is Real Metal 101 for the new millennium!

I fucking love underground metal; Like underground hardcore, punk etc, it's just music made by kids who love what they do and put in lots of commitment and dedication into what they do. It does takes a high level of dedication to be an underground band and sound like a well-paid recording artist, and this is exactly what Witness the Fall manage to do. I love playing this CD; it has awesome grooves, a killer production sound, it rocks the fuck out, and just makes me want to say 'fuck' a lot and find something to destroy! That's exactly what I need right now!

Witness the Fall on Facebook

Witness the Fall on Myspace

NERDcore...

You know there is something wrong with this scene when half the kids look like the guy on the right.

I guess nerds are cool but only the original ones, not the hipsters who try to imitate them and somehow pretend to be punk.

xAFBx Reunion!

xAFBx aka Armed for Battle has been one of the most crucial straight edge bands of the previous decade. During times that the only straight edge music around was fast hardcore and neo-youthcrew, xAFBx held the flag for no shit, metallic hardcore that totally kept in touch with the movement's essential characteristics. As far as I know,  xAFBx is also one of the most popular bands for all the die hard, militant, hardline etc straight edge kids worldwide. Dudes got some pretty legendary status. Now they're back, and I can't wait to see what the remaining straight edge members (Tony Battle and co) will give the world through their upcoming release on 7th Dagger!

Make Sure Fair-Weather Friends Know

Jawbone - "Loss of Innocence" EP Review

When we say 'heavy hardcore' nowadays, most people think of beatdown stuff with bad death metal vocals and people wearing basketball shorts. We are lucky to have labels like Blood & Ink Records, which has been working hard at bringing us the real, quality heavy hardcore sound that is worth listening to. There are a number of bands on its roster bringing modern hardcore to a new level of chaos and brutality. Jawbone and their new ep Loss of Innocence are here to add some more credibility to an already awesome label.

Loss of Innocence consists of five songs of relentless hardcore intensity that hits hard from start to finish. This is some serious devastating metallic hardcore with complex, constantly changing drum patterns, chaotic guitar riffage, and a huge analog sound to bring everything together. I dig the fact that the vocals sound pissed of without being typically heavy. We could actually say the dude almost sings and this brings to mind mid 90s metallic hardcore bands - which is obviously a very good thing. Jawbone is a pretty exceptional band because they've managed to create a sound that will go down well with both Earth Crisis and Neurosis fans while always keeping one foot down in the roots of the original hardcore sound.

There is always room in the hardcore scene for bands who push the envelope a bit further and expand the genre's boundaries. However, I like the fact that there are bands like Jawbone who manage to walk the thin line between being innovative and at the same time true to their roots. This is 2011's true metallic hardcore!

www.bloodandinkrecords.com

www.bloodandinkrecords.com

www.bloodandinkrecords.com

www.bloodandinkrecords.com

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!

DEMERIT - Real Punk From Beijing!

It might be summer, but that can't even stop us from listening to some dark 'n' gruff, tuneful punk music. Today we are featuring a band that seems like it will really stay on our playlist, and it's no other than Beijing's Demerit. We are talking about some seriously good hardcore punk here, which combines all good things Misfits, DOA & street-punk. That's true! I don't know how these Chinese punx pull it off, but they mingle their hardcore songs with absolutely stunning melodies that nod to the mid-80s US punk and street-punk scenes. Awesome! This takes us back to punk as an expression of freedom and individuality, where there is room for good songwriting as well as being pissed off with everything.

One thing I know about Asian punk bands is that when they intend to switch to the melodic side of punk, they have a knack for making catchy, heart grabbing songs. And this is certainly the case here. 

Demerit will be on the Warped Tour 2011 and I just know that many kids out there will enjoy them in the sunshine, feeling these heavy, melancholic punk grooves changing their lives. Right on!

http://www.demeritpunks.com/

http://www.demeritpunks.com/

http://www.demeritpunks.com/

http://www.demeritpunks.com/

Another Old School Pic: Choke, Slapshot

I still wonder what the kids out there think about Slapshot. Are they one of the hardcore bands you love to hate? Is Jack Kelly (Choke) the frontman with the most recognizable voice in hardcore or is he just someone who pisses you off? Do you even recognize the importance of Choke and co. for the formation of what we call obnoxious, ignorant straight edge hardcore? And will they put another record out!? I don't know guys... I personally grew up listening to Slapshot since  Old Tyme Hardcore came out when I was a 16-year old dweeb. For me, they are one of the top-10 hardcore bands of all time for sure. They always had the 'in your face' factor switched up to 10, and that's why I respect them so much, no matter what people say.