AGAINST THE WALL - Identify Me

Location: Orange County, US

Release: Nemesis Records, 1989

Still in Orange County, looking up on the "smaller" bands of the hardcore Cali scene of the late 80's/early 90's.

Starting with AGAINST THE WALL, featuring Mike Hartsfield (owner of New Age Records, which had just left Freewill to join this), Randy Johson (Ignite), Mike Madrid and Travis Hunt (Mean Season), with filling ins by Alex Barreto (Chain Of Strength, Hard Stance and Statue).

They've put out 2 demos and one 7" on Nemesis, instead of New Age, in an attempt to draw a bigger audience. Their music is a great cross between Insted/Chain and JUDGE, the urgency of californian youthcrew plus the heaviness of NYHC.

Luckily I found one of these rare Against The Wall demos, from 1987! The first one remains a mystery.

DOWNLOAD [Against The Wall EP + '87 Demo]

Against The Wall quickly died after the release of the 7",  Randy went on to form PUSHED ASIDE, with only one demo out (re-released by Indecision Records later on). They also recorded one exclusive track for the compilation 7" A Generation Of Hope, which also features Against The Wall, Confront, Brotherhood, Chain etc.. out in 1990.

Hartsfield started OUTSPOKEN, mid-tempo straight edge vegetarian project, that lasted from 1990 to 1994 with releases on New Age and Conversion Records, later also re-released as a discography CD by Indecision Records.

In the midst of Outspoken, Harstfield and Randy found time to form DRIFT AGAIN, also mid-paced but towards post-hardcore this time. here's the 3-song EP "The Cold Season", out in 1991 plus 2 demo songs and one comp song taken from Words To Live By...7" .

DOWNLOAD the following:
PUSHED ASIDE - 5 Song Demo Orange County (DIY, 1989)
OUTSPOKEN - Look Beyond Demo (New Age Records, 1990)
DRIFT AGAIN - The Cold Season (Network Sound, 1991)
VA - A Generation Of Hope (Which Way Records, 1990)

Please visit these finest OC labels (INDECISION/NEW AGE) for some of these bands official merch.

CARRY NATION - Protect and Serve

Location: Orange County, US

Release: Lost & Found Records, 1996

As many may be mistaken about it, CARRY NATION actually came before No For An Answer, conceived in 1985 as the first ever band project for both Dan O'Mahony and Gavin Oglesby and then recorded and released in 1989 as Face The Nation 7". That would explain the more aggro vibe Carry Nation portrayed.

Comprised of 2/4 of NFAA and 1/4 of INSTED plus Big Frank (owner of Nemesis Records) Carry Nation -- despite the time span between conception and execution -- was very short lived and was firstly featured as the third release on Dan O's label Workshed Records.

During an euro reunion tour with NFAA in 1993, Dan signed a deal with Lost & Found for a possible new NFAA record, when the tour ended he changed his mind about the whole reunion idea and tried to push his new ongoing project GOD FORGOT, after a certain length of time God Forgot ended up being released on another label, to cash back some of the investment L&F released the Protect And Serve CD with the 4 tracks of Face The Nation plus two live tracks found on Nemesis compilations "No Control At The Country Club Live" and "Hardcore 1990 East Meets West", both re-released into one CD in 1995.

ORDER OFFICIAL T-SHIRT

DOWNLOAD includes:
The Best Of Nemesis Live CD (Nemesis Records, 1995)
Carry Nation - Protect and Serve MCD (Lost & Found Records, 1996) 
No For An Answer / Carry Nation - A Thought Crusade / Face The Nation CD (Cargo Music, 1996)

AWAKE! - Beliefs

Location: Florida, US

Release: Skene! Records, 1989
Artwork: Paul Pavlovich

As requested the only release by this cool Florida melodic hardcore band. I have no idea how I got to know them, maybe the cover got my eyes, which was drawn by Paul Pavlovich of Assück!

This record got financial help from both Victory Records and TPOS Records but, as it seems, due to a miss-communication between labels only Skene was credited and printed on the 7" sleeves.

After that not much can be said about AWAKE!, a second EP was being recorded but got scrapped and members went on to play in several other melodic 90's emo-ish bands, the most recent one is SCIENCE in which they recapture some of that hardcore influence, pretty solid!

DOWNLOAD

The next few posts will be all about late 80's/early 90's hardcore, stay tuned!

ALL ILL - Mind Power + Symbols Of Involution LP

Location: Barcelona, Espanha

Release: B-Core / La Agonia De Vivir, 2015

One of my all-time fav spanish hardcore units, the straight edge grind-thrashcore in ALLxILL!

When the band's first full-length Mind Power came out in 1997 I was introduced to them by a punk record store owner and I got blown away, I still own a copy to this day. Their mix of grind-speed blasts -- reminiscent of HHH/Spazz -- and thrashcore tempo changes were something to be reckoned with, all recorded and mastered in a top quality production.

The Mind Power CD has 20 songs in 15 minutes, a steamroller on a downhill without brakes! 2 years later they've put out another slab Symbols Of Involution, 11 tracks in 10 minutes and with the add of a few extra songs, the spanish label La Agonia De Vivir together with Vinyl Love brought back these recordings to a discography LP in 2015, under license of long time runners BCore Disc, around since 1990.

PURCHASE LP

DOWNLOAD

NO DENIAL - Soundtrack Of Decline

Location: Netherlands

Release: Crucial Response, 2001-2004

Finally the discography by NO DENIAL! At first I was going to make a profile post on Lord Bigma (aka Radha Ramana das) as I did with Eric Ozenne, but that would be too overwhelming to do. He made a great impact on the Dutch and European hardcore scene for decades. From playing guitar in Manliftingbanner in 1991, to fronting MAINSTRIKE in 1994 (one of my fav european bands ever) his positive message and powerful music are things I will cherish for life.

No Denial emerged not long after the demise of Mainstrike, initially comprised of 2/3 of that same band plus Jigs who would later play in Abusive Action. On this project Bigma was looking for a Cro-Mags sound and approach, putting in check human flaws under a khrisna perspective.



Then in 2004 Piet and Norbert from Spirit 84 came along to record their sophomore and final record Crossing Beyond Illusions Currents which I feel is slightly better than the first album, loaded with crushing breakdowns. But that was not the end for Bigma as he gathered some long time friends the next year to form BIRDS OF A FEATHER, comprised of ex-members in Manliftingbanner, Crivits, Betray, etc.. The result was an amazing Youthcrew unit with 2 EPs and 1 LP out. I added the audio files for their oustanding first album "OUR AIM" with 2 extra tracks [from the In Defence split].



Please visit Crucial Response and Commitment Records for these band's records as they're going for very low prices and get your hands on a piece of hardcore history.

PURCHASE CD/VINYL/MERCH

DOWNLOAD Includes:
NO DENIAL - Soundtrack Of Decline CD (2002, Crucial Response)
Bonus: NO DENIAL "No Fear" from One Track Mind Compilation LP (2003, Crucial Response)
Extra bonus: BIRDS OF A FEATHER - Our Aim CD (2005, Crucial Response)

for NO DENIAL - Crossing Beyond Illusions.. please visit this post!
  

no passing phase

VULGAR DISPLAY - Texas Hardcore

Location: Dallas, USA

Release: Speedowax Records, 2012-2016

One of those many bands that came at the end of the dark-metallic era (of hardcore trends) led by Iron Age/Twitching Tongues, but I forgot how good the riffs by Texas' VULGAR DISPLAY were, pummeling and punishing all the way!

During the 5 years they were together Vulgar Display recorded a total of 13 songs, scattered amongst a Demo, a 6-song EP and a Promo for an LP that never came out, supposedly out in 2016 through Unbeaten Records.

2012 - Demo
2013 - Under Darkness & Prayer (Speedowax / Rare Bear Records)
2014 - Overcoming Torture [Single]
2015 - Winter Promo

Their final show took place in 2016 during one of those rare Iron Age live appearances. The good news is that they got back with their death metal project END TIMES, check it if you're into malicious dope riffage!

DOWNLOAD [Discography]

VICTIM - Electrocutioner

Location: Virgina Beach, USA

Release: Collapse Records, 2006
Artwork: Spoiler

Nothing new here.. buuut I had a couple of reasons to upload this "new era Old-School hardcore classic" record: I noticed most blogs has dead links of it, none of them had high-quality audio files and it got re-pressed on CASSETTE just recently.

For some reason I got the CD version of Electrocutioner a year after it came out, was trying to save on shipping probably, which I regret heavily since the LP was quite limited. What I was not aware is that in 2016, the german label OPEN YOUR EYES-fanzine pressed a tape version limited to a 100 copies.

For VICTIM it all began sometime in 2004, sharing members with many other hardcore projects that rose (almost at the same time) around VB and Richmond areas, from my understanding this is how it all started in chrological order:

2001 - AMMUNITION >>> 2003 - NOTHING PERSONAL >>> 2004 - IRON BOOTS / VICTIM / TARPIT >>> 2009 - FIRE & ICE >>> 2010 - NO VALUES

Ammunition was very short lived and will be uploaded very soon on a special post. Nothing Personal, due to some really screwed-up lyrics, won't show up here. Tarpit split 7" with Victim was featured HERE 9 years ago but I got my hands on better quality files for this occasion, all the other gnarly TARPIT records (Demo, 2x EPs and LP), also on Collapse Records, are up for grabs! ..And the rest is history.

PURCHASE TAPE
DOWNLOAD
[Electrocutioner + Split EP]
DOWNLOAD
[Tarpit discography]



RevHQ gave the coolest review on VICTIM back in the day, check it:

 Hailing from the burgeoning hardcore mecca of Virginia Beach, Victim arrive with their distinct brand of NYHC to destroy everything in its path. Featuring members of Iron Boots, Victim is the last gasp of the sound that made the average man on the street cringe - throaty vocals, blazing guitar riffs and enough energy and power to drive anyone off their couch and into the streets. Taking two parts Agnostic Front and heavy doses of Carnivore, Krakdown, and Altercation, Victim's sound is not for the weak. Look for these guys to be canvassing the northeast with their destructive brand of hardcore and see why if Iron Boots put Virginia Beach on the map, Victim takes it off the wall and knocks you over the head with it!

THE NEW ENEMY - Illusion Of Choice

Location: Toronto, Canada

Release: DIY, 2019
Artwork: Peter Stirling

This came out as a great surprise, it's been 5 years since THE NEW ENEMY has laid their last record! Now they are back with a brand new 8-song EP "Illusion Of Choice", 5 original and 3 covers.

Their commitment in supporting local causes and their DIY/punk ethics remains untouched for over a decade now but the evolution of their music never stops going forth.

They went a step further from their previous EP and worked with 2 big names of the north american hardcore music scene -- Will Killingsworth [Dead Air Studios] and Arthur Rizk [War Hungry, Sumerlands]. The result falls right at that blurry line between punk rock and hardcore, especially when you add a dark melodic edge to it, all very powerful and heartfelt delivered [including the covers], this will definitely appeal to fans of Paint It Black and Jade Tree's best era catalog.

They were always keen to play a variety of covers, here they perform these in a brilliant personal way:

GOB "Reign On Your Parade"
Leonard Cohen "You Want It Darker"
Snapcase "Ambition Now"

The highlights of the record for me tho' are the heavy hitters Shrine and Thread which, in the latter, features the vocals of Jessica Meers.

Please visit their bandcamp and donate any amount or spread the word of a beautiful yet urgent matter.