Darko from UK are back with their conceptual ride in new effort called Canvas. These guys have always been purveyors of fresh melodic hardcore combined with skatepunk and melodic punk influences but with all ferocity and groove of harsh riffs topped with superb harmonies and great vocal lines. New one is like that, seven songs of high energy bomb. Album starts with post punk calmness in Grey Havens but continues with bomb after bomb. There is also a combination of harsh growls and screaming vocals in Hectic which adds to variety of material on this album. My personal favorites are more melodic driven hardcore punk songs like finisher AUX III and Dared To Dream but I must also refer to title track which is one of the standouts on this album. I haven’t seen these guys play live for some time now, but I am sure that the new material from this record fits perfectly to the energy that this band always delivers from stage. Great album for lovers of more technical side of melodic skatepunk and hardcore. 9/10
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(gig report) SLAPSHOT – 02 07 2025 – Vintage Industrial Bar Zagreb
Sinoć smo pohodili Vintage Industrial u Zagrebu kako bismo po zadnji put vidjeli uživo hardcore legende Slapshot iz Bostona. Nije bilo baš previše ljudi, pomalo zahvaljujući tome da je bilo i drugih koncerata taj dan u Zagrebu, bila je sredina tjedna i vrućina i tako dalje. No, bilo je sasvim zadovoljavajući broj ljudi da ne bude gužva i da se ne guramo haha. Koncert je bio predviđen za 21 15, nije bilo predgrupa, pa smo taman ušli u Vintage kada je Slapshot počinjao sa svirkom. Odmah su krenuli u glavu sa hitovima No Friend Of Mine, Watch Me Bleed i I Told You So. Choke je karizmatičan frontman i legenda hardcore scene i bilo ga je pravo zadovoljstvo gledati kako vlada binom, uz poneku duhovitu i sarkastičnu opasku, iako je napunio 62 godine života. Ovo je inače bendu zadnja turneja, pošto, kako je Choke rekao, nakon 2025.više neće postojati. Uz Chokea, dugogodišnji basist Ryan Packer je također impozantna pojava na bini, uz omanjeg, ali odličnog gitarista i nabrijanog bubnjara. Kreću dalje sa I’ve Had Enough, obradom Big Mouth koja me jako razveselila, jer prethodnih dva puta kako sam ih gledao nije bila na setlisti. Redaju se hitovi kao No Time Left, Firewalker, Old Tyme Hardcore, What’s At Stake. Iznenadilo me ugodno da su u set ubacili Say Goodbye koju do sada nisam čuo kako je izvode uživo, a meni je vrlo draga stvar. Kraj je prebrzo došao nakon kojih 50-ak minuta odsvirali su za kraj Back On The Map, Chip On My Shoulder, Step On It i neizostavnu zadnju himnu Hang Up Your Boots. Nije bilo previše slemanja i poga, ali publika je imala dobar kontakt s energijom koju je bend prštao s bine. Povukli su se nakratko i vratili na bis i iznenadili me obradom Chokeovog starog benda/projekta Stars And Stripes i to himnom Shaved For Battle. Još su za kraj otprašili obradu GG Allina You Hate Me & I Hate You i to je bilo to. Hvala Slapshot i Choke na svim ovim godinama u kojima ste zavladali našim hardcore srcima. Sretno momci i hvala na hardcore energiji.
(review) Dutch Nuggets – Fishbowl’d (Thousand Islands Records)
Dutch Nuggets are coming from Montreal, Canada and this is their long awaited second album. What do we get here? Well, we get 12 songs of excellent melodic hardcore punk. The music is cleverly written, enough technical to appease fans of more technical side of skatepunk, but also retaining that old school nineties vibe and atmosphere in the song structures. We have been waiting for over a decade for this one and it was worth it. Songs are fast and driving, vocals are excellent also backing vocal harmonies deliver mighty combination, which is very important in this kind of music. The whole album reminds me a lot of Croatian band called Kriva Istina. Lyrics are personal, yet engaged politically, but I think everyone can relate to somehow. It is hard to highlight some songs as favorites, but to me they are Ignorance Is Bliss, Catharsis and Dead-Tired. Great album and great band, I totally recommend this one!


