Hello and welcome to this week’s newsletter!  And what have we got lined-up?

• Our four Featured New Arrivals this week are absolute belters from Canal Irreal, Public Acid, and Hackers plus a cracking split LP from Accidente and Nighwatchers.
• Hardcore Histories, provides a quick round-up of recently landed and restocked reissues from Cress, Hellnation, and pageninetynine.
• Shows And Tours, including newly announced shows from Enemic Interior and Grazia.
• Coming Soon, highlighting new arrivals on their way to us from Alerta Antifascista, Discos Enfermos, La Vida Es Un Mus Discos, Static Age, and Vitriol.

Also, just a quick heads up that Planet B’s Fiction Prediction and Stress Positions’ Harsh Reality are both now back in stock for anyone who missed out first time round!

So, to a quick round-up of recently released and restocked reissues.  First up, and just in, is the remastered reissue of Cress’ 1997 full-length, Monuments.  The Lancastrian band render an almost timeless blend of doom inflected anarcho-crust punk, which boasts some intriguingly off-kilter turns courtesy of otherworldly passages of spaced-out synthesisers and flourishes of blues-tinged guitar  The highlight though is the duelling twin vocalists – one raw, guttural, the other cleaner, sneering – as they tackle themes of environmental catastrophe and social control.  This is a co-release from Fight For Your Mind, Ruin Nation, and Profane Existence.

Also on Fight For Your Mind, we have restocked the 30-year anniversary reissue of Hellnation’s 1993 debut album, Colonized.  Hailing from Kentucky, Hellnation dealt in blistering blast beats and swaggering sludge-fuelled breakdowns, while harshly raw vocals explored themes of economic exploitation, police militarisation, and misogyny through the band’s explicitly anarchist framing.

And last, but certainly by no means least, we have also restocked Persistent Vision’s recent reissue of pageninetynine’s 2001 full-length, Document #8.  Comprising eight members, (twin vocalists, three guitarists, two bassists, and a drummer), the Virginian band revelled in producing tense, raw emotional hardcore, its unhinged quality belying an intense technicality.  The chaos erupts into repetition of cathartic clarity (In Love With An Apparition), and segues into passages of haunting, uneasy beauty (The Hollowed Out Chest Of A Dead Horse) with almost equal relish.  This reissue includes the band’s two tracks from their 2001 A Split Personality split EP with City Of Caterpillar.

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.

15^th March  Zeropolis, Hygiene, Turbo, Johnny Throttle (New River Studios)

16^th March Prey, T.R.E.S.T, Ashes Of Death plus more (Helgi’s)

17^th March Grazia, Music Room, Shade, Morreadoras (New River Studios)

20^th March Ignite, False Reality, Hell Can Wait (Black Heart)

23^rd March Botch, Bad Breeding, Great Falls (Electric Ballroom / SOLD OUT / UK Tour)

31^st March Fundraiser For Milo featuring The Chisel, Chubby And The Gang, Powerplant, Stingray, Middleman, Rifle, Micromoon, Hellscape plus more (Oslo)

2^nd April Spaced, Going Off, Shooting Daggers, Ikhras (New Cross Inn / UK Tour)

4^th April Ancient Emblem, Wreathe, Fox Strikes, State Sanctioned Violence (Strongroom)

6^th April Wren, Wreathe, Healing Wound, Mortar (Moor Beer Vaults)

6^th April Enemic Interior, Rifle, Zeropolis (Waiting Room / UK Tour)

6^th April Hell Is For Heroes plus support (Electric Ballroom / UK Tour)

13^th April Frail Body, Chalk Hands plus more (Downstairs at The Dome / UK Tour)

17^th April Deaf Club, Fuck Money plus more (New Cross Inn / UK Tour)

29^th April The Drin, Tommy Cassock And The Degenerators plus more (New Cross Inn / UK Tour)

7^th May Moloch, Remote Viewing, Healing Wound, Torpid State (Black Heart)

11^th May Soulside and Scream (The Lexington)

18^th May Snuff plus support (Downstairs at The Dome / UK Tour)

20^th May World Peace, Flesh Creeper, Asbo (New Cross Inn / UK Tour)

1^st June Long Knife plus support (New River Studios / UK Tour)

12^th June Judy & The Jerks, Gimic plus more (Shacklewell Arms / UK Tour)

17^th June Gel plus support (The Garage / UK Tour)

22^nd November Unbroken, Shooting Daggers, Rifle, Eyeteeth (The Dome)

March

Aihotz ‘Niebla Total’ 12-inch (Discos Enfermos)

Aus ‘Der Schöne Schein’ 7-inch (Static Age)

Cosey Mueller ‘Irrational Habits’ 12-inch (Static Age)

Desintegración Violenta ‘La Bestia’ 7-inch (Static Age)

Industry ‘A Self-Portrait At The Stage Of Totalitarian Domination Of All Aspects Of Human Life’ 12-inch (Static Age)

JJ And The A’s ‘Eyeballer’ 7-inch (La Vida Es Un Mus)

Mirage ‘Immagini Postume’ 7-inch (Discos Enfermos)

No Sun Rises ‘Harmisod’ 12-inch (Alerta Antifascista)

Noj ‘Waxing Moon’ 12-inch (Static Age)

Sweat ‘Love Child’ 12-inch (Vitriol)

Wreathe ‘The Land Is Not An Idle God’ 12-inch (Alerta Antifascista / Pre-Order)

April

Deaf Club, Diploid, Frail Body, Gouge Away, Heavenly Blue, Infant Island, Modern Life Is War, No Man, Prisoner, Sectarian Bloom, Squid Pisser (restock), and Unsufferable.

Hello and welcome to this week’s newsletter!  There is a lot to get stuck into this week, so let’s get straight on it:

• Featured New Arrivals from Public Interest, Vaguess, Morwan, and Stress Positions
• And Damage Was Done, featuring Division Of Mind and Fairytale
• Sister Midnight Update: South London’s community music venue co-operative hits 1,000 members!
• Shows And Tours, including newly announced shows from Judy & The Jerks and Moloch
• Coming Soon, including new arrivals next week from Accidente / Nightwatchers, Canal Irreal, Hacker, and Public Acid

Well, what a weekend that was.  I topped and tailed Damage Is Done 4 on the Thursday and Sunday at New River Studios.  Both were excellent shows and, by the sounds of it, the days in between weren’t bad either!

One of the beauties of London’s longer running hardcore festivals is how well they complemented one another.  Both Static Shock and Damage Is Done obviously took / take a hardcore punk starting point, but then their line-ups would ripple out in contrasting fashions – Static simultaneously entertained both the rawer and more experimental, whereas Damage is, perhaps, happiest when indulging its more metallic instincts.

As the latest Damage Is Done approached, you inevitably began to think of stand-out performances from prior years.  For me, that was undoubtedly Division Of Mind at Damage Is Done 3 in November 2022.  The band, who hail from Richmond, Virginia, had released their self-titled debut LP back in 2019, and this was their first, and, to date, only foray outside of the US.  And what a foray it was.

The New Cross Inn was packed to the rafters as the first ominous riffs were unfurled, and you at once sensed that we were in for something special.  Their full-length brims with a darkly menacing intensity, but this was amplified well beyond anything that might have been realistically anticipated.  As vocalist Tye Decker prowled the stage with demonic intent, the industrial-inflected rhythm section laid down a truly brutal groundwork for the relentless waves of sinister metallic riffage.  It seemed as if the whole room was locked in synchronicity with the band’s remorseless groove.  At the time, it felt to me very much like the legacy of Entombed being channelled through a hardcore prism by Foundation, and I think that’s still a pretty decent benchmark.

But what about this year?  Sunday’s highlights for me were my first encounter with Warsaw’s Träume, who injected their rapid fire hardcore with flourishes of dark melodicism and a healthy dash of rock’n’roll swagger. And if ever there was a band designed to tap into the final energy reserves of a fourth day festival crowd, it is the rampaging Sheffield-forged sledgehammer that is Rat Cage.

Of course, Thursday night’s bands had the benefit of a crowd bursting with anticipation rather than one fighting through fatigue, and that was a crest that Subdued rode with quite some aplomb.  My highlight though was that evening’s headliners, New York’s Fairytale.  The band’s debut LP, Shooting Star, was undoubtedly one of last year’s highlight releases, but I was also intrigued to see how it would translate to the live setting.

The base tenets were amply in evidence – blistering, distortion drenched guitar and a furious, cymbal awash d-beat drumming assault.  But the bass felt notably more forward in the mix, which lent their sonic battery a much burlier, muscular complexion.  The album benefits from a truly virtuoso vocal performance from Lulu Landolfi that veers from rasping rage to sardonic observation to the almost ethereal, without a breath ever being taken.  Live, this was taken to an even more impressive level.  The performance was rawer, the stage presence utterly dominating – an invigorating blend of venom and disdain, leavened with a knowing humour.  The rage that simmers throughout the album was now a full-on firestorm.  In short, it was properly visceral.

As always, a big thanks to the Damage Is Done collective for pulling everything together.  It’s hard to imagine just how much work must go into organising an event of this complexity in your spare time.  But they can rest easy that it was certainly time well spent and that damage was, indeed, well and truly done.

As regular readers will know, Sister Midnight is a not-for-profit community co-operative that is working tirelessly to bring to life a new DIY venue in South London.  The team has already  secured a ten-year lease on the site of a former working men’s club, The Brookdale Club, in Catford at a peppercorn rate from Lewisham Council.  In addition, they have also raised significant funds for the renovation of the derelict site.  It is a thoroughly exciting project that is making significant headway.

Building a large and active community membership is key to the project’s long-term objectives, so it was great to hear that the co-operative secured its 1,000th member last week!

Back in January, Lenny Watson, one of the founding members, was kind enough to answer a few questions from me regarding the project, which you can check out here: Sister Midnight Is Coming For You.

If the aspirations of Sister Midnight strike a chord with you, please do check out becoming a member of the co-operative, if you can, at www.sistermidnight.org.

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.

6^th March Buried Alive, 50 Caliber, False Reality, Mindless (New Cross Inn)

9^th March Opium Lord, Torpor, Jotnarr, Harrowed (New Cross Inn)

15^th March  Zeropolis, Hygiene, Turbo, Johnny Throttle (New River Studios)

16^th March Prey, T.R.E.S.T, Ashes Of Death plus more (Helgi’s)

20^th March Ignite, False Reality, Hell Can Wait (Black Heart)

23^rd March Botch, Bad Breeding, Great Falls (Electric Ballroom / SOLD OUT / UK Tour)

31^st March Fundraiser For Milo featuring The Chisel, Chubby And The Gang, Powerplant, Stingray, Middleman, Rifle, Micromoon, Hellscape plus more (Oslo)

2^nd April Spaced, Going Off, Shooting Daggers, Ikhras (New Cross Inn / UK Tour)

4^th April Ancient Emblem, Wreathe, Fox Strikes, State Sanctioned Violence (Strongroom)

6^th April Wren, Wreathe, Healing Wound, Mortar (Moor Beer Vaults)

6^th April Hell Is For Heroes plus support (Electric Ballroom / UK Tour)

13^th April Frail Body, Chalk Hands plus more (Downstairs at The Dome / UK Tour)

17^th April Deaf Club, Fuck Money plus more (New Cross Inn / UK Tour)

29^th April The Drin, Tommy Cassock And The Degenerators plus more (New Cross Inn / UK Tour)

7^th May Moloch, Remote Viewing, Healing Wound, Torpid State (Black Heart)

11^th May Soulside and Scream (The Lexington)

18^th May Snuff plus support (Downstairs at The Dome / UK Tour)

20^th May World Peace, Flesh Creeper, Asbo (New Cross Inn / UK Tour)

1^st June Long Knife plus support (New River Studios / UK Tour)

12^th June Judy & The Jerks, Gimic plus more (Shacklewell Arms / UK Tour)

17^th June Gel plus support (The Garage / UK Tour)

22^nd November Unbroken, Shooting Daggers, Rifle, Eyeteeth (The Dome)

Next Week

Accidente / Nightwatchers ‘Split’ 12-inch (Stonehenge)

Canal Irreal ‘Someone Else’s Dance’ 12-inch (Beach Impediment)

Cress ‘Monuments’ 12-inch (Fight For Your Mind)

Hacker ‘Psy Wi-FI’ 7-inch (Beach Impediment)

Planet B ‘Fiction Prediction’ 12-inch (Three One G / Restock)

Public Acid ‘Deadly Struggle’ 12-inch (Beach Impediment)

Stress Positions ‘Harsh Reality’ 12-inch (Three One G / Restock)

March

Aihotz ‘Niebla Total’ 12-inch (Discos Enfermos)

Aus ‘Der Schöne Schein’ 7-inch (Static Age)

Cosey Mueller ‘Irrational Habits’ 12-inch (Static Age)

Industry ‘A Self-Portrait At The Stage Of Totalitarian Domination Of All Aspects Of Human Life’ 12-inch (Static Age)

JJ And The A’s ‘Eyeballer’ 7-inch (La Vida Es Un Mus)

Mirage ‘Immagini Postume’ 7-inch (Discos Enfermos)

No Sun Rises ‘Harmisod’ 12-inch (Alerta Antifascista)

Noj ‘Waxing Moon’ 12-inch (Static Age)

Sweat ‘Love Child’ 12-inch (Vitriol)

Wreathe ‘The Land Is Not An Idle God’ 12-inch (Alerta Antifascista / Pre-Order)

April

Deaf Club, Frail Body, Gouge Away, Heavenly Blue, Infant Island, Modern Life Is War, No Man, Prisoner, Unsufferable

Hello and welcome to this week’s newsletter!  And we have a stacked line-up to enjoy:

• Featured New Arrivals from Flower, Ataque Zero, Nasti, and States Of Nature
• Headbanging On The 29 Bus, featuring Hygiene and Pest Control
• Shows And Tours, including a newly announced show from The Drin
• Coming Soon, including new releases from Alerta Antifascista, Beach Impediment, Discos Enfermos, Erste Theke Tontraeger, Fight For Your Mind Records, Static Age, and Vitriol

Bar my opportunity to catch Layback strutting their stuff in typically impressive fashion at the New Cross Inn back in mid-January, this year’s gig going has got off to a bit of a sluggish start.  So, it was with some excitement that I was looking forward to a double-header of a weekend, with two very contrasting bands.

First up, on the Friday night at New River Studios, was Hygiene. The band have a cracking new EP, 15 Minute City, under their belts and the title track opened up what was to prove a typically brilliant set.  Initially what strikes you though is, quite simply, the lack of distortion.  Now, don’t get me wrong, I love distortion and my listening is largely drenched in the stuff.  But there is also a delightful clarity that can be created by its absence. Every crack of the snare, every rumbling bass line, every wave of guitar, individually hits home.  You even think you can hear the pint arcing through the air after one of vocalist Guy Butterworth’s more extravagant dance moves, which, in the spirit of honest reporting, wasn’t all that extravagant.

Of course, one of the highlights of any Hygiene gig is the lyrics themselves.  The songs weave tales of daily London life with a rich sense of place and a keen eye for the small details that both enrich and frustrate us.  But they also develop a compelling narrative as to how those same daily lives have been hollowed out by forty years of skewed political priorities that have degraded public space, eroded social infrastructure, and further entrenched power imbalances.  All while getting you to sing along about their favourite bus route – the 29 down the Holloway Road since you ask.

I should also add how much I enjoyed openers Skinned.  Just shy of wall of distortion guitars, layered vocals that veered from the ethereal to the coldly detached, and all held together by some powerfully inventive drumming.  They bring Creepoid a little to mind in their shared desire to inject shoegaze with a healthy dose of aggressive discordance.

Sunday night took me very much towards the other end of the musical spectrum with Pest Control hitting the Black Heart on the final date of their UK tour.  I must confess I’ve always had slightly mixed feelings about the Black Heart.  You can buy a decent pint, which is a plus, but the space itself has never quite seemed to work for reasons that I couldn’t quite put my finger on.  Over the years, I’ve seen some great performances there – from Dangers to Dawn Ray’d via Sect.  But crowd responses have always appeared a touch muted despite the excellence on stage.

From the off though, you sensed that this night would be rather different.  The show was sold out and there was a crackle of anticipation in the air, with the bludgeoning Demonstration of Power setting things up nicely.  By the time Pest Control hit the stage, the room was set to erupt and that is exactly what it did.  It was also a perfect example of the joys of a good crossover gig, which by their very essence breakdown the musical barriers that we all busily erect.  Air guitarists at the front of the stage matching the frenzied fretwork, before being subsumed under an old school hardcore pile-on.  The swirling headbanger amidst the sea of frenetic two-steppers.  An A-Z of T-shirts that literally range from Anthrax to Verse.  And when the slab-like riffs of set closer The Great Deceiver course through your body, the pleasures of brilliantly executed crossover are beyond debate.

And if you missed these two shows, you’ll get another chance very soon.  Pest Control are unleashed again this Friday at Damage Is Done 4 (there are still a few tickets available at the time of writing), while Hygiene return to New River Studios on Friday 15^th March for the Zeropolis album release show.

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.

29^th February Damage Is Done 4 – Fairytale, Take It In Blood, Bullsshit, Subdued, Ikhras, Violent Offence (New River Studios / Fairytale UK Tour)

1^st March Damage Is Done 4 – Fugitive, Illusion, Ninebar, Pest Control, Imposter, Instructor, Silver plus more (Colour Factory)

2^nd March Damage Is Done 4 – Framtid, Quarantine, The Flex, T.S. Warspite, Stingray, The Annihilated, Mazandaran  plus more (Colour Factory / SOLD OUT)

2^nd March Damage Is Done 4 Aftershow – Stiff Meds, Final Dose, Doomsday Clock, Hellish Torment, Accusation (Imperial Works)

3^rd March Damage Is Done 4 – Visibly High, Rat Cage, Layback, Träume, Middleman, Turbo plus more (New River Studios / SOLD OUT)

4^th March Prey, Ritual Error, Higher Walls, Tethered (New Cross Inn)

6^th March Buried Alive, 50 Caliber, False Reality, Mindless (New Cross Inn)

9^th March Opium Lord, Torpor, Jotnarr, Harrowed (New Cross Inn)

15^th March  Zeropolis, Hygiene, Turbo, Johnny Throttle (New River Studios)

16^th March Prey, T.R.E.S.T, Ashes Of Death plus more (Helgi’s)

23^rd March Botch, Bad Breeding, Great Falls (Electric Ballroom / SOLD OUT / UK Tour)

31^st March Fundraiser For Milo featuring Powerplant, Stingray, Middleman, Micromoon, Hellscape plus more (Oslo)

2^nd April Spaced, Going Off, Shooting Daggers, Ikhras (New Cross Inn / UK Tour)

4^th April Ancient Emblem, Wreathe, Fox Strikes, State Sanctioned Violence (Strongroom)

6^th April Wren, Wreathe, Healing Wound, Mortar (Moor Beer Vaults)

6^th April Hell Is For Heroes plus support (Electric Ballroom / UK Tour)

13^th April Frail Body, Chalk Hands plus more (Downstairs at The Dome / UK Tour)

17^th April Deaf Club, Fuck Money plus more (New Cross Inn / UK Tour)

29^th April The Drin, Tommy Cassock And The Degenerators plus more (New Cross Inn / UK Tour)

18^th May Snuff plus support (Downstairs at The Dome / UK Tour)

20^th May World Peace, Flesh Creeper, Asbo (New Cross Inn)

1^st June Long Knife plus support (New River Studios / UK Tour)

17^th June Gel plus support (The Garage / UK Tour)

22^nd November Unbroken, Shooting Daggers, Rifle, Eyeteeth (The Dome)

Imminent

Accidente / Nightwatchers ‘Split’ 12-inch (Stonehenge)

Class ‘If You’ve Got Nothing’ 12-inch (Feel It)

Cress ‘Monuments’ 12-inch (Fight For Your Mind)

Morwan ‘Svitaye, Palaye’ 12-inch (Feel It)

Public Interest ‘Spiritual Pollution’ 12-inch (Erste Theke Tontraeger)

Stress Positions ‘Walang Hiya’ 12-inch (Iron Lung)

Vaguess ‘Thanks // No Thanks’ 12-inch (Erste Theke Tontraeger)

March

Aihotz ‘Niebla Total’ 12-inch (Discos Enfermos)

Aus ‘Der Schöne Schein’ 7-inch (Static Age)

Canal Irreal ‘Someone Else’s Dance’ 12-inch (Beach Impediment)

Cosey Mueller ‘Irrational Habits’ 12-inch (Static Age)

Hacker ‘Psy Wi-FI’ 7-inch (Beach Impediment)

Industry ‘A Self-Portrait At The Stage Of Totalitarian Domination Of All Aspects Of Human Life’ 12-inch (Static Age)

Mirage ‘Immagini Postume’ 7-inch (Discos Enfermos)

No Sun Rises ‘Harmisod’ 12-inch (Alerta Antifascista)

Noj ‘Waxing Moon’ 12-inch (Static Age)

Public Acid ‘Deadly Struggle’ 12-inch (Beach Impediment)

Sweat ‘Love Child’ 12-inch (Vitriol)

Wreathe ‘The Land Is Not An Idle God’ 12-inch (Alerta Antifascista / Pre-Order)

April

Deaf Club, Frail Body, Gouge Away, Heavenly Blue, Infant Island, Modern Life Is War, No Man, Prisoner, Unsufferable

Hello and welcome to this week’s newsletter!  And there is plenty to get stuck into:

• Featured New Arrivals include a superb split LP from Massa Nera and Quiet Fear together with cracking new releases from Planet B and Nonexistent Night as well as a welcome discography reissue from Angel Hair
• Convulse Records Reload
• Shows And Tours, including new dates from Long Knife and Gel
• Coming Soon, new releases from Erste Theke Tontraeger, Fight For Your Mind, Static Shock, and Vitriol

Also, a quick heads up that the gig listing includes details of a fundraising show on 31st March at Oslo in Hackney for the family of Miles from T.S. Warspite, who has been hospitalised following a very serious car accident.  If you live in London, do grab a ticket if you can.  We still have the band’s excellent debut 12-inch, Stop The Rot, in stock and will be donating the proceeds from any copies sold prior to the show to the fundraising campaign.

A rather exciting reload from Denver’s Convulse Records has just landed here, and they are a set of releases that are definitely worth checking out.

First up, we have two new 7-inch EPs.  Portland’s Alienator have unleashed a vitriol fuelled, stomper of a record, with a title track, World Of Hate, that brims with brilliantly fierce riffage and a chorus that is as catchy as it is nihilistic – ‘Alienate. Alienate. Alienate. World of hate.’  Entry, who hail from Los Angeles, favour blistering speed, but do so without ever diluting their inherent heaviness, and they unleash a visceral dissection of our malformed economic priorities over the ferocious six tracks of Exit Interview.

Then, we have four full-lengths to enjoy.  At the more melodic end of the spectrum come Slogan Machine from Tennessee’s Gumm and Be My Vengeance from Denver’s  Destiny Bond.  The former takes its cues from the ‘Revolution Summer’ era but injects them with an urgent, bristling anger that relentlessly pushes and pulls for dominance with the band’s more melodic instincts.  While the latter explore themes of community and identity through a garage punk infused melodic hardcore that brims with an unyielding positivity.

In contrast, Kansas City’s Spine are back with their rampaging blend of straight-up USHC and power violence.  Raíces (Roots) explores themes of heritage and family in the context of the ever more polarised US political environment, while unleashing a truly abrasive aural battery.  And, finally, but by no means least, we have a fresh batch of the utterly groove laden Only Constant from Gel.

Full write-ups at www.foundationvinyl.com

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.

23^rd February Eel Men, Hygiene, Skinned (New River Studios)

23^rd February Les Savy Fav plus Ditz (Electric Ballroom)

24^th February Fiddlehead, MS Paint, Wrong Man (The Garage / UK Tour)

25^th February Pest Control, Demonstration of Power, Dynamite, Rhema (Black Heart / SOLD OUT / UK Tour)

29^th February Damage Is Done 4 – Fairytale, Take It In Blood, Bullsshit, Subdued, Ikhras, Violent Offence (New River Studios / Fairytale UK Tour)

1^st March Damage Is Done 4 – Fugitive, Illusion, Ninebar, Pest Control, Imposter, Instructor, Silver plus more (Colour Factory)

2^nd March Damage Is Done 4 – Framtid, Quarantine, The Flex, T.S. Warspite, Stingray, The Annihilated, Mazandaran  plus more (Colour Factory / SOLD OUT)

3^rd March Damage Is Done 4 – Visibly High, Rat Cage, Layback, Träume, Middleman, Turbo plus more (New River Studios / SOLD OUT)

4^th March Prey, Ritual Error, Higher Walls, Tethered (New Cross Inn)

6^th March Buried Alive, 50 Caliber, False Reality, Mindless (New Cross Inn)

9^th March Opium Lord, Torpor, Jotnarr, Harrowed (New Cross Inn)

15^th March  Zeropolis, Hygiene, Turbo, Johnny Throttle (New River Studios)

16^th March Prey, T.R.E.S.T, Ashes Of Death plus more (Helgi’s)

23^rd March Botch, Bad Breeding, Great Falls (Electric Ballroom / SOLD OUT / UK Tour)

31^st March Fundraiser For Milo featuring Powerplant, Stingray, Middleman, Micromoon, Hellscape plus more (Oslo)

2^nd April Spaced, Going Off, Shooting Daggers, Ikhras (New Cross Inn / UK Tour)

4^th April Ancient Emblem, Wreathe, Fox Strikes, State Sanctioned Violence (Strongroom)

6^th April Wren, Wreathe, Healing Wound, Mortar (Moor Beer Vaults)

6^th April Hell Is For Heroes plus support (Electric Ballroom / UK Tour)

13^th April Frail Body, Chalk Hands plus more (Downstairs at The Dome / UK Tour)

17^th April Deaf Club, Fuck Money plus more (New Cross Inn / UK Tour)

18^th May Snuff plus support (Downstairs at The Dome)

20^th May World Peace, Flesh Creeper, Asbo (New Cross Inn)

1^st June Long Knife plus support (New River Studios / UK Tour)

17^th June Gel plus support (The Garage / UK Tour)

22^nd November Unbroken, Shooting Daggers, Rifle, Eyeteeth (The Dome)

February

Ataque Zero ‘Ciudades’ 12-inch (Static Shock)

Class ‘If You’ve Got Nothing’ 12-inch (Feel It)

Morwan ‘Svitaye, Palaye’ 12-inch (Feel It)

Nasti ‘People Problem’ 12-inch (Static Shock)

Public Interest ‘Spiritual Pollution’ 12-inch (Erste Theke Tontraeger)

States Of Nature ‘Brighter Than Before’ 12-inch (Little Rocket)

Stress Positions ‘Walang Hiya’ 12-inch (Iron Lung)

Vaguess ‘Thanks // No Thanks’ 12-inch (Erste Theke Tontraeger)

March

Accidente / Nightwatchers ‘Split’ 12-inch (Stonehenge)

Cress ‘Monuments’ 12-inch (Fight For Your Mind)

Flower ‘Heel Of The Next / Physical God’  7-inch (Fight For Your Mind)

Hellnation ‘Colonized’ 12-inch (Fight For Your Mind)

Sweat ‘Love Child’ 12-inch (Vitriol)

Wreathe ‘The Land Is Not An Idle God’ 12-inch (Alerta Antifascista / Pre-Order)

April

Deaf Club, Frail Body, Gouge Away, Infant Island, Modern Life Is War, No Man, Unsufferable

Hello and welcome to this week’s newsletter!  We’ve got another stacked edition, so let’s get straight on it:

• Featured New Arrivals from Knowso, Abism, Yellowcake, and Kinetic Orbital Strike
• Metallic Unicorns And Pompadours, featuring Unbroken
• Pre-order: The Land Is Not An Idle God by Wreathe
• Shows and Tours
• Coming Soon, including the forthcoming new album from Sweat and great new releases from Persistent Vision, Static Shock, and Three One G among others!

And, finally, a quick heads up that we have just restocked two records that rather flew out the door first time round.  First up, Screaming Death, the four-way split LP from Destruct, Dissekerad, Rat Cage, and Scarecrow.  And second, the return of Only Constant from Gel.

‘Swallow my lies, as I obscure my emotions, why must I contest myself, always against myself, embody another likeness, death of true spirit’ (D4, Unbroken)

With Unbroken having just announced a show for London in November, only their second in the UK and their first since 2010, it was apt timing for Rob Moran to be a guest on the Cult & Culture podcast.  The show is hosted by Justin Pearson and Luke Henshaw, both of Planet B, whose new record, Fiction Prediction, will be landing with us next week.  Rob, of course, is Unbroken’s bassist, and also played in a myriad of other excellent bands, including Narrows and Some Girls.

The strength of the interview, as with the majority of those featured on Cult & Culture, is the shared personal and musical history between Justin and his guests, who more often than not also hail from the San Diego scene.  Justin and Rob’s friendship was born in the early 1990s through their mutual collaborations with the late Eric Allen (who played with Justin in Struggle and Swing Kids either side of Unbroken), Unbroken and Struggle playing shows together, and Justin’s Three One G label releasing Unbroken’s 1994 7-inch, And b/w Fall On Proverb.

Thoroughly recommended, the interview is really insightful and benefits from the warmth and, indeed, easy charm, that only friends chatting away can really generate.  The conversation is a wide-ranging one and you sense that it could have spun off in any number of directions, fuelled by Rob’s continued passion for music, taking in everyone from Sepultura to Ned’s Atomic Dustbin by way of Blacklisted and Judge.  One of the most intriguing recurring themes was that of ‘space’ – how it shapes human interaction, and vice versa, spanning the city of San Diego itself, to music venues, such as Iguanas in Tijuana, and Rob’s own coffee shop, Heartwork (named after the Carcass song of the same title).

But the real thrust of Justin’s and Luke’s questioning, is to try and pin down the characteristics that have ensured that Unbroken’s music has both stood the test of time, and also seen the band’s popularity soar since they initially broke-up in 1995.  After all, as Justin says, Unbroken’s is a pretty special legacy: ‘A unicorn, some rare ass shit’.

The first aspect they touch on is that the band’s aesthetic – again in Justin’s words, ‘A bunch of Morrisseys playing Slayer’ – is a pretty unique one.  It certainly helped to fundamentally broaden what it could mean to be a hardcore band, especially bearing in mind that Unbroken emerged from a Californian straight-edge scene that was prone to a certain militancy.  Rob talks about how the band were shaped by introducing their love of British indie and post-punk bands, such as The Smiths, The Cure, Depeche Mode, and Joy Division, to their existing hardcore and thrash metal influences.  At the time, The Smiths were hugely popular, particularly amongst the Latinx community, in Rob’s hometown of Chula Vista.  This connection he believes was shaped by how their songs evoke a sense of not belonging, of being ‘the other’, which spoke to the lived experience of many second-generation Mexican immigrants to the US.

These influences were to impact Unbroken’s music well beyond their pompadour haircuts and t-shirts.  Firstly, lyrically the band tackled issues that were far removed from many of their contemporaries, focusing primarily on the desolation and isolation that can define our daily lives.  Rob is cognisant that on some levels this reflected their own emotional struggles as teenagers, as well as being a conscious attempt to bring genuine empathy and emotional depth to their songwriting.  Similarly, as their sound developed, it increasingly exhibited a bleak melodicism that reflected some of the band’s wider influences.

The second aspect explored is whether the longevity of Unbroken’s impact stems from how influential their music was to become on the future directions of hardcore.  And without doubt, their legacy in this regard is significant, forging a musical template that served as foundational for many of the great metallic hardcore bands that followed, and also a lyrical expression that inspired future emotional hardcore bands with the confidence to explore more personal themes.

Yet we have all at some point returned to listen to bands who were hugely influential for us, only to find that their music has paled a little over time, lost that sense of searing vitality that first defined it.  Perhaps, they were very much of that moment in time, or those that followed reimagined those inspirations that much more powerfully.  But that certainly isn’t the case with Unbroken.  Why?

The answer lies in the simple fact that the quality of their music, some thirty years on, is as viscerally engaging as ever, and when this is combined with the other factors discussed, you begin to get to the heart of the matter.  Whether it is the raw, bristling metallic barrage of Ritual (1993), or the darkly melancholic brilliance of Life. Love. Regret. (1994), you experience music that is essentially timeless, as impactful now as the day you first heard it.  This is a very rare achievement indeed.

Rob talks of how disconcerting this enduring popularity can be, not least in the context of Eric Allen’s death.  When they first reunited in 1998 to play a memorial show for Eric’s family, an 1800-capacity venue was booked.  Remembering nights playing to thirty people at the Che Café in San Diego, Rob was genuinely petrified that they would be playing to a half-empty room at best.  It turns out that he needn’t have worried!

Ultimately, Rob characterises the aim of his musical endeavours as being to recognise that we are ‘hopelessly stuck in this machine’, but to ‘make pockets of beauty’ that offset this often-grim reality.  Definitely an interview to check out, and I for one can’t wait for one final opportunity to witness a truly great band in action.

‘If it was real progression, greed would not dictate our souls, if it was real progression, we’d give back what we stole, if it was real progression, we’d burn these lies all down’ (In The Name Of Progression, Unbroken)

‘Cult & Culture’ is available on most podcast platforms, including ruinousmedia.com/cultandculture.

A quick reminder that we are running a pre-order for the European pressing from Alerta Antifascista Records of Wreathe’s debut album, The Land Is Not An Idle God.  The expected shipping date is mid-March.

Featuring members of Fall of Efrafa, Morrow, and Arboricidio, this is the debut LP from London’s Wreathe.  The band build vigorously on the foundations of those three bands – roared, often layered, frequently call-and-response vocals, entwined in raucous tandem with towering melancholic riffage and a thunderous rhythm section.  A palpable rage courses through the sonic onslaught, but one that is matched with a defiant optimism that, collectively, all is not lost.

The album’s lyrics are based on vocalist Alex CF’s book, The Book of Venym: An Egalitarian Demonology.  This is a fictional exploration of the philosophy and invocation of a pantheon of pagan nature deities, known as the Increscent, ‘a battle cry for the much-beleaguered idea of compassion above self-interest and bigotry’.  For more details on the source material, check out Dark Myths, Venomous Realities.  A guest vocalist appearance from Autarch’s Jamie Pratt completes the picture.

Persistent Vision Records are handling the North American pressing and release.

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.

16^th February Malignant Methods, Layback, Blood Fury, Final Form plus more (Moor Beer Vaults)

23^rd February Eel Men, Hygiene, Skinned (New River Studios)

23^rd February Les Savy Fav plus Ditz (Electric Ballroom)

24^th February Fiddlehead, MS Paint, Wrong Man (The Garage / UK Tour)

25^th February Pest Control, Demonstration of Power plus more (Black Heart / SOLD OUT /UK Tour)

29^th February Damage Is Done 4 – Fairytale, Take It In Blood, Bullsshit, Subdued, Ikhras, Violent Offence (New River Studios / Fairytale UK Tour)

1^st March Damage Is Done 4 – Fugitive, Illusion, Ninebar, Pest Control, Imposter, Instructor, Silver plus more (Colour Factory)

2^nd March Damage Is Done 4 – Framtid, Quarantine, The Flex, T.S. Warspite, Stingray, The Annihilated, Mazandaran  plus more (Colour Factory / SOLD OUT)

3^rd March Damage Is Done 4 – Visibly High, Rat Cage, Layback, Träume, Middleman, Turbo plus more (New River Studios / SOLD OUT)

4^th March Prey, Ritual Error, Higher Walls, Tethered (New Cross Inn)

6^th March Buried Alive, 50 Caliber, False Reality, Mindless (New Cross Inn)

9^th March Opium Lord, Torpor, Jotnarr, Harrowed (New Cross Inn)

15^th March  Zeropolis, Hygiene, Turbo, Johnny Throttle (New River Studios)

23^rd March Botch, Bad Breeding, Great Falls (Electric Ballroom / SOLD OUT / UK Tour)

2^nd April Spaced, Going Off, Shooting Daggers, Ikhras (New Cross Inn / UK Tour)

4^th April Ancient Emblem, Wreathe, Fox Strikes, State Sanctioned Violence (Strongroom)

6^th April Wren, Wreathe, Healing Wound, Mortar (Moor Beer Vaults)

6^th April Hell Is For Heroes plus support (Electric Ballroom / UK Tour)

13^th April Frail Body, Chalk Hands plus more (Downstairs at The Dome / UK Tour)

17^th April Deaf Club, Fuck Money plus more (New Cross Inn / UK Tour)

18^th May Snuff plus support (Downstairs at The Dome)

20^th May World Peace, Flesh Creeper, Asbo (New Cross Inn)

22^nd November Unbroken, Shooting Daggers, Rifle, Eyeteeth (The Dome)

Next Week

Angel Hair ‘Insect Mortality’ 12-inch (Three One G)

Massa Nera / Quiet Fear ‘Quatro Vientos // Cinco Soles’ 12-inch (Persistent Vision)

Nonexistent Night ‘In The Middle Of A Boiling Sea’ 12-inch (Three One G)

Planet B ‘Fiction Prediction’ 12-inch (Three One G)

February (Definitely)

Alienator ‘World Of Hate’ 7-inch (Convulse)

Ataque Zero ‘Ciudades’ 12-inch (Static Shock)

Class ‘If You’ve Got Nothing’ 12-inch (Feel It)

Destiny Bond ‘Be My Vengeance’ 12-inch (Convulse)

Entry ‘Exit Interview’ 7-inch (Convulse)

Gumm ‘Slogan Machine’ 12-inch (Convulse)

Morwan ‘Svitaye, Palaye’ 12-inch (Feel It)

Nasti ‘People Problem’ 12-inch (Static Shock)

Public Interest ‘Spiritual Pollution‘ 12-inch (Erste Theke Tontraeger)

Spine ‘Raices’ 12-inch (Convulse)

States Of Nature ‘Brighter Than Before’ 12-inch (Little Rocket)

Stress Positions ‘Walang Hiya’ 12-inch (Iron Lung)

Vaguess ‘Thanks // No Thanks‘ 12-inch (Erste Theke Tontraeger)

February (Probably)

Accidente / Nightwatchers ‘Split‘ 12-inch (Stonehenge)

Cress ‘Monuments’ 12-inch (Fight For Your Mind)

Flower ‘Heel Of The Next / Physical God’  7-inch (Fight For Your Mind)

Hellnation ‘Colonized’ 12-inch (Fight For Your Mind)

March

Sweat ‘Love Child‘ 12-inch (Vitriol)

Wreathe ‘The Land Is Not An Idle God‘ 12-inch (Alerta Antifascista / Pre-Order)

April

Deaf Club, Frail Body, Gouge Away, Infant Island, Modern Life Is War, No Man, Unsufferable