Tag Archives: hardcore punk

Our Darkest Days joined Thousand Islands Records, watch the video for new single When Dust Settles!

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Quebec City veteran punk rockers Our Darkest Days are thrilled to announce that they have joined the ranks of Thousand Islands Records. A new album is in the works and will see the light of day next year, serving as a follow up to “A Common Agony”, released in 2016.

To pair with the announcement, Our Darkest Days has unleashed a video of a brand new single “When Dust Settles”, a first song that put on display how fast, technical and shredding the new album will sound like. You can watch the video below.

“When Dust Settles” will be available via all digital platforms on December 13th. Spotify Pre-Save available HERE.

About Our Darkest Days:

Our Darkest Days is a fast Canadian melodic/skatepunk band formed in Quebec City in 2012, by former members and old friends, singer Vince Fournier, guitarist Dann Greene, guitarist Russ Almond and drummer Matt Leclerc. Bassist Jam Gosselin joined the next year. Most of the members have been around playing punk rock fury for about 20 years, and still keep their flame as strong as always. After years of work, Matt Leclerc has been replaced by new drummer Guillaume Fortin in 2015 who increased the songs speed, and Russ replaced by Claude Plamondon who left in 2016. The line up was finally completed by the missing piece of the puzzle John Leblanc, who joined later in the same year.

By working and playing with music, they defined a unique and original sound that would stand apart among any other bands. However, they’ve been influenced a lot by 90’s punk rock bands such as Ignite, Propagandhi, Lagwagon, Good Riddance, Strung Out etc. Their first demo was released in 2013, followed by a split in Fall 2014 with Set It Back. They played several shows in Eastern Canada.

After two years of live performance, they moved forward to a new writing process and entered studio for their first full length “A Common Agony”, with Fréquences Productions (Pierre Lemire & Michael Fontaine) with mastering done by Daryl Phenneger. The album is fueled with thirteen mindblowing tracks, and a very energic and technical “unleash the beast” sound with fast drums, solid bass and guitar riffs, flawless pickings and solos, powerful and harmonious vocal melodies, many sudden stops, and an instant ear-catching throughout the whole album that leaves you wanting more. “A Common Agony” was released in November 2016. Two music videos for songs off of that album saw light of day, “The Burden Of My Sins” (ft. Michel Garcia from FORUS) and “Ceaseless”.

In late 2019, Montreal-based independent record label, Thousand Islands Record, announced the addition of Our Darkest Days to its roster, with the initial details about a new album coming out in 2020 revealed.

Our Darkest Days: Facebook | Spotify | Youtube | Instagram

Thousand Islands Records: Website

(review)AGNOSTIC FRONT-Get Loud(Nuclear Blast)

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NYHC legends Agnostic Front are back with brand new studio album, four years after the last one called The American Dream Died was released. The new record containing 14 new songs in a way continues where the last one left off, delivering in your face old shool hardcore with a lot of fast songs reminding me a lot of the old days of this band. The first single Spray Painted Walls and its anthemic riff deliver the right beginning of the record, before fast old school hardcore miniature Anti-Social sets in. The streetpunk and oi roots of Agnostic Front are more than obvious on every record band makes, so the title track is pure streetpunk oi anthem with main bass line being the skeleton of the song structure. Conquer and Divide is a bit more metalic fast song, reminding for example of songs written for Another Voice or Warriors albums.

The second single I Remember is sure to become one of live favorites with catchy main riff, great sing along part at the end and Vinnie Stigma delivering some vocals along with Roger. Dead Silence is another AF song styled like all the material from the last couple of albums, metalic, yet having that familiar streetsmart vibe.  AF Stomp is a short instrumental ideal for live intro. The song that connects on Stomp, namely Urban Decay is another great streetpunk anthem nodding head to old school street oi punk with great lyrics, as always. Snitches Get Stiches is probably the greatest song title I have heard in last couple of years, sounds cheesy, but AF always lived what they sang about, along with Cro-Mags, so this is great hardcore anthem. Isolated is a song about being angry, alienated and discarded from society. In My Blood is for me absolutely one of the highlights on this album being a song  about why we are all still in this music and scene and I am sure this one will also be favorite live. Attention is a song that would fit equally in Madball opus, being hard, groovy and aggressive. Pull The Trigger actually reminds me the most of One Voice era songs and I love it. Devastated is a hardcore anthem for singing along and wanting more.

This is one of the top five AF albums and one of the best in last ten years or so.

 

(review) COUNTERPARTS-Nothing Left To Love(Pure Noise Records/Soulfood)

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Canadian purveyors of melodic hardcore Counterparts are back with new album out with Pure Noise Records. There are 10 new songs on this record with Love Me being short kind of intro before Wings of Nightmares takes us into world of modern melodic hardcore with grooves changing place with fast outbursts and screaming vocals evolve into melodic catchy shouting made for jumping along at gigs. Paradise and Plague is a song they chose to make video for, and I love the dark vibe and hopeless atmosphere it makes in my mind while listening. The overall vibe of this album for me is somehow melancholic and sad, so I love it of course haha. The Hands That Used To Hold Me and the title track are for sure to become your favorites being for me the highlights of the album. This is modern melodic hardcore par excellence.

9/10