Together - The Odyssey ep

When first hearing the bandname Together I expected a band inspired by Insted and Youth Of Today. After seeing them at the Midnight Souls release show I knew I was wrong, yet I was also hooked. The band played a great set of Defeater/Verse like hardcore with great melodies and lots of energy.

But as everyone knows there is often a difference between the live performance of a band and their recorded material. Based on the six songs available on 'The Odyssey' I have to say Together manages both tasks pretty well.

Songs like 'Love.Sinner.Thief' and 'The Odyssey'are as good as most material by Defeater. Which is in a way is also the only negative thing I can say about these Germans; they should work a bit more on their identity.

All in all Together is one of my favourite newcomers for 2010.

At Daggers Drawn - Serving Sorrow

Berlin is a city with history. I guess living there you're always reminded about certain aspects of the past. Events that have cast their shadow on the whole world as well as decisions made elsewhere that scarred the city.

Out of that Berlin comes At Daggers Drawn, a band often compared with Modern Life Is War, Life Long Tragedy and La Dispute.

Anyone who has been to Berlin recently will see a city of change, a city that is looking towards the future. At Daggers Drawn doesn't seem to be the band that symbolizes that Berlin. They might look at the future, but they see things in a grim light. The mood isn't full of hope. Things are looking bleak and desolate in At Daggers Drawn's Berlin.

The music is slow, dragging yet with lots of melody. Lyrics are spoken, shouted, echoed out of the gutter.

Berlin is a city of change. It's the variation of the city which I miss so much on this record. There are no real highlights, it just goes on and on. At Daggers Drawn is a band still set in the Eastern part of Cold War -era Berlin. Everything is grey, all buildings are the same. There's tension in the air and no hope in the minds.

Ritual - Kissing Pavement - 7"

The German masters of hardcore, style and great shows are back. 'Kissing Pavement' is the new two song 7" from one of the best hardcore bands around in Europe at the moment. Exaggerating? Just put the needle on the A-side of this 7" and hear a band that comes close to the quality of The Hope Conspiracy without truly emulating said band.

The song ' Greenest Meadows' is somewhat faster than the songs on Ritual's previous full length 'Beneath Aging Flesh And Bone'. Whereas the song on side B ' Kissing Pavement' has the same tempo as the songs on 'Beneath Aging Flesh And Bone', yet bring new structures, melodies and great guitarwork to the Ritual sound. Almost making it sound like a mix between The Hope Conspiracy and Refused.

This ep is a teaser of the new Ritual full length which will be released next year. It shows that these Germans have grown and it makes anyone into this kind of hardcore want more.

The 7” is packed in a big fold-out poster consisting of six photographs demonstrating the yin and yang-metaphor that lies within the songtitles 'Greenest Meadows' vs. 'Kissing Pavement' - natural vs. urban elements.

Still Screaming - From The Ashes Of A Dead Time -cd

Back in 1995 when the US hardcore scene was mostly about too large pants, sweatbands and veganism the European hardcore scene was for a large part dominated by a type of hardcore called Eurocore. In The Netherlands Backfire and Right Direction were the biggest exponents of this scene while in Germany Rykers and Brightside were calling the shots. Eurocore was the European version of New York Hardcore and was really big in Western Europe for five years.

Still Screaming is a fairly new band from Germany with some ex-Brightside members still doing the Eurocore sound. Think Blood For Blood mixed with early Biohazard and you have a good idea of the songs and sound of Still Screaming.

There's a lo of looking back on From The Ashes Of A Dead Time musicwise but the record never sounds outdated. With a very good production and catchy songparts this record would have been an Eurcore classic years ago but also fits perfectly in with nowadays' bands like Death Before Dishonor.

There's no really political message or very emoish lyric on From The Ashes Of A Dead Time but that's okay.

The record ends with a remix featuring German hiphop artists Black Market Crew, which makes for a suprise ending for a quality release. From The Ashes Of A Dead Time won't revive the Eurocore scene, but it's a solid enough record for NYHC fans old and new.

Myspace: Still Screaming

The Ice - Touching The Void - cd

There's no denying that Germanies' True Blue left its mark on the European hardcore scene. 'Touching The Void' by The Ice is just one example of bands that try and do a similar thing as the by now legendary band.

The members of The Ice aren't rookies. Some of them played in Settle The Score and Cheap Thrills. The Ice sounds very mature. A band that knows how to write songs and how to record. Unfortunately it sounds a bit too professional and slick.

Like Said and Done and the aforementioned True Blue, The Ice takes influences from old NYHC bands and create a melodic old school sound with lots of grooves, solos and the additional gangvocals.

In contradiction with Said and Done and True Blue, The Ice pushes things a but further incorporating synthesizers and almost glamrock like intros in their sound.

That's where things go wrong. Here you have this band with lots of capabilities and some parts end up sounding like a hardcore version of Paradise Lost during their -no more gothic, let's go pop- period.

Leave out those parts and you are left with a solid hardcore record that wouldn't be out of style in mid-eighties New York.

Myspace: The Ice

Ritual - Beneath Aging Flesh And Bone

Honestly up to now I haven't paid that much attention to Ritual from Germany. Somewhere in my mind I had the idea the band was a would be Modern Life Is War.

But man was I wrong. Well at least where it concerns their new full length Beneath Aging Flesh And Bone. The record starts off with an instrumental track that could be written by Modern Life Is War had they actually managed to write a song with this much atmosphere.

Then all registers are open and the band crushes all current releases with their dark, emotive and original tunes. This is better than Blacklisted and up there with Modern Life Is Wars' Witness. Only Ritual isn't about the working class American but about the lost generation of Europeans which somehow makes a difference. They also have a bit of an Unbroken thing going on, without sounding like an Unbroken rehash.

I even dare to say Ritual is a bit more sophisticated than the aforementioned bands. Yet they don't come across as a band of know it all nerds.

Where lots of bands and records sound the same. This is definately a record for my yearlist and one of those few and far between releases that make hardcore interesting.

Ritual Beneath Aging Flesh and Bone on splatter
Originally uploaded by xroldx

I managed to pick up one of the limited to 250 copies on blue/splatter vinyl.

Myspace: Ritual