EDDIE SUTTON singer for LEEWAY NYC (shown in photo on the left) recently announced that he is battling a form of lung cancer called adenocarcinoma. Back in November Eddie relaunched his "Eddie Leeway Podcast" which "goes beyond music and entertainment" with an emphasis on human issues. In a recent episode of his podcast Eddie talks about his newly found battle with cancer. A Go Fund Me page has been set up to help out with medical costs. If you would like to find out more info on how you can help click HERE. Get well soon Eddie!  Photo by: Rich Zoeller. 

KINGS NEVER DIE will be releasing a new EP titled “It’s What We Live For” on March 26th through Upstate Records. The EP is the follow up to their “Raise A Glass” EP released in 2020 and contains 3 new tracks along with two remixed/remastered tracks from that 2020 EP. The first song out of the box and made public is “Pure Gold” and it comes with a music video that pays homage to guitarist Dan Natasi’s late father who passed in September of 2020 to Covid-19. Nastasi reflects, “We thought it was important to release a few tracks that we recorded during 2020 that, most importantly, we love, and wanted to share with everybody while we are gearing up to record our upcoming full-length. There’s really nothing anyone can do about the lost time this past year brought, or the pandemic, other than keep working and doing what we love to do. It’s the character that my father instilled in me”. Click HERE to watch the "Pure Gold" music video. For “It’s What We Live For” KND teamed up with “The” Jerry Farley who has become a go to name when it comes to engineering and producing bands in the hardcore punk scene. With one track featuring (and also co-written) by Agnostic Front’s Vinnie Stigma and Mike Gallo and another featuring guest vocals by NYHC scene icon Rat Bones, it looks as if “It’s What We Live For” will continue to gain Kings Never Die more and more new fans. Pre-orders go live on March 5th. 

Blackhouse Records will be releasing a limited pressing discography for Vancouver, BC's BURDEN who have been disbanded now for over 17 years. Titled "True Until the End - The Discography: 1997-2004", this release will contain 27 total tracks and be limited to 300 copies on CD and 100 copies on translucent red cassette. Burden was around from the mid-90's through the early 2000's and included members that would later go on to be in bands such as: Change, Go It Alone, Blue Monday, Carry On, Keep It Clear, Bishops Green and more. This release includes their 2001 “If You Don’t Stand For Something…You’ll Fall For Anything” full length LP, the 2003 ‘With Every Step Forward” 7”/EP, the 1999 “Strength Of Conviction” 7”/EP, the “Chosen Path Demo 1997”, as well as a Misfits comp cover and bonus tracks, all re-mastered. CD comes in a slick digipack with a 12-page booklet with lyrics and flyers. For fans of Judge, Strife, Trial, Strain, Undertow and Floorpunch. Pre-orders (which include bundles with shirts and posters) are up now at Blackhouse Records and are due to ship the week of April 1st. Check out the “True Until The End” promo teaser the band put out HERE. 

SYNTHETIC SIXTEEN is a name from the early 2000’s that is resurfacing with the recent online releases of some of their old catalog of music. The band had Jon Scondotto (Lament, Tonystark) on vocals along with other members from Tonystark who had put out an EP a few years earlier. Singer Jon Scondotto calls Synthetic Sixteen more of a “main stream rock band” and although they have not played a show in 15 years there is quite a bit of unreleased material that also leads to a real possibility of some reunion shows on the horizon once live music gets back up and running. Check out their “Your Water” (2000) and “Too Far Along” (2003) albums on Bandcamp and the “Too Far Along” album on Spotify. 

We continue this update with more musicians who cut their teeth playing in hardcore bands in their earlier years but now bring added elements to the table as they branch out more musically. Whether you want to call it Mature Core, Post-Post Hardcore or something else, it is good to see the members of these bands continuing their passion for creating music.

We recently came across FAKE FERALS from Long Island who just put out the 4 song “We Pissed On Every Wall” EP which features Scott Martin (Mind Over Matter, Milhouse, Greensleep on vocals, guitar and bass and Joe Ciatto (No Face) on drums. More of an “indie-rock” style here with production, recording and mixing handled by Sheer Terror drummer Anthony Corallo. Find this on Bandcamp and Spotify.

Next up is MAN DESTROYED MAN from New Jersey who just put out their 5 song debut titled (“Know Thy”) self-titled EP. MDM feature members who have been in Elements DEC, Agents Of Man, All Parallels and Lifetime. Find this on Bandcamp & Spotify or check out the lyric video for “Calculated Combustion”.

Last but not least is SHOOT THE MESSENGER out of NY’s Putnam County. Their latest is the 5 song “Fracture” EP that came out in January and features some long songs; the shortest being about four and a half minutes and the longest being over six. Fans of Burn might be into what Shoot The Messenger is up to. Find Shoot The Messenger and their "Fracture" EP HERE. 

TERROR will be releasing a live studio album titled “Trapped In A World” on March 5th that features 12 songs and also sees their former guitarist Todd Jones rejoin the band for this recording. “Overcome” is one of the new tracks and you can check it out now by clicking HERE. “Trapped In A World” will be released digitally as well as on 12” vinyl, click HERE to find out more about pre-orders/bundles or to root around on the Stick Tight L.A. website which is Terror’s own dedicated website that includes a ton of multimedia options of the Terror variety. 

PURGATORY will be releasing their second full length with the 11 song "Lawless To Grave" album due out on April 9th through Unbeaten Records. They have two preview tracks out now in "No One Gets Out Alive" and "Stack 'Em Up". Purgatory have been dubbed "Midwest street metal" and after listening to the two advanced tracks you just might agree. For fans of Biohazard, Cold As Life, Stigmata and Merauder. Click HERE for pre-orders.

NO ONE LEFT BEHIND is an online benefit compilation (put out by local NY/NJ bands) due out on February 12th that will see 100% of its proceeds be donated to Brooklyn’s Lucky 13 Saloon which has been around since 2003. The lineup on “No One Left Behind” is: KILL YOUR IDOLS, TWO MAN ADVANTAGE, CRAZY EDDIE, SILENCE EQUALS DEATH, LIVE FAST DIE FAST, BASTARD CLAN, BITTERS & DISTRACTIONS, MAD MULLIGANS, JERSEY INTERCHANGE, STIGMA, DEATHCYCLE, THIS IS HELL, REASON TO FIGHT (RI), PLAYING DEAD, BORE, THE GREAT LIE and SKISM. Two Man Advantage and The Great Lie’s tracks are unreleased and Kill Your Idol’s offer up a remixed cover of “Skinhead Girl”. Click HERE at 12 noon EST on February 12th to check it out! 

The 4th and final issue of Freddy Alva’s Black Book Fanzines series will this time focus on Oi! music/subculture featuring graffiti writers and visual artists like MQ, Jim Martin, STAK, Liz Romano, EZEC, KEN ONE, Mackie Blitz, Mick Lambrou, Andy Fletcher, FCEE & 40 others doing tributes to their favorite bands. "Oi! THE BLACK BOOK" will also have an interview with Iron Cross singer Sab Grey, SHARP history, top ten lists from Phil Templar, Roddy Moreno from The Oppressed and Creases Like Knives webzine. The first 250 copies will come with a 3 song flexi by The Chisel from the UK that includes a button, sticker and download code. You can preview 1 song by clicking HERE. Pre-orders will be up soon with a release set for early March. For updates follow the Urban Styles Book page on Instagram. 

NY’s GOING POSTAL recently signed on with Dutch label WTF Records and will be releasing their first ever recording this spring in the form of a 5 song self-titled EP. The band has familiar faces from the NYHC scene with Ted from Olde York on vocals, Larry Left (Baby Sandwiches, Straphangers) on guitar, Frank Avila (Point Blank) on bass and Matt Potestio on drums. Going Postal started in the fall of 2019 and had only played a handful of shows before live music got shut down. Click HERE to hear a sample of the track “Daily Grind”. 

Self-described “dark metal power trio” FORCE & FIRE are back with a brand new 6 song EP titled “Pulverized” which was released on February 5th. Fans of the 1990’s NYHC band Indecision may recognize the names Steve Bago (bass) and Pat Flynn (drums) who make up the rhythm section of Force & Fire along with Ryan Lipynsky who has played guitar for the Long Island hardcore band Motive (also label mates of Indecision on Exit Records during the late1990’s). Ryan is also the singer/guitarist for doom metal band Unearthly Trance. Force & Fire got their start in 2012, released a demo the following year, as well as “Disintegration Process” in 2015. After some time away from the band, things came back together during 2020, and the members collaborated remotely in “self-quarantine” to rehearse and record. Check out the video for the track “Obliterated” by clicking HERE. “Pulverized” can be found in its entirety on Bandcamp with the "Obliterated" single currently up on Spotify. 

Back in our January 12th update we brought you info on upcoming new material from NY’s POINT BLANK with a premier of the song “Trapped In My Head”. Less than a month later Point Blank offer up another new track that also serves as a tribute to the late Jack Flanagan from NYHC trailblazers The Mob. “Negative 2 Positive” is the second of 17 newly recorded songs that Point Blank plan to put out on 12” vinyl later this year. Click HERE to check it out. 

CENTRAL are a new name we just found who come to us from Vladimir, Russia. They have an 11 song, 12 minute release coming out on February 20th through streaming services Bandcamp, Spotify, Apple Music and more. Check out the preview tracks "Moment" and "Forest On A Hill" (translated from Russian which this release is sung in) by clicking HERE. 

INTRODUCING GORDITA BEACH FEATURING MEMBERS OF SAVAGE YOUTH & KILLING TIME 

LISTEN TO THEIR DEBUT TRACK "MASQUE OF THE BLUE DEATH"

PHOTO BY: ANDY TODD  

Euro-hardcore vets CORNERED have a new 4 song EP titled “Failure” due out on January 29th through Blindsided Records. Cornered’s resume includes countless weekenders all over Europe, more than 10 full European tours and one full US tour… “Failure” is the band’s 10th overall release. “Realm Of Misery’ is the track they are pushing ahead of the release and you can check it out on Soundcloud or Spotify. Like what ‘ya heard? Click HERE for pre-orders and after all that if you still need more check out In Effect’s 2016 interview we did with them as well. 

In early December  of last year we told you about DARK TIMES COLLABORATION which is a new original music project featuring guitarist Guilherme Miranda (Entombed AD, KroW), guitarist/producer Brian “Mitts” Daniels (ex-Madball, Skarhead, Rag Men) and also includes bassist Chris O’Toole (Unearth, Turbid North), drummer Jono Garrett (Turbid North, Mos Generator),with featured vocalist Ori Frank (Eternal Struggle), and an appearance by Brazilian hip hop artist Phantom DK. Since then they have released their first song and video titled “Turning Point” which was written and recorded entirely remotely from multiple countries during the pandemic. Click HERE to check out their debut track (and video). 

Toronto’s CHOICES MADE kept themselves busy during 2020 releasing a 5 track EP titled “Convince”, 4 singles, several videos, and are now starting off the new year with a brand new single called “Sideroads”. Click HERE to give it a listen. In April Choices Made will release a new 4 song 7” titled “Reason For Conflict” with Cursed Blessings Records. In Effect is currently working on a 3 way feature with Choices Made and 2 other rising bands within the Toronto hardcore scene in The Slime and Dragged In… more details coming soon! 

We recently came across the You Tube channel of SHANE DIABLO; in particular his "first listen" video for Leeway's "Enforcer" track. The ten minute video has about a 5 minute lead in where he gives some Leeway history before telling the viewers that this is his first time checking these NYHC greats out. During the song Shane's facial expressions alone are worth your time. Shane has a ton of content on his channel with most of his recent posts covering metal bands that fall into the first listen or reaction category. Check it out HERE.  

A QUICK LOOK AT...

DARK TIMES COLLABORATION

DARK TIMES COLLABORATION is a new, original music project, founded by guitarist Guilherme Miranda (Entombed AD, KroW) and guitarist/producer Brian “Mitts” Daniels (ex-Madball, Skarhead, Rag Men). It includes bassist Chris O’Toole (Unearth, Turbid North), drummer Jono Garrett (Turbid North, Mos Generator), featured vocalist Ori Frank (Eternal Struggle), and an appearance by Brazilian hip hop artist Phantom DK.

Working entirely remotely during the 2020 pandemic, the group has written and recorded an original song entitled “Turning Point” that was mixed by Kristian Kohlmannslehner at Kohlekeller Studios in Seeheim, Germany. At this time the band is working on a music video for "Turning Point" which they hope to have released on the (to be announced) same day "Turning Point" goes live on streaming services. We caught up with Mitts to ask him a little bit more about this new project...

IE: Hey Mitts, so how did this whole DTC thing come together?

Mitts: I've known Guilherme for about 5 years now. He plays in Entombed AD, and I know him from that. He reached out to me this summer and asked if I wanted to be part of a project that we'd do remotely. I was pretty psyched cause he's a really talented guitarist and songwriter. I sent him an unfinished piece of music I had already and he liked it. Within a few days, he sent it back to me with new parts added and we went from there. As for the lineup, he told me he had a drummer and bass player (Jono and Chris), and asked me if I had any ideas for a singer. The first person who came to mind, for me, was Ori. I recently produced him when we did the Eternal Struggle debut LP together. He's got an amazing voice. Guilherme also mentioned he thought about adding a rap/hip hop style vocal to things, and he asked Phantom to be a part of things. 

QUICK HITS: 

UNITY WORLDWIDE RECORDS (Germany) will be releasing a split 7" featuring Kassel Germany's RYKERS and California's THE EULOGY titled "Casselfornia Uber Alles". Rykers' tracks are titled "Idiocrazy" and "Down The Drain" while The Eulogy drop one new one in "The Trilogy" (that features Nate from Xibalba on guest vocals during the song’s breakdown) as well as a cover of Agent Orange's "Bloodstains". Pre-orders will be up soon with Euro-distro being done by Berlin's Coretex Records and US/Asia orders being handled by Revelation Records. This 7" is scheduled to be released on February 5th.

JOHN JOSEPH is back with new BLOOD CLOT material in the form of a lyric video for the track "Save The Robots". Along with the new song is a revamped veteran lineup that includes Tom Capone on guitar (Beyond, Quicksand), Manuel Carrero on bass (Stillsuit, Burn) and Darren Morgenthaler on drums (Madball, Maximum Penalty). A full length follow up to 2017's "Up In Arms" album is also in the works. Click HERE to check out "Save The Robots". 

TERROR and WAR RECORDS have teamed up to put out a 7” vinyl EP titled “Sink To The Hell” which contains 4 previously unreleased tracks.

“Soon after the lockdown in March 2020 due to the global pandemic, Terror began to look through their archives for lost and forgotten material to shed new light on with the aim of staying engaged with the people that have kept the band alive for so many years. The four songs that appear on “Sink To The Hell” were found in the following months and we are now happy to be able to release them on vinyl through WAR Records as part of the complete Terror story.”

Head on over to WAR Records for info on how to purchase a physical copy or “Sink To The Hell” inspired merch. Find the new EP for stream or download on the Terror Bandcamp page as well as for streaming on Spotify. 

Blink and you may just miss the latest SICK OF IT ALL “Quarantine Session” video. Since September the band has cranked out 5 unique videos recorded from the comfort of their own homes (and pool)... the latest ones being “Hardcore Horseshoe”, “Never Back Down” and “Deep State”. During the pandemic SOIA have been one of the most active hardcore bands out there delivering videos, interviews and more… show them some support over at their official website! 

ISRAEL JOSEPH-I who many may remember as the singer on the 1993 Bad Brains album “Rise” and more recently with Fireburn has just released a 12 song album titled “Meltdown”. In a true DIY approach Israel wrote, arranged, composed, recorded and mixed the new album and even did the cover artwork with mastering done by his old Fireburn drummer Nick Townsend. Click HERE to check it out on multiple platforms including Spotify, Apple Music, i-Tunes and more. 

CRUEL HAND will have a new 4 song 12" EP titled "Dark Side OF The Cage" out on January 29th through STATIC ERA RECORDS in the USA and DEAD SERIOUS in Europe. Within this new release is a cover of Life Of Agony's "Weeds". Pre-orders can be found by clicking the blue hyperlinks for each label above and make sure to check out the title track by clicking HERE.

In Effect HC was recently introduced to a new international straight edge band who go by the name SUNFALL. Members of Sunfall come from Russia, The Netherlands, Canada and the USA. Tim Shaw (Ensign), Daan Pleunis (Hometown Crew) and David Lavictoire (Copperfield) are collaborating on this record by writing lyrics and providing vocals with Anthony Pappalardo from In My Eyes/Ten Yard Fight also making a guest appearance on a track. A 7 song, 17 minute album titled “Reflections Beyond The Sun” is currently in the works with a release date yet to be set. The recordings were done in studios on 3 continents during breaks between the first and second waves of the pandemic. A 2 song single with the tracks “Growing Pains” and “Go The Distance” was released on November 17th and showcases the bands melodic hardcore/punk influences that should appeal to fans of bands like Mindset, Have Heart, Betrayed and Go it Alone. Click HERE to check out the first two Sunfall songs. 

SPINE (Kansas City/Chicago) will be releasing a new 9 song EP titled "L.O.V." on December 18th via Bridge Nine Records. You can hear their new tracks "Fantasy" and “Swing” by clicking HERE. This limited one-sided 12" EP comes housed in a single pocket jacket with a screen printed B-side. The most limited red version (which is now sold out) will come with a full color digest-size fanzine by vocalist Antonio Marquez, limited to 150 hand numbered copies. For other variants of the new Spine 12" and merch click HERE. 

TIME APART from Indonesia are another new band that recently got in touch with news of new music. Their song “Something Wrong In Your Head” came out on November12th and is part of an upcoming 11 song album that is currently about half completed. Formed in 2018, Time Apart’s more recent tracks sound like something that could have come out of the late 80’s Connecticut Youth Crew scene. Judge for yourself by checking out “Something Wrong In Your Head” HERE. 

RECENTLY ADDED MUSIC VIDEOS SINCE OUR LAST UPDATE:

THE SLIME "COMING SOON TO AN ALLEY NEAR YOU"

CRO-MAGS "2020"

SUPERHERO STATUS "WASTED YEARS"

SLASHERS "IF YOU DON'T SKATE NOW YOU NEVER DID"

TIME APART "HOMECOMING"

IN COLD BLOOD "THIS HAS TO END"

WORLD BE FREE "DOWN & BEYOND"

SPEEDWAY "ENDLESS STRIDE" 

QUICK HITS: 

REVELATION RECORDS recently announced that they will be releasing TURNING POINT's entire catalog as a series of individual releases starting with the bands self-titled 8 song demo in its original cassette version. Pre-orders are available HERE and ship out on November 20th.

Their self-titled 7" (originally released 1989) is due out in early 2021 with the "It's Always Darkest Before The Dawn" 12" (1990) coming in mid-2021. A 1988-1991 discography will be the last in the series and is due out in late 2021. Each release will be accompanied by merch from the corresponding time period. In addition, the band's catalog will be offered on digital platforms separated by release.

Revelation is also teaming up with Mahopac, NY's UP FRONT with a re-release (on black and white vinyl) of the band's 1988 "Spirit" LP that originally came out on Smorgasbord Records. Revelation will also be selling two old Up Front shirt designs and enamel pins to coincide with the repress of "Spirit". Look for this in early 2021. 

NJ’s NO ESCAPE return after a more than 27 year absence with the new track “Insomniac” which will be part of a 6 song 12” EP titled “Selective Punches: A Collection Of Ballads & Battle Hymns”. Hellminded Records is set to release this new EP in February with pre-orders coming in December. No Escape features Deadguy/Kiss it Goodbye singer Tim Singer and Turning Point guitarist Steven Crudello. Listen to “Insomniac” on You Tube & Spotify. 

I’M NOT HOLDING YOUR COAT: MY BRUISES -AND-ALL MEMOIR OF PUNK ROCK REBELLION by Nancy Barile is a new 192 page softcover book that will begin shipping on December 15th. Nancy is married to SSD guitarist Al Barile and has been sharing snippets of the new book (and more) on her Instagram page which is a highly recommended follow.

"From disaffected Catholic schoolgirl and 1970's music fanatic to instigator on the 1980's hardcore punk scene, Nancy Barile pursued freedom at a time when punk music was new and dangerous. While booking some of Philadelphia’s earliest DIY shows featuring Minor Threat and SSD, and managing raw local acts, Nancy was at the fierce center of the action as insurgents such as the Dead Kennedys and Black Flag rewrote history. She survived punk riots and urban decay, ran the streets with outcasts, and, in her rebellion, ultimately found true love—and a powerful understanding of human nature". Click HERE for more info including pre-orders. 

NEW MUSIC VIDEOS SINCE OUR LAST UPDATE:

ETERNAL STRUGGLE "INDOCTRINATION"

BASTARD CLAN "FOLLY"

BASTARD CLAN "HUMANITY"

SYSTEM RESTORE “WASH YOUR HANDS”

AGNOSTIC FRONT “URBAN DECAY”

THE DROWNS “BLACK LUNG” 

QUICK HITS:

SKARHEAD are in the process of recording their new 5 song EP titled “Generators of Violence” which will be released via Force Five Records in the coming months. Skarhead has had numerous lineups over their 25 year career and joining Ezec (vocals) for “Generators Of Violence” are familiar faces in Zack Thorne (Bulldoze, Agents Of Man, Train Of Thought), Dimi aka Dim-Roc (Crown Of Thornz, Coldfront, Stillsuit) along with DJ Joe Fatal. Vocals are to be recorded in November with guest vocalists to be announced. Give Lord Ezec a follow on Instagram (you won’t be disappointed) for updates as they become available. 

NY’s CAUGHT IN A TRAP are also in the process of putting together new music with a new 6 song EP titled “The Fear City” EP currently being recorded with Glen Lorieo (No Redeeming Social Value, Billy Club Sandwich). Current plans are for a digital and 7” vinyl release which you can look for in early 2021. 

SICK OF IT ALL continue to show their commitment to their “quarantine sessions” where they perform previously released tracks from the comfort of their own homes. Recently released tracks include “The Bland Within” and “Paper Tiger”. Look for their next installment to come out at 2pm (EST) on October 27th. 

On October 23rd MINDFORCE dropped a brand new single for a track titled “Reign Of Terror”. Check it out on Bandcamp & Spotify. So far there is no official word on what new release this new song could end up on or if it is just a stand-alone single but keep an eye on Triple B Records as these two camps have obviously done some work together in the past. 

RETALIATE out of Oxnard, CA have a new album due out on December 4th with Indecision Records titled “IV”. 13 tracks, 19 minutes, with “Disgrace” being the track they are currently pushing ahead of its release. Give it a listen HERE. For pre-orders make sure to check in with Indecision Records. 

Toronto's CHOICES MADE have been busy releasing new music throughout 2020 first releasing the 5 song "Convince" EP back in February and then followed that up with new singles in both June and August. Now comes the release of a 3rd post EP single with the track "What's Your Plan" that came out on October 23rd. Click HERE to check out this track as well as their previously released singles. Plans are for a 4th single in November or December followed by a 4 song 7" EP with all new tracks due out on February 12th on Cursed Blessings Records. "Reinventing The Safety Pin" is an upcoming Cursed Blessings digital compilation due out on Halloween and you will find yet another new Choices Made song on there as well. For more info on Choices Made or the upcoming comp on Cursed Blessings make sure to click those blue hyperlinks.

You may have missed out on the pre-orders for the upcoming “Yo Sucka” EP by NY’s THE LAST STAND but don’t fret just yet as there is a probable repress in store in early 2021. The EP features covers of “Big Mouth” by Gorilla Biscuits and “Choose To Be” by Youth Of Today and will be released by Irish Voodoo Records. Limited press t-shirts with the same “Yo Sucka: cover art can be found HERE. 

IN EFFECT RECENTLY ADDED MUSIC VIDEOS:

GET DEAD “DISRUPTION”

SILENCE EQUALS DEATH “SWITCH”

OLD CROSS “VERTABRAE”

TOXIC YOUTH “WALKIN’ FREE”

PILEDRIVER “SALOT”

KHARMA “MOST DANGEROUS GAME”

ACID BLOOD “HARVEST DAY” 

QUICK HITS:

Quick Hits aka “In Effect’s scene news section” has been pumping the brake pedal for a big portion of 2020 with a lot of inconsistency and what seemed like dead zone periods with very little activity. In recent weeks though things have picked back up a little and we wanted to deliver an update to show news that has come our way. Hopefully this update is the start of some better days with more things to get hyped on. 

VIDEO UPDATES SINCE OUR LAST UPDATE:

NO REDEEMING SOCIAL VALUE “RAT BONES”

IRONED OUT “PAVEMENT STRONG”

PROJECT SELL OUT “QUARANTINE FOREVER”

MOMENT OF TRUTH “INSIDE JOB”

SUPERHERO STATUS “MILES AND CHANGES”

YODA RISING “NOTHING IS LOST”

THROW THE GOAT “PPL LIKE YOU” 

PODCASTS:

THIS IS HARDCORE has recently jumped into the hardcore music podcast scene. Fest founder Joe “Hardcore” McKay has 3 episodes up since the September 3rd kick off date with Chris Wrenn from Bridge Nine Records, Sunny Singh from Hate 5 Six and Chris Spear of Dysphoria being his first three guests. Click HERE to find out more. 

WHERE IT WENT PODCAST describes itself as “an in depth discussion of the Revelation Records catalog”. Launched in July they have 9 episodes available that cover Warzone’s “Lower East Side Crew” EP, the “Together” compilation, Sick Of It All, Side By Side, Gorilla Biscuits, No For An Answer, “The Way It Is” compilation, Youth Of Today and Bold. Click HERE for more info. 

THE POST AMERICA PODCAST is hosted by Wisdom In Chains guitarist Richie “Krutch” Mancuso who has been on a tear throughout the summer months of 2020. Recent interviews include: CIV, Freddy Madball, Lou Koller, Terror’s Scott Vogel and a bunch more. Click HERE for more info. 

THE SMOKIN’ WORD PODCAST is hosted by Madball bassist Hoya who has also been on a tear since reigniting the Smokin’ Word this past July with 9 episodes in the last 2 months. Interviews include: Toby Morse from H2O, Billy from Biohazard, author Howie Abrams, Matt Henderson (Madball, The Eulogy), Killing Time’s Anthony Communale and more. Click HERE to check it out. 

DIABLO’S DEN PODCAST is hosted by Skarhead/Crown Of Thornz frontman Lord Ezec and Jay Reason. This production is unique in that it is a vlog style show that you can listen and watch along to. This show has adapted with current day restrictions and since April has been delivering “Corona Chronicles” episodes with remote interviews that have included John Joseph (Cro-Mags), Sick Of It All’s Armand Majidi, Scott Vogel of Terror, Billy Biohazard and Aram Arslanian from Change. Check it out HERE. 

The UNITE ASIA PODCAST is a new venture from our friends over at the Unite Asia website who cover all aspects of underground hardcore punk and metal in Asia… and if you have a world map you will see it is a pretty big fucking area to cover. Unite Asia got their podcasts rolling in mid-August and already have six episodes posted to their site which you can visit HERE. 

NY’s SUBZERO have released the first half of their upcoming 7” due out on October 30th through Upstate Records and Demons Run Amok. “House Of Grief” is the first new Subzero track since their 2006 album “The Suffering Of Man” and will be the “A-side” of a 2 song 7’ that will also have a re-recorded version of “Necropolis”. This 2 song EP will be followed up with a new Subzero EP in early 2021. Click the graphic to the left to hear the new track "House Of Grief"

NJ’s SILENCE EQUALS DEATH will be releasing a 6 song EP this November through Upstate Records with the working title “Revolution Rising”. Track listing for this release will be: “Switch”, Revolution Rising”, “No More”, “Ashes”, “Plague”, and “Pass The Torch”. 

NY’s THE LAST STAND are teaming up with Irish Voodoo Records for a limited edition (50 copies) lathe cut 7” EP titled “Yo Sucka”. “Big Mouth” by Gorilla Biscuits and “Choose To Be” by Youth Of Today are the two songs on this record which will be available for pre-orders in October. 

NY’s LOCKED INSIDE have put out a new track (and lyric video) for “Force Of Will” which was recorded with all members still in quarantine lockdown. Check it out HERE. 

Richmond, VA’s NO OTHER WAY will be having their 4 song “Slow Violence” EP (released digitally in February) released on a flexi-7” later this year on Safe Inside Records. No Other Way features members from Break Away and Outsider. 

SICK OF IT ALL "ALONE" (QUARANTINE JAM SERIES)

“Holding These Moments” is the title of the upcoming BANE documentary due out on October 13th through Equal Vision Records. The doc follows Bane through their last-ever tour, concluding with their much talked about final show that took place June 18th, 2016 at the Worcester Palladium in Massachusetts. View the trailer HERE and visit the Holding These Moments (click the photo on the left) site for pre-orders and more info. 

CA’s PROJECT SELL OUT (who formerly went solely by the name PSO) will have a new 8 song release titled “Soul Doubt” out soon digitally with vinyl “hard copies” on the way through Irish Voodoo Records by years end. “Quarantine Forever” is one of the new tracks that has an accompanying music video as well. Check out In Effect’s December 2015 interview with PSO by clicking HERE. 

Baltimore’s WAR ON WOMEN will be releasing an 11 song full length titled “Wonderful Hell” digitally on October 30th with physical vinyl copies dropping on November 13th on Bridge Nine Records. The title track to this new one can be heard HERE with pre-orders now available HERE. 

NY’s CHAINS OF MISERY will be headed into the studio this weekend to record 6 new songs for a still to be determined upcoming release. 

Last week CHANGE dropped a teaser about an upcoming “live-streamed” event on October 8th at 6pm EST. Most people thought that meant a live-streamed performance, but today they flipped the script when they shared more details. The event will be a “virtual record release” for a limited-edition version of the “Closer Still” LP and all sales will be donated to Coalition To Stop Violence Against Native Women. To top it off, instead of playing a live set, Change will instead turn their platform over to the non-profit org for a live-streamed educational discussion hosted on Deathwish Inc. For more details check in with Change on their Instagram page as the October 8th date gets closer. For more info on Change check out the interview we did with them back in July. 

Israel’s ETERNAL STRUGGLE will be releasing a 13 song full length in January (pre-orders go up this November) titled “Year Of The Gun”. Demons Run Amok will release the new record which was produced by former Madball guitarist Brian “Mitts” Daniels who flew to Tel Aviv to work with the band on their new album. In addition filmmaker Drew Stone also flew to Israel where a 5 plus minute “mini-documentary/interview” clip was shot to help promote the band’s new material. Check that clip out HERE. Eternal Struggle have been around a few years now having released a 5 song EP titled “Breaking And Entering” in 2016 and a single for “Falling Forward” in 2018. With the renowned Tue Madsen (Sick Of It All, Meshuggah) handling mixing and mastering in Denmark and a new agreement with Europe’s MAD Tour Booking you can be pretty certain that the name Eternal Struggle is one you will be hearing a lot from in 2021. 

ROB MOSS AND SKIN TIGHT SKIN is the new one from Rob Moss who you may remember from his time with Washington DC iconic bands Government Issue and Artificial Peace. Rob stopped playing music for a very long time and recently put out the 14 song “We’ve Come Back To Rock ‘N Roll” on Bandcamp. The music is described as “proto-punk inspired rock 'n' roll” and has a long list of guest lead guitarists involved. Rob plays rhythm guitar and sings on this release. Check it out on Bandcamp by clicking HERE. 

BE WELL are set to release their debut full length titled “The Weight And The Cost” on August 21st via Equal Vision Records (US) and End Hits Records (EU/UK). The band is fronted by prolific record producer Brian McTernan (Turnstile, Thrice, Hot Water Music), and includes guitarists Mike Schleibaum (Darkest Hour) and Peter Tsouras (Fairweather), bassist Aaron Dalbec (Bane), and drummer Shane Johnson (Fairweather). “The Weight And The Cost” marks McTernan’s unexpected but welcomed return to the other side of the glass. “Confessional” is the first single released off of the new album and it comes with an accompanying music video which you can check out HERE. “Confessional” is the album’s final track, and serves as an emotional ode to McTernan’s hopes for his daughter's future as he works on pulling his own life together. Both optimism and pain are palpable in the song, which serves as an anthem for these isolated times. Be Well’s debut finds McTernan in his most honest and transparent moments.  He chronicles his struggles with depression and fatherhood through lyrics that are equal parts heartbreaking and hopeful. Recorded at McTernan’s famed Salad Days Studio in Baltimore, this record is refreshingly real and at times emotionally raw. This is an album that pushes well outside of the confines of what you already know about its members’ previous bands. “The Weight And The Cost” has the urgency, energy, and vulnerability of something totally new.

Speaking on the album, guitarist Mike Schleibaum stated:

“It’s been amazing to do a band with people who I’ve known for more than half my life- I’ve played and toured with everyone, and Brian has produced records for all of our bands. Brian is one of the most private people I know and it’s crazy to see how much of himself he revealed on this record.” Pre-orders can be found HERE. 

BE WELL PHOTO BY: TODD POLLOCK

QUICK HITS: 

SICK OF IT ALL just dropped a new music video for the track “Bull’s Anthem” which is off their “Wake The Sleeping Dragon” album from 2018. Fans submitted their own homemade videos singing along to the song as the bar for quarantine style hardcore music videos just got raised a notch. Check it out HERE. 

ONE LIFE ALL IN are a 4 piece posi-hardcore band that feature Don Foose (Spudmonsters- Cleveland, OH on vocals) as well as French members who have played in Seekers Of The Truth and Benighted. The band formed in 2016 and put out their debut EP in 2017. This past April 24th saw them release the 6 song “Letter of Forgiveness” (check it HERE) which has two accompanying music videos for “Hey Man!” and “Letter of Forgiveness”.

On the heavier side of things THESE STREETS have just dropped the second single from their upcoming release “Expect The Worst” which will be out on August 21st via Blood Blast Distribution and Upstate Records. The track “Misery” features Paul William from the UK band Desolated. Check it out HERE. 

LOU: Our “We Stand Alone” EP was released in Europe by Sony with a bunch of live tracks added to it without us knowing about it in advance. We came home from our European tour and were like, “We need to do a New York show, and CBGB is gone, but everybody is playing ABC No Rio.” We approached them but were told, “We don’t like the kind of crowd you draw.” I sort of understood what they were saying, but they knew us. Many were fans of our band.

PETE: By that time, the scene had started getting pretty dumb.

LOU: We were totally against that shit that had gone on at CB’s. That was at the time when we started writing for “Just Look Around”, more social and political stuff. It wasn’t about fighting. We wrote a lot about the violence in the scene and also the violence in the city. The song “Just Look Around” was written about what happened in Brooklyn, in Crown Heights, what happened between the African-American community and the Hasidic community. People lived together there for decades and it started exploding into race riots. That’s when the AIDS crisis was really bad, and we wrote songs about that. But somehow, all these kids down there made us the poster children for everything they thought was wrong with New York hardcore. I don’t remember all of the specific zines, but I remember on the back of Smashin’ Through , they had taken Mötley Crüe’s promo shot and glued our faces onto Mötley Crüe’s bodies and wrote “Alleyway Crüe” in the Mötley Crüe logo. I wish we had a good image of that because if we made a shirt of it, we’d probably sell a ton of them!

BILL FLORIO (SMASHIN’ THROUGH FANZINE): I interviewed Sick of It All for issue number two, and I think it was the same week Adam from Born Against was passing out these “Sick of It All Built Missiles” flyers. Born Against seemed to be trying to make a name for themselves. Anyway, Pete and Lou and those guys were fired up about that and talked about it the entire interview. I really didn’t know what they were talking about, so for the next issue, I interviewed Born Against to find out what that was all about. I had all these questions about what Sick of It All had talked about in their interview. I was printing the issue with the Born Against interview and had the stupid idea to put the Sick of It All/Mötley Crüe thing on the back-cover. I was folding them, and I got a call from Pete. He was really angry and said, “I need this guy’s address; you know where they live,” all while I’m looking at the Mötley Crüe thing. I told him I’d only been to their house once and didn’t really know where it was. It was basically a case of the Born Against guys opening up their big mouths and me opening up my troublemaker senses.

PETE: None of those kids ever came directly to us. We were just being lumped in with the tough-guy aspect of hardcore, which sucked.

LOU: We never went out to start trouble. We’d always give people chances. As soon as somebody says something negative to you, you don’t just beat them up. We never did anything like that. But nobody would come and talk to us. We went there and people were shitting themselves. Sam McPheeters actually left that day; he left the building and ran away. We walk in and some guy from the band Our Gang says, “We just want to make sure you guys aren’t going to make any trouble.” “Do you ask everyone that?!” I said, “We’re not here to make trouble.”

When that stupid debate happened on WNYU, one of those kids commented, “You could have done your own thing with Sick of It All, but what do you have now? Just some fancy jackets.” We thought, your reason for hating us is because we got JACKETS from our record label??? That fucking debate…. It was the singer of Born Against and two kids from some fanzine; I can’t remember their names, but they were generally nice kids. I never really knew the guy from Born Against, but I knew the kids from that fanzine and the kid who ended up drumming for Born Against; he does sound all over New York now and works for the Bouncing Souls a lot. The thing that got me really mad was not that they hated us for “selling out”; it’s that they had been our friends and somehow couldn’t just come up and talk to us about this and have a normal discussion. They had to attack us with the “Alleyway Crüe” photo and all this stupid shit. The debate was just idiotic. I remember all the phone calls that were coming into the station while it was going on. People were saying, “Just shut up and play music! Who cares what label they’re on?!”

BILL FLORIO: When that debate was happening, I was at band practice and was basically told not to walk down University Place, where the radio station was. They told me that Lou and Pete were trying to find out who the Smashin’ Through guy was.

PETE: We did what we did so we could reach as many people as possible. That was a big deal. Most places in the country didn’t have a store like Some Records, dedicated just to hardcore or anything like that.

LOU: Most kids didn’t know about magazines like Maximum Rock ‘N Roll, or where to get hardcore records, so they would go to their local mall or some chain store. Most of those places had policies against carrying records with curse words on a lyric sheet or lyrics they thought were “questionable.” Well, WE were “questionable!” So, WE decided not to put our full lyric sheet in the album. We only had “Injustice System” on there, but you could write away for the lyrics for FREE. Most of the time when people got the lyrics, they got a fuckin’ sticker too, so I still don’t see what the big deal is. There was still cursing, if that’s so important to everyone, all over the record. We snuck it past everyone.

PETE: This kid told us a story about going to a Sam Goody store. There was no “hardcore” section, so he’s looking through the “S” section and comes across “Blood, Sweat and No Tears”. He looks at THAT cover compared to all the rest, and he sees Jorge, total skinhead, flipping over the crowd, and Fern dancing to our band, and there’s Walter with his alternative haircut on top of the pile, and he’s like, “Wow, this is fucking cool,” and it made him buy the record. There were black skinheads on the cover of the record. Most hardcore people had never seen that on an album cover.

LOU: As curious as I am sometimes, I CAN’T listen to that debate. Somebody sent me a link once. I played it, and within five seconds of it, I thought, “This is so dumb.” I do remember thinking, “I understand their position to some degree, but they’re not presenting it correctly at all.” All they did was make fun of our In-Effect jackets, and we were like, “Fuck this!”

BILL FLORIO: Bottom line: Sam and those guys lost that debate. And what’s crazy is that everything Sam was complaining about, he did later with his own label. He mismanaged it into the ground. He did a distro deal with Dutch East on the suggestion of this guy Charles who was also in on the debate. They ran out of money and did a deal with the most expensive, shitty distributor. They had a falling-out over it, and I don’t think they ever spoke to one another again.

QUICK HITS: 

Delaware’s YEAR OF THE KNIFE have a new full length titled “Internal Incarceration” due out on August 7th via Pure Noise Records. YOTK have put out a video for the track “Virtual Narcotic” and are also streaming a new version of “Sick Statistic” which is a previously released compilation track that will appear on the new album. Pre-orders for “Internal Incarceration” can be found HERE. 

Albany NY’s CONCRETE will be releasing a 7 song, 30 plus minute full length titled “Free Us From Existence” on August 7th through Irish Voodoo and Black Voodoo Records with distribution through Blood Blast Distribution, a new service powered by Nuclear Blast and Believe Music. “World Tomb” is one of the new tracks off the new album that you can already check out by clicking HERE. “Free Us from Existence” will be available on CD, vinyl and digital formats. Keep an eye on Concrete’s social media pages for more info as the release date approaches. 

D IS FOR DEAD may be a new name for many but their members and their previous bands should be familiar to many. The band consists of Rob Vitale who used to sing for Black Train Jack and 9 Lives, Chris Daley on guitar… previously with One Sided War & Endure, two bands that had Matt Warnke from Bold on vocals circa 1990’s, Eddie McNamara on bass who played in the early stages of Shutdown and Kevin Corcoran who drummed with Buried Alive. D Is For Dead recently released a 4 song EP that was recorded way back in 2009 with the legendary Don Fury. After the 2009 recording was completed the band went on a hiatus and have decided to finally unearth these songs. Check out this “new” EP HERE.

In October of last year CA’s TAKE OFFENSE put out their first full length in 6 years titled “Keep An Eye Out”. In late May the band released 3 additional songs from that recording session that didn’t make it onto the new album. “Cause & Effect”, “Dousing The Flames” and “Mind Your Own” are dubbed as “B-sides” and reflect a style that is more in line with the bands’ earlier work. Check out these new songs HERE. 

Perth Amboy, NJ’s IGNORANT LIFE have recently announced that they are back together. The band put out an impressive 3 song demo back in April of 2019 and abruptly broke up a short time later. They return with a new track titled “Matricide” which is part of a 60 track hardcore sampler from Knockwood titled “Tracks To Change The World Vol 3”. Click HERE to check out “Matricide” and HERE for the free Knockwood sampler. Keep an eye on the Ignorant Life IG page for more updates.  

KINGS BOUNTY and SERIAL POETS are two NY based bands with hardcore scene members playing music with more of a rock feel. Both bands also just dropped some brand new music. Kings Bounty (who have Crown Of Thornz’ guitarist Mike Dijan) just released the single “Made You King” and Serial Poets (who feature scene photographer Steven Messina on vocals) just put out a 4 song EP titled “Goat” which ends with an acoustic version of Minor Threat’s “Small Man, Big Mouth”. Check out “Goat” HERE. 

VIDEOS PAGE UPDATED, SEE WHAT'S BEEN RECENTLY ADDED: 

REBELMATIC "INSULT TO INJURY"

ACHE "MOMENT OF FEAR"

HIGHER POWER "REWIRE 101"

YEAR OF THE KNIFE "VIRTUAL NARCOTIC"

BRICK BY BRICK "SLAVE TO THE GRIND"

PURE HEEL "SOLITARY"

THESE STREETS "STAY AWAKE"

CRUX DECUSSATA "CLASS DISMISSED"

TOXIC YOUTH "REALIZE"

THE THIRD KIND "MAN VS EARTH"