Positively Negative Hardcore Fest 2010

Positively Positive is a Greek hardcore festival that has been going on for a few years, every Xmas. This year the guys at World's Appreciated Kitsch are a bit angrier, so therefore they renamed the fest into Positively Negative. No matter what the name is, this is the fest's 4th continuous edition, and like every year, there is some mean hardcore and punk going on.

 

OK so the fest has had some tribulations with the line-up this year, two bands have been cancelled and replaced: Throats (UK) have been replaced with Ruined Families, and Sun of Nothing have been replaced with Middle Fingers High. Both of these bands have a reputation of their own within the Greek scene, so it will be interesting to check 'em out and see what they have to offer. And... oh yeah; Strength Approach. Really looking forward to see these guys.

I know I have been yapping about how I play in one of the bands on the bill (My Turn), so this time I'll just shut up. But yeah, we're playing and we have some new songs ready for this show. We've been anticipating it for a long time, so it should be fun and I hope to see y'all there! Hardcore doesn't stop during Xmas, it's just a good opportunity to reunite with your loved ones and mosh it up!

Suicidal Tendencies "Come Alive" and some news

It's time to hit the road and leave Athens for two weekend shows with My Turn... I'm excited, even though work stays behind and I will have to pay on Sunday. I guess this is what hardcore is about, you put everything at stake just to travel with a bunch of loud dudes and play for 30 minutes. But there is something in this which keeps me alive, and to go up there and crank the amp up to 10 and go crazy is something that I really love and can't give up! Speaking of being 'alive', here is the new "Come Alive"  video by Suicidal Tendencies (from the new record) which has been rocking my world lately! These guys are the biggest inspiration in this kind of stuff. Enjoy people!

My favorite part is at 0:35, when Cyco Miko says "I will take you for a ride"... This is pure, simple craziness! And we come alive!

Hardcore Zen - Greek Translation Edition (Πανκ Ζεν, 2010)

All you punk bookworms and hardcore nerds out there have probably already heard of Hardcore Zen, the infamous book written by an ex-punk who is now a renowned Buddhist teacher. The book has been quite welcomed in the hardcore/punk community, as it is offers its insights through a proper punk style and it is not some boring outdated treatise on Zen Buddhism by some obscure dude. The good news for our Greek, spiritually dumb society, is that this awesome book has been translated in Greek and is out right now available at bookshops about town.

Like we said above, the good thing is that the author Brad Warner himself as a personality is a weird mixture of punk and zen. Unlike our familiar in hardcore Krishnacore scene, Warner is the total opposite of hardcore bad boys who went holy and spiritual; if anything, he was an outsider, relatively irrelevant hardcore kid (he played bass for Zero DFX) who turned on Buddhism and there found his true punk ethos. In his writing, he comes out like a snotty punk rock kid that doesn't respect anything, and criticizes everything for what it's really worth. He sees Buddhism through brand-new eyesight which is good in such a saturated book market. Even though this guy dwelves deep into Zen Buddhism, he definitely incorporates a lot of hardcore punk mentality and offers this fresh-minded Buddhist book for everyone to read. I guess this is exactly the reason why his book became so succesful in the first place.

On the other hand, Warner is pretty heavy on the Buddhist side (hence the title 'hardcore' zen is justified: these are some pretty straight on, no BS Zen teachings). Being a certified Zen Buddhist teacher who comes down from a long lineage of Zen masters (not that it means anything in itself, but--well), Warner's got one or two things to say about the Dharma, the study of Buddhism and its practices. So if you're interested into a bit of a different, crazy philosophy, and you're not afraid to bring a bit of a spiritual side into your hardcore life, go for it and read this book!

For our Greek readers: you can find this book with its Greek title, Πανκ Ζεν, out on EnsO Publications and distributed thtough Lector Publications. The translation is very good, and the translator has done a very good job at capturing Warner's style in the greek language. Moreover, he has some knoweledge of hardcore/punk and makes some spot-on comments and footnotes. Visit his blog here (it's worth it): http://www.punkzen.gr/. You can also buy the book online by clicking this link.

Hardcore Personalities: Dan Smith - The 'Unknown Tattooer'

In the world of hardcore, there are often personalities who don't exactly fit in with the traditional norms. We often see people who have come from the hardcore scene and have taken that ethos and transformed it into something else. I am talking business owners, filmmakers, tattoo artists, whatever; the examples are pretty much countless. Dan Smith is such a personality and this is why we feature him here on our blog.

Dan Smith is a UK born, New Zealand raised, US residing tattooist and musician. Admittedly, he is a man of many talents who has succeeded in many different aspects and in a way is a role model for many who follow in his path (choosing alternative and/or unconventional ways to earn one's living). As a tattooist, Dan Smith is following a pretty much traditional style of old school designs, but with trademark precision and detail. In many of his designs, one can see the shared influence and similarities that hardcore and tattoos have always had in their aesthetics. The straight edge aspect also comes up quite frequently in his work, as Dan Smith is a very proud X man! Here is some awesome work of his:

Dan Smith's music side is a totally different story from what you might expect. He sings for The Dear & Departed, a band which does not necessarily have much to do at all with hardcore. But it's really not that important, as the band plays a very nice mix of new wave punk, like AFI meets the Cure meets the Damned (or something). It is the kind of music which is perfect to chill out to after an intense hardcore show or when you're just not in the mood for hardcore. Definitely music with a unique sound, to put on as a background while you do stuff, like draw, make a zine or a flyer! In any case, The Dear & Departed already have a loyal following, and have played with bands like Sick Of It All, the aforementioned AFI and Avenged Sevenfold.

There is more to check from Mr Dan Smith for those who are interested. He has participated in Peta's 'Ink, not Mink' campaign (hooray!), has designed stuff for famous companies like Macbeth, and has participated in the world-famous reality TV show 'L.A. Ink'. All this is just to show that proper 'hardcore personalities' are not just bald guys who act hard. The way I see it, they are creative people from all walks of life who are out there doing stuff, working hard and making a good name for themselves. It's all about what you put in,  not the posturing. 

Psycorepaths - "Your Entropia Has Arrived" Promo CD (2010) Review

Hey everyone and welcome to the December 2010 edition of TYS webzine. This month is really important for us, because it is the month we will -finally- release our 4th print issue. It is done and all we have to do is send it to the printers and this bastard will be over and done with. Expect nothing but pure hardcore as usual!

OK so I will start this month's reviews with the notorious Greek deathcore band from Corfu, Psycorepaths, and their awesome 3 song promo entitled Your Entropia Has Arrived. 

We all know that many bands out there claim the label deathcore, but these dudes really deserve it. They play fucking heavy and base their sound around metallic riffs that are molded in such a way that the outcome is loyal to hardcore. The vocals are varied throughout the whole brutal (death metal and hardcore) spectrum, and the drumming in the background keeps on pummeling all the way throughout these 3 songs. There is a lot of beatdown and a lot of breakneck moshing, too. Very good!

It's been a long time since I heard a band with such a nice, solid groove to it. Most bands follow the 'thrash path' these days, but Psycorepaths really groove! If you mix 90s style metal with modern day beatdown hardcore and a meaty 00s production, you get Your Entropia Has Arrived. I hope it doesn't sound like an insult to say that these guys must have listened to a lot of Pantera when they were young. Song 3 has an closing riff that makes me wanna mosh and smash everything around here with no afterthought! I am talking about some proper phat Pantera gangsta grooves!

Psycorepaths: Earth Crisis meets Pantera!?

Another thing I want to mention is that Psycorepaths stand out lyrically. In Greece, we don't have many bands if any at all that play deathcore with straight edge themed lyrics. Yes, these guys leave aside the dark, intelligent themes (duh), and talk about the destruction of the environment and of our own bodies by modern society's marketing plans for monetary gain. This is exactly what we need: heavy bands with their minds in the right places, and not afraid to speak them!

So all respect to xThug15x and his crew of moshers, I hope they will do great in the future. I had heard a lot about this band, and now I am glad that I finally checked them out and realized how good they are. I will give them extra points for having the guts to be different lyrically and aesthetically.

[8/10]