Category Archives: Reviews

(record review)HELL NIGHT/SWEAT SHOPPE-“Split”(Encapsulated Records)

June 17, 2018 vladkraykulla Leave a comment

Encapsulated Records brings us a split record by Hell Night and Sweat Shoppe, two bands from St Louis, USA.

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This is a split e.p. so one band´s songs are per one side of the record. Hell Night are formed in 2014.and they play an interesting mixture of hardcore, thrash metal and new wave. Since 2016.the vocalist of this band is none other than Brian Fair, known as a singer of Shadows Fall and Overcast. The two songs represented on this record by Hell Night are brutal, gritty, with screamed vocals and in your face attitude. I loved “Unincorporated” and “Overburden” both a lot, with bass being very strong in the forefront, or is it just me?

Sweat Shoppe is also from St Louis and were formed in late 2015. This band is made of members well known in the underground scene, who played in Ultraman, The Horror Section or The Disappeared to name a few. Those three songs represented on this record are short, in your face punkrock energy bombs and I can say that I liked Sweat Shoppe side of the record a bit more than Hell Night, but it is an awesome release.

Links- Bandcamp:

https://hellnightstl.bandcamp.com/

https://encapsulatedrecords.bandcamp.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/encapsulatedrecords/

https://www.facebook.com/sweatshoppemusic/

Reviews, Various

(record review)HUMMER-“Budweiser and Butter”(Horn and Hoof Records)

June 16, 2018 vladkraykulla Leave a comment

Hummer is a punkrock trio from UK, this is their second e.p. that came out on mighty Horn and Hoof Records, so I listened to the record and reviewed it for this webzine. I love discovering new bands that I hadn´t heard before!

“Budweiser and Butter” is the second e.p. from Hummer, following up on 2016’s “Work.Home.Bed”. This record contains 8 songs of excellent melodic punkrock played with heart and soul. If I must compare this band to someone I could draw some The Menzingers and The Lawrence Arms paralels. Bassist Will Atkinson and guitarist Joe Watson interplay on dual vocals just great, one delivering a bit harsher voice and the other one being a bit more melodic, not to mention excellent backing vocals meaning heavenly harmonies on anthemic choruses made for humming the whole day long. The lyrics are personal and with a lot of emotions lying behind the meanings of the songs, I love punkrock with emotions in the songs, so you can just feel the warmth, sadness, happiness and find yourself in the beautiful songs. Until recently, I only liked the faster more straightforward stuff, but in the last couple of years I started to love and found myself in emotional punkrock melodies. I love this record! Show some love and drop some lines to the band I just know it would mean a lot to them! Listen their music and hear the melodies and hear the emotions! Top songs: “Turpentine”, “Stone Cold Wasted”.

9/10

Follow Hummer on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hummerpunkrock/

Horn and Hoof Records on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hornandhoofrecords/

Bandcamp: https://hornhoofrecords.bandcamp.com/album/budweiser-and-butter

Reviews, Various

(record review)MADBALL-“For the Cause”(Nuclear Blast)

June 15, 2018 vladkraykulla Leave a comment

New York hardcore legends Madball just dropped their new full length studio effort via Nuclear Blast. I listened to the new record and reviewed it for this webzine.

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I saw Madball playing live at Punk Rock Holiday festival last Summer in Slovenia and they were awesome, true hardcore energy that could be felt around during their live set was immense and wicked. This record was marked by the absence of long time guitarist Mitts and in his place old time friend and once guitarist Matt Henderson recorded the guitars. Under Tue Madsen doing the mix and mastering and Tim Armstrong who joined forces with the singer Freddy Cricien productionwise, this record was bound to be great. The record contains 12 songs. Besides tried Madball classic sounding songs like “Smile Now Pay Later” or “Old Fashioned” there are couple of songs that stand out and make this album awesome. The first is “Rev Up”, a true hardcore anthem for 21st century with Freddy singing the melodic parts and sounding truely awesome. There are some guest appearances on the record and Ice-T adds coolness and charisma to “Evil Ways”. I love “Lone Wolf” because it is the song and lyrics that I can make the most relation to on this record. Tim Armstrong of Operation Ivy/Rancid fame co produced the record and adds guest vocals on “The Fog”. This is a full blooded punkrock song with some interesting breaks and guitar solo thrown in for good measure. Of course, there would be one song in Spanish, this time “Es Tu Vida” with heavy stomping breaks and hardcore streetwise vibe. “For You” is the most emotional song on this album and it brought tears to my eyes because I remembered my sister and all the other brothers and sisters from the scene no longer with us. For me this song is the best on this album and it makes me going strong and carry on after almost a quarter of century in this scene. The title track is a piece of hardcore history itself. This is a strong album, the material on this album is definitely one of the candidates for hardcore album of the year!

10/10