European Vacation I: Hashtag Hardcore #3 + "Mind Over Matter"

#Hardcore #3 + Mind Over Matter Fanzine (Netherlands)
My life's "European vacation" was a 5 year tour of duty of living in the UK (Cardiff Wales) while my Dad worked for a chemical company. I saw much of Europe, but was also elementary school age so I spent most of my time drawing and complaining, sidestepping the grand cultural awakening my parents somehow convinced themselves I'd get. Nowadays, I'm just pilfering their fanzines. 

By my estimation, #Hardcore is in the uppermost echelon of the current fanzine hierarchy. For straight up interesting reading, phenomenal layouts and for a guy genuinely trying to document the state of hardcore past n' present in a coherent printed publication (that means multi-trips to the shitter), all done cut n' paste and replete with show, record and fanzine reviews (even notable shout outs to the Drug Dogs Newsletters, positive reviews which in no way have any bearing on how I perceive this zine...), Daan is your man. 

Structurally, it's a "zine within a zine" setup, with the inner zine being Mind Over Matter (officially, I think it's from Belgium). It replicates those "pull out" zines of times past. M.O.M runs a little more straight forward than its parents publications with the best bit definitely being an interview with Jordan Posner of No Warning. ("At one point we had Dijan, Henderson and Porter all in the studio. We were saying to each other 'OK, Madball, Breakdown, and Floorpunch are all helping with our record.' We were tripping.") As a product of early 00's hardcore (and also a critic of the underwhelming Ill Blood doc they made a few years back) I got a lot out of this interview. I only got to see No Warning well beyond their prime, in the thick of their Suffer Survive years, with Fear Factory at a club called Jillian's in Louisville. 

Furthermore, since I don't really know a TON about euro hardcore (save for the surface stuff, Rise & Fall and that back in the day americans used to rip them off via mailorder a lot, hopefully the internet and paypal has democratized all that?) I actually use these inky things to learn a thing or two about the scenes. At this point, I really want the errata of Europe. Who are their Rick Ta Life's?  For that, I got a riotous jolly off the discussion of a band called 36 Karat, described as "Belgian Ghetto Metal." Oh, and some True Blue stuff for those lookin' to get a little halloweeny off the chilly Icemen vibes.

This is GHETTO METAL

Back to the "exo" zine though. I love that I can legitimately disagree with Daan so vehemently about bands (Dude definitely backs Warhound, I definitely do not), but still think  he's got one of the premiere fanzines in the "biz." Yeah, I think it's weird that hentai and tentacle porn got referenced seriously in the Cornered interview (but then again, #2 went into pretty detailed specifics about Thai prostitutes and STD's in the Kickback interview) but love that I'm not just reading "JR plays bass, Dickweed sings, Dumpwood stole a drumkit and me? I just sing about life maaaan." All that runs through conversations with some cool core (Stick Together, DiE and Redemption Denied if you can fuck with a band that uses a graffiti logo...some can't).

BRAINWAVE

I'd be most remiss to not mention the Integrity piece here though because it's the thing of absolute beauty. Three full pages of collected ephemera, (fanzine interviews and record spotlights) meticulously curated and ordered to create a beautiful fan-made pastiche of a band in their prime (much like this fan-made documentary about Sabu.) 

For original content, phenomenal layouts and all-around comprehensiveness, you'll be hard up to find anything better than this one right here. Here's to many more! 

Drowning in envy

(You can no longer) BUY THIS FANZINE HERE (because it is sold out. Sorry Bunky). 

N is for No Warning

I'm never gonna work another day in my life. 

When I interviewed Chris Morgado for the STILL pending Drug Dogs #3, we talked a lot about this band (the zine’s still in development hell btw). The thing that many people will remember about No Warning is how they went from writing arguably one of the most classic LPs of 2000s core (like Morgado said on the Trumbull blog, no matter how bad everyone wanted to write them off as generic tough guy mosh-foolery, Ill Blood uses absolutely NO recycled riffs anywhere, all killer) to schlepping out a sorta ok LP that pandered to mainstream audiences. Yeah, lots of idiots like to pretend to dig it in an attempt to show how open minded they are or something ridiculous, but they know in their heart of hearts that Suffer Survive just isn't great. End of story. I can, however, still get behind how shamelessly it was touted as being their ticket to fame and fortune.

This band in their prime, NYHC via Toronto, was baller, and in no small part because of the rumors attached to them. Having a demo tape of Ill Blood songs re-recorded with white power lyrics, a certain affinity for Biohazard comparisons and a definite rep for being dicks on message boards got people talking and/or hating...which meant I was paying attention.

I don’t think this art was ever used anywhere, but I’m told that during Suffer Survive era, it was on their website as “fan art” which is laughable in itself. I like that there’s an original version of it (featuring a naughty symbol and a giant minotaur schlong respectively) and then a “censored” version. Cool stuff.

I’ll never tire of the 7” and Ill Blood, but a tour with Machine Head in promotion for Suffer Survive still gives me douche chills as I look back on it.

[Edit: it's now 2018 and I've come around on Suffer Survive. I dig it now]

Millenial Reign - "Moore's Law" (Dylan's Dump iPod #18)

Rejected Milwaukee Bucks logo design

It wasn't any secret that the ultimate purpose of this band was to worship Humanity... era Integrity, and in that regard it's spot on. With a lineup comprised of Damien Abraham (Fucked Up), Jordan Posner (No Warning, Terror) and Jesse Labovitz (No Warning), and some additional vocals by Chris Colohan (Cursed, Left for Dead, tons more). I once read an interview in which the journalist asked Damien condescendingly about his interest in Hatebreed and Integrity and Damien backed both bands...I wish I remembered his exact response.

Mr. Clean

Though only a four song EP, Bones Dust Nothing is remarkably well formed and complex, full of tempo changes and musical shifts, and the guitar work is absolutely stellar. Dwid vocals are seamlessly achieved, as is the chilling (and sometimes wacky) subject matter of the Holy Terror ilk.

"Moore's Law" gives me nothing to complain about as it contains great Melnick's style riffing at 1:16, a concrete mosh bit at 1:42, and again with those Dwid vocals. "A Final Evolution/ to a homeland where our spirits reborn/ pure information living together/ this is the heaven we prophesied/ we are destined for immortality." Sounds like the kind of stuff I was learning in LDS Sunday school, that we are all "intelligences" and our minds eternal...that when we die, all we take with us is the crap in our brains. Furthermore, besides taking their name from a famed Integ track, "Milennial Reign" references the belief that Christ will reign for 1000 years, prior to the final judgment (something you can find more about in the last track on Humanity is the Devil).

Anyway, to my knowledge the band only played one show (maybe a handful) and it's likely that this 7" is the only remnant of their existence, but if it was merely meant as a tribute to Cleveland's most infamous band, it stands resoundingly well on its own and comes highly recommended. Nothing to complain about.

Copyright 2007, A389 Records, blah blah blah