Victory Records used to stand for brutal and also metalic sounding hardcore bands when I was a kid growing up in the mid 90-ies. They released records from some really awesome bands that were ahead of their time like Earth Crisis, Snapcase, Strife… Today, Victory continues to carry on their own path, releasing interesting bands from the underground, maybe not all hardcore, but they kept their hardcore roots and expanded to more musically varied style remaining in the underground.
Broadside are hailing from Richmond, USA and this is their brand new seven inch single containing two songs. The music of these guys could be categorized as pop/punkrock. Empty is a gentle song, just made for daydreaming and carries in itself a haunted melody that somehow stays with you all through the day never leaving your ear. It is pretty atmospheric song. King Of Nothing is a bit harder song, carrying more punkrock and even melodic hardcore elements in the song structure. Back then 20 years ago, I would say, geet ouut and only laughed at this music being ignorant hardcore kid growing up. Now in my 40-ies, I love this one. Well written, well played and it is really a pleasure having listening to this fine record. Get your copy!
Dutch melodic punkrockers Ink Bomb just released their new single called Griefwalker. The song is taken from the forthcoming debut album Fiction, scheduled to come out on August 23.
Weird song structure
Griefwalker is a perfect sneak preview of Fiction. “Griefwalker has that typical skate punk sound we are known for but also features a weird song structure and some complex drum rhythms you wouldn’t normally find in a punk rock song clocking in under two minutes”, bass player Arina Banga explains.
Fear of dying
“The name of the song is derived from a 2008 Canadian documentary”, clarifies singer Joost Hoedemaeckers. “It’s basically a thought experiment on the collective human fear of dying. Why are we afraid to die? Griefwalker is about the notion that we shouldn’t be afraid of death but live with it. Walk alongside death or accept help in confronting it.”
Revisiting soundcheck drums
“The funny thing about this song is that our drummer Paul van de Geijn wrote most of his parts while I was doing the soundcheck for the Swim EP”, says guitarist Quirijn Foeken, who recorded and produced the entire record. “When we started writing Fiction, the first thing is we did is revisit those drums because there was a really cool song hidden there”.
Griefwalker is available on Youtube, Spotify, iTunes and other streaming services.More information is available on https://www.inkbomb.nl
Ink Bomb is a Dutch punk rock band that has made quite a splash since its inception in 2015. After the release of their debut EP Invincible Summer in 2016, the band found its way to a lot of stages in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and the United Kingdom. Ink Bomb released their second EP Swim in November 2017 and received great reviews in magazines from Japan, to Germany and Croatia. With the release of their debut album Fiction this August, they are going to conquer more heart and souls all over the world in 2019.
Their songs, reminiscent of Bad Religion and No Fun At All, reflect the journey each band member made in their life, and the journey the band made as a whole. Even in the most upbeat happy pop punk song, there’s room for melancholy and dark lyrics.
Italy never ceases to amaze with the underground hardcore punk scene over there. This time I listened and reviewed for our zine the new Amalia Bloom record.
These guys are hailing from Vicenza, Italy and are playing melodic hardcore punk with post hardcore and some screamo influences. The new record was a process of two years in writing and recording, but finally here it is and it contains 8 songs. Chiaroscuro is a fine miniature that serves as a kind of intro to the record. The whole album can be categorized as a concept album with the story evolving around one boy and his journey through his consciousness and imagination, thus trying to discover the secrets of life, death, existence and avoid personal demons. The music is sometimes melodic Cali punk style, but soon evolves into noise parts, then succumbing into brutal screaming parts, yet to return again as deeply emotional singing and melodies, that makes it original and great journey for the ears and mind of the listener. I listened to this album on a quiet Saturday sunny morning, being home alone and I just closed my eyes and let the music take me to the other places, becoming in a way that boy from the lyrical side that this record tries to tell with the music and texts. This is a great one, just showing how hardcore can be both diverse and original and that is the beauty of it all.
KRAYKULLA-WEBZINE 