Stampin' Ground - s/t MCD

Formed in 1995 and quitting in 2006, Stampin' Ground was one of the biggest UK metalcore bands, not to mention one of the best metalcore bands to come out of the UK period, or even Europe as a whole IMHO. Their self-titled MCD on We Bite Records from 1996 compiles the first 2 7"s of this band, the 'Dawn Of Night' 7" on Days Of Fury Records and the 'Starved' 7" on Too Damn Hype Records. Both these 7"s were recorded at the same recording session in late 1995, and the 7"s were released in 1996. Great stuff. On these releases, they were still more on the hardcore side of things, the metal influences took over more and more on their later releases. After these 7"s they did a number of releases, all of which are great. Their best release in my opinion was the 'Carved From Empty Wounds' album from 2000, that one is absolutely vicious, and comes highly recommended, tho really all of their output does. Anyways, as I also own both 7"s, I've included scans of the 7"s as well with the download. Check out this band if you haven't done so already.

As a side-note, for those who are interested in the origins of UK punk & hardcore, Stampin' Ground's bass-player Ian Glasper has written 3 books about the UK (anarcho) punk and hardcore history, 'Burning Britain - A History Of UK Punk 1980 to 1984', 'The Day The Country Died: A History Of Anarcho Punk 1980 To 1984' and 'Trapped In A Scene: UK Hardcore 1985-1989'. Check those out as well.

Here's a cool video from that time about a Stampin' Ground roadtrip to Belgium's Goodlife fest '97:


Stampin' Ground - s/t MCD

U.K.H.C. - A Compilation (1997)

'U.K.H.C. - A Compilation', as the name suggests, is a compilation CD promoting the British HC scene. Released in 1997 on Household Name Records, it features 15 bands from all over the UK, with most bands doing 2 songs. Some of the bands on here are Stampin' Ground (who do an Inside Out cover on here, 'By A Thread'), Knuckledust, Ninebar (who had just formed a few months before recording their tracks for this compilation), Imbalance, Freebase, Consume (great hardcore from Northern Ireland) and Medulla Nocte. Overall a sweet compilation with a bunch of early recordings of some great UKHC bands. I picked up this CD at the All Ages Records store in Camden, London a few years ago. This independent punk/hardcore record store was co-founded by Lil & Katherine, the people behind Household Name Records (they're not involved with the store anymore tho). Which reminds me: support independent record stores, they're a dying breed unfortunately.

U.K.H.C. - A Compilation