(record review) UBERGANG-Evolution (Demons Run Amok Entertainment)

German brutal hardcore band Ubergang are about to release their new album with Demons Run Amok Entertainment. I listened and reviewed the new album for our zine.

As I said, these guys are hailing from  Germany and this is their second release after having some line-up changes. The band stays for antifascism, antihomophobia, antiracism and they have their hearts and minds in the right places. There are 10 songs on this record. The music is modern brutal hardcore leaning more on the metalic thrash side of things, but also having a lot of catchy hooks and hardcore rooted parts in the song structures. Groovy parts of the songs mix with brutal blastbeats like for example in the awesome Im Auge des Sturms which is one of my favorites having brutal verses transforming into melodic clean sung choruses. One of album highlights for sure. Also, Bis zum Limit is one of my faves with atmospheric beginning and a lot of nice catchy parts thrown in the song. The lyrics are in German language and I love the bands that use it in their music. I speak German, so I understand that they deal with personal stuff, battling your own everyday demons, but also you can read a lot of social criticism through the lines. Also, one of my favorites is Speigelbild having great sad guitar line melody being somehow between aggression and melancholy. I am not such an avid fan of modern hardcore, but this band has it all, aggression, melody, attitude and that makes this record great and go get it!

8,5/10

 

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(record review) New Found Glory-From The Screen To Your Stereo 3 (Hopeless Records)

The new album by New Found Glory is out with Hopeless Rec and I listened and reviewed it for our zine.

The band has been in the scene since 1997.and they are based in Florida. This is their third cover album they did besides regular studio albums. The album contains 7 songs from your favorite movies transformed into NFG´s trademark melodic pop punk style. As it always is, some songs are better than others, so The Power Of Love, Let It Go and Accidentally In Love are stand outs above rest of the album material. I don´t usually like cover albums or cover bands, but this album is soo good.

7,5/10

 

(record review) Various Artists-Bridging Oceans (Disconnect Disconnect Rec/Pee Records/Thousand Islands Records/Attractive Records)

This record is in fact a 4 way split between Bare Teeth(France), Nerdlinger(Australia), Down Memory Lane(Canada) and SHAMES(Japan). I listened and reviewed it for our zine.

This record is audible proof that there are no boundaries between diy hardcore punk scenes in all of the world and all of the continents as this one features 4 bands from 4 different continents.

There are 3 songs from each band on this record. Bare Teeth from France are our well known band because we already featured them on the pages of this zine, so I knew what to expect from them, being energetic and technical fast melodic hardcore punk with Storytellers being my favorite from their side of the record.

Down Memory Lane are Canadian veterans being formed in 1994., disbanded and reformed back in 2017. to release new music and full length this year, first after 15 years! I was pleasently surprised by their music, with very melodic and fast punkrock without too much philosophy with nice catchy, almost sad melodies and backing vocal harmonies from heaven! My favorite song from their side: Unknown Veterans.

Australian heroes Nerdlinger were also featured already on our pages, so we are not a stranger to their fast, massive party melodic hardcore mixed with reggae ska parts in some songs, which always brings back a smile to my face. Dual vocals, great melodies, energetic music that makes you moving just fit for a nice Sunday while I am writing this feature. Favorite song: Baseballs.

SHAMES were uknown to me prior to this record, but it is an awesome melodic hardcore punk band in the vein of the 90-ies California bands, meaning speed, melody, at times melancholic guitar lines, great vocals and backing vocals and anthemic choruses. Their music is so good that I listened to their songs for couple of times in a row. Favorite song: Break The Parasite.

Awesome idea, awesome bands, awesome record!

9/10

https://disconnectdisconnectrecords.bandcamp.com/album/bridging-oceans

 

 

 

(record review)CF98-Rotten To The Core (Sound Speed Records)

Wow! My favorite Polish band is back with the new e.p. CF98 just released their new record and I listened and reviewed it for our zine.

Couple of years has passed since the last record and with this new one, I can safely say that the band sounds tighter and better than ever before. Singer Karolina does an awesome job with melodic vocal lines just made for singing along and waving your fist in the air. There are 5 songs on this record and I can´t really decide which one is the best for me. CF98 come from Poland and play melodic punkrock with emphasis on hardcore side of things with some gang style backing vocals on choruses and I won´t be wrong if I name them melodic hardcore band. From all of the songs hardcore influence is mostly heard in the title track and it is for me simply the best one if I can name some favorites. The lyrics are personal, but there are couple of very good thoughts and positive ideas behind the lyrics and these guys have their hearts and minds in the right places. The second best song on this record is Missing Part somehow making warmth in my heart while listening to the song. I am gonna see these guys play live this Summer and I can´t wait for their show.

8,5/10

https://www.facebook.com/cf98music

 

 

(news) MUCH THE SAME – Everything Is Fine new studio album

Reunited in 2015 after an 8 year hiatus, Chicago’s MUCH THE SAME continues carrying the torch of aggressive, melodic skate punk. Originally formed in 1999, the band quickly gained popularity in the Chicago punk scene, and eventually broke into national and international awareness with their ‘Quitters Never Win’ album in 2003 (A-F Records) and ‘Survive’ in 2006 (Nitro Records). Though the band broke up in 2007, word of mouth continued to grow their fanbase throughout the world. Much The Same now celebrates its 20-year anniversary and guitarist Dan O’Gorman’s recent victory over cancer by releasing their third full-length album, ‘Everything is Fine’.
When asked about the new album frontman Chris McGrath replied “Thirteen years have passed since we released Survive and we are very different people than we were back then. Everything is Fine is definitely a lyrically darker album, but musically more upbeat. It is a progression in our sound and our songwriting, and we experimented a little bit more than we have before, but it is still every bit a Much The Same record: fast, melodic punk rock with choruses that won’t leave your head and lyrics about real life.  There was no grand plan in writing this album, and no expectations of what might come of it, just a chronicling of a very difficult time in our lives and a celebration of the opportunity to play music together again.”

Pee Records will release ‘Everything Is Fine’ on CD and Limited Edition 12″ vinyl with alternate vinyl colours of the LP also available from  Thousand Island Records in US/Canada and Lockjaw Records in the UK. Pre-Orders will be available on  Pee Records webstore soon when they´ll also be releasing the first single from the album!

(record review)COKIE THE CLOWN-You´re Welcome(Fat Wreck Chords)

Cokie The Clown is the alter ego of Fat Mike, the singer/bassist of legendary Nofx and he just released his new record on Fat Wreck Chords. I listened and reviewed the record in our zine.

What to say first? I am still in awe of this record after listening it for couple of times now. It made me cry, it gave me hope, it helped me and also got me down too. Basically, this record is one man´s walkthrough personal Hell and fighting the personal demons and the past that haunts. The music is not similar to Nofx, nowhere near, it is haunting melodic mainly acoustic music with piano, synth melodies and also sometimes drums which add to the drama of the songs. Lyrics are the darkest lyrics I have ever heard in punkrock. Themes are death, suicide, coping with loss, depression, pain and heartache. Cokie The Clown does not give hope, it takes hope away from you. All of us who suffer from wicked depression throughout the years understand this record and love Cokie because he gave us this music. Some of you who read Hepatitis Bathtub book will know some of the song themes on this record. There is no in between, you will either love or hate this record. I love every single second. There are no hits on this record, no favorite songs, you have to listen to it as a whole.

10/10

https://fatwreck.com/

(record review)IEatHeartAttacks-Please Just Dance Death+Hello Cole Porter (Zegema Beach Records)

Norway is not only a land for black metal, but there are plenty good hardcore punk bands there. This time I reviewed the record by IEatHeartAttacks out with Zegema Beach Records.

There are 12 songs on this record combining previous releases on one place. The music of this band can be categorized as harsh hardcore punk with noise influences. The whole material is very nervous sounding hardcore, but there are nice underlayers of melody as in one of my favorites Liar. The overall atmosphere of the record is very gloomy and dark, at least that is how I perceived it. This is not your happy merry go round hardcore with Sun and flowers and smiling, no, this is something much more powerful and delivered hits you straight to the heart and mind. Other favorites on this record for me are The Six and Please Just Dance Death. I don´t know how and why I missed this record and this band, but I totally love it.

8/10

https://www.facebook.com/ieatheartattack/

https://zegemabeachrecords.bandcamp.com/album/please-just-dance-dance-hello-cole-porter

https://www.facebook.com/zegemabeachrecords/