Abominator Interview for Evil Proclaimed

Abominator

Evil Proclaimed

Heads Hellbangers

Interview by hutch with: Chris Volcano

Line-up: Chris Volcano – Drums & vocals, Andrew Gillon – Guitars, BM Brad – Bass & Vocals

 “It all started on a blood chilling day in late 1994, when I forged a pact with Andrew (Gillon) to write beastly tunes for Satan.”  A bold mission statement is precisely what defines the Melbourne, Australia metal band, Abominator. Despite many line-ups, the core of Chris Volcano and Gillon, recently recruiting new bassist, BM Brad, deliver their new album, Evil Proclaimed. Their sound may have evolved, but the fire inside burns brighter.

“Today, it feels as though we have started the band all over again.” Volcano discusses his spark after commenting that this album took a long time to record. “We remember what it was that motivated us in the beginning, but we have wiser heads on our shoulders. The band can continue in the darkest possible direction for the next few years. The new album is massive, but also harsh and scathing.”

Volcano is direct about the disease of current metal bands’ grand production techniques. He secures Abominator’s oath to “not falling victim to a weak, overly digital production. It is absolute black chaos from start to finish.” Volcano’s pride is palpable; as sin is worth total indulgence. Abominator produced Evil Proclaimed with Sam Johnson on the boards and Alan Douches of West West Side mastering the album. Seeking premier professionals is “a product of the way we chose to do things. We've had enough experience to know what does and doesn't work. Money wasn't really a factor, as we paid for some of the recording ourselves.”

Reading some early rviews online, I am confused by some purists wanting a strictly defined, genre aligned album. Volcano laughs at these rigid “wimps”.  After the two decades which Abominator has recorded, people should expect change. “It is impossible for a band like us to go into a studio and replicate the sound from our first album, it just doesn't work like that. The album is relentless, heavy, raw, and chaotic. It is more or less straight black metal, but it does have the aesthetic of that time honored tradition of the bestial sound.  If you are a true black/death maniac, there is enough variation in tempos and riffing to get your head around.”

Opening already this year for Black Metal legends, Marduk and Inquisition, Abominator are looking to tour. For now, the Melbourne scene is where Abominator will play their home scene. Members have other bands; Ignivomous, Cemetary Urn, and Voidchrist, perpetually participating in the scene. Volcano is quick to boast about Australia’s strong metal history. Volcano is quick to list many current and historical bands. “Australia has had a rich and diverse metal scene for years now. There are a lot of bands who are trying to be the next big thing in tech death or the next Dark Funeral. We need more young bloods who crave the bestial sounds of old.”

That 1994 oath Volcano procured with Gillon has been fulfilled with creating savage war metal. There is the portion addressing who it is created for, though. “Satan, and the portrayal of it, is very important to us, but it is crucial to express it in the right way. It represents the duality of our human condition, and I have some deep demons to deal with. I use this music as a focus for that dark, primal energy. It has been fascinating for me to learn about Satanism and various branches of occult knowledge. It is not necessarily about the outright praise of evil, but an understanding and acceptance that the darkness is a fundamental aspect of life on this Earth plane. Besides, God and Satan are very subjective in terms of the forces that currently influence this world. Somebody like myself may be closer to the truth than your average hypocritical Christian. Look at the rich and greedy elite, how they ravage the environment, brainwash people and send people off to their doom in wars they have created.”

Volcano boasts that this is no image like some black metal bands. “For me, it is a way of life, especially having experienced the spiritual dissociation from the rest of society. That is the extent of it. I perform Satanic art, but I haven't got time to go out and burn churches or sodomize goats. That is not how it (actually) works anyway. Literally, there is a divine force in the universe, as well as a force opposing it.”

While those opinions may seem brash or abstract, it pales to Volcano’s distress over the tangible plane’s fruit of the metal scene. “I don't think metal could get any more popular in such a fickle society, unless there was a massive paradigm shift away from shitty mainstream culture. If that were to happen, you can be sure that others like me will have had nothing to do with it. None of the true fans want it to get that big anyway, it just wouldn't be the same.”

Chris Volcano suggests other Australian metal:

Current:

ESKHATON, BEYOND MORTAL DREAMS, IMPETUOUS RITUAL, INVERLOCH, DENOUNCEMENT PYRE, NOCTURNAL GRAVES, DESTRUKTOR, TZUN TZU, LUSTRATION, ALTARS, PORTAL

Historical:

 HOBBS ANGEL OF DEATH, SADISTIK EXEKUTION, BESTIAL WARLUST, SLAUGHTER LORD, ARMOURED ANGEL, DESTROYER 666.

Lifeless Interview Dream Album

Lifeless

Dream

Fast Break! Records

Interview by hutch

Interview with: Jeremy

Members: Jeremy – Vocals; Kyle – Guitar; Michael – Drums; Ryan – Bass; Jay - Guitar

Lifeless NLFTW formed from the ashes of Dead and Buried and When These Days End in 2008. Reborn, the members spewed vitriolic hardcore based metal from the start. Their demo and debut full length surprised the scene with the hate and furor compacted in three minute tracks. Lifeless followed up with a seven inch on Harvcore again. Lifeless continued touring, providing sweat drenched angry shows for legions of hardcore kids ready to exorcise their demons. Lifeless play hardcore in the vein of Born From Pain, 100 Demons, and Integrity without apology. Now, on Fast Break! Records, Lifeless’ Dreams unleashes the most focused and calculated music they have created yet.

This album is as heavy as heavy gets. Tell me about production/recording? Working with Len Carmichael?

In previous recordings, we rushed certain aspects of them. This session, however, we really took our time. The time from the pre-production demos to the final product was literally a year. We continue to grow and evolve just as Len Carmichael does. With his “devil's advocate” approach at times, he kept us on our toes to put out our best efforts and ideas. He is easy to deal with, but not a push-over. He voices his honest opinions for the benefit of the band and the overall recording. To us, Dream is exactly how Lifeless should have sounded in a studio all along.

How is FastBreak! Records?

It's great to work with people who you look up to, who are your friends, and who want to take a serious and professional approach to releasing and promoting the music. The truly organic music we make without taking control of any process other than pressing the record and putting the word out there with us. They believed in us and gave us the wheel to steer as we saw fit. Truly, it's been a great, rewarding, and eye-opening experience.

Are you anxious to get this out – been four years since a full length.

Yes and no. Anxious because some of these songs are two years old, but we all agreed not to rush the recording process. Now that we're on the cusp of it landing in people's hands and putting it out there for everyone to hear, the anxiety somewhat subsides.

“But the hoping is useless, cuz it won’t ever change” – so what should we put effort into?

That lyric is really talking about working day to day while barely affording the roof over your head, food in your stomach, and trying to find a better way to live your life instead of sitting there hoping things will just change one day and you will be happy. Most people accept their fate, work their lives away, and wait for the ultimate price to be paid; death. If anything, find what you truly believe is right, “your path” in other words, and peruse it at all costs whatever it may be.

Your lyrics are quite negative (that’s why I like it) – or should I say realistic? *“All the people you love will turn on you… there’s nothing you can do” What makes life worth putting effort into (like a band…)?

I'd say the biggest thing that gets me up each day is this band and the experiences I have through hardcore. The anticipation and excitement of playing or going to the next show is what really keeps me going most of the time. It's the only place I can really let go of strife. I feel better than I ever do anywhere else. I hold onto that vibe with me until the next show.

What does 2015 hold for tours/shows?

Shows, shows, and more shows to support the release of Dream. We are playing a few fests, some of which have been announced and some that haven't, but we will get our ugly mugs and angry, “dark hardcore” jams everywhere we can get them. From all over the US, to Europe, and hopefully even Japan. Just not Canada; their border control really doesn't like us for some reason! We're angels, I swear.

Hard Left Interview

Hard Left Interview

We Are Hard Left

Future Perfect Records

Interview with Mike (vocals) and Tim (guitar) by hutch

Hard Left are: 
Mike: exhortations 
Donna: bass, vocals 
Tim: guitar, vocals 
Stewart: drums, vocals 

In case you are unfamiliar with the skinhead subculture, or at least the full spectrum of the scene, a common mantra is “no politics”. As skinheads represent the working class of every country throughout the globe, this minute microcosm is colored by every brush of the political palette. Often, at gigs or fests or pubs, politics are eschewed in order to avoid conflict. And, to clarify, if ‘skinhead’ triggers an old stereotype, racism is not politics. The “no politics” agreement is not to encourage non-racists to shove their head in the sand while their brethren salute the Fuhrer at whim. This understanding exists so that a skinhead from France and one from Texas can share pints and discuss important things like first pressings of Alton Ellis forty-five’s or the pros and cons of different 4-Skins’ vocalists without sliding into disagreeing on the institution of social medicine. *(this said, most are intelligent adults who can discuss politics without getting out of control.)

 Hard Left throw that cordial oath aside and wave their beyond-liberal flags on the sleeves. Tim explains how the idea materialized. “Mike and I were talking that it would be fun. I’d play guitar and he said he’ll sing, which he never had. But if we would have an Oi band, it has to be left wing. For obvious reasons.”

However, the reasons were not obvious, as I had not known these guys. “We’re both left wing.” Mike expands, “our political beliefs were not a big part in prior bands. This time we want to do more than have great songs and laughs. The message is important. We love this style of music, but the scene is stridently apolitical or right wing. We wanted to be upfront about this.” This aspect has the potential to cause trepidation in the band. “I already got trolled on facebook.”

Mike was already called ‘oppressive’ by a white power user. Hard Left simply want to seize the opportunity. “I think it’s great if apolitical people want to listen. But they will get a message.” Tim adds, “the apolitical aspect about fun and style is tired for me. We want to put on a different gloss. While not ‘skinheads’, we are steeped in the culture; the music, the fashion.” Sham 69 and Oi are the basis of the sound. “We are trying to unseat what it means to be working class. If you want fun and apolitical, you are missing content that could be there.”

Despite Mike citing that the left wing has a strong long history with British scenes, the hard kicking music should be heard, and not always eclipsed by the political stance of Hard Left. It is drenched in Mod and Pub Rock style. Mike revels in their intent. “We’re old, been in a bunch of bands. We wanted to be in a band with terrace rocking beats and ripping guitars full of feedback and anthem songs with great lyrics. This is the band we want to be in.” Tim shares the elation in the layers and tangents of their musical direction. Tim guides band decision on what he (and they) would like. “Would we want to see this? Yes. Let’s do it. Marching in with drums and flags? Check. Fred Perrys? Check. Anthems? Check.”

This attitude forms one hell of a record, which drops on May 12, 2015. Tim and Mike simplified the formula. Tim pushes, “We kept it simple. The mixing principle was to make the toms loud and add clapping. Make it anthemic.” Mike agrees, “everything is so pumping. I can’t picture these tunes sounding any better. I think it’s the best album I have ever heard.” Mike qualifies this bold statement. “I usually play guitar and I didn’t. So, I am removed and objective. Our drummer, Stewart , lives in Arizona. He recorded it. Tim and I worked with our bassist, Donna.  We sent Stewart demos with no drums. We went there and ran through each song, one to two times. He is an amazing drummer with great concepts. “Stewart is the right man for job. He’s English,” adds Tim. “He grew up with punk rock and all the terrace glam stuff, Slade. It is in his musical DNA.”

Mike lauds, “Stu makes it seem effortless.  Our sound can be said as, ‘77 punk. But people only think of the Clash. They’re great, but that’s not our sound. We come from the football terraces, the early Oi. That stomping punk sound with driving beats, shouting choruses. But, still, Oi does not tell the whole story.” The Pub Rock sound of early Who, Cock Sparrer, Sham 69, Angelic Upstarts, and specifically early Cockney Rejects are on target. Punk bands beyond The Clash like 999, The Ruts, The Damned, and Slaughter & The Dogs fill in the rest.

Hard Left has record release shows soon. San Francisco, Los Angeles, Oakland are on the list. Stewart will attend those shows as they are planned ahead. But Hard Left will be on the search for a drummer who is available to play out of town. Hard Left plan to visit the East Coast and the Northwest in the summer. They want to go to Europe feeling they “would be well-received,” declares Tim. “We have made good connects in UK and Germany. Our message and music will be taken seriously as a provocation in German highly politicized, in a good way.”

Oakland is the home of Tim and Mike. They find constant inspiration from their environment. They see it as “unbelievably diverse and integrated, more so than other cities,” Mike claims. “People tend to live in a checkerboard. Oakland is, it sounds hokey, but, ‘multi cultural’. The structural diversity is amazing.” Tim calls it “electric with flavor. The city is organically integrated, not due to social engineering. It’s real.”

When I think of Oakland, I think of bands like Dystopia and Neurosis; painting a crusty punk, anarchistic, squat, DIY musical landscape. Mike notes that the Oaktown is “gnarly and crusty with warehouse parts. Music is a logical reaction to it environment.” And that is where Mike distinguishes Hard Left’s music. “We are not reacting against it. We are feeding off the energy and diversity. Oakland is still a city, gritty.”  Tim continues this thought, “There is the Black Panther history. That flavor still exists. Hard Left doesn’t partake in the gutter punk thing, or garage-y, which is big here.” So, while the tones and tunes are executed differently, the message is on par.

“The band is ideologically eclectic.” Tim states. “We lean into anarchism. People who do work should benefit from it. Tradition and ideological history which holds a democratic practice is what we support; initiatives that push people working for their own emancipation. We value Marx, his analysis is important. But we are Anti-Bolshevic.” Mike explains, “Marx is super relevant right now. I was at a march the other day for teacher union labor dispute; my son is a Kindergarten teacher. Communist party was there and I was talking to them. They are mired in bureaucracy, We come from the bottom up movement and action is best embodied by anarchism.”

Even the foundation of Hard Left is a statement, just by the nature of the members. Tim notes quickly, “we have a woman; which differentiates us from bands in our genre. It is nice to have the songs be less cookie cutter with her shouts.” It adds a texture to their energetic songs. Donna is “not ornamental”.

Mike is uncompromising in her pedigree. “She is amazing bass player, powerful. It’s important, the idea of having a woman in the band.” Tim appends any notions, “her being in the band is not contrived. But, it’s great and goes with politics of self empowerment in the band. Women having a voice adds more diversity. If women aren’t free none of us free.” I note that I feel the skinhead scene, especially more than metal or hardcore or even pop, embrace the women significantly. Unless a girl proves herself to be a decoration or coat rack, female skins get concrete respect in the scene.

Mark Stern Interview Punk Rock Bowling

Punk Rock Bowling May 22-25 2015

Interview with Mark Stern of BYO Records (Youth Brigade)
by hutch

Brothers, Shawn and Mark Stern

 Mark Stern first appeared to most angry kids of the eighties on their turntables or tv screens. Playing in Youth Brigade, Stern got to express himself and cultivate a national scene. Scraping through the US with Minor Threat and Social D, Stern spread the gospel of hardcore for people to now visualize beyond the turntable.  He and his brother, Shawn, started their own DIY label in 1982 while playing in a band and touring. Four decades and multiple releases for most punk bands you like, or at least their grandfathers, BYO is a template for business in the underground scene.

And now Stern has Punk Rock Bowling as his next aging gift to punk. Seventeen years on, Punk Rock Bowling has shed its small party structure to a multi-day Fest in downtown Las Vegas. “It’s our sixth year as a fest; our fifth downtown.”

“Why Vegas?” I ask. I’ve never been. I don’t get the allure.

Mark easily dismisses, “Cuz its Vegas. Twenty-four hour bars. You can get away with anything. Now we’re Downtown. You get three days of outdoor shows and four days of club shows.” The shows are placed strategically around two hotels which are in walking distance.

“We used to have it just outside of the city, in Henderson.  It got to the point where we just took over.” Stern tells me about how it had been going well until a general manager made some changes five years ago. “He increased the price of the drinks. I had wanted to keep drink prices down. But he also allowed re-entry which I didn’t want. And I knew what would happen. The hotels were across from a Costco and a Wal-Mart. People bought tons of beer there. Then they partied in their rooms and planned to come back for later bands.” Or never came back. The hotel was honored to have four thousand punks power-drinking in the afternoon. Things got broken. Police were called. 

 Stern quickly took what was started as a private party for bands and labels, and looked for a new geography. And a larger one. He wanted toi step it up and have it be a small punk city for a few days. Punk Rock Bowling – which still embraces the bowling as seriously as the music – is now associated with the dude who started Zappos, 41 year old, Tony Hsieh. Hsieh had bought some land downtown and they moved the fest. The timing added another dimension and aided in propagating a better culture in which to grow this fest. “It helped spark restaurants and clubs and venues. Everything is new. It’s becoming a real city,” Stern explains with a content exhale.

“There will be comedy shows, poker, art galleries. We have classic punk rock photographers showing in the gallery. Last year we had Peter and The Test Tube Babies at the pool party. The pool party is awesome.” This begins at 3pm Friday and kicks off the event. Each day has a film screening. Bloodied and Unbowed is Saturday with Filmage: The Story of Descendents/ALL on Sunday and Let Them Know: The Story of Youth Brigade and BYO records, is on Monday, fittingly.

My OCD quivers. But he insists on the party vibe. Unshaken, he explains that he has been putting on shows since he was eighteen. “I put on the first punk show at the Hollywood Bowl.” I know his pedigree, but still four days with these many cogs has to be intimidating. Stern reverts back to what kept each state of growth so natural. “The punk scene, we were tight. It was a complete DIY vibe. In 1999, it was a cool party.”

In May of 2010, PRB had to be moved to outdoor shows. Stern begins to list every country that punks abandon for the weekend to join this melee. He could have instead saved time by listing the two dudes from Ghana who missed the plane. So many people.

So Many Bands. “I’m stoked to have Frank Turner, finally, been asking him for years.” Turner will be playing an acoustic bill at a club. Stern can’t contain the enthusiasm for some killer sets from the main stage bands. “We got Murder City Devils, Rancid doing Out Come the Wolves twentieth anniversary, Bosstones, Dropkicks doing their first album, and since Street Dogs are in town, maybe Mike will come out? We have Refused. Turbonegro. Then, there are five club shows at venues each night.” These pair usual underground headliners together. The Templars, The Beltones, Bishops Green, Booze & Glory all in one show. There’s a line up for every shade of punk. Stern spills the formula. “Not the same genre, but I keep it cohesive. You approach it like it’s a compilation or a set list. I have been making those for forty years. Don’t do a random mesh,” Stern practically unveils. “I got the ‘77 group with The Weirdos and Rezillos and Dickies. Acoustic with Tim Barry, Dave Hause, Kevin Seconds.” And 7 Seconds has their night with FUS and Street Dogs. GBH will headline with Abrasive Wheels and Infa Riot and a name I have not heard since the late 90’s, Schleprock. 88 Fingers Louie are returning to a stage, with Strung Out - who have a new album dropping - and Pulley: that punk band with the major league pitcher (Scott Radinsky) “I have a Ska bill. A Rockabilly bill.” Yeah he does, with names like Bad Manners, English Beat and Mobtown. Stern still adds “and there will be a hundred little parties and DJs and room parties. There’s a beer garden. Cheap drinks. “Hand-picked food trucks. We make sure there is a variety; vegan and vegetarian and meat. I want it to be the Anti-Fest.  Not Overwhelming.”

Not a shock is that they sold sixty-five hundred tickets for each day.  A penetrating anxiety kept pulling at me. Not surprisingly, Stern tells me he has to start planning in September each year. He has to “get things rolling by October. We like to announce headliners before Christmas.”

That’s when my OCD snaps and I ask how many people he has working with him to organize all this planning. “It’s just me,” he announces to my jaw ajar and eyebrows vexed. “I personally book each band. We have a hundred plus bands. I designed the fest grounds, picked the themes. We have some cool ones this year.” All of this is said like he set the table; spoons lazily placed in proximity to the knife. “Some people come just for the room and pool parties. It’s a smorgasbord.”

Oh, the Humpers have a night with Los Creepers and The Hangmen. Icons of Filth are playing with Krum Bums and Anti-Vision. Mike Virus pulls double duty with Cheap Sex and Evacuate sets. And these are the clubs. The main stage will have Sick Of It All, The Business, Bombshell Rocks, Sniper 66 (angry, dark, fast punk from Texan youngens). Crust legends, Conflict are on the list. Jello Biafra and the Guantanamo School of Medicine. The poster lists another dozen other bands; including, A Wilhelm Scream, Anti-Flag and Mahones.

As I am feeling over whelmed, Stern insists Punk Rock Bowling continues as just a laid-back theme park with every possible option. Distracted by the music I forget that there is competitive bowling. And tons of pick-up games. He plans PRB with sympathy and as a truly seasoned participant. “That’s why I sell the drinks cheap. People can plan to drink all day. And eat. Hang out and catch up with old friends and make a bunch of new ones. Have some time off.” Stern wants everyone to hang out; call it the casual approach to punk mayhem and chaotic indulgence.  “I don’t want it to grow. It sells out each year. But, if we grew, we would have to be in a big desert or field, add TV screens. Who comes to a concert to watch it on a screen? And honestly, I don’t want to contend twenty-five thousand people. I’d rather have four thousand people together.” And Stern means that as a promoter and a member of the audience and the subculture. “Last year, I had Cock Sparrer play to four hundred people. It was crazy. They were incredible. Bands love it. They get nervous. But, I have seen these bands play their best sets. Angelic Upstarts played an amazing tight set. And they ain’t young.” Most of us aren’t.  But it appears that Mark Stern has matured this fest into a place where a real punk community, thriving on DIY ideals can exist for a few days. 

Brutal Youth Bottoming Out Review

Brutal Youth

Bottoming Out

Paper + Plastick Records

Release Date: Feb 27, 2015

Brutal Youth, hailing from Toronto, commit to blistering sound of frenzied hardcore. You can hear the spirit of youth in the urgency of the strained vocals and the crunching of beaten guitar strings.  The lyrics reflect this same need for immediate examination of our surrounding society.

Bottoming Out is a five track extended play coming in under eight minutes.  The production approach is fitting; keeping it loose and raw. The record sounds like I was recorded live, as member stood on hot coals. The energy is undeniable. You can hear the obvious classics like Gorilla Biscuits, Side By Side, 7 Seconds, Minor Threat, Wide Awake as an influence, with a splash of unpolished Kid Dynamite. Brutal Youth, however, are not a clone band. Their energy is impressive. It surfaces in the guitar work and vocal patterns of the title track.

“Rancour” is a killer track with four distinguishable sections. And this occurs in two minutes. The first section holds a frenetic riff that idles as a perpetual ping pong ball in a small space.  The second section is an angry, two-step part driven by a pounding snare and a sparse guitar. The third is a chaotic, desperate breakdown with classic sound. The ending employs a sing-along of “Woah-Ohs” that lift the feeling slightly with hope before it quits.

Each track is intense and enraged. Variety in the songs’ structures pushes Bottoming Out to diverge from predictable hardcore writing. There is never an element of pop that sprouted sporadically on their full length, Stay Honest. This record is angrier and harsher. Catchy gang vocals ensure enthusiastic crowd participation at live shows, and old men like me to finger point in the car alone. Brutal Youth ravage this piece of wax. I want more. Now.

RIYL: The Damage Done, Paint It Black, Trial By Fire, Kids Like Us, Youth Attack, Losin It, Test of Time

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Terveet Kadet Lapin Helvetti Review

Terveet Kadet

Lapin Helvetti

Svart Records

 Svart Records is an incredible. I always pay attention to their releases. They are an incredible resource for sludge, doom, psych, and stoner. When I pressed play on this though, all I heard was awesome thrash influenced d-beat punk. Unfortunately for me, my mind had lapsed. But as soon as it played I recalled the Musta Hetki LP from two year ago. Beginning in one form in 1980, TK have been putting put albums since 1983. These Finnish curators of fury have done it again.

Skilled guitar work and thick production reinforce the fast and tight rhythm section. The music is a soundtrack to an anxiety attack. Laja Aijala’s vocals are gnarly and pissed. He may have had some line-up changes behind him through the years but this version is amped and spews treachery on stages. They just wrapped a US tour two days ago.

A lengthy review of this is not needed. “Awesome” would just as easily sum this up. The band is just so friggin tight. And if I say, most songs sound the same, that’s a compliment. This is punk; no one is redifining anything.  TK is not deconstructing the punk paradigm to filter through post modern rhythms or some arty shite. There is Discharge, of course, in her. American noisey hate punk like AF and NA; and especially the darkness of a Poison Idea is an influence.

 And the band kicks a “thank you” to some metal riffing on “Mina Olen”. The opening riff conjures a solid swing riff before jumping into pure mayhem. Similar to Kill ‘Em All Metallica covering Discharge or Misfits, the sound is sinister. Again, the bass stands out, giving the sound a rounded out dirge tone. Two songs are over two minutes, none hit the three minute mark. Half of the tracks stay under one minute. “Brutaali” stands out to me with a crunchy riff over 4/4 drums and Aijala’s raspy snarls. “Verinen Jeesus” has some great chunky hardcore riffs they smash together providing a forty-nine second melee. Following is “Elamalle vieraita piirteita” which goes from blast beat to breakdown that Coke Bust would revel in. 

This band is amazing. Any skate thrash blackened hardcore punk should find an aspect that enthralls them in this harsh sound. Short Fast Loud; it describes many bands. Kadet have earned it proudly. I’ll take another thirty five years, please.

Band Site

RIYKL: Heresy, Hard Skin, Vitamin X, Iron Reagan, Violent Arrest, Dead Stop, Victims, Cops N Robbers, Poison Idea, Negative Approach, Rattus, Raw Power, Venom, Okkultokrati, Minor Threat, Agnostic Front, SSD

Hudson Falcons Peace of Mind Review

Hudson Falcons

Peace of Mind

East Grand Records

It’s no secret that Hudson Falcons always called themselves a rock and roll band. They played for skinheads and punks, but they loved Bruce Springsteen. They had a great run for a punk band, being on the top labels like Outsider and GMM. But as the streepunk thing died or morphed or whatever; they ended. I had heard they had new line up and Mark Linskey (the singer/ guitarist/ writer would put out music or play acoustic shows). I lost track. I knew they had gone more rock and roll.

The last time I heard them was 2004’s LP, La Famiglia. A fifth album, Dancing Underneath the Moonlight, happened in 2011. This time, in 2015, Linskey and crew are back. Peace of mind is a more cohesive, focused album. Rock and roll is still the core of this band. They have added an organ. This sounds promising with an organ, but the opening track, “Live Right Now”, to me isn’t working class rock or a call back to Max RnB mod shit (a la Duffys Cut) or garage rock spasms (45 adapters)  this sounds like “The Boys are Back in Town”. This is disappointing since I have no love for 70s rock.

However, the second track, “Don’t Waste the Burn”, is a cool organ drenched solemn tune that triggers some anger (towards the world, not the song) and nostalgia. “Soul Salvation” follows with a tip of the hat to old Rolling Stones, one of my favorites. So my apprehension is dissipating quickly.

I can eschew the need for hard edge punk or the aggression of a band who used to unsubtle t-shirts like “Working Class Mother Fucker” and the Ireland unity slogan of: “26 + 1 …Over My Dead Body”. Hudson Falcons always were received well in working class cities like Providence and Boston (where I always saw them). Bands like Roachenders, Dropkicks and Ducky Boys fit right in. They had a split on GMM with Blood for Blood. Their absolute pro-union stance lyrics played well to calloused-skinned fists and tired faces chanting along. They held back no punches and were forward with their politics. That palpable honesty, in a sea of young bands crying the working class life, was undeniable.

Going through Peace of Mind, there are a few slower songs that I might skip, but all are heartfelt and are all good down home rock and roll songs.  These jersey heroes bring back many memories, especially linked up with split-mates, tour-mates, and friends, The GC5. But its fifteen years later and not every song will be a furious, raucous punk anthem. “We’ll Fight Back” is a boss song, brining a ska beat and championing a riotous chorus. The organ works well here in adding a layer of mood.

The thing about the first two HF albums was the speed, like sometimes the speed was more important than a crisp sound. Here we have a tighter band and medium paced songs with an organ. The Stones but tougher, the Springsteen meet MC5 love is apparent. Once I molted my OCD preconceptions and rigid nostalgia, I realized that it is not their fault I haven’t kept up with the band. I look at their discogs page. They have steadily put out records. That is admirable for a band who ain’t making money from it.

That said it is still a little slower and more open to other influences beyond SLF; but, holy shit this is good. “Scared” and “We Need a Union Now” pick up the pace in the middle and truly call back to the early Hudson Falcons’ sound. It is a good rock and roll album still wrought with defiance and rebellion.