ALBUM REVIEW: Freya – Fight As One


 

When legendary New York Hardcore band Earth Crisis temporarily went their separate ways in 2001 Freya was born, formed by three members of EC, bassist Ian Edwards, guitarist Eric Edwards and vocalist Karl Buechner. Named of course after the Norse goddess, Freya picked right up where Earth Crisis left off and have released a plethora of music over the last two decades, blending their Hardcore roots with a good dollop of Thrash Metal, while often using mythology as a basis for their lyrical content.

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Kublai Khan TX Shares New Video – “Swan Song” ft. Scott Vogel of Terror


Hardcore band Kublai Khan TX will release their new EP, Lowest Form of Animal, on 1st April 2022 via Rise Records. Pre-orders are live now at the links below. The band has shared the video for its latest single – “Swan Song,” featuring Terror frontman Scott Vogel. Watch it now!

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Hatebreed Announce 25th Anniversary Tour With Obituary, Cro-Mags, Terror And Fit For An Autopsy


Hatebreed who made hardcore influenced music mainstream has announced their 25th-anniversary headline tour for 2019. Formed when frontman Jamey Jasta was a teenager in Connecticut, Hatebreed has gone from a local phenom, a regional success story to an internationally hailed band. The first leg of the tour will feature support from Obituary and Cro-Mags, both bands an influence on Hatebreed. Terror and Fit For An Autopsy will also open. A second leg will be announced soon. Continue reading


Terror – Total Retaliation


No airs, no graces, no gods, no masters; this is hitting hard, beating down, aggressive music. Armed with their seventh studio album, Total Retaliation (Nuclear Blast/Pure Noise) and bucket load of muscle and testosterone to palm-mute chug into your face, LA five-piece Terror, bastions of traditional Tough-guy Hardcore, bring the chants, the slams, the pit-anthems and the attack in their own inimitable and unmistakable approach.Continue reading


Terror – Wisdom In Chains – Twitching Tongues: Live At The Underworld, London


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On a Saturday night in London, all hell can break loose at a hardcore show. And of course, you want it to. The pure joyful chaos of the pit, bands running around stage, the pit punchers, and the inevitable pile-nos with sweaty hands clasping the microphone to bark those lines than mean so much to so many. Coming off The Persistence Tour in January, Terror also had a brief run of headline shows as well, and why we were in London tonight. Terror remains one of the longest running, most consistent punk bands and still touring to packed clubs on the reg. On this night front man Scott Vogel (also of World Be Free) owned the stage, as usual. Their recent album, 2015s The 25th Hour (Victory/Century Media) was an instant classic for the band. Proving they still have a lot in the tank, they are already working on the follow-up release. Direct support band Wisdom In Chains are one of the unsung heroes of East Coast Hardcore. Their brutal riffs and stage presence don’t tell the full story of their great story telling, intellectual writing. Of course like Terror, they are fierce in a live setting. Twitching Tongues arrived to make noise the last few years and set everyone on notice about the aggression and smarts this band has. Unafraid to be deeply ensconced in HxC ways, but flying their metal flag with pride; if there was a band rightfully earning the tag “the next Nails”, it is them. Front man Colin Young is one of the best right now, commanding a crowd like few else. Weymouth UK upstarts Ironed Out, with their twin vocal attack opened the how. Thanks to Jessica Lotti Photography for capturing this insanity on stage and in the crowd for Ghost Cult.

 

TERROR, by Jessica Lotti Photography

TERROR, by Jessica Lotti Photography

 

TERROR, by Jessica Lotti Photography

TERROR, by Jessica Lotti Photography

 

TERROR, by Jessica Lotti Photography

TERROR, by Jessica Lotti Photography

 

 

Wisdom In Chains, by Jessica Lotti Photography

Wisdom In Chains, by Jessica Lotti Photography

Twitching Tongues, by Jessica Lotti Photography

 

supporting Terror

Twitching Tongues, by Jessica Lotti Photography

 

Twitching Tongues, by Jessica Lotti Photography

Twitching Tongues, by Jessica Lotti Photography

 

Ironed Out, by Jessica Lotti Photography

Ironed Out, by Jessica Lotti Photography

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World Be Free – The Anti-Circle


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World Be Free occupies a very particular space in the in today’s musical landscape. A sort of hardcore supergroup featuring members of Terror (vocalist Scott Vogel), Judge (drummer Sammy Siegler), Strife (guitarist Andrew Kline) and Gorilla Biscuits (bassist Arthur Smilios), World Be Free is not the sum of its parts or a reflection of hardcore in 2016. Full length début, The Ant-Circle (Revelation), is more of a simulacrum of the New York and DC hardcore sounds of yesteryear with the occasional dash of pop-punk hooks.

And as an homage to those reverential 1980s bands, The Anti-Circle seems to check all the boxes. There’s an economical approach as 14 tracks come and go in less than half an hour and with only one clocking in at over three minutes. ‘Shake the Ghost’ and ‘Never Slip’ are fantastic examples of making the most with just the necessary musical ingredients.

However, while World Be Free’s riffs and lyrics were designed with the intention of channeling the vitality of their musical heroes, The Anti-Circle feels likes its spinning wheels. When Vogel bellows “You’ll never be a part of my world,” or “The times have changed” it doesn’t come across as empowering or intriguing as it isn’t saying anything Black Flag didn’t already say in 1981 (albeit in a much more satirical tone). And since its treading such familiar creative waters it, songs like ‘World Be Free,’ ‘All These Colors’ and ‘Breakout or Busted’ fail to distinguish themselves from one another.

That’s not to say that there aren’t successful moments of musical reverence to be found on The Anti-Circle. While probably the most tuneful song of the bunch, ‘Empty Things’ impresses with Kline’s melodic guitar lines. Also when World Be Free decides to shift gears and speed up they can generate some worthy slam dancing like in ‘I’m Done.’

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World Be Free has a great album within them. It’s all a matter of them addressing the line between impression and homage.

6.0/10

HANSEL LOPEZ

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Terror – The 25th Hour


terror the 25th hour 2015 album cover

Terror is one of those veteran bands that you know what they sound like as soon as you hear their name. That’s because they have put down a nearly fifteen-year career doing hardcore the right way. They are old-school sounding enough to love, and modern enough to carry weight without trying hard to be too modern (no death metal vocals, no breakdowns for the sake of it). When they signed to Victory Records a few years back, it was a no-brainer. Terror is a band that really espouses the what the Victory punk bands of yesterday used to be and what hardcore continues to need in these times. Their first release for the label, 2013’s Live By The Code was a solid affair, but a little too clean for me. It was a major move for the band to switch labels, so I can understand playing on the safe side then. Their new album The 25th Hour is downright dangerous by comparison.

With 14 songs clocking in at 22 minutes, the album breezes right by you. However, don’t mistake brevity for lack of quality. The 25th Hour is one of the strongest releases in a good year for hardcore with memorable tracks that hit hard, and cut you to the bone. Scott Vogel’s impassioned rasp wails with urgency as the album is a loose concept of our modern society on the brink. You feel all of Vogel’s desperation, fear, contempt and dismay on track after track. Great riffs, tight beats and a few breakdowns mark these songs, and with zero time for B.S. Besides the title track, the stand out cuts are ‘No Time For Fools’, ‘Feed The Rats’, ‘The Solution’, ‘Blinded By The Lights’, ‘Why_’, ‘Sick And Tired’ and ‘Deep Rooted’. These songs will have you foaming at the mouth with anger, but inspire you enough to think, after you are too tired from moshing and screaming along to the words.

8.0/10

KEITH CHACHKES