Foundation Vinyl Newsletter
Welcome
Hello and welcome to the latest Foundation Vinyl newsletter! Sunday night, I popped down to New Cross to catch Bent Blue and Major Pain. Both bands hail from California and are exponents of a brand of melodic hardcore that consistently thrives on the West Coast, but is, perhaps, a little out of vogue over here at the moment. This, perhaps, accounted for a relatively light, if enthusiastic, crowd, which was a pity as both bands are touring with excellent debut albums – So Much Seething and Intent respectively – in tow. But those who did brave the lashing rain and bitter wind were treated to a fine show.
Bent Blue’s sound is woven through with a sensibility that draws on both Revolution Summer and mid-1990s alternative rock inspirations with relish. And full marks to their vocalist for managing to wear a quilted winter jacket for almost the entirety of their high energy set. Clearly a man in love with the English winter. This was followed, after an impressively swift soundcheck, by an absolute bulldozer of a set from Major Pain. Their style is leaner, more metallic in inclination, with a thoroughly satisfying rhythmic synchronicity between drums and vocals. Not a bad Sunday evening at all.
And so what do we have lined up this week? We have four cracking featured new arrivals. We kick things off in Bogota with the darkly melodic, Histeria, from 1186. We then head to Göteborg, while retaining a Colombian focus, courtesy of X2000 on the discordantly spectral Gótico Tropical. Next, we make the short trip down to Copenhagen and the thoroughly welcome return of The War Goes On with their third full-length, Death Wish. We round things off in style in Milan with the first vinyl pressing of Golpe’s debut EP, Subisci. Conformati. Rassegnati.
We also have a short feature taking a look at Haram’s influential 2017 album, – بس ربحت, خسرت = When You Have Won, You Have Lost. The album has just been repressed by La Vida Es Un Mus Discos and the piece draws on an excellent article by Max Easton of Barely Human exploring the background to the band.
As always, we also have an updated London gig listing, with shows this week from Adult (14/02) and Negative Gears (15/02). We end with a quick rundown on some of the fine records heading our way in the near future, including next week’s Iron Lung Records special, featuring new releases from Atomic Prey, Gaoled, Ignorance, Paprika, and Rotary Club!
Featured New Arrivals

Histeria by 1186 / Gótico Tropical by X2000 / Subisci. Conformati. Rassegnati. by Golpe / Death Wish by The War Goes On (clockwise)
‘Estamos condenados a los gritos perdidos, el camino oculto al pasado oscuro, como los trenes atraviesan las ciudades, y huye la gente de todas sus verdades’ (Ataque Sistemático) ‘We are condemned to lost screams, the hidden path to the dark past, as trains cross the cities, and people flee from all their truths’ (Systematic Attack)
Hailing from Bogota, 1186 have emerged from the city’s Rat Trap punk collective, which incubated the likes of Muro, Alamabrada, and Ataque Zero. Indeed, the band share their vocalist with the latter, as well as building their sound around a similar kernel of darkly melodic hardcore punk on this their debut release, Histeria (Hysteria).
1186 then skilfully amplify these melancholic inclinations, conjuring a darkly gothic atmosphere that draws in equal measure on both death rock and anarcho-punk sensibilities. The cymbal awash rhythm section locks in with vigorous precision, while the powerful clean sung Spanish vocals are utterly forlorn as they explore an inescapable sense of society’s systemic failure through tales of grinding day-to-day slow violence, prison riots, and environmental degradation.
The key to Histeria’s enticing aura though lies in the inherently mournful yet undeniably vibrant guitar. The unfurling melodies are darkly captivating, the wildly inventive solos even more so. Personal highlights are, perhaps, the surging Ataque Sistemático, the frenetically escalating Hoy (Today), and the dramatically see-sawing Encerrados (Locked).
‘La mercancía devora la carne, la esencia devasta, Capitalismo es gore’ (Morbo y Fascinación) ‘The commodity devours the flesh, the essence devastates, Capitalism is gore’ (Morbidity And Fascination)
Gótico Tropical (Tropical Gothic) is X2000’s debut full-length following on from their 2020 self-titled debut 7-inch. It plunges the listener into the bloodied history of the Colombian vocalist’s home country, ‘the land of tropical gothic’ as evoked by the band’s liner notes. Exploring the notion of ‘gore capitalism’, the Göteborg-based band plunge the listener into a web of violence that spans state sanctioned murder to criminal cartels, and from colonial legacies to neoliberal economic exploitation.
Rabidly blackened anarcho-punk inspired Spanish vocals are unremittingly urgent, while the primitive drums call back to the classic pounding rhythms of 1980s’ Latin American punk. Discordant melody flares amid the relentless abrasiveness of the chorus-saturated guitar. A deeply unsettling atmosphere spectrally unfurls and is, perhaps, best exemplified by the desperation drenched El Linaje (The Lineage) and the primeval anxiety of Azul Culpa (Blue Guilt). And the meaning of X2000? A high-speed Swedish railway apparently, but one that is taking you straight to the heart of darkness.
‘When all is swept under the rug, When everything of value seems to be abandoned, Left to rust, Kids are managed with drugs, A nightmare vision of a future and of a people, Without trust’ (Without Trust)
Copenhagen’s The War Goes On return with their third full-length, Death Wish, and continue to hone the bleakly melodic, fiercely catchy hardcore punk that defined their 2016 self-titled debut and 2020’s Assisted Armageddon. The band tautly braid their innate, contagious sense of melody with an unshakeable shroud of melancholy. An air of powerless anger and bitter resignation pervades, as if in recognition that as bad as things are now, they are very unlikely to be getting better any time soon. Still fighting but knowing that the war is all but lost.
Each of the tracks is adroitly assembled, equal parts polished craft and agitated grit, as the propulsive rhythm section underpins the insidiously enveloping guitars and gruff, gravelly vocals. The rhythmically compelling Knife’s Edge, the ominously forlorn cornerstone riff of The Fear, and the euphoric fervour of The Good Ship Murder are particularly powerful cuts. The album also includes the desolate title track from the band’s 2022 EP, Discount Hope, which is no bad thing at all, as it’s an absolute banger.
As you find yourself singing along with the undeniably infectious choruses, it is easy to forget the rather more sobering lyrical themes that explore the relentless atomisation of late-stage capitalism. Death Wish is an album that deftly draws on the pop sensibility of say Social Distortion and infuses it with the rather more bittersweet impulses of late 1980s’ / early 1990s’ UK punk. Dark melodies for desperate times.
‘Le masse in rivolta, l’orrore è sovrano, il terrore al potere. Ma nessuna vittima. Censura e consenso, progresso e reazione, il terrore al potere’ (Golpe) / ‘The masses in revolt, horror is sovereign, terror in power. But no victims. Censorship and consensus, progress and reaction, terror in power’ (Coup)
Golpe are the one-person recording project of Tadzio Pederzolli (formerly Holy and Komplott). The Milan-based project expands to a fully formed band for touring purposes, which Golpe do pretty relentlessly. Subisci. Conformati. Rassegnati. (Suffer. Conform. Resign.) was, in fact, the band’s debut cassette-only release in 2019, preceding the band’s 2021 full-length, La Colpa È Solo Tua (It’s All Your Fault), and it has now been given a first vinyl pressing.
The fundamentals of Golpe’s fiercely bristling, d-beat fuelled hardcore are already firmly in place, as groove orientated, metallic leaning riffage is underpinned by a relentlessly pounding rhythm section and leavened by flashing, squalling solos. Meanwhile, the burly, guttural Italian vocals begin to explore the anarchist framing that runs through the band’s recordings, central to which is the cumulative power of our own individual actions to drive social change.
The first five tracks are taken from the original recordings, with the stomping fury of Non Piegarti (Don’t Bend Over) a particular stand out. The sixth track is freshly recorded and is a scorching medley of four songs from seminal Italian hardcore acts, Wretched, Indigesti, The EU’s Arse, and Nabat.
The War On The Other

– بس ربحت, خسرت = When You Have Won, You Have Lost by Haram and Barely Human’s Dispatches From An Underground Music Anti-History: 2014-2024
‘Every second, They told me Terrorist, Big, scared, Still alone, They hit me, with what they thought, who did they think I was?’ (Not A Terrorist, Haram)
I first encountered Haram (Forbidden) at Static Shock Weekend V in 2017 and it’s fair to say they made quite the impression. Their primitively pulsating, rapidly swirling hardcore sent the crowd into gyrating convulsions, while their vocalist, Nader, matched the velocity of this reaction with his own wild contortions. All while rhythmically snarling in Arabic and clad in a black bandana, white toga skirt, and boots. A bold visage designed to provoke and to confront.
We, of course, live in the age of the provocateur, but it was clear from the offset that there was real substance, both musically and ideologically, fuelling Haram’s challenge. The song themes from their 2017 debut full-length, – بس ربحت, خسرت = When You Have Won, You Have Lost, provided a clear insight to the issues that the band were seeking to tackle, not least on American Police and Not A Terrorist. This was to be further emphasised on their 2019 EP, Where Were You On 9/11?
But it wasn’t until I recently read a thoroughly engaging essay in an anthology of Max Easton’s Barely Human fanzine writing, Dispatches From An Underground Music Anti-History: 2014-2024, that the personal history that shaped Haram came into clearer perspective. The piece takes us through Nader’s early life story, his parents arriving in New York, as immigrants from Lebanon in New York, and his upbringing that bridged a conservative Muslim home and an equally rigid Catholic education. Inevitably, the horror of 9/11, and the subsequent responses to it were to dramatically reshape the family’s life. Indeed, young Nader was questioned at school as to the whereabouts and activities of his parents – his father was attending Ground Zero as a member of the first emergency response team as he was quizzed.
The dynamics of Nader’s family with their wider local community were irretrievably altered, a shift that led to a growing sense of isolation and saw Nader struggling to forge his own identity. New York’s hardcore community was to provide a lifeline, and in 2015, Haram were formed. The band released their debut EP, شو بتشوف؟ (What Do You See?), a year later. The band were touring the Midwest when Nader started to receive calls from furious family members who had found themselves being questioned by the FBI regarding Nader’s activities with Haram. Members of The Joint Terrorism Task Force visited him on his return and started to question him on the meaning of the band’s lyrics. It soon became clear that they had not even sought to translate them before investigating. The case was soon closed, the harm already done.
The recent reissue of Haram’s sole full-length release by La Vida Es Un Mus Discos is a timely one in the context of a world where systematic othering, social division, and radicalisation are being almost relentlessly cultivated by political opportunists, religious extremists, and economic grifters alike. And the music? Don’t worry you won’t be disappointed. Densely rhythmic drums and limber bass-lines lock-in with Nader’s barking invocation, giving room for the guitar to explore more abstract expressions amid the pounding onslaught, before unleashing spiralling solos. Revisiting the album afresh, it is notably more melodic and expansive than I would have recalled, with Eye For An Eye and Your President, Not A President landing with particular velocity.
Haram’s music represents an important phase in hardcore’s social evolution and, as Max succinctly puts it, ‘a struggle for peace and identity, spoken through the sonic language of contemporary hardcore punk’.
– بس ربحت, خسرت = When You Have Won by Haram is in stock now here.
Many thanks to Max Easton (www.barelyhuman.info) for allowing me to draw on his essay. Definitely check out his latest Barely Human anthology, Dispatches From An Underground Music Anti-History: 2014-2024, which includes the full Haram essay and a wealth of punk related music writing. It can be found in the UK at the Good Press (www.goodpress.co.uk) workers co-operative bookshop in Glasgow.
Shows And Tours

Damage Is Done 4.5 at New River Studios on 7th March and Colour Factory on 8th March
This section lays no claims to being a definitive listing! It is simply gigs coming up in London that catch my eye and that I think people who read this newsletter might be interested in. I will always try and highlight where a show forms part of a wider UK tour.
February
14th Adult, Spike Hellis, Sacred Skin (Corsica Studios / UK Tour)
15th Negative Gears, Grazia, Rubber, Life Forms (New River Studios / UK Tour)
22nd Cosey Mueller, Stingray, Labrys, Moist Crevice, Spine Portal (The George Tavern)
22nd Vultur, Deathfiend plus more (Helgi’s)
24th Love Letter, Heavy Hex, Hell Can Wait, Supernova (New Cross Inn / UK Tour)
March
1st Zeropolis, Lacquer, Static Palm (Mascara Bar)
5th Touche Amore, Trauma Ray, Chalk Hands (Electric Ballroom / UK Tour)
7th Damage Is Done 4.5 Weekender featuring Chain Cult, The Consequence, Direct Threat, Second Death, Total Con, and Traidora (New River Studios)
7th Delivery, Fruit Tones plus more (Moth Club / UK Tour)
7th Napalm Death, Crowbar, Full Of Hell, Brat (Brixton Electric)
8th Damage Is Done 4.5 Weekender featuring Blade, Cannonball, Cold Decay, Collateral, Dominate, The Flex, Forced Humility, Grand Scheme, King Street, Life Of One, Real Domain, Straight To Hell, Temple Guard (Colour Factory)
8th Misantropic, Nujorvik, Wreathe, System Of Slaves, Traidora (New Cross Inn)
16th Ignorance, Victim Unit, Mincer, Sublux, Dead Name (New River Studios / UK Tour)
20th Haywire, Mindless, Real Domain, Power Failure (New Cross Inn)
27th Bad Breeding, Scab, Middleman, Catastrophe (The Lexington / UK Tour)
30th Cœur À L’Index, Middleman, Secrecy (The Waiting Room)
April
15th Thou, pageninetynine, Moloch (Scala / UK Tour)
17th Death By Stereo, Counterpunch plus more (New Cross Inn / UK Tour)
19th Disaffect, Haavat, Leashed, Catastrophe (New Cross Inn)
20th Comeback Kid, Shooting Daggers, Last Wishes (The Dome)
23rd Blind Girls, Stress Positions , As Living Arrows, I’m Sorry Emil (Moor Beer Vaults / UK Tour)
25th Final Dose, Läbrys, Ekstasis (Helgi’s)
May
3rd Condor, Tramadol, Hitmen, The Dogs (The Shacklewell Arms)
17th Boom Boom Kid, Traidora, plus more (The Shacklewell Arms / UK Tour)
19th Time Heist, Uncertainty, Equals What? (New Cross Inn / UK Tour)
20th Whores, Help, Ritual Error (New Cross Inn)
June
3rd Ultras, Xiao, Aku (New Cross Inn)
14th P.A.I.N, Hiatus, Zero Again plus more (New Cross Inn)
July
5th All Out War plus support (New Cross Inn)
19th Gel, Anxious, Chastity (The Dome / UK Tour)
October
30th Godflesh plus support (Scala)
Coming Soon

Atomic Prey By Atomic Prey
18/02
Atomic Prey ‘Atomic Prey’ 12-inch (Iron Lung)
Gaoled ‘Bestial Hardcore’ 12-inch (Iron Lung)
Ignorance ‘Nothing Changed’ 7-inch (Iron Lung)
Invertebrates ‘Sick To Survive’ 12-inch (Beach Impediment / Restock)
Life / Destruct ‘To Stop The Conflict’ 12-inch (Desolate / Restock)
Muro ‘Nuevo Dogma’ 12-inch (Fuerza Ingobernable / Restock)
Paprika ‘Paprika’ 7-inch (Iron Lung)
Rotary Club ‘Sphere Of Service’ 12-inch (Iron Lung)
Suffocating Madness ‘Unrelenting Forced Psychosis’ 12-inch (Toxic State / Restock)
Late February
Benzin ‘Treibjagd’ 12-inch (Static Age)
Deletär ‘Self-Titled II’ 12-inch (Kick Rock)
Frenzy ‘Beyond The Edge Of Madness’ 12-inch (Distort Reality)
Gossip Collar ‘Spinning Silk For Parasites’ 12-inch (No Norms)
Punitive Damage ‘Hate Training’ 12-inch (Convulse)
S.O.H ‘Cost To Live’ 12-inch (No Norms)
Syndrome 81 ‘Chant De Ruines’ 12-inch (Kick Rock)
The Legion Of Parasites ‘Undesirable Guests’ 12-inch (General Speech)
Wet Specimens ‘Dying In A Dream’ 7-inch (No Norms)
Vaxine / The Last Survivors ‘Split’ 7-inch (General Speech)
Early March
Bad Breeding ‘Blood Manifest’ 7-inch (Standard Processes)
Bleached Cross / The True Faith ‘Columns Of Impenetrable Light’ 12-inch (Protagonist / Restock)
Corrective Measure ‘Not For You, Not For Anyone’ 12-inch (Refuse)
Groundwork ‘Today We Will Not Be Invisible Nor Silent’ 12-inch (Protagonist)
Haunted Horses ‘Dweller’ 12-inch (Three One G)
Judy And The Jerks ‘Total Jerks’ 12-inch (Refuse / 2nd Press)
Laura Agnusdei ‘Flowers Are Blooming In Antarctica’ 12-inch (Maple Death)
Languid ‘Shove Their System Up Their Ass’ 12-inch (D-Takt)
Mob 47 ‘Tills Du Dör’ 12-inch (D-Takt)
Point Of No Return ‘The Language Of Refusal’ 12-inch (Refuse)
Post Regiment ‘Post Regiment’ 12-inch (Refuse / 2nd Press)
Spiritkiller ‘Spiritkiller’ 12-inch (Protagonist)
Tv Dust ‘Transition’ 12-inch (Maple Death)