Debut 7"by FAILURE contains the best 7 minutes of jump in the air + kick in the face audio violence I have heard in a while. The sound combined with tasty, serious imagery would make you think these guys cannot be messed with. However I was lucky to meet them in real life, play a few shows together and I have quickly learned they are just the sweetest people in the world. Ladies and gents, it's a great honor to present you this short but straight to the point conversation with the one and only - FAILURE from Italy!
Hi Marco! What is up? How is jerking off and getting high in quarantine going for you guys?
That was good to me. I enjoy being by myself at my place. Just in the end of quarantine I was starting to crave having fun with my friends again.
FAILURE is a great band name, even though there is some grunge rock or whatever band with the same name on Spotify already. I consider it to be the same case like AC/DC and ACxDC. Is there any story behind the band name that we should know?
Nothing to do with that. We just didnt know that this band existed. Steve and me chose this name because of the bad time we were living when we decided to form the band.
I am really impressed with the visual side of your band. I must say it is very sexy. Who is doing the design for shirts, covers, who did the logo etc?
Oh thanks my friend! I made the logo and we choose our covers and artworks all together. We wanted to use b/w pictures like most powerviolence bands. Steve and I play in Ape Unit too and we write lots of weird stuff with them. With Failure we wanted to play more "standard" stuff.
What were your main influences that made you make FAILURE?
Sadness, depression, frustration and Lack Of Interest.
Do you see yourselfes as a serious PV band? Or is it more like SPAZZ school PV in your eyes? To me is sounds more serious than DESPISE YOU at some parts lol
I dont know. We started writing lyrics about personal struggles but sometimes we write about more easy and ironic stuff. Sincerely, I don't care about that.
What are you currently listening to the most that you would like to recommend? (does not have to be heavy)
In these days i am listening mostly to Flamingosis, Viagraboys, The Chats, Pendulum, Vulfpeck and Kokoko.
Why no bass? Works better this way or you like the "sharper" sound?
When we started playing Steve originally wanted to play bass but we couldn't find a proper drummer. Now we don't want to look for a bassplayer and wait for him or her to learn all the songs. We are on a tight schedule and we want to be more comfortable and easy with composing and playing so...less people, less problems. You have a very unique sweet high hardcore voice pitch which is heaven for my ears (reminds me of RAISED FIST a bit). Are you able to do "normal" clean singing and are there any examples online?
Thank you buddy! I am not a pro screamer so I tried to learn the vocal style I like the most on fast music and that's what I came put with. Usually after 2 or 3 gigs in a row I lose my voice because I am not able to do that right (that's shite). I played with some friends on a NOFX cover band to play a couple of parties here in Cuneo but I can not sing properly there too. We recorded a punk rock version of "Ritornerai" by Bruno Lauzi (an italian songwriter from the 60's/70's) and you can find it in the latest Tanto Di Cappelo Records compilation here https://tadcarecords.bandcamp.com/album/vicious-circle as well as a Spazz cover with Failure.
Your dream band to make a split with?
Ona Snop was my previous choice but that dream already came true. Now I would say Sheeva Yoga.
How are you related with APE UNIT and what is going on with that band?
Yes in Ape Unit I play guitar and Steve drums. We are completing the new album composition. We are almost done with that but it's more weird and strange stuff and it requires us a lot of time more than the Failure punky tunes.
Can we expect a 30 min full length from FAILURE in the next 2 years or something?
We would prefer to release a good 7" all killer no filler more than a full length.
You are very fun people to be around. What is the funniest memory you would like to share from the bands history?
Oh man. Too many fun times to remember. One of my favourite situations took place in Milan when we played with Ona Snop and Afternoon Gentlemen in Villa Vegan. We started dancing to some electronic stuff staying in circle with people from bands and audience and I still don't know how all that began but a smile always appears on my face when I think about that.
Choose one alcoholic drink. The rest are gone from existence. Which one would you keep?
Beer.
Who's mama makes the best lasagna?
I would say mine, but I want to be clear this is not a competition: it's a war.
Will you come play Lithuania when we have a vaccine? Can't wait to get drunk with you again
I dream about that every night and in that dream we are dancing in circle with you.
Thank you for answering my dumb questions kind sir, wish you the best of luck working in those fields!
It's not everyday that I hear something new and go "wow" straight away and I can see it's not even the most recent record by this band, but this is what Laurynas showed me by saying "just stop whatever you are doing and listen to this now" and this is what I want to talk about. It's an odd coincidence I started driving when I played this and few songs later I drive past a tall building in the neighborhood I grew up in. I can see the ambulance, police and firefighter cars with their lights on. The balcony on level 15th collapsed and fell down destroying levels 3, 2 and 1. I was glad to learn no one was harmed in the incident, but it was a powerful sight especially with Wound Man blasting in the background.
Opening track "Dive" starts with a creepy-ass sample (or synth?) that sounds something like an old school horror soundtrack and a very heavy, slow sludge riff begins your descent into this short, but effective punch in the face of an album. Slow part does not last too long to get boring and we start hearing short, quick blastbeat+barking vocals attacks. They almost sound like a trick that you never expect, but at the same time feel like a classic element of the powerviolence genre and you know it's just right. Same formula ripples throghout the album and we get tricked over and over again by going really fast, then slow, then super slow and then super fast again all of the sudden. I guess the effect is achieved by slow parts being really slow, as in sludge doom slow and many fast bands fail at this by making their slow parts too fast.
We reach "Hate flag" which sounds like a hardcore hit you'd like to make a cover of in 15 years. Mid tempo violence that makes me think of something a person I know said about PV genre: "how is it that powerviolence somehow sounds more HC than HC"?
Title track "Prehistory" is a slow riff worship with vocals joining and catching up some speed only in the second half and the rest is just threatening hardcore that makes you feel like you're about to be beat up in a bad part of the city. "Evolution" ends with some more speed changes, angry vocals shouting over each other and a short sample talking about man VS god. Must say the vocals never sound silly during the record as it's sometimes the case with PV.
It's not a fast album, but it sure is fucking heavy and I am immediately hooked on this band. I see quite a few releases on their Bandcamp, gonna go check em out now, but if you have not heard of this pissed Massachusetts gang- Prehistory is sure a good one to start with. The whole thing is over in like 12 minutes, but that's just about enough as you constantly feel like being hit with a brick and I would not like to have this emotion for 40 minutes in an album like that. If you are a fan of Weeekend Nachos or Sex Prisoner do not hesitate for another second of this dumb review.
This week we have a fresh and sincere interview with a very busy man from a sunny state of California - the mastermind behind the super productive DIY label - No Time Records Tommy Smith!
So which is it -
"No time" or "no time for fun"?
Hahahaha, so the
label is called No Time Records, the bandcamp link is in reference to the other
founder of the label’s old band called High Tension, in one of their songs, he
says the phrase “I’ve got No Time For Fun, my old self is dead to me”.
Seriously - how do
you have the time to do everything you do?
I don’t, a lot of
late nights and energy drinks. With the whole covid lockdown and lack of shows,
I’ve had more time to focus on JUST the release label side of things, but under
normal circumstances, we’re throwing nearly bi-weekly shows, 3 to 5 releases a
month, playing in a few bands and touring.
What was your first
exposure to grindcore and what made you fall in love with this genre? What made
you go "I'm gonna do all of this shit!"?
I had been a fan of
powerviolence since high school, I mainly listened to like, 4 bands, all local
to Orange County. There is video of like, 15 year old me scared shitless at an
ACxDC show. My current partner started getting me more interested in this
stuff, plus going out to more shows in Los Angeles and linking up with more
bands from the area.
You are this keen guy
who just wants to do all this cool stuff, but there is a lot of negativity and
cynicism in the world and I know sarcasm can be demotivating. How do you deal
with all the smartasses that just know everything?
I grew up being
bullied relentlessly in elementary and middle school for my weight and overall
weird behaviors, punk was the first thing that I ever felt like I belonged.
After building a core group of people wanting me to succeed at what I do, I
really just brush of negativity.
I see you are a big
fan of Tony Hawks Pro Skater lol (me too!). What other inspirations could you
mention? Games? Movies? Books? People?
Outside of the Tony
Hawk games, for sure the Guitar Hero franchise is what also perked my interest
into “rock” music, I always enjoyed the punk songs more than the oldie classic
rock and metal. Dance Dance Revolution is actually how I found ska music, I
remember hearing “Little Bitch” by The Specials on one of the machines and
found that music so infectious.
I guess for movies like, maybe SLC Punk? I saw
that one once, thought it was ok, there was this dude I went to high school
with who swore that movie was like the bible. Not much of a book guy, never
really read many like “zines”, mainly spent my youth playing videogames.
I would really like
to learn more about your personality. Could you give us some background on who
you are besides your love for music? How old are you? Where u from? Family?
Work? Relationships? Any funny tattoos? Any unfulfiled dreams you might have?
So I am 24, born and
raised in Orange County, California. I just graduated college with a BS in
Computer Science, currently looking for my like “real” job, I have a part-time
gig which is the reason I was able to fund early No Time shit. I am happily
taken to my lovely and supportive partner of over 4 years, I plan on marrying
her but I wanna move out of my moms house before doing that. My mom is more or
less supportive of my label, my dad absolutely despises it.
I have 4 shit stick
n poke tattoos, a coffee mug from a piece of The Stupid Stupid Henchmen
artwork, my absolute favorite band. The phrase “FIGHT LIKE HELL”, the Wu-Tang
Clan logo but with the band name WADEYE in it instead, the bassist of that band
has a No Time tattoo so I thought it was only fair I got one of his band, and a
cassette tape that reads “TAPE LIFE OR HATE LIFE”, I gotta go back over it tho.
https://notimeforfun.bandcamp.com
what an impressive catalog. What 5 releases should one start with if they know
nothing about your label? Which ones are you most proud of?
You do all kinds of physical
releases (CDs/LPs/MCs) and you release A LOT of music. I am not going to ask
why you think physical is superior to digital these days, because I get it and
I hate this kind of question. However, - how did you find a crowd that thinks
the same and how do you sell most of the stuff without going bankrupt? If I
would do everything you do here in Europe I'd need to have very rich parents to
support me lmao
Oh I’ve been
bankrupt quite a few times hahaha, making most everything myself to start,
about 95% of my tapes releases I make myself and in small runs, I also don’t
pay myself for ANYTHING. I think people like having physical versions of stuff,
more and more people understand that buying physical items is the best way to
directly support artists they like.
California is fucking
huge and it's history is very rich with all kinds of music. Do you think it
makes it harder or easier to run a DIY label / have a band / make shows etc.
compared to a remote place where not much is happening?
There is a lot of
competition for sure, there’s no doubt about that, there’s nights were there
can be anywhere from 5 to 20 shows all happening within 50 miles of each other.
Super common for people to cruise like a DIY show at the beginning of the night
then hit a club show later. It’s harder to stand out for sure, so many people
to try and compete with, but you are also surrounded with so many people,
something like 18ish million between LA, Orange County, San Diego, and
Riverside, you are bound to have somebody listen.
I have been to Los
Angeles and I know it's a big, dirty mf and can be a bit scary at some points,
as opposed to this ridiculous, sparkling, fancy hollywood image of this city
most europeans have in their skulls. Do you feel safe there doing shows etc and
do you find the extreme social inequality as an inspiration to what you do?
What are the other big problems you see in the US? Would you call yourself a
patriot?
We had a band on
tour we were hosting a show for, park their van, and shit you not even 40
minutes later, they come back and all of their gear had been stolen, shit
fucking luck. LA gets a bad rap for theft and violence outside of shows, a few
infamous spots here and there.
I don’t really feel sketched out knowing that
the super majority of people just want to have a good time and get home.
There’s bad shit for sure that you gotta keep your ears and eyes up for. I’m
not from super poor roots, I never have claimed to be, I’m not rich by any
means, but a lower middle class. I always felt punk was for the voiceless and
if I can use my privilege coming from somewhat well-off background to devote my
time into a DIY label then that’s what I will do.
One of the biggest problems
that is facing the US is racial discrimination and abuse of police power, I’ve
been having those uncomfortable conversation with family, roommates and
coworkers, some understand, some still think ANTI-FA is a terrorist group so,
take what you can get, can’t waste your energy on those you can’t reach. Orange
County is super republican that I am not surprised people like my father and
99% of my coworkers don’t really understand why the country is so fucked.
Also
the heroin epidemic is something I care deeply about and take to heart, after
having multiple friends pass from ODing or be in and out of rehab and have
their whole lives ruined, it breaks my heart. We try to push for harm reduction
in the lyrics I write for my band, I want to start handing out clean needles
and NARCAN at my shows but I really don’t know the legality or a efficient way
of doing that, maybe that will be the first thing I push for when shows can
happen again.
Do you find it easier
to work with US bands rather than European bands? Or is there no difference for
you?
So I went through
high school being a HUGE fan of a bunch of UK bands, like Rash Decision,
Private Gain, The Domestics, JAKAL, From The Cradle To The Rave etc so I hold
European bands like super high above States bands in this weird, almost like
they are so much more better than US bands because they are from Europe
mentality, maybe because I can’t go see these bands live unless there is the
off-chance one of them tours. So I love working with international bands from
all over, and I can be more forgiving of any of the little issues that come up
with releasing. Although international co-releases fucking suck, dealing with
multiple currencies and shipping units ALL OVER is a fucking expensive
nightmare.
So besides label,
making shows etc you are also in a hardcore punk band Corrupt Vision. Can you
tell us a bit about your band? Are (were) you in any other bands?
Corrupt Vision is a
crossover grindcore / crack rock steady (skacore) band that I do with the other
founder of No Time Records. The members of Corrupt Vision also play as the
harsh noise band TIMExCUBE as sort of a joke. Me and Fern (label partner) also
play in our folk punk band called The Insomniac Collective. I am starting a
power violence band called NO MOTIVE with my friend Josh from a band called The
Bimbos and hope to have a demo out for that before years end.
Do ya'll really hate
SKA or is it like an ongoing joke? I'll be honest I'm not a fan of the genre,
but I can recognize a lot of SKA-like riffs in your music 😃
Corrupt Vision dubs our music as “Anti-Ska”, we are sort-of a direct response to the super shitty, copy/paste, sickly sweet poppy party ska that’s prevalent in the Orange County scene here. We hate that most current ska bands are just riding off the sounds of the 90’s and not really adding much to it, lack of diversity in the sound, empty lyrics and overall cringy presence, we really aren’t fans.
We also like being too grind for ska and too ska or grind that we sorta piss off the elitists of both genres, I have people from both scenes say we would sound better if we dropped either the ska or the grind.
Any chance you guys
would tour europe sometime when covid19 is under control? What places would you
like to visit the most and what are your favorite european bands?
We (tentatively)
have plans to tour the UK in April of 2021 with a band called Rash Decision,
billed around a festival called Manchester Punk Festival, however, with the god
awful Covid Response of both the UK and the US, I don’t see that happening. We
would LOVE to come and play the rest of Europe at some point as well, I
understand the UK is not necessarily the same as the rest of Europe, but with
the Brexit shit, we don’t wanna risk being sent home hopping from country to
country.
I dont think I have
heard a spotify podcast about grindcore before! How did that
happen and do you get many listeners? Any competition out there?
Its not so much a
grindcore podcast as it is just about me and Fern talk about the label and all
that we do, I think we are at like, 30 – 40 listeners so far which is dope, I
think, wouldn’t mind more but talking with my buddy weekly and making each
other laugh has been a great thing for my mental health.
Thank you so much for super fast, but also thoughtful and honest answers man! Next time I'm in on the west coast we must get drunk from a brown paper bag by the skatepark at the beach!
Make sure to check out and support everything Tommy has been up to!
Today we speak with Pompeo, one of the main people behind the amazing GO! festival in Rome and one of the key people in Italian grindcore scene! It has been 10 years GO! fest is happening. I have been to one of the first editions and was lucky to play in #8. What is the driving force behind doing it all these years?
Hi everyone!
Yes, everything started 9 years ago and it seems incredible how we improved from the first editions. I think that our main goal (we’re three behind the festival, Daniele, Andrea and me) was to make a festival focused of fast bands. We had and still have plenty of hardcore festival in Italy but no one was dedicated to extreme bands, especially in Rome. We had September To Dismember in Bologna which was definitively a great example for us, but in the latest years I can say we’re the only extreme diy fest in our country together with Born To Be Grind organized by our friend Riki. I'm sure it's not money right? How do you pay all the bands with such low entry fees? What was your biggest financial loss in history? How do I get rich doing grindcore?
I’m happy to say that it’s impossible to get rich with grindcore 😊 You don’t need money to do it, just rage and some musical skill. Talking about us yes, the entrance at the festival is always really cheap and I’m proud to say that we do it without any help of sponsors. When a band come to play at Go! Fest they do it more for the fun and the atmosphere, they know from the beginning that they are not getting so much money.
We never lost money so far, but we are careful when we organize the festival and all the other shows in the rest of the year
How many other people are behind the fest and what are the names worth a special shout out? Are doing this from the start?
We’re just three guys behind the festival: Daniele and Andrea and me, but every year a few special friends give us a hand and without their help we’d go crazy. A special thanks goes to people at CSOA Spartaco (our main venue), Daniel (our sound guy), Ulderico and Vincent.
Have you ever had any problems because of the fest? Government? Local nazis? Bands too drunk to play?
We’ve been lucky so far, I think the main problem of the last editions was the rain: it doesn’t rain so much in Rome, but you can be quite sure that on the day of Go! Fest there will be water falling from the sky 😊
Local government doesn’t know us and we don’t want to know them and nazis are not so much in the part of the city were we have the festival.
Oh by the way, once some assholes had something to say because we invited a band from Israel (MooM). They thought we hosted a Zionist band but they clearly didn’t know anything about them and about how carefully we choose the bands we invite.
Regardless of tragic covid19 impact to Italy - you are still doing the 10th edition this year, is that right? What are the current restrictions in your country and is there a chance the fest might not actually happen?
At the moment the situation is getting better, and even with some restrictions we decided to have Go! Fest 10, but only with Italian bands. We’re sure it will be a great edition even without internationally famous bands, we have so many great fast bands here after all.
There is still a chance that if the covid-19 spreads again the festival might be cancelled but we try to be positive about that!
What were the venues the fest took place in? Rome is known for it's sunshine and beautiful weather, - ever considered an Open Air edition?
The first edition happened at CSOA Ricomincio dal Faro, then we moved to Bencivenga squat for 3 editions, then we moved again to our actual venue, CSOA Spartaco.
We’d love to make an open air edition but we would need to involve much more people and it was impossible so far. We might try again in the next editions but it would mean asking permissions to local government and a lot of other burocratic stuff, so I’m not sure it would be a good idea.
What is your warmest memory from the history of GO fest?
There are so many. Actually one of the best was meeting you at the festival, you were the first in the audience coming from a far country! Another great memory was when I was on stage with my old band xKATExMOSHx and people started moshing so hard but we were still having the sound check.
The last one is when the guys of a really known band told me that playing at Go! Fest was much better than playing in a festival that is 10 times bigger than ours (I won’t tell you the band and the festival anyway 😉 )
Let's say I'm a small but talented grindcore band with 150 likes from middle of nowhere. What do I have to do to be considered to play GO! ?
If you send me a link and we like what you do we definitively don’t care if you are “big” or not. We just check what are your idea: there’s no space for fascist, racist or intolerant bands in the festival.
Imagine you now have the government support and endless cash. What is your dream line-up for the fest?
Don’t ask me this, I wouldn’t accept any money from the government, even if this would mean to offer a million of euros to make Spazz and Charles Bronson come back together! Ok, maybe I’d think carefully about it 😊
Besides doing the festival you are in like 666 bands. Could you give our reader a brief introduction on each and what is currently active?
Currently I only play in 2 bands: Verano’s Dogs and Taste The Floor. Verano’s Dogs is a mix of old school death metal and grindcore, Taste The Floor play fast thrashcore mainly influenced by Scholastic Deth and DS13.
I miss playing powerviolence as I used to do with xKATExMOSHx but as soon as I have more free time I’m going to found another band like that for sure. I’m getting used to play songs longer than 1-2 minutes and it’s not good at all.
What are current Italian bands we must invite to play to Lithuania?
There are lots of great bands all around Italy, even if most of them maybe never tour abroad. My favorites now are LULU from Milano, ANF from Palermo, Failure, and Scheletro from Roma.
Does all this grindcore activity clash with your family life / work in any way? Anything else you want to do but have no time?
It’s not easy but I try to spend most of my free time with my 4 years old son. Since he’s born I never left home for long tours with my bands but all the time spent with him is gold for me. Plus, he’s starting to enjoy the music I love and currently his favorite songs are from Repulsion and Municipal Waste!
The only thing I’ve been really missing for years is sleeping, but doing a lot of different things means going late to bed!
Can you share a thought that comforts or motivates you during some tough times?
I say thank you my friend! I’m not the best at motivating people but sometimes I remember that my music teacher used to say that I was her worst student in all her life and after a few years I made quite a few records, I toured around all Europe and there’s someone that enjoy the songs I made with my bands. But probably she didn’t know the word grindcore.
Grazie tante mio caro, I wish we can travel freely very soon and I
can come hug you in person and have 48 beers together again xx
Yet, another review of a local Lithuanian band is here! This time it’s a debut album “Kol dar čia” by Manacles, a new local hardcore punk band, which consists of members from ZLPGNR, SLØGA, and Crucial Features. Lithuanian underground scene definitely lacks this kind of hardcore punk bands – straight forward, fast, without any “macho” elements or other subgenres mixed in the music.
All of their songs are in Lithuanian and the lyrics cover important political and social problems, that are very relevant in the present time. Despite the fact, that at times those lyrics seem a bit cringy or cheesy, very important topics are being explored – the way it's supposed to be in punk rock! Also, the vocals do not sound harsh enough for my taste in the album, but while listening to them live it’s a completely different experience. The vocals sound great, a few local mosh enthusiasts (including me) are having fun in front of the stage, but it would be way cooler if there was some movement on the stage from the musicians themselves.
20 minutes of honest and angry, “punky” vibe, simple punk beats and crusty d-beat parts go by fast and after the first few listens you get the urge to replay the album, but after a while it gets old (but what else could you think of in this genre?). The highlight of this album is those catchy riffs that keep playing in your head after a while (like an annoying earworm). While I prefer way faster hardcore punk, I feel like this is a huge step towards the right direction, regarding straight forward hardcore punk music in Lithuania. I hope to hear even faster stuff from them in the future!
Another extreme outfit from a culturally rich country of France, this time - rather heavy than fast: "À Nos Morts" a debut LP by Pilori released on June 26 in LP, CD and cassette.
It's a gloomy, atmospheric hardcore album with significant metalcore and sludge influences. Reminds me a lot of our local heroes Erdve.
Eerie compositions and dissonant riffs (especially on the interlude-like title track) that seem to come out of Silent Hill rather than this world are mixed with some mid-tempo beats and almost inhuman like vocals. As a vocalist I am not sure how exactly this effect is achieved, but it sounds unique for sure.
The guitars in the mix sound very heavy and it resonates well with the overall atmosphere, but it can be a bit too much if you like to re-play the same album few times at one take and I don't mean it as a bad thing.
If you miss soaking in autumn rain and seek for something fresh, but charged with strong, sulky emotions - definitely give it a spin. Not much happiness to be found on this one.
It's streaming on Spotify and you can buy physical at https://pilori.bandcamp.com/album/nos-morts
A second, co-release album on multiple labels, from Paris' explosive grindcore blood bath - Bain de Sang. Was never lucky to see them live (yet), but hearing this, I can imagine the moshpit would hurt. It's raw, it's super fast, almost no slow parts (except for the finishing track "31G" and saying "slow" here would be... generous) but you can also hear these guys know how to play their instruments and some variations feel really creative. This means a lot of hard work and sweat in the practice room. 8 minutes of pure, angry energy followed by 3 minute noise outro makes it a perfect length modern grind album. Zero bullshit and you can tell immediately. Though I would love 20 more minutes of this.
For those who have no idea I want to find a comparison and a band that comes to my head is Sayyadina, but some cleverly calculated hardcore moments with high pitched, lungs-out vocals even reminds me of Converge a lot, which can not be a bad thing by any means. I don't have much else to say to be honest, this is the kinda shit I really like so this should serve more like a recommendation from me. These guys deserve more attention, I see they have t-shirts, tapes and vinyls on their bandcamp, go support, drop a like and tell your mom!
K:Fresh new hardcore wind from the cold city of Oulu in Finland. D-beat, some blasts, and a lot of slow parts with painful echoing black metal vocals (also, Keijo Niinimaa from Rotten Sound appears in the album as the guest vocalist!). Much more serious and sad towards the second part of the album, but I somehow still see it as a hardcore record. No uplifting riffs in major key to be found here and this kind of music always talks to me. Would love to see these guys live someday when this bullshit pandemic finally goes away. L:Their second full-length album Katharsis is a nice mixture of hardcore, crust and black metal. Instant tempo changes in between tracks from a slow and atmospheric black metal track to a hard and fast crust tune always surprises you. Melodic, but still chaotic riffs set the dark tone quite perfectly. Although In the beginning, I thought that there are too many slow black metal tracks and the album seemed too long, after a few listening sessions the album started making perfect sense. Everything they did, all the elements are like perfectly fitting puzzle pieces creating one amazing album. Cannot wait to hear what they will do in the future!
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!
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 earththrows 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 Sortovaltato 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.
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!
