DUCKCORE: Not Quite Gone

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. 

Love, Ducky

HEAD ABOVE WATER - Community Records Benefit CD Sampler

If you are a person who does not like awesome punk comps with some 35 songs on it, then you should say so right now and go join the sucky peoples' ranks or something. Seriously, compilations are great for discovering new bands, to see what some of your old faves are doing and of course they are just great for enjoying music in general. I have personally grew up with punk samplers back in the day (mid-era Punkoramas, Fat Wreck, Asian Man, Dr. Strange, Go Kart etc etc) so maybe I have a soft spot for them. But YOU should definitely check this out.

So... Head Above Water is a new addictive compilation of cool DIY music which varies from alternative indie punk to straight up ska, dirty fast punk, spoken word / acoustic and even some sludgy stoner / metal. If you can keep an open mind and don't divide music genres into neat little boxes (like a music fascist or something!), you will definitely enjoy this compilation cause it's put together nicely and makes for a great listen. Hey, it just might become your summer soundtrack. To be honest, there is not ONE bad song on this comp.

But even though this comp is cool as fuck, not all things in this world are. This is a benefit comp for the BP oil spillage, and it aims to raise awareness about this issue by telling everyone about it. That is why this compilation is free; it aims to reach as many people as possible. The labels which have teamed up for it alongside Community Records are Asian Man, Plan-It-X and Quote Unquote. The free download comes with a press kit with photos and essays about the oil spillage in the Gulf of Mexico.

Once again, the punks are doing the right thing. They put out awesome music and bring the truth to the surface. Oh how I love punk fucking rock.

Download the comp here. Help stop the destruction of our environment.

S.O.A. - No Policy EP

What can be said about a band like S.O.A. (System of Alert)? These guys pretty much created the old school hardcore sound that  kids still listen to and bands still copy to this day. They were only around from 1980 to 1981 but they managed to put out this gem of no frills, raging punk music. This band had a young Henry Rollins on vocals (known as Henry Garfield, before he joined Black Flag) and this sounds so pissed off and it's so fast that it's just perfect! This is real fucking hardcore!

I just believe this e.p. (hear all of it below) is so utterly important and influential for hardcore that everyone should listen to. It is what straight edge kids call "crucial", it is like hardcore punk's "Number of the Beast" or something and you should definitely check it out if this record has escaped you. When people talk about Negative Approach and Agnostic Front as early hardcore influences they don't realize it's S.O.A. who influenced these bands in the first place! Fast songs, gruff vocals, razor sharp guitars, filled with anger against drugs, against society, against everyone! Enjoy this this piece of hardcore history!

Dead At The Scene's 'Sharktopus': FREE download!

A few months ago, we did a review for Dead At The Scene, the Scottish progressive deathcore pioneers. At TYS, we consider their debut EP Sharktopus to be one of the best records in 2010 for all of heavy music. This record really tears down the boundaries between genres and creates a worthwhile piece of music that you want to keep in your record collection and frequently revisit. Isn't that the purpose of all good music? To create feelings and thoughts that the listener wants to revisit and recreate over and over again? DATS managed just that with Sharktopus. They made an honest album that sticks with you like a good old friend, even though at times it is so heavy that it destroys your ears and unsettles your nervous system!

For all of the above, we are pleased to let you know that DATS has just released Sharktopus as a free download - a thank you to their fans and the support they've received so far. It is available through the band's website, www.sharktopus.co.uk. Now everyone can dig into that awesome, mystical death metal meets prog hardcore meets I don't know what! It is also a great move for independent bands to release their music free online. It shows that what DATS wants is to get their music around and don't fuss so much about the decreasing record sale rates and whatever. After all, experience shows that the bands who make it financially are the ones who tour like madmen and have merch to sell, not those that count solely on their sales of their CD!

So go download Dead At The Scene's awesome EP and have fun listening to it! Just remember to give it the time it needs to grow on you and you will be rewarded!