Interview with Stijn from Reproach [2020]

People who are into this specific genre probably heard of the Belgian experts of fastcore, called Reproach. For me, it was the "gateway drug" into the genre while I was still a teenager, when I discovered them during the Bloodshed fest in Eindhoven, in 2014. Reproach is the biggest influence on my music taste and they set the bar so high for other bands, that I haven't found anything as good since!

When we started this blog, we decided, that we wanted to spread the word and help others to discover the bands that really deserve their attention, and Reproach was the first band that came to my mind and I decided, that I should interview them as the last interview was quite a long time ago, so here it is - an interview with Stijn, the vocalist of an amazing hardcore punk band from Ghent, Belgium - Reproach!

So, guys, how are you doing during this weird and fucked up period of time? What have you been up to?

Hey! All of us are still in good health, that’s what’s most important. Davy got his first kid a few days ago so that’s his main focus now. Tim is working from home and sporting a lot, he’s in the best shape of his life right now. Thanks to Covid-19 he was forced to work from home and thus saved him several hours of commuting every single day, he’s also busy getting better at French since he lives in Paris now. Myself, I been sporting a lot too (weights, running, yoga, biking,…), writing some lyrics, Playstation games, and working remotely. A huge concrete skatepark in Gent is opening next month so I’m pretty stoked about that too! Frank had a few weeks off work due to Covid which give him some extra time to spend with his kid. He is back to working full time now. Gotta keep your mind and body busy during these times.

What is your approach to writing music? Are all of you contributing to lyrics, pitching ideas for guitar riffs, etc. or are you creating different parts on your own and then putting them together so it would work?

Usually, Tim comes up with a riff, jams it with Davy to create the groundwork of the song. Frank also puts ideas in there and then it just turns into a song. When every one of us likes the music, I put lyrics to it and that’s it. It’s all just very organic for us.

In your early work, a lot of songs were about skateboarding. Why, in your opinion, is skateboarding and punk subcultures are so connected? And do you guys skate or is it something you just appreciate when someone else does?

Even though I haven’t skated in a long time, I still consider myself a skateboarder. Tim and Davy also used to skate at one point but don’t anymore. Skateboarding and punk to me are definitely intertwined, the rebellious spirit, the DIY attitude, the aggression, and energy,…

The first few Reproach albums had more songs about skateboarding than nowadays, as the dominating lyrics in newer stuff are more nihilistic. Do you think that the civilization started falling apart recently or did you get a new perspective on everything and humanity was always on a downward spiral?

The main reason is that I was skateboarding less than during the earlier Reproach stuff, I always had a bleak outlook on where the world is heading.

I remember there was a photo of Stijn wearing Ash’s costume for Halloween and the song “Dead by Dawn” is an obvious reference to Evil Dead. Are there any other horror movies that influenced your music?

Dead by Dawn is one of my favorite movies ever and one of the first horror movies I ever saw. It really left an impression on me when I saw it as a 11 year old kid. I love horror movies, gore, blood, guts, and just fucked up movies. I also wanted to write a song about The Thing, but Municipal Waste beat me to it haha!

I feel like the current punk is dominated by “macho” hardcore bands and the fast hardcore punk/fastcore bands are not getting enough love. What are the current fastcore bands, that you think are underrated and should get more attention?

Not really underrated, but I’d say give Crippled Fox, Hetze, Gewoon Fucking Raggen, and Azijnpisser a listen if you like fast thrashing hardcore!

Do you have a “dream” band that you would love to make a split or play a show with?

Lack of Interest! That band still is harder than most other bands out there.

Considering that Stijn is busy with Raw Peace and Blind to Faith, Tim is playing with Lifespite, do you guys still have time to make new music for a new Reproach album? What's next for the band?

Time is always a problem, and me living in Gent and Tim in Paris while Frank and Davy live on the other side of Belgium isn’t helping either. At this point, we haven’t rehearsed in months, but we do have some songs ready to record. Our last recording was for the split tape with Toxic Shock and we want to record those songs again and the extra songs that we have currently ready for a new release. We also wanted to do a 20-year Reproach show but that didn’t happen due to a global pandemic, so hopefully, we can pull that off in 2021! 

Thanks to Reproach for a great interview!

P.S. Here is an amazing music video of theirs.
Enjoy!

FEASTEM - Graveyard Earth [Lixiviat Records, 2020]

You might have seen this band in Lithuania a few times or even in the last edition of In Feast festival. Feastem is a not only a professional, self-disciplined band but also very nice people to hang out with, we went on tour with them few years ago and it has been an experience I will remember until I'm no longer on this graveyard earth so it was very exciting to finally get a copy of their new long awaited full lenght CD in black & white cover.

Graveyard earth throws you into a cold shower of blastbeats from the first moment, but very soon surprises you with some melodic riffs and classic Feastem almost-Black-metal-like sharp guitar sound that pierces your ears and drills your brain throughout the whole thing. As with every Feastem record this also sounds very clean, when you can hear every instrument, but it does not lose the brutality. Some call it "northern" sound, some call it a "good mix", I like to call this style "sterile". No judging, it's a question of taste, but some like it more... "dirty" you know ;)

Perfect, precise drumming of a handsome machine gun named Patrik does not stop and along with relentless hardcore vocals (singalongs included!) and catchy riffs paints a very nice picture all the way from the fists-in-the-air metal anthem Sortovalta to an uncannily prophetic In isolation we die to "I wonder what is this one about" Mouths of others and a harsh noise outro that ends right on time. Fast and beautiful.

We had a long drive with my wife yesterday and after convincing her to listen to some grindcore I played Graveyard Earth. So cool it's on Spotify, there is a serious lack of underground music there. So my wife said "If all your stupid bands were playing like that - I would consider going to Obscene Extreme with you" which I think is a perfect compliment.

DISFORIJA - Priverstinis Gydymas [The hills are dead, 2020]

After 10 years of silence the legendary Lithuanian noise/grind/whatever/core band returns with the new full length "Priverstinis gydymas" on tape, CD and online streaming by Portugal's THE HILLS ARE DEAD Records. Seems Disforija is no longer trying to be funny and goes for more serious old school grindcore sound.

I really like what was done with the sound of this record in the mixing process as there is no guitar (bass only) but it still sounds really brutal, especially when I listen to it while driving with lows up on the EQ haha.

As for the structure it's quite simple and straight forward, songs are about 1-2 mins long and the whole thing barely exceeds 20mins. Not a fan of the long and slow intro but once the blastbeats start it's a quite raw, relentless and brutal attack throughout the whole thing. There are a few very catchy riffs, love the final song especially and there is actually a professionally shot music video on youtube which is cool.

Maybe as a bass-only album it would be interesting to hear some high-pitch shrieking vocals, but vocalists' death metal growling style gives record a feel of brutality, which you can not resist to love after a few spins. Not groundbreaking, but definitely a solid addition to the narrow Lithuania's grindcore history!

https://thehillsaredead.bandcamp.com/album/priverstinis-gydymas

https://youtu.be/UgzsxuSee_A