Hardcore Classics Vol.1

Here is an awesome homemade comp that I got from Steve the vocalist of 9 Shocks Terror at a show one time. It features among the many great bands Naps own once cherished Zero Boys, and also lesser known old school Circle City punkers The Slammies (whom featured Jeff Berman, co-owner of Bazbeaux fame). Here it is, all 43 tracks:

For the love of the 'core

Heartless Bastards

Heartless are a lean, mean, hardcore killin' machine from Pittsburgh and features members of the awesome crustcore band Maskari. This post features their winter 09-10 demo which is a comp of some 7" and older demo tracks. Kata Sarka did a show with them on a grim, wintery eve back in January, and being not only a killer band, they were some righteous, down-to-earth cats. They play a brand of HxC that could easily be passed off on first listen as power violence, but upon repeated listens one will uncover an array of other influences like metallic hardcore ala Integrity, straight up crust punk (see track #7, "Never Enough", my personal favorite on this), and burly, bottom-heavy dark hardcore like Cursed, Pulling Teeth, and The Power and Glory. Definitely for fans of Deathwish Inc. style stuff. Get in touch with these gents here Heartless pick up their schwag, and catch them when they roll through your town.

Never Enough

Narcissitic Blasts From the Past: Part I

Graves of the Endless Fall is a band that I formerly played guitar for. It was the first project I had been involved in where I felt like I was able to explore my varied interests in music. Although rooted in hardcore, GOTEF was a vehicle used to explore the varying members love for namely Black Sabbath, but also other metal tinged acts such as Neurosis, early Mastodon, Converge, and Botch. This seething brew was also peppered with my then mounting fascination with all things droning and crusty, ala His Hero Is Gone, and From Ashes Rise. I ended up leaving GOTEF to pursue other musical horizons, but did so amicably, and happily note that these dudes are still going at it with a re-vamped line up that holds its previous core of Eric R., Adam L., John C., and Mike V., along with newer additions in my good friend and former band mate Sean T. (also of Somnabulist Red fame) and brother-in-arms Eric S.(whom also is axe slayer and vokillist in Daisycutter and Nak'ay, as well as holder of the flame of Ft. Wayne's d.i.y. scene at 1624 N. Harrison St.).

This little demo is what I consider this bands crowning achievement while I was a member, and I am proud to have been a part of its creation. The songs on here are what I feel some of the best I have collaborated on in my time as musician. Here it is and I hope you enjoy it:

We Sleep Moving

Disconnected are no "Pussyfooters"

Back in November, my band Kata Sarka played our first show. While in the process of planning the show, I got word from a friend of mine that he had been planning a show on the same date, and wanted to merge the two so we didn't slit each other's throats in the deal. I said "sure, who are the bands?". He said one of the bands was a japanese hardcore influenced d-beat thing called Disconnected from Toledo. He said it was his friend Mahlon's band. I said, "hold on, there is only one Mahlon that I know and he is from Toledo also!". Lo and belhold, it was the newest project of an old friend of mine that I had not seen in some years. Needless to say, this was an awesome coincidence, because a) Mahlon is one helluva stand up dude and b) his merry band of Deathside/GISM/Bastard/Tragedy worshippers rip shit up! So, I present to you Disconnected's raging debut "Isolated". Also, Mahlon has a great blog called Thank You For Your Mediocrity that you can access from my blog list to the right.


Serve No One

Hell Comes To Fort Waste

Clawing its way out of the razed steel and rubble of the dead factory town of Ft. Wayne, Indiana, Nak'ay is a new force to be reckoned with. A raw thrasher that mixes up all the elements of old school, primitive black metal a la Blasphemy, Beherit, Sarcofago, old Bathory, and Impaled Nazarene, with some traditional metal flourishes; served up on a grinding punk platter. This rages! Features some of the maniacs from the cartel known as Daisycutter. Get in touch with them here Nak'ay about grabbing a copy of this, and check them out March 10th at 1624 N. Harrison St. in Ft. Wayne


Nak'ay RGBBMPND demo

Cleveland HxC Madness: Paying Ohmage

Almost 10 years ago, I worked at an independent punk record store called Subterranean. At the time I was chin deep in listening to the blackest, most jesus hatin' metal around, while periodically listening to some other things like crusty hardcore, post-punk, and industrial music. Well, as time went along working there, I met some pretty cool people that turned me on to a vast array of underground hardcore that I had been sleeping on, and was literally under my nose at the record store. One of the bands I got turned on to that pretty much broke the floodgates open for me was Nine Shocks Terror. Some people who check this blog may be familiar with the insane Clevo scene that has spawned such awesome bands as Gordon Solie Motherfuckers, Inmates, and their ilk. For those of you that are not, d/l this, Nine Shocks "Paying Ohmage" and then buy the fucker (and any other Nine Shocks you come across) from Sound Pollution records or next time you see it at the finest of indie record stores.

Remove the Pope

*note* My uploads have been plagued with corrupt file issues, so if you d/l this and it has some, just holla and I will re-up it, yo!