IT was in the early 2000s when I discovered 36 Crazyfists. I was in a Virgin Megastore taking advantage of their 5 for £30 CD offer and needed one to fill my quota. Having heard Slit Wrist Theory, I took a punt on getting Bitterness The Star. I then followed the band through all the following releases - some critically acclaimed, some less so, but all with enough to warrant regular revisits. 2015's Time And Trauma was perhaps their best in recent times with some absolute belters, the title track among them. And when I heard Death Eater - the first track from last year's Lanterns - I knew I had to be in London when they came by on their European tour. The gig at the O2 Islington saw support from US noise punk duo '68 and All Hail The Yeti. The former were strong and engaging but I got distracted by the amount of spitting they did - I guess it was to show how raw they were, but ended up seeming like they had some sort of condition. All Hail The Yeti were OK, but a bit metal by numbers. Crazyfists, though, stepped things up a gear right from the get-go as they launched into the powerful Death Eater as their opening track. Frontman Brock Lindow's vocals are unique and while not always hitting the mark, they carry that sense of raw and brutal emotion that endeared the band to me all those years back. The set is long - 14 songs plus three more on the encore - and interspersed with what feels like genuine thanks from Lindow and the band for the support. He remarks that age and distance means they cannot tour to these parts as often as they'd like, but they appreciate the following nonetheless. They play new songs like Wars To Walk Away From and Better To Burn along with oldies such as At The End Of August and Bloodwork. They finish with the live debut of Sea And Smoke from Lanterns followed by Time And Trauma. It's safe to say the crowd are delighted and the demand for more is on. "I thought we were going to have a beer," says Lindow as the four-piece come back out and play Eightminutesupsidedown and then cover Alice In Chains' We Die Young. Not unexpectedly, the final song of the night is the one that brought them into many people's consciousness - Slit Wrist Theory. The emotion and power in that song has not faded as the years have passed and neither has the band. A fantastic performance.
I WAS covered in sweat, aching and getting more and more frustrated as I tried to piece together a Ikea chest of drawers for my son's bedroom in the height of summer - that was when I first heard Bury Tomorrow.
The song that came on the radio and eased my mood was Lionheart from the Southampton metalcore outfit's second album Union of Crowns. That track has been a favourite since.
Daniel Winter-Bates on the bar
I saw Bury Tomorrow perform at Download Festival in 2016 but their gig at Chinnery's in Southend was the first headline show I'd seen them play. The venue is sold out and plenty of the crowd are in place to see support act Loathe - a Liverpudlian band of similar ilk to BT. When the main act arrives on stage, they do so with gusto tearing into Royal Blood, An Honourable Reign and the aforementioned Lionheart. I'm a happy camper already. With the promotional commitments for their last album Earthbound well and truly out the way, the band - spearheaded by Daniel Winter-Bates' raucous vocals alongside guitarist Jason Cameron's smoother voice - are able to deliver a greatest hits set. That said, they follow next with Cemetery, Last Light, For Us and title track Earthbound from that album with only Sceptres thrown in to mix it up. They then take things back to their 2009 debut album Portraits for You & I and The Western Front before rounding off with The Torch and Man on Fire. This tour - of which Southend was the second date I believe - was titled the Stage Invasion Tour, and so it was only appropriate that during Man on Fire the crowd was invited to climb up and surround the band for their final song. It was another show of the connection between the band and the fans first seen at that Download appearance when Winter-Bates had vowed to stay by the front of the stage until he'd signed every autograph and fulfilled every selfie request. And that is no style over substance gimmick. The band have a quality catalogue of metalcore songs that they perform with passion and ferocity. I loved it and would've welcomed a few more songs - and I can't wait to see them live again.
We are creative and determined fellows. Our music is
theatrical horror metal with a pinch of metalcore sound. Our lyrics bound
all together and it is meant to keep that way.
Who are your main influences musically?
Horror movie soundtracks, most brutal metalcore bands
like Motionless In White, In This Moment and Nocturnal Bloodlust. All
theatrical movie soundtracks also.
What do you hope to achieve in music?
A chance to make more music, a chance to give people even
more horrors ;)
What has been the highlight of your career so far, and
why?
This whole time has been one big highlight, but the most
brightest moment so far was the recent studio journey. There is more to come
just wait.
Actually this whole band was an project for 2 years and
last summer we decided to put everything out big time! Past 5 months have been
heck of a ride, but here we are and the best is yet to come.
And what’s the moment you want to forget?
There is nothing we want to forget... yet :D
If you had to pick just one of your songs to represent
your music, what would it be and why?
Well we have just a few songs recorded but now it would
be one called "Infected Minds" because it has all the elements we
have looked for and this song was the very first complete song we have ever
wrote for this band.
Where can we listen to it?
Nowhere, it’s one song from our upcoming two-song single
which is going to be released early in January 2017.
Anything else you’d like to say about your music that I
forgot to ask
Remember that we are new outcoming metal band who is
going to release debut single digitally worldwide in next January. So now you
can follow us in social media to keep an eye out. Music video is already under
progress and lots of other stuff is coming, just wait! Feedback of our work has
been so great lately that we are not slowing down!
We love high energy, guitar and synth-fuelled hardcore
rock with elements of progressive rock, punk, metalcore and a tinge of emo.
We’ve all been in bands previously, played the music
industry game, did the label thing and now we just wanted to create a project that we could approach
completely at our own pace. We are completely self-funded and are really excited about
constantly reaching out to fans that like the genre of music we play and love.
Who are your main influences musically?
We like a mix of the early/mid 2000’s post-hardcore bands
like Thrice, Saosin, Further Seems Forever along with bands like Periphery, Hands like
Houses and Bring Me The Horizon.
What do you hope to achieve in music?
You know to be honest, from day one we really just are six guys that enjoy playing. We’ve written songs that we feel very good about and one day would love
to be able to gain enough momentum to play nationally (or internationally).
As I mentioned, we’ve all been in the music industry in
previous bands and now feel like we have the understanding and energy to go virtually
completely on our own and breakthrough on our terms.
What has been the highlight of your career so far, and
why?
Our current EP, Symbols, getting some positive exposure
with sites and media outlets like Alternative Press, Punknews, Noize Blogging, Under The
Gun, Rebel Noise, Metal Assault, Brutal Resonance and Music Existence.com. It’s been
really cool and an honor to be included on these sites.
And what’s the moment you want to forget?
Ha! Ok, so at our first official show people brought so
many drinks to me that I almost blanked out after our set. Apparently at some point in the night
I was climbing into our guitarist Stefan’s truck on top of all of his gear into a fetal position.
Apparently, I wanted to take a ride home with all of his awesome gear. Probably not my best moment.
If you had to pick just one of your songs to represent
your music, what would it be and why?
Wow, that’s a tough one. Hmm, I’d say probably ‘Secrets’
(off of our current EP, Symbols) because it seems like combining electronica with upbeat
rock / punk is our “vibe” that’s hitting us lately.
Where can we listen to it?
Here is our YouTube studio playthrough of the song...
Anything else you’d like to say about your music that I
forgot to ask?
You know we just want to close by saying that if there is
anyone seeking new music and new bands, we ask that you consider us. We strive to write
music from an honest place, we do it for the love of it and we would love to be able to have the
same type of impact on someone through our music - just like the bands we love have had an
impact on us!
I am from California and the rest of the band is from Sao Paulo, Brazil. The
band is considered based in Sao Paulo Brazil. I fly in for tours.
Name of band:
ENDRAH.
Who else is in
your band?
Covero
(guitar), Bruno Santin (drums) and Adriano Vivela (bass).
How would you
describe yourselves?
Deathrashcore. It
is a very aggressive sound and we are raw and not overproduced.
We
utilize some unique patterns and there is powerful lyrics.
Who are your
main influences musically?
Meshuggah,
Cannibal Corpse, Slayer, Morbid Angel, Biohazard, Lamb
of God, and more.
What do you hope
to achieve in music?
World-wide
domination wherever metal and hardcore is welcomed. We
want our political and social messages to be heard, and we want continued
growth of our fanbase. I personally want to tour some places I have yet to
including Argentina, Chile, Japan, Australia, Ireland, and others.
What has been
the highlight of your career so far, and why?
It's
a difficult question to answer about the highlights, as I've been playing in
bands for over 20 years and it's been it's been quite a journey.
It's
a difficult form of music to be involved in.
The
business behind the scenes is difficult but that what we've done together with
the band has been outstanding and the reception from our fans has been really
good, especially in the beginning and now again that Endrah is back to
business.
The reception
has just been really overwhelming and the fans are a big big highlight within
themselves.
My
experience with the fans of Endrah has been a highlight. I
had not experienced the love of the fans to that level before with my other
projects.
As
far as the Endrah shows go, probably the most memorable show was in
Salvador last year during the Carnaval where Endrah headlined in
front of around 5,000 people. We headlined the festival of 40 bands over four
days that was quite amazing.
We
got there early and went to the beach where the festival was and fans were out
drinking pinga, which is a liquor made with sugarcane, at
about noon and we played at 10 o'clock that night and all
the same kids were there going crazy at the show.
The
military police had to step into the mosh pit because it got so wild.
That
was pretty awesome and it was also our first show with our drummer Bruno and
that morning was his first flight he ever taken in his life.
He
was going to his first big show and to be drummer in his favorite band; that
was pretty awesome to be a part of that.
Other
highlights include going to New York to meet Billy Graziadei and record with
him when he was in the band. I also got to do some vocals for biohazard and
they invited me to sing back ups on the biohazard song Set Me Free.
And what’s the
moment you want to forget?
There
are many moments I want to forget about my career but the good ones outweigh
the bad ones and I wouldn't be who I am or where I am today without the journey
that I took.
It's
difficult being in our generation where Napster came and then all the subsequent
streaming services took over and just the change in the industry between where
you used to be with record stores where people really saved up and spent money,
read lyrics, wanted to be more involved with the bands and the bands were held
at a higher esteem.
Along
came bigger fame and just clout, and even maybe power as far being able to
present a message to many people.
It's
been a lot harder in that sense and some of that's difficult to process.
I'm
looking back but other than that it's just mainly bad travel times and injuries
to myself and my bandmates that stand out.
If you had to
pick just one of your songs to represent your music, what would it be and why?
It is a good question as I think the overall theme of Endrah was kind of
a mix between revenge and common sense living.
So
therefore I think our song, You're The Hunted Now might be a good example.
That
song represents what happened to somebody who thinks they're untouchable and
learns to find out that they are very touchable and they can be found.
There's
always ways get anybody, so always watch what you do and who you burn. You should
always make sure that you don't hurt the wrong people because there's always a
way to get you.
If
you mess with Endrah, we will find you. Let's join together instead.
Anything else you’d like to say
about your band/music that I forgot to ask?
Endrah is
a real band. Endrah is a band that is not about fantasy and dragons
and dungeons.
We
are not represented by a bunch of little skinny nerds that couldn't actually
back up their words.
This
band includes MMA fighters, black belt fighters and jujitsu and muay thai
boxers. We have skills in wrestling, submission, and boxing there's a lot
of that the guys do behind-the-scenes.
Training
is just part of life but this is a band that can back their stuff and it's a
little different than many of the heavy bands out there.
Almost
all in that sense of the hard-core, death metal, deathcore, metalcore
sub-genres.
What
we want most is for you guys to be a part of it and we want to build this up we
want you to like us on our Endrah Facebook and follow us on the other
social media pages. We are trying to open eyes, and we want you to be a part of
it.
Share
our page and posts, start to make a change today.
Your names: Dylan (Lead Guitar) Declan (Rhythm Guitar) Tom (Vocals)
Where are you from? The wonderful town of Perth, WA.
Name of band:
PATIENT SIXTY-SEVEN.
Who else is in your band? Dylan: Jean-Luc Maitre, Jarryd Ralph, Declan Le Tessier, Tom Kiely and myself.
How would you describe yourselves? Tom: If I had to pin it down to one genre, I’d say post-apolyptic lounge-core. Dylan: We are a metalcore/post-hardcore act. Our music also lays in electronic elements. Declan: A bunch of friends who all share a great passion for music and have come together to form as P67. We've found, as we gel well, that we work nicely together when it comes to blending ideas.
Who are your main influences musically? Dylan: Our main influences are bands such as Thy Art Is Murder, Parkway Drive, Confession, Buried in Verona, Woe Is Me, I Killed The Prom Queen, In Hearts Wake, Miss Fortune, Northern Lights, Through Arteries, The Devil Wears Prada and Emmure. Declan: Myself would be a lot of metalcore influence so the likes of As I Lay Dying, All That Remains, I Killed The Prom Queen, Emmure etc. As each band member comes from a different sort of heavy background its great to see the genre that will become of that as we are discovering our sound. Tom: Aside from these heavier acts, everyone in the band listens to something different. Rap, punk, electronic -it all differs which I think is really cool.
What do you hope to achieve in music? Dylan: We hope to create music people enjoy and relate to. We want the themes in our songs to connect on a personal level with people. Tom: And just to be the best that we can. And having fun while we’re at it, I guess at the end of the day - that’s what it’s all about, doing what you love. What has been the highlight of your career so far, and why? Dylan: Seeing the band grown in such a short amount of time has been the highlight. The ongoing support from our fans at the shows and online have really made us stronger as a band. Declan: Ahh, it's hard to name one exact moment of course, I mean putting out the EP last year was a huge thing for us. But the highlight i would say was probably the EP launch show we played. The atmosphere was unreal and the turnout was incredible.
Tom: Seconded, our EP launch for ‘Imbalance' was a show we’ll never forget.
And what’s the moment you want to forget? Dylan: When my guitar plunged to the ground at the Rosemount hotel. Tom: When things just all go wrong at once, it just happens haha!
If you had to pick just one of your songs to represent your music, what would it be and why? Declan: For me, I would say our song 'I Can Resist Anything, Except Temptation'. Lyrically, I feel, it's one of our more meaningful songs definitely. It was nice to hear that some people could relate. Also, I feel it is a little more technical, and that progression is fun for me. Dylan: Gustavo Bling. It was our first single and is as bouncy as a trampoline. Tom: The title track to our EP means a lot to me, it’s just really about picking yourself up and moving forward when things get hard, which I think everyone can relate to at one point or another. It’s also a lot of fun to play live!
Anything else you’d like to say about your band/music that I forgot to ask? Dylan: Make sure you check out our facebook pages for any news or shows. Tom: Thanks as always for all the support!
Where are you from?We hail from Gananoque, Ontario.
Name of band: This Burning City.
Who else is in your band? Steven Harnden (vocals), Jacob Harnden (guitar), Mitchell Ferguson (guitar) and Jarrett Montgomery (drums).
How would you describe yourselves? We're an alternative hardcore band blending heavy, low-end sounds and smashing them together with chaotic, dirty high-end sounds. Then we call it music. Occasionally we toss in some melodic singing. Who are your main influences musically? Our main influences are Dead and Divine, Ritual, Stray from the Path, The Chariot and Of Temples. What do you hope to achieve in music? We don't really have a goal or a direction. We just do what we like to do and hope other people like what they hear. We went on tour this year and that was a big step for us and it was a huge moment. We take it one day at a time and see how it goes.
What has been the highlight of your career so far, and why? Two major highlights for us. The first being that we got to open for Ritual. Ritual is a huge influence for us and it meant the world to finally be able to play on the same stage as them. The second being our first tour. We toured with our good good friends in Walls Of Troy and got to check out all these cool venues and meet a lot of fun people. The shows weren't sold out by any means, but the people that were there had a great time with us.
And what’s the moment you want to forget? The time Mitch broke his knee on stage. Halfway through the first song on our set while we were opening for He Is Legend, Mitchell's knee pops out and he drops. He finishes the song but was rushed to the hospital right after. It was unfortunate but he made an all right recovery. If you had to pick just one of your songs to represent your music, what would it be and why? Personally I'd say Feed The Machine. Feed the Machine has our heavy elements mixed in with some interesting riffs. It's a cool mix up and I think it truly represents our music. Plus Steve has an insane range of screaming in that song. Where can we listen to it? www.thisburningcity.bandcamp.com
UK metalcore band An Elegy will release their debut EP Embrace The Rain on July 27th with their new single Ghost out today. And the five-piece from across Coventry and Birmingham hope it will help pull them from their day jobs and on to something better. Guitarist Suraj Mann told RealSoundsOK: "We just want to tour. The idea of being able to wake up in a different city every day, playing the music we love and bringing as many of our mates along with us is what gets us through each day. "Making coffee for Starbucks, building seats for Jaguar, working for a small business, in maintenance or spending each day at school are not the lives we want to be living right now. "We want to be able to make this dream a reality. We have been sat on this band for the last year, perfecting every little aspect of what we have prepared." That time was the year spent in a Birmingham rehearsal room writing and recording their debut release. The band - completed by Sam Appleyard (vox), Adam Walker (bass), Kieran Shaw (guitar) and Stephan Gardner-Bushell (drums) - draw inspiration from the likes of Slipknot and Linkin Park as well as the less grime and acoustic artists. Their debut single Ghost is out today, so head over to facebook.com/anelegy or twitter.com/anelegyuk to check it out. EDIT: You can watch it below now.
André Lopes (vox),Edgar Fernandes (bass), Vitor Parreira (guitar) and Valente
Fagundes (drums on this cd). The new drummer will be announced soon.
How would you describe yourselves?
We’re ambitious and work as
hard as we can most of the time. Because of our complicated location we embrace
pretty much everything that crosses our path.
Who are your main influences musically?
We all have different influences, but as a
group these are pretty accurate: Killswitch Engage, The Sorrow, As I Lay Dying
and Bullet for My Valentine.
What do you hope to achieve in music?
We hope to keep writing, playing and
recording songs for as long as we can while meeting new people and sharing
stages with other bands.
What has been the highlight of your career so far, and
why?
Everything
we’ve done until now is very important to us but I would like to highlight the
recording of our debut EP throughout 2014 and its release by the end of the
same year., because it was like a bucket list objective for some of us and
something we’ll never forget.
And what’s the moment you want to forget?
None. We’ve been fortunate so
far.
If you had to pick just one of your songs to represent
your music, what would it be and why?
The
second track from Debt of Words, Salvation, that kicks in after the
instrumental intro. I could choose any other song from our EP but I think this
one sets the mood for what is yet to come along the way, not only throughout
the record but also concerning every aspect we incorporate in all of our songs.
UK metalcore band Prolong The Agony have released the video for their track Dead Dreams. It is taken from their upcoming EP All We Are, out on In At The Deep End Records on April 20th. Vocalist Lawrence Welling told RealSoundsOK: "We're extremely pleased to release our video for Dead Dreams. We've put our lives into [the EP] and couldn't be happier, so make sure you check it out." You can order the CD from here and for more on the band visit facebook.com/prolongtheagony
NOISY boys Palm Reader have joined up with In At The Deep End Records and announced their album Beside The Ones We Love will be released on April 6th. To celebrate, the Woking band have offered us new track By The Ground, We're Defined. Palm Reader told RealSoundsOK: "We're more delighted than you could ever imagine to confirm the release of Beside The Ones We Love. We've been working solidly on this record for the last 18 months of our lives. It's unquestionably the most solid body of work we've recorded.
"Signing to In At The Deep End Records is huge for us. A label that has launched the careers of band's such as Gallows, November Coming Fire and Architects is a dream home for us to launch ourselves from."
You can watch the video for By The Ground, We're Defined below and for more on the band visit facebook.com/wearepalmreader
POST-hardcore band Arizona will self-release their debut EP The Hunter, The Gatherer on October 20th. The Essex quintet made a name for themselves through BBC Introducing in their home county after it showcased their first singles. Frontman Jacob told RealSoundsOK: "The next year is hopefully going to be a busy one for us. "We are well into writing for our full-length debut and I don't think we will stop until that has been torn apart and meticulously analysed from every angle. "Festival season next year is certainly something we're excited to hit and just look forward to branching out after the release of the EP." You can listen to the single Black Hart below and if you like what you hear find out more at facebook.com/ArizonaUK
2015's Time And Trauma was perhaps their best in recent times with some absolute belters, the title track among them.
They play new songs like Wars To Walk Away From and Better To Burn along with oldies such as At The End Of August and Bloodwork.
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