Mother Of Mercy - IV Symptoms Of Existence/ More nineties hardcore than most nineties hardcore bands

Some records are hyped almost years before their release. Others quietly find their way in the world. Most hypes eventually lead to dissapointments whereas between those low key record releases gems are to be found.

There's a lot of talk about the new Defeater record on the other side I have yet to read the first raving review of a record that's already out: Mother Of Mercy's 'Symptoms Of Existence'. After a surprisingly good show in Tilburg at the end of last year I was pretty curious about this record and the band doesn't let me down.

If Mother Of Mercy was around in the nineties they would have deserved a spot somewhere between early Earth Crisis and Intergity. The band plays hardcore with metal influences but stays away from the often duplicated Hatebreed sound.

In fact Mother Of Mercy sounds more like a nineties hardcore band than let's say the latest Earth Crisis. The artwork by Paul Romano sets the place for a record that's not optimistic about human kind, but shows that people into bands like Undertow, Congress and Integrity don't have to rely only on the past for records of their liking.

Earth Crisis

I had the chance to interview Karl Buechner, singer of Earth Crisis, a couple of weeks ago when he was on tour with his other band. Though I was never the biggest fan of Earth Crisis I always appreciated their message and I must say the new record 'To The Death' is on high rotation at the moment.




So why did you decide to write a new record after doing some comeback shows?
We had an awesome response on our reunion shows. It felt so natural doing the band again and a new album seemed like a logical next step.

During the time Earth Crisis concluded we had Path Of Restistance to carry the straight edge vegan torch. With our other bands, Ragmen and Freya, we have been able to do and accomplish things Earth Crisis never did. Make videos, play other countries.

Now it seems to be a good point in time to use the technology and knowledge available to start Earth Crisis back up.


It also seemed like there weren't any other bands carrying the vegan message while Earth Crisis was away. Was that one of the reasons to start again?

I don't know if there weren't any vegan bands around. I do know that we're still all about the vegan straight edge and will always be about that.

There's a sample on the new record that states that drugdealers kill more people in the states everyday then Al Qaeda so far. Do you think the US government should spend more money on the war against drugs instead of the war against terror?

I think we need a people's uprising against the narcoterrorists. It happened in Columbia where a group of citizens called Los Pepes revolved against druglords and it worked there. The whole world needs to revolt against drugs.

I live in a quite liberal country. Do you think the Dutch system of legalization of soft-drugs is better than the system in the US?

It would be a good idea if drugs were legalized in one state of the US. Like in Nevada prostitution is legal. That way all the people who would like to indulge themselves in a lifestyle of drugs could go there. The government would be far better able to control things if it happened in one state and they would get rid of the illegal aspect.



The band recorded the new record themselves and had Tue Madsen do the mastering. Why?

We've always intended to do Earth Crisis again. So now the time came but we all live in different parts of the States. Fortunately some members have their own recording facilities so we send music back and forth till the record was done. Than the whole thing went to Tue because we thought he was the best man available to put a modern touch on our sound.

All of the bandmembers got older and some have children. Are they raised vegan as well?

All our children are vegan. But we never push them. The vegan diet is very healthy and we're straight forward with our kids. They are far more sensitive to the cruelty against animals so they choose themselves. It's never been a problem.

Are you proud of the legacy of Earth Crisis so far? Without a doubt your band is responsible for the fact that lots of hardcorekids went vegan.

I've seen a lot of changes over the years. For example vegan people from the hardcore scene make up the bulk of who runs Peta2. There are vegan bakeries and restaurants all over the US. People who became vegan through Earth Crisis started these businesses. Some of these people came up to me and actually told me so.

So yeah it's amazing to see how inspiring we were. I hope to be as much of an inspiration to a new generation of people.


Most bands with a straight edge message usually tune down their words or have members selling out. How come this never really happened with Earth Crisis?

I think in all the years we worked with Earth Crisis and Path Of Resistance it's a way of life for us. Straight edge and veganism never was an experiment it was a commitment from the start. It's in our blood.

Lyric of the week: Earth Crisis

After interviewing Karl Buechner last sunday about the new Earth Crisis record entitled 'To The Death' which will be out in april, I dug back in the archives and started listening to the early ExC stuff up until 'Gomorrah Season Ends'. I must admit the band had some great lyrics on straight edge in the past. And they have again on the new record. More on that later. Now here's my lyric of this week.

From the core of my being comes this promise to myself
that I won't break my honor before all.
A one-way mission through life, I won't change my course.
There's far too much to experience and accomplish to waste a precious
second drunk or hazed. An effective revolutionairy through
the clarity of mind that I've attained. I see it all for what it
is as Gommorah's Season Ends in the grave.
So many have become demoralized that now a change must be forced or all will
perish in the lunacy once it befalls.
Parasites gnaw at the basis, their vulgar ways bring pointless ends.
Perpetuating the degeneration.
In this self is all I need with this oath that keeps me free.
To this I am forever true. I am straight edge.
I am straight edge. I am straight edge. I am straight edge