Purification begins rehearsing new material

From Monster:

For the ones interested, Purification will start rehearsing new material during the upcoming weeks.

The new material will be posted "exclusively" on the myspace's tribute page.

More news to follow

Purification on Myspace

Martyr AD - the demos

As one of the people that's been obsessed with all things Disembodied/Martyr AD for a number of years, I have always desired to know more about the 2002 Demo that has been floating around the internet for a number of years now. I emailed Tara to see what the scoop is, and if there were any other demos. Then when I woke up this morning before work, I had an email from Joel in my inbox containing ALL of the various Martyr AD demos. Suffice to say, I was pretty excited, and I'm really happy that they're letting us push them out to the world semi-officially. Joel had also made digital covers of the demos, which is great for all of us completists out there.

First up is a Human Condition pre-production demo. It has 9 songs, and was recorded live at their practice space to 4 track. There are some minor differences in some of the songs, but you'll notice that a decent amount of lyrics and vocal patterns are different.

Martyr AD - Human Condition demo [2000]
http://www.mediafire.com/?nbdimqeyqhq

Next up is the demo from 2002. This was the last recording with Mike Fisketti on vocals. It contains two finished songs that were later re-recorded for On Earth As It Is In Hell, and two unfinished songs that never had vocals recorded, and have never seen the light of day until now. It was recorded in a legit studio, and featured Jared from 7 Angels 7 Plagues on drums, hence the title of "Jared Demo".

Martyr AD - Jared Demo [2002]
http://www.mediafire.com/?9kn5r5aq0ytygr7

And finally there's the Summer '03 Demo, which was recorded in the early stages of the second Martyr AD lineup. It features 5 songs in total, and much like the Human Condition demo, it was recorded live at the practice space to a 4 track.

Martyr AD - Summer '03 Demo
 http://www.mediafire.com/?79fhbdxktk0bnda

There you have it. All of the Martyr AD demos. Enjoy!

Label Spotlight: Surprise Attack Records (SA Mob)

If you've followed us since we changed formats, one thing I've (Chip) made clear is my love for EMS and Brother's Keeper. Always a band that was out doing something different, they were definately a band that you either loved or hated. They were one I loved and were always extremely friendly and generous, taking my old band out on tour a few times. Through this relationship, EMS's label, Surprise Attack Records, asked to put out my next band All Hell Breaks Loose and for this I am grateful. Always hardworking and always out to make sure the bands are not getting ripped off, EMS runs one of the best DIY hardcore labels in the US.
Since the start of a zine called Surprise Attack, EMS has always kept a grass roots approach to the zine and label, making very little for himself and always putting 100% back into the label. He started off with a 7 inch from Outcome and then hooked up with Erie, PA legends xDisciplex. This really got the ball rolling and he eventually released the Erie Scene Report comp as well as the Transformers loving Shockwave 7 inch/cassette. Through constant touring with Brother's Keeper, the label was able to reach a wider fan base and EMS was able to release records from foreign bands such as Coming of the New Messiah and ShotPointBlank. Never afraid to take a chance, he has released records for Japan's Loyal to the Grave and Belgium's Rise And Fall (before they signed with Deathwish). A constant supporter of all things local, Eric released the demo for Erie's Problem Solver Revolver as well as a 7 inch for his own band, Brother's Keeper.
Over the last couple of years, SA Mob has released records for Prayer For Cleansing, Die Young, Where It Ends, Seven Generations, and When Tigers Fight. Also he will be releasing the Unrestrained (Justin's band) 7 inch soon. Eric also recently purchased Forward Hall in Erie, PA. and continues to have all ages shows there, continues to play music in Smoke and Mirrors, and co-owns Ink Assassin Tattoos and Piercings in Erie (busy guy). I'm glad to have worked with him and I hope he continues to release records he likes and support the bands that are out there, working hard.

For more information, check out the Surprise Attack Records website for more info as well as the store for huge distro as well as all the SA Mob releases.

European Hardcore in the 90s

Within the last year, Ive been going back and re-discovering a lot of 90s European hardcore bands that I had either never heard or hadnt heard in a long time. Honestly, Im so glad I did because there were so many good bands to come out of Germany, Poland, Italy, Sweden and especially the Belgium H8000 scene. Many of the bands were disregarded by US hardcore kids are knockoffs of Morning Again, Culture or Earth Crisis but hey so were lots of the American bands. The first band I remember that kids over here went nuts over was Refused from Sweden. Of course there had been others but Refused really stuck out in my mind as doing something different and unique. They also were one of the first bands to really blow up the Umea scene along with Final Exit, Abhinanda, and Doughnuts...check my past write up for more in depth info. Another important band was Arkangel. Regardless of how you feel about their politics and life choices, "Dead Man Walking" still slays, even 10 years later. John Wylie got the record in his distro and he couldnt keep them in stock. Every show he would sell like 10 copies of it, a pretty amazing feat for a band at the time that wasnt on Victory or Revelation (just for example). Some more notables were Congress, Liar, Purification, Lifeforce, Regression, Shortsight, Length of Time, Kindred, Blindfold, Spawn and Shorebreak.
I also stumbled across 2 very informative blogs that cover the H8000 scene of the past and are well worth checking out so please do. I know my knowledge of the European scene is pretty limited so feel free to comment and add to this.

Flanders Fury (great info on different records from Europe as well the US)

http://flandersfury.blogspot.com/

H8000 Central (THE place for info on the H8000 scene of the 90s)

http://h8000central.blogspot.com/

Paid In Blood - Demo

As requested, heres the demo from Atlanta's Paid In Blood. 3 songs of fast heavy hardcore. Pretty sure this was released in 2003. Atlanta's Foundation actually covered a song from this demo on their split with Meantime. You can order the 7 inch here

*NEW LINK*

Paid In Blood - Demo

Heckle - The Complicated Futility of Ignorance

Someone requested this and I forgot to post it. Great band from New Jersey that played fast melodic, punk hardcore. This was originally released in 1997.

Heckle - The Complicated Futility of Ignorance

http://www.mediafire.com/?zykommlynkr

Casey Jones' Case Against Lost and Found Records

Love them or hate them, LOST AND FOUND put out some crucial records in the 90's. I got this little tract in a copy of the Bloodlet live 7" (which justin is supposed to rip for us). It's nothing new, but i have never seen it in this form; a small pamphlet that looks like it would be telling us about the evils of sin, and not the evils of a German record label.

Falling Forward Interview: Rumpshaker #3 1995

Here's an interview with Louisville's Falling Forward from Rumpshaker #3, one of the best zines to ever grace the hardcore world. Eric, if you want me to take this down, just message me and I will do so.

Big Frank Harrison's post-Carry Nation band ear2ear

Here's a xStuck In The Pastx exclusive for ya - a 4 song demo by Big Frank Harrison's post-Carry Nation band ear2ear. Frank sent me these songs last night and asked that I post 'em on here, so here they are. It's pretty heavy stuff to say the very least. According to Frank, these songs were recorded in 2 hours about 5 years ago and the band played live for about a year. Enjoy.

http://www.mediafire.com/?xi2nqjuy4xm

Mike Hartsfield lets one out of the vault

From Hartsfield's music Myspace blog:

Ok, just found this jem in the garage in a box.

In 1991 John Coyle moved to San Francisco and left Outspoken with a big decision to deal with. Were we going to deal with flying John down/to every show we were set to play or find a new vocalist? Well, the first idea that came up was to find a new guitar player and have myself move to vocals. At band practice it seemed to sound pretty good but the real test would be in the studio.

"Nothing Left" was recorded during the Solitude demo session in Riverside CA sometime in 1991. The song features Dennis Remsing on the drums and myself doing the guitar, bass and vocals. After hearing the final results I HATED the sound of my own voice so it was shelved for almost 20 years. Enjoy...

http://www.myspace.com/mikehartsfieldmusicpage