Review #34: Awakening The Revenant - The Procreated [EP]

Album: The Procreated [EP]

Artist: Awakening The Revenant

Year: 2011

Origin: Huntington/WV/United States

Genre: Deathcore/Death Metal/Hardcore

For fans of: Fall Before Your Creator, Isla Sorna

Tracklist:

1. Intro

2. This City Screams War

3. The Great Deceiver (feat. Trenton Allen Heck)

4. Conqueror

5. Your Demise

6. My Redemption

>> BUY! <<

(seriously supporting these guys, means you safe at least 1 square meter of the Rain Forest in the dusty Desert of the Antarctica!)

These guys deserve your money, the money of your friends, the friends friends and their pets!

YOU SHOULD ALL GET THIS, BECAUSE OTHERWISE YOU SUCK!

Review:

A long time ago, Awakening The Revenant announced the release of a first record, which finally came out in late December. The Procreated offers the broadest range of different kinds, to play Deathcore in just 5 Tracks (excluding the Intro). Groundbreaking Breakdowns, dramatic ones and a lot of blast beats at it's finest, this is what your first impressions would look like. But actually behind these deadly walls is a lot more then guessed and considered as "generic Deathcore". A very special and positive feature, which is also pretty rare to find within this kind of music, are the clean sung vocals in the songs "The Great Deceiver" and "Conqueror".

The sound for a first release is pretty solid. The quality in the tone of the guitars sounds pretty massive.

Coming to the intense moments. They're present! In masses. 

From the scream in the beginning of "This City Screams War", to the end of the EP. 

Indeed, these guys do more then Deathcore, there's a definite prove of classical Moshriffing, that leans to Hardcore bands such as The Acacia Strain, Betrayal and so on. Well layered riffage all in all.

I would highly suggest, checking this band out, also if you aren't into Deathcore at all, or even hate it.

There is no Suicide Silence or other shit influence to hear.

Awakening The Revenant offer a pretty original and steadfast sound!

Period.

Interview: #22: Locusts

My dude, Matt Burridge from Ex-Still Dreaming wrote me, he started a new band. 

These guys are playing kinda heavy shit. This is what they like, this is what they do, no compromise.

Dark and heavy Deathcore

Check out Locusts, from UK!

Where do you come from?
 We are all from the southeast of Kent, United Kingdom

 What music do you make? And what makes your sound, being your sound?
 We are primarily a metal band with a lot of Deathcore influences in our sound. We don't necessarily sound like, but take influence from bands like Whitechapel, Oceano and Postmortem Promises.

 Tell us what you are currently doing, in reference to your music. Any upcoming albums, ep, songs, new merch?
 We haven't been around long so at the moment we're just focusing on getting shows and writing songs to fill out our set. We recently recorded 2 demo tracks which are on our Facebook page, and we had our first show a few days ago which was great. We'll be looking to record an EP by March next year.

 What does your band name mean, to you and to others, and where does it come from?
 We just wanted something that sounded a little different from your average Deathcore band name. We thought 'Locusts' had an imposing image and was a fairly original name within the genre. It doesn't have any real significance for us, but we just like how it sounds.

 Which bands are your influences? / Which bands are your personal favorites?
We all have fairly similar tastes in music which we like to think is an advantage because we have a very clear idea of how we want to sound. As a band i'd say our favourite bands are Oceano, Whitechapel, Molotov Solution, Viatrophy, As You Drown and Catalepsy.

 Do you guys have a message, which shall be said through your music?
Not really, we're just all about writing and playing heavy music, and at the moment we're just enjoying it. I dare say we'll have some sort of lyrical focus when we begin writing an EP, but i couldn't say what it'd be right now.

 What was your sickest/best show, whats your dream venue and which band would you like to tour with and why?
We've only had one show so far, but it went very well for us. The turnout was far better than expected and we felt we got a good response and plenty of positive feedback. It was definitely the best 'first show' we've each of us played.

Our dream venue would be somewhere like Brixton Academy, and if we had to tour with one of our favourite bands it would have to be Whitechapel or Oceano, because those bands live are simply unreal.

 Any messages left to fans, friends, family?
Just a thank you to anyone who's taken time to check us out, i know those numbers are few at the moment, but we're working hard to change that!

Review #33: Across The Obsession - We See What We Want

Album: We See What We Want

Artist: Across The Obsession

Year: 2011
Origin: Russia
Genre: Melodic/Post-Hardcore/Instrumental/Metal/Hardcore/Progressive/Technical/Metalcore

(Just undefinable good!)

For fans of: Between The Buried And Me, Adept, 

Tracklist:

1. Trails (feat. Anatoly Borisov from Sarah Where Is My Tea)

2. Bleeding Inside

3. To The Stars

4. All That Becomes Us (feat. Pasha Shipilin)

5. Dreams

6. Closed

7. Between The Words

8. Eternally Awaiting Dawn

9. Home

10. Captive Of Bondage

11. The Letter

12. We See What We Want

>> Download <<

>> Instrumental Version <<

Review:

Across The Obsession only do what they want!

These guys have fun in what they're doing and they are showing this at their best, at their Debut Album

entitled "We See What We Want"! 

Hailing from the Country of the most surprising bands, these young Russians really created everything new and brought the heavy scene to a new era!

Starting as a instrumental band in lack of a singer, just to show what is possible as a band with incomplete line up. Yet a singer, wasn't missed on the old records, now they just perfected what they were working at. Also they're giving out the instrumental version of the album, for those who like to enjoy the musical side of them.

We See What We Want contains 12 captive songs of emotion and creativity.

Looking back to their old instrumental EP "The Road", these guys just changed the instrumental work a little bit, to come together with the vocals.

Melodic and technical guitar licks all over the songs. Progressions in vein of BTBAM and showing a softer side of putting breakdowns into the rhythm guitar, these are only some words to describe the sound of them.

The vocals are neither screamed, nor shouted or growled. They sing - in their own way. Emotive, yet angerfilled yelling could explain it a little.

All in all, this Album must be heard, to say you like it or not!

A catchy band and the most original sound/music i've ever heard. One of the most talented and hard working bands i know. Get them bigger and show some love at Facebook, Myspace or anywhere else!

Links:

Facebook

LastFM

Myspace

Twitter

VK

YouTube

DIY Review #1: Finisher - Doomsayer EP (2011)

Here's something special for you!

Hope you can read this.

Finisher are such a great band, you should all support and love them!

Tracklist:

1. Ragnarok

2. Doomsayer (feat. Aaron from Postmortem Promises)

3. Waste Of Space

4. Rhino

>> Download <<

Interview #21 - Human Improvement Provess

First of all, i'm really sorry, for being so quiet the whole last month. My computer broke and the motherfuckers, who repaired it, where slow as fuck.

So for now, i'll be posting a lot more!

The next interview was also a long time ago, but this time it's really really interesting i think, because these guys from Italy really founded a new kind or dimension of modern extreme music.

Comparing these guys with "The Browning", who are actually pretty hip, these guys will speak a lot to fans of this kind of music.

For all those who chill their lives to Dubstep instead of Trance, or also like both and off course are open minded to new stuff and love Death Metal, will find a new favorite band in these guys...

So here's my interview with 

Human Improvement Process!

Hello, thank you for taking the time to answer these questions for my site,
first of all, tell us who you are and where you're from.

Fabio:
Hello Hendrik, we're from Modena (Italy). Maybe someone knows our hometown because of tortellini, Lasagne and Ferrari ahahah =)

Where does your band name come from?

Fabio:
Finding a cool name was really hard before starting this project; I don't remember very well but I guess
that someone told "hey guys, how about Human Improvement Process?"...heey that's awesome.
That's all =)

You guys have kinda rare sound, combining Death Metal, Dubstep and many more kinds of modern heavy music.
What moved you guys to the conclusion of as i would call it "Melodic Death Metal-Dubstepcore"?

Fabio:
Is quite simple, because we love death metal and we enjoy electronic music =)
We have a huge musical background; we listen to every kind of metal since we were 10/11 years old, and
this obviously have a strong influence on our composition.

Lately we discovered a lot of interesting sounds in electronic music, so we think our sound is
just the merging of all the music we've listened to!

Also how would you guys define the music you are playing? Maybe you have a special name for this sick mixture?

Fabio:
Giving labels to music is quite useless I think, we just do what we love to do =)

How would you explain your sound?

Fabio:
Early 2000s Death Metal with Melodic stuff and Dubstep, maybe could fits XD

What music or which bands are the members listening to? Any favorite bands?

Fabio:
Personally I'm listening to an awesome italian band in these days "The Secret"; I'm also listening to
Hundredth, The Ghost Inside, Viatrophy, We came as romans, Motionless in White (talking about "Deathcore" bands), Dissection,
Slayer, The Legion...
We listen to a lot of Death Metal bands like Suffocation, Inveracity, Dying Fetus, Decapitated, Vader, Death and many more.

Do you guys know a band called "The Browning"?
These guys are became a really famous band recently, for mixing Death Metal with Trance, what do you think about their music?
Just interested in how you think about bands that play a similar type of music to you.

Fabio:
Sincerely I don't like this band, but it's just a personal opinion and if I have no good things to say I think it's better saying nothing =)

What inspires you, to write such a great music? Are you guys knowing what the listeners want, i mean you combine two really popular genres?

Fabio:
As I told you before we just write the music we love to play, nothing more =)

Coming to your live shows. How do you manage the Dubstep sound on stage, do you have a hidden 6th member?

Fabio:
No unfortunately it's impossible at the moment.
Right now our drummer Luca is playing live shows with an Ableton live project which send click and guitars to his
headphones and electronic stuff to the mixer.

What was your sickest show and was you funniest/favorite moment behind the stage?

Fabio:
Our sickest show ever was definitely at XO club in Moscow, I think THIS video speaks by itself ahahah =)
More or less all the moments on tour were amazing, from getting drunk with Russian vodka to sign autographs (!!!!!!! incredible xD) and shoot
pictures with maaaany fans everyday; was totally insane.

Which bands would you like to tour with and why?

Fabio:
Touring with Born Of Osiris would be awesome.

What things are coming up from you guys? You guys already said to me, you currently finished writing your debut album, so when do you think it'll be released?
Also keep a physical copy for me haha ;)

Fabio:
ahahah of course we'll do.
I hope we'll able to release our full length on April/May 2012 =)

Any other things in the works? Probably new Merch coming?

Fabio:
We've a couple of gigs in Italy and then I think we're touring again Russia in may!

Any words you want to say to your fans, friends or families?

Fabio:
We will be more extreme than "In Crystalline Worlds Beyond", we won't never sell our asses shooting a video of a famous cover, we'll stay true.
Cheers guys!

Weblinks:

FACEBOOK
Eye Of Illusions on BlankTV
Purchase "In Crystalline Worlds Beyond":
BANDCAMP
OFFICIAL MYSPACE

MERCHSTORE
 VKONTAKTE
 OFFICIAL WEBSITE
TWITTER
 YOUTUBE
BAND CONTACT
  info@hipband.net

A big thanks to Fabio, for taking the time for this. Also i'm very sorry for the long delay!

Hendrik.

Interview # 19: I Defy

Got a new interview down, with a british Hardcore band that is really really underrated and still unknown as well. Pretty nice guys, who play a pretty solid and recognizable Hardcore sound with Metal influences, yet they haven't created a complete new sound, their songs are pretty catchy and enjoyable!

Check out I Defy!

How did you get the band started?

It was originally Alan and Stu (Guitarists) that wanted to start a band. After writing a few songs they went over to James' (vocalist) studio to record a few tracks.

After that James decided he'd start a band with Alan and Stu which went on to be called I Defy.

What were the reasons for choosing the band name? What are you defying?
Haha! If we was to list off things that annoy us about life and the way music is turning these days we'd be talking forever! 

We chose I Defy mainly just because we thought it sounded cool.. and also because we saw it on the back of a Machine Head album and thought it would make a cool band name.

Tell us about your sound, how do you think are sounding like?
We're just trying to play music that we enjoy.. 

We looked at bands like The Ghost Inside, The Acacia Strain etc etc

and thought "What if they had clean singing?"
So we set out to be more of a Metalcore alternative to bands like that really.

Are there bands that influenced your sound?
Yes! Everybody must have an influence from somewhere! 

With us it's anything from.. Parkway Drive/Killswitch Engage

all the way to more hardcore bands like Blood For Blood/Terror

and everything in between!

If you would define your band to a specific genre, what would it be?
Metalcore!

Do you guys spread any kind of message with your music to the listeners?
Yes! As a band.. and individually we've all gone through some very rough times and have had to make a lot of sacrifices! 

We've had some AWFUL luck as a band but we carry on going no matter what. So the album is all about picking yourself up when you've been knocked down, sticking with your dreams and just going for it! Believe in yourself! 

What are your favorite bands?
We all have different favorites and not always metal.

James likes Killswitch Engage, The Acacia Strain, A Day To remember etc etc and even music like Boyce Avenue and Bruno Mars etc.. pretty much anything he'll listen to as long as it isn't Rebecca Black or Design the Skyline!!

Dave loves his Dream Theater/Machine Head/DevilDriver etc

Stu Loves bands like For Today/Chimaira

Alan loves Bury Your Dead/Blood For Blood etc but also a lot of Acoustic and sometimes pop music too!

Lee likes a bit of everything really he can be a bit more old school than the rest of us he's into Mudvayne/Dry Kill Logic/The Haunted

What do you guys do beside the band? 
Work!

Alan Drives massive lorries

Lee works in a shop

Dave works building speakers

Stu works in a call center

and James works in the studio recording bands

Anyone of you guys playing video games ;) ?

Lee, Dave, James and Stu all have Xbox & Xbox live!

Ask us nicely and you can have our Gamertags ;-)

You guys have released one Ep, including 9 Songs, so kind of a little album already, tell us a bit about it? What should we know about it?
Wow... THAT record!

It was the first 9 songs we'd ever written as a band, we we're still trying to discover where we wanted to be and who we wanted to be as a band etc, it's not the best record ever however we're very glad we did it as we learned A LOT from doing it and we've grown a lot since then and changed the way we do things MASSIVELY.. we're almost a completely different band now, what we have on Facebook/Myspace right now and the album is FAR better! 

But as far as the old record goes we're happy we did it.. without it we wouldn't be the band we are today! :-)

By the way ,the Artwork looks pretty evil, who made it? It reminds a bit of a Death Metal band, what is behind it, who had the ideas?
The artwork was made by Top Two Studios here in the UK They're amazing illustrators and great with coming up with ideas. 

We gave them full control over the artwork and we wasn't disappointed with what we got! We'd 100% recommend them to anyone after great Illustration work!

Where do you take your inspirations, beside to other bands, especially for the lyrics?
The lyrics are inspired a lot by our past and obstacles we've had to overcome in order to be stronger/better people.. we want people to feel empowered by our music and really relate it to something that's happened in their life... and hopefully inspire them to pick themselves up and make the best of the life they have!

Anything special coming up? New songs or planning a tour?
We've got a lot going on at the moment

We've just recorded a full length album with Sky Van Hoff over in Germany, he's recorded bands like Caliban and also worked with bands like Kreator etc... he is the MAN at recording and he's really the person that has mentored us as we've grown and taught us a lot about how we should be doing things... without him we'd be nowhere! We already have a music video out now "Bridge Burner" That is from the album, head over to Youtube and check it out!

We have 3 more music videos on the way!!

2 Are songs from the album and one is a very special cover of a pop song we've done! Don't want to spoil the surprise just yet but it will be released very soon!!

We're heading off on a co-headlining tour in the UK with good friends of ours 'Deadlines' who are ex members of Bury Tomorrow! Make sure you check them out! And we are planning on coming back to Europe very soon for another tour, not sure when yet but we're very keen to come back and play for you guys again!

When can we hope for a new record of you guys?
Hopefully the Album will be out soon! We're still working out the business side of things at the moment, but hopefully we should have it out for you ASAP! 

Have you guys ever thought of going into hiatus for a long time or forever? 

Haha!! Many times it feels like we should just stop.. we have such bad luck.. especially with breaking down on tour.. (We ALWAYS seem to breakdown in either Belgium or Germany! 

Cancelled Flights/Gigs

People stealing money from us... Gear off us.. People promising us things and them never happening.. 

It always happens to us! And sometimes it does get us down!

HOWEVER we're never going to give up, we'll keep fighting through it all and playing non stop shows!! You wont see the last of I Defy, not by a long shot!!

Which places would be on the top list, you wishing to play a show at?
Ever since i can remember i've wanted to play at the Download Festival over in the UK.. i think the same goes for all of us! 

Going there as a kid and then finally playing there would be a dream come true!

How would you explain your live performance?
Intense! 

The songs are ALL written with the live performance in mind!

It's fast.. it's heavy.. there's always a breakdown... it's a non stop 100% workout extravaganza! If you like to move.. we will make sure that you get no chance to stop and rest throughout the entire set.

Are you listening to your music too?

Yeah i like listening to our music.. i'm very proud of what we've achieved and how hard we've worked to make the music we love to make.. listening to it just makes you remember how much all that hard work, blood, sweat and tears is worth it!

Which bands would you like to tour with and how would your favorite tour look like?
I'm sure we'd all love to tour with out individual favorite bands but i think we'd all love to tour with bands like.. Parkway Drive/The Ghost Inside/The Acacia Strain/Bury Your Dead etc!

And the Perfect tour for me (James)

Would be:

Killswitch Engage

The Acacia Strain

Bury Your Dead

The Ghost Inside

Any messages left to fans, friends or family?
We love every single one of you! You're exactly what keeps us going

and every single show we play just reminds us that we want to be doing this for as long as we possibly can!

Thank you all so much for your support and to all of those that have stuck by us from day one! It means SO much to us you have no idea!

Again Thank you! And we'll see you on the road!

[2011] Dead Hand - DHFY [EP]

Album: DHFY [EP]

Artist: Dead Hand

Year: 2011

Origin: Byron Bay/Australia

Genre: Hardcore 

For fans of: Confession, The Acacia Strain 

Tracklist:

1. DHFY

2. I Put The 'E' In 'Dane E'

 3. Ray Liotta Told Me I Was Invincible (feat. Tom Hayes)

4. Item 9 (feat. Dane E) 

5. Pointman (feat. LaifXXX)

6. G*O*A*T*S (feat. Corey Lacey)

7. Deak Parsons 

>> Download <<

It's surely worth it, to check out side informations of touring bands.

These guys are including in a concert of Confessions "The Long Way Home Tour".

Dead Hands EP, given away as free download on their Facebook, offers a fucking huge punch into the face!

 Low tuned guitars, playing slow and massive breakdowns in the vein of The Acacia Strain, are a big part of this release, which gives a feeling of a battlefield. Also you can hear out some kind of Confession, as they were on their first EP "Can't Live, Can't Breath".

As usual, underground bands are way more attractive then the mainstreaming ones, so Dead Hand are more than worth it, being checked out, by fans of massive and aggressive sounding Hardcore. 

Pretty rare and more than solid sounding band in my opinion!

Interview #18: Our City Skyline

Our City Skyline, are a band, who really look deep inside their hearts, before composing a new song.

Their new EP will be released very soon.

So here a little interview, to read about it and the band.

PS: i really recommend this band, since they are one of ten my favorite bands, i know more then 5000 bands by the way...

So here we go, finally meet Our City Skyline!

Who are your and where are you from?

I'm Esai of Our City Skyline. I play guitar from Idaho

What brought you to start this band? 

Well we had another band we had a bit of success with, but we wanted to cut ties with it so we could write and play what we wanted to.

You guys have a carrying, emotive and yet positive sound, explain us, what moved you guys to this?
we all love positive music, our music helps us through rough times. We just like to be able to show that there is another side.

Also explain how you call your sound yourselves, genre and what you sound like.
Well I guess you could say Progressive Hardcore or Progressive Metalcore. We have a ton other elements though. We.don't like to pigeon hole ourselves.

You guys are currently working on your next release, an EP, could you tell us about it?
Well its easily the best thing we have done. It felt like as a band we had hit our stride. In the studio with Ryan from Rain City Audio just was a great time. And he pushed really hard to get this the way it is. Also we are getting it mixed by Ryan Morgan, the guitar player of Misery Signals.
How many songs will be included, will it be available as physical copy, maybe you want to unveil us the name of it too? The EP has 7 songs. It will be released digitally, on CD, and we are looking into pressing vinyl and then the name we will announce soon!

What are your lyrical themes on the EP and in general?
Thats more of a question for our vocalist. He is the one who handles that stuff!

What are your personal influences? 

Personally I am influenced by a lot. Just everything that goes on in my life. Personally bands are stuff like Poison The Well, Crossbearer, Moving Mountains, and Oceana.

Also are there some bands that influence your sound?
Our sound is very influenced by bands like Misery Signals, Oceana, and Poison the Well.

A question beside this all, i currently saw a live set of a hardcore band, whose members kicked the crowd before the stage in their faces. What do you think about it?  Very hardcore isn't it (ironic)?
It's one thing to try to get the crowd going, but thats just disrespectful to people who have literally paid to see you.

What do you guys think about scene and stereotype thinking within the youth of today, isn't it annoying that people get judged by their look and also if they listen to bands that look different?
People should be able to listen to what they want. And as long as they go to shows and support everyone should be accepted. I mean not every persons first Hardcore band they got into was Terror or Madball, so all the older kids need to remember where they came from (don't pretend you never had Atreyu merch) and accept the younger kids so we can keep the scene going

What are your personal favorite bands?
Personally Poison The Well, Underoath, Misery Signals, Oceana and many others. But those are always there. 

Do you guys prefer a special lifestyle? Also what do you think about all this peer pressure?
None of us really live a specific lifestyle. To us, if you're a good person, then you're a good person.

What was your favorite concert, and which bands where the best you shared the stage with?

That would easily be Thursday. It was a dream come true to play with Thursday. That band got me into music.

If you could plan a tour yourselves, which bands would be with you guys?
It would be Poison The Well, Misery Signals, and a Beloved reunion

What things are currently in the works beside the EP? Any gigs or tours planned? Maybe some merch?
We are going to be working on some tours. And merch is designed and going to be printed soon!

Anything left to say (to friends, fans or families)? 

Thank you for the interview and.thank you to everyone for the support! 

From me a big thanks to Esai and the rest of the band, but especially to Esai, for hooking me up with the lastest news on their new EP, and on news of what's going on, the interest in my page and also for taking the time for it.

PS: I'm sorry for the delay, could't post due some reasons of blogspot.

♥

Interview #17: Finisher

 

I'm so glad, that Louis as hit me up, to promote his band on this site.

Finally a promising Hardcore band from the UK, that does heavy shit, kinda familiar but something effective and different 

So here we fucking go, meet my new favorite band from the UK Heavy Hardcore section!

 Finisher!

You guys are called Finisher, so tell us about yourselves, where are you from and what do you stand for, also what kind of music are you bringing to us? 

We're a 5 piece band from the Essex area (south-east England) and we started in March 2011 as 3 mates jamming ideas out. We then gained another guitarist and only recently got a bassist last month. We play heavy, hateful music influenced by Hardcore, Deathcore and Metal. The only thing we stand for is having fun and hitting up shows in new towns.

Tell us about your bandname, it's a pretty strong willed name and it fits very well to your sound. What does it mean and what were the ideas behind and/or for it?
David (vocalist) and Travis (drummer) were playing around with the name "Finisher" for a while and then when me and Ollie (guitarist) joined we wrote some songs it just seemed like the right choice of name as we write heavy and fast paced music.

What do you guys sound like? 

We're a bit of a mixed bag but we've been compared to Recon, The Miles Between and (old) Stick To Your Guns. We don't like to label ourselves as people are so quick to say "no, you don't sound like them/that band" and its annoying to say the least.

What are your personal favorite bands? 

Personally, I (guitarist) adore The Acacia Strain, Arsonists Get All The Girls, Whitechapel, Aegaeon and Your Memorial.

Whereas David (vocals) is more into death metal and Deathcore such as Dr.Acula, Carnifex and The Black Dahlia Murder.

Travis (drummer) prefers hardcore such as Terror and Pay No Respect. 

Jason (bassist) is into bands like Stray From The Path, Title Fight and Brutality Will Prevail.

Ollie (guitarist) likes bands such as Pariso, Latitudes, Rinoa and Lavotchkin.

Tell us about your music, what are your lyrics about and is there a hidden or open message to the listeners?
The message is open and very simple for the listeners - Hate! The lyrics are very negative and aggressive, usually describing how people really are useless pricks and about having to rely on yourself. They also go on about violence and fighting people. 

Where do you get your inspirations? Any examples from life, maybe experiences or bands that influence you and your music? 

 I can't speak for the other guys here but my inspiration comes from past experiences and this causes me to write heavy, angry music to vent my aggression. Playing a show and (literally) destroying the place is the best feeling and its why I love playing in Finisher.

What is coming up from you? Tours or Releases planned? 

We have our debut EP due to be released in a few weeks (date undecided as of yet) but the EP is called "Doomsayer" and we have a pre-production demo of one of the tracks up on youtube at the moment. As for touring, we are hitting the road on the 16th september alongside our friends in Odessa and we have more tour dates, headline shows and one off shows to announce for the coming months.

What do you think about stereotype thinking, which is actually a pretty big problem, for smaller bands, to get more attention?

It is a hard issue and thankfully we've been lucky in the amount of support we've been shown in the short time we've been a band. In the 6 months Finisher has been a band we have played around the UK and played shows with Annotations Of An Autopsy, Ingested, Martyr Defiled, Release The Kraken and Silent Screams. But yes, it is very difficult for new bands to get any recognition, especially if they don't have many contacts or good enough recordings to gain attention.

Which bands would you like to tour with?

 I'd love to tour with Whitechapel, Molotov Solution, The Acacia Strain, Fit For An Autopsy and, of course, Finisher. A heavy and fucking rad tour line up right there for the masses to enjoy.
  

Any messages left to fans, friends or families? 

To our fans and friends, thank you for the ongoing support and for helping us achieve what we have so far. Hopefully everyone will enjoy the EP and it'll push Finisher further still.

I just have nothing to say from my side, except a big thanks! Looking forward to your EP!

Promotion #23: Face Your Maker

Artist: Face Your Maker

Origin: California/USA

Genre: Deathcore/Hardcore

For fans of: Everything, which is slow and massive with breakdowns! 

These cute guys are wolves in sheep clothes.

It's so great to see and meet new bands, which are young. 

The most potential, spreads out of this youth, our youth and we have to live the fuck out of it and being proud about it!

Face Your Maker, are a Southern California based Deathcore outfit, playing so fucking heavy music.

Breakdowns and slow atmosphere isn't much to say, but in mind, of knowing many bands which are almost known on the whole planet, such as The Acacia Strain and so on, these guys have eaten from the cake with the holy recipe of being brutal.

These guys are much better then all these well known bands, because they just fucking can do it. They are instrumentally and vocally on the same level with so many bands, but are unsigned and underground, what makes them better for me!

Check out their songs in this video:

Face Your Maker -Dissolution & Abdicate

These guys are brutal as fuck! 

Stay underground! Unsigned bands ftw! 

Preview #10: Across The Obsession

Album: TBA

Artist: Across The Obsession

Year: 2011

Origin: Russia

Genre: Post-Hardcore/Instrumental/Metal 

Across The Obsession, is different.

This is a statement, that fits to the most.

ATO play heavy and fresh music.

Technical, progressive, experimental...

These guys were going over everything that has been heard before, to create something new.

So new, that you must have checked them out.

There is actually no band, that can be compared or even set equal with them.

No band!

Across The Obsession, just is different, and this is cool!

Actually, ATO entered their homestudio months ago and worked out something great.

They have been unexperienced yet, but their time will come. Their music is so much addictive!

Finally they posted, that their records are already done.

Here is a little preview to one of their older instrumental songs.

Now they have added vocals and written a lot of new stuff!

Across The Obsession - Eternally To Wait 

Read my interview with them, and downlaod their recent stuff here!

Seriously give these guys a chance. it'll change your mind!

~Hendrik.

Interview #15: All For Nothing

I finally got a new interview for you guys!

This time i hooked up one of my favorite Hardcore bands, since i visited the "Ultimate Summerblast Festival" in Trier/Germany. This was the first time i heard of them, sadly. But i totally fall in love with these guys.

So here we go, an interview with ALL FOR NOTHING!

How came the idea to start a hardcore band?
Mid puberty when everything sucked, school was a drag, girls unreachable and disco for assholes. We had a lot of questions just like everybody growing up and playing music/ hardcore provided us with a healthy outlet for frustration, anger etc. Cindy joined us in 2005, before that Ernst did the vocals and played guitar. We’ve been in this line up since late 2007.

You guys actually play a mixture of hardcore, flavored by metal and punk, does it has any reason for it?
Our band consists our of five people. Who have five different views en preferences for music. We all love hardcore in the first place, but we also bring in some other music styles.
We don’t want to commit to just one style.

Are there any bands that influenced your sound?
The are so many bands that inspired us in general. Even non-hardcore bands. When it comes to hardcore bands, we love the Bad Brains, Black Flag, Cro-mags, Warzone, Madball, Sick of it All and many many more.

What does the name "All For Nothing" stand for?
The name came up when we were brainstorming on a name to pick. It’s also a song by the bands Run Devil Run and DRI. It has no special meaning.


Which message do you guys spread with your music?
We write songs about thing we experience in our lives. No matter how deep you can fall, we always believe in the positive side of life and the strenght that lies within. We want people to think about certain subjects but we don’t want to force our opinions. We believe in an world for everyone without fascism, ssexism and discrimination.

Do you guys listen to your own music?
Not that much, only when we write new songs.

Tell us what Hardcore exactly means to you.
In the first place it’s about the music and the message. Hardcore to us is friendship, a way to meet different people around the globe, hear different stories and see many great places.

Which bands are your personal favorites?
In the van we have an Cassette tape that goes into stereo, it has a Ipod Connector at the end. Our Ipods make turns. What you can expect ( Next to the “usual” hardcore): Pantera, Mastodon, Social Distortion, Johnny Cash, Distillers, Rancid, Foo Fighters, Wu-tang-Clan, Janis Joplin, Henry Rollins spokenword session and some chill out tunes. The Odd thing may be Julee Cruise and Frank Zappa.


Where do you get your inspirations and ideas for your lyrics?
I write lyrics based on things I experience in my life, or see around me happen.

What are your interests beside the band?Do you guys just do the band or do you work/go to school/study?
We all work next to this band. Bas owns a driving school, Cindy works as a social worker, Ernst-Jan is a Graphic Designer, Ab is an Optometrist and Richard works as an IT specialist.

Do you guys have played in other bands before?
Yes, we all played in other bands.

What do you guys think about stereotype thinking / scenes?
It’s sad to see how some people claim to be really intelligent and have opinions about thing they know nothing about. Stop bitching and moaning, start being open minded and you will be surprised.

What do you think about underground bands?
Great, we love checking out new bands and get blown away.

What do you guys think about fans, that cover your songs on guitar, drums, vocals, etc?
It’s the biggest compliment we could get!


Are there any things coming up? News about new releases, new merch or planned tours?
We are currently looking for a new drummer. Richard decided to leave AFN in good terms. After we find a new drummer, we are going to record a new album and hopefully hit South East Asia.

Have you guys ever thought of going into hiatus?
No, we are young and we want to do this now.

Would you like to suggest me some bands i should check out?
Risk It, Go For It and Bitter Verses from Germany.

What was your sickest show?
Any show at the Sucks ‘n Summer fest.

Which bands would you like to tour with and how would your favorite tour look like?
We don’t really care, big or small bands as long as we have fun it’s cool.

Any messages left to fans, friends or family?
Please check us out when we come near your area! Thanks!

Regards, 

Cindy

A big thanks to Cindy, for taking the time for it and also for signing my merch!

You guys are awesome and you should never stop making music!

Download - Tomorrow We Hunt - Discography

Tomorrow We Hunt, a talented band from Croatia, hooked me up, to post their stuff!

And i find it's pretty much amazing. Also that this is a band, i've known before.

Thanks so much for sharing your music with us all guys!

Album: Rise [EP]

Artist: Tomorrow We Hunt

Year: 2010

Origin: Zagreb/Croatia

Genre: Melodic Hardcore/Progressive/Metal

For fans of: For The Fallen Dreams, After Me The Flood, Change Of Loyalty

Tracklist:

1. Survivor
2. Defeated
 3. Machines 

>> Download<< 

New Single (from their upcoming Album)

Lying Face

>>Download<<

A short introduction to these guys:

Tomorrow We Hunt are a small band, yet soo much underrated, hailing from Croatias capital Zagreb.

These guys, play Melodic Hardcore, or Progressive Hardcore with metal influence,... however you want to call it.

And they do it fucking perfect. Vocals, Breakdowns and Tempo in the vein of the old For The Fallen Dreams stuff. Pretty good lows and so awesome melodic parts. This is what i love!

Listen to their whole EP here:

So again a big fucking THANK YOU! to the guys of Tomorrow We Hunt, who actually make so great tunes and give it away for free. This means so much to me and all others. My deepest respect to you guys! I'm looking forward to your new stuff!

~Hendrik ♥

Review #29: Fall City Fall - 1629

 

Album: 1629 

Artist: Fall City Fall

Year: 2010 

Origin: Canada

Genre: Hardcore

For fans of: La Dispute, Breakdowns

Tracklist:

1. The Gate

2. Dead Eyes

3. Blackout

4. Trodden Black

5. The Body Discourse

 6. From The Dust, To The Grave

 7. Still Life In Stop Motion

8. 1629

>> Download << 

 2 NEW TRACKS!

>> Download <<

DEMOS

>> Download << 

Review:

 Fall City Fall from Calgary, Canada are a band that quietly played themselves a quite big fan base over the 4 years of their being. Coming up with a solid sound, which i've never heard before, is this CD a masterpiece and a must have album for every Hardcore fan!

Fall City Fall, created a sound of melodic and aggressive Hardcore, layered with massive breakdowns and great melodic and fast riffing.

Their vocals are kind of special in their own way. Using low metal growls and well sounding Hardcore shouting and also a special way of clean vocals during the verses, that comes near to Jordan Dreyer's voice, from La Dispute.

This band shortly combines the dimensions of Hardcore, Metalcore and a unique and very well fitting Clean voice.

 "1629" offers 8 Tracks of Fall City Fall's ability. It offers great composed heaviness in all the songs, that force to listen to the end!

Check these guys out! 

Here a preview of their music! 

Fall City Fall - Dead Eyes 

  

 

Download - Treated - Discography

These guys are giving away there EPs for free. 

Pretty impressing Metalcore, tending to Hardcore in a pretty melodic and yet heavy way.

Unique and solid sound, and i'm pretty stoked on their upcoming Debut Album, which is currently in process.

Artist: Treated

Origin: Austria

Genre: Metalcore/Melodic Hardcore

Album: Atmospheres [EP]

Year: 2010

Tracklist:

1. Intro
2. Scattered Memories and Frozen Bones
3. Take Them Down
4. Atmospheres
5. Cleansing of What's Lost
6. The Great Divide
7. Still Awake
8. The Lighthouse
9. Guardian

>> Download << 

Album: Breather [EP]

Year: 2011

Tracklist:

1. Preload

2. Breather

>> Download << 

Seriously this is one of my favorite band from Austria. Way more attractive then The Sorrow, who are claimed to be the kings of metal from this country.

Promotion #20: Buried In Oblivion

Artist: Buried In Oblivion

Origin: Germany

Genre: Metalcore/Hardcore

For fans of: Enraged By Beauty, Misery Speaks, Forever It Shall Be, Bury My Sins 

Buried In Oblivion are one of my newest founds! A great and catchy bandname and a fucking unique and heavy sound!

Germany has some many great and unsigned bands in the Metalcore and Hardcore genre.

Also Germany's scene has grown into it's own variation of sound and this band fits really well into it!

Fucking mindcrushing fast Metalcore!

Check these guys out! My review of their EP is following the next days!

Check out the song that made me love their music!

Buried In Oblivion - Pigs Might Fly

Promotion #18: Welcome Karen

Artist: Welcome Karen

Origin: Germany

Genre: German Metalcore

For fans of: Narziss, meinestundenull

For those who don't understand the German language and yet like, Callejon or We Butter The Bread With Butter... Fucking check out these Dudes!

Welcome Karen are a german singing Metalcore band but they are coming up with a complete different and fresher sound than, many Metalcore bands have. These guys try to keep the good old Sound of the genre without coming from their path and vary it in their own way with their melodic and heavy touch!

Seriously worth a listen. 

This is what I personally call Germany's Finest Metal, or better Germany's Next Top Metalcore! 

 Over the years, listening to them, these guys randomly found my page on Facebook and hit me up! 

So check out my favorite songs by them, and like them on Facebook!

Welcome Karen - Suizid, taken from their Self Titled EP (2009)

Welcome Karen - Kurtisane, taken from their new EP "Existenz" (2011)

Welcome Karen - Dryade, taken from their first EP "Was es heißt unterzugehen" (2008)

Seriously check these guys out! ♥

Hendrik. 

Promotion #16: Playing For Keeps

Artist: Playing For Keeps

Origin: Florida/USA

Genre: Metalcore/Hardcore

Playing For Keeps, are a newcomer band from the United States, who should get more Attention in future!

Though these guys aren't my kind of music i listen to, but i can definitely say and spread word for such a talented band within their genre!

There's never enough good newcomer bands, who actually play their music for the fans, and keep the band alive for the fans, so show these guys a bit of love and like them on facebook!

Here a little preview song by them. 

Playing For Keeps - Enlighten Me 

Credit to this post goes out to my dude "Heide" for showing me this band!

Thansk a lot pal! 

Review #27: Constellations - Failure & Consequences [EP]

Album: Failure & Consequences [EP]

Artist: Constellations

Year: 2011

Origin: Berlin/Germany

Genre: Progressive Metalcore/Hardcore

Tracklist:

1. Failure

2. Consequences

3. The Let-Down

4. For The Worse

5. Holding On

Buy here or in iTunes! 

Review:

Constellations, haling from Berlin, Germany's capital, are a massive addon into the big game called heavy music!

Their 5 track debut EP contains almost everything for a fan of modern progressive Metalcore!

Beginning at the various kind of guitar techniques that are used, such as a lot of fast and clever set sweep licks, between a big load of heavy breakdowns and also used within some catchy guitar solos that are played behind a  a structure of heavy riffs and also used the typical riffing for Metalcore is everything included. They built their songs in a great and catchy structure, what gives a fresh touch into their music!

 The drums are hold fast and contain a lot of double bass lines and short double bass parts to speed up the songs.

A well done opening with the intro song called "Failure" which is a 33 second acoustic riff leading into the opener "Consequences" which starts with a very fast sweep lick. This probably is one of the top notch moments on this sadly too short CD. But for a first release of the band this is an impressing start. Also who knows whats coming up from them, in my opinion these guys have what it takes to be an international act!

Weblinks:

Facebook

Myspace

Merchstore

YouTube

Check out their opener and in my opinion the best song of the EP...

Constellations - Consequences

 Support these awesome Dudes! ♥

Review #25: A Cripple Stole My Leg - Ribbons [EP]

Album: Ribbons [EP]

Artist: A Cripple Stole My Leg

Year: 2010

Origin: Belgium

Genre: Metalcore

Tracklist:

1. It's Allright, The Leg Is Mostly Puss

2. The Carpentry Of Life

3. Less Than Life

4. As A Warrior

5. Freedom Of Speech

6. Shallow Whispers

7. Watching, Waiting And Blooming.

8. Ribbons

Review:

"Fuck fashioncore"

As it's written down on their Facebook, these guys are pretty much setting a kind of an attitude to new and upcoming bands. Though they all don't know about it yet.

This verse is the meaning of creating an own sound as musician or band, what A Cripple Stole My Leg definitely have reached! Instead of copying styles and sounds, because of favoring bands, these guys have accomplished all their creativity to come up with some really fresh and technical and pretty heavy music, leaning onto the actual metal genres, though the members also have their favorite bands and heroes.

Endorsed with an funny sounding name, ACSML have composed a heavy EP of modern metal, which can be rated as general Metalcore, but there is much more behind it, than just Metalcore.

The CD entitled "Ribbons" is a broad spectrum of technical and melodic guitar work, which sound pretty well to the Vocalists singing. 

 As usual for Metalcore, the voice is mainly shouted and screamed. The screams aren't too high and shouldn't be any higher and the shouts end in deeper growls at many parts of the eight songs.

 Variations on the riffs keep the dullness away. The riffs aren't played too long at any part. 

You'll find breakdowns in slow and fast ways and a lot of great technical and fast hooks. Great speed changes and surprising melody kick ins. Definitely a great release for every Metalcore fan.

ACSML have a name, that forces to take a listen, and the crap in the first thought will immediately change to be a fan of this great band!

A lot of fresh ideas, that are new to Metalcore and catchy songs make this a solid release!

Check out these guys! 

A 100% worth it!

Listen to them now!

A Cripple Stole My Leg - As A Warrior

Stay tuned!