(book) Harley Flanagan – Hardcore Life Of My Own

Well, there is is. Finally. I remember when I interviewed Zach from Pears five years ago, he told me that Harley Flanagan is genuine epitome of hardcore punk, one of the rare guys that lived through all that he sang about and still sings about. I love Cro-Mags, their first two albums (Age of Quarrel and Best Wishes are an unavoidable milestones of NYHC). I remember when I first saw that video for We Gotta Know, I was scared of this beast of bass player, tattooed and vicious skinhead. I eagerly sought for this book until I finally obtained it and now it is a proud part of my collection and probably one of the top three books I have read this year.

Harley is, like Vinnie Stigma, Jimmy Gestapo, Roger Miret, Raybeez and couple of other guys, true O.G. of NYHC, founder of Cro-Mags and this book says it all, from his childhood and drumming as a 12 year old for his aunt´s punk band Stimulators, across founding Cro-Mags and all the battles and fights, early NY skinheads, founding of the scene and all the stories. But, what fascinates the most are stories about all the fights, drug abuse, Lower East Side and all the dirty mischief Harley has been through and I am sure he would have at least one more book to tell about all of the misadventures and literally blood, sweat, drugs and beatings.

This book is a punch in your face, hardcore and street punk tour de force. I recommend it to all hardcore people throughout the world.

(review) Tenebrositas – The Night The Castles Were Burned

I once visited Požega, Croatia in December and it was magic. All those woods, a kind of sinister atmosphere, some invisible spirit of old in the air. Well, Kktz, veteran and legend of Croatian underground scene delivered another release with his black metal entity Tenebrositas. This time, significant news is that on this release Tenebrositas is a duo with Kktz handling vox. guitars and bass and O. handling drums and production. This is in fact one epic tale, song of just under fifteen minutes which indicates a bit of new path for Tenebrositas. It is still fast and raw almost hypnotic black metal with repetitive melody on guitar that kind of rolls through all song parts reappearing again and again. Atmosphere is dark yet fighting, victorious and persisting that dark hordes will prevail one day. Vocals are fantastic as always but this time Kktz tried some new things, by this I don’t mean clean singing but a bit more following guitar melody and melancholy with his shrieks. I love how the opus kind of slows down almost doomy towards the end but then wakes up to promise us another battle. This is in my opinion best Tenebrositas yet, I follow this entity for years in my zine. Recommendation.

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