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.

Touché Amoré - ...To The Beat Of A Dead Horse - cd/lp

After 7 different presses on vinyl and just in time for the European tour 6131 records is finally releasing Touché Amoré 2009's debut full length ...To The Beat Of A Dead Horse in a nice digipack.

If you're still looking for the next best thing in hardcore, don't look further. Ever since the release of their demo in 2008 this Los Angeles based band (which is on the road all the time) have been bopping more heads than any other new band in hardcore around right now.

Whereas some people were very quick to categorise the band as a second hand Modern Life Is War or American Nightmare, I beg to differ. There are many similarities between the three bands, yet there are as much if not more differences.

Ofcourse singing about 'going to Morrissey to answer my questions, because Ian Curtis has left me hanging', does place a band in a certain section of the hardcore scene.

And the raw emotion in the voice of Jeremy Bolm does bare some resemblance to the sound of Modern Life Is War singer Jeffrey Eaton. Yet you only have to listen to 'Always Running Never Looking Back', on which Eaton does some guestvocals, to hear these are frontmen with different styles.

Touché Amoré is less straightforward than either American Nightmare or Modern Life Is War. Yet they pull off their 'arty' sound without scaring me and other people into plain and simple hardcore away.

At first I wasn't that much into the sound of the whole record. And I remember even having a discussion with Rob Moran (bassplayer of a certain band) about it. In the end I have to admit he was right. The sound of ...To The Beat Of A Dead Horse is different from what is considered the right sound nowadays. But it's also refreshing, when you have warmed up too it, to hear something different than another Kurt Ballou, Jay Maas or Bill Stevenson production. It adds a flavour to the band.

If you are looking to invest in a hardcore band I would say Touché Amoré is the band to go with. They got the style, originality and personality to become the American Nightmare of this era. The only thing left to wonder is, will they be able to write another full length as good as this one?

Midnight Souls release show - october 1st - Herenthout

Readers of this blog probably know I like the new Belgium band Midnight Souls a lot. Thankfully Johan Reflections asked me to go with him to the record release show in Belgium last friday. Upon arriving with the van we thought this show was going to be a disaster. No one was at the venue besides two or three guys from Midnight Souls. And we were already late.

At last the show started 1,5 hours after scheduled with Fundamental. This is a fairly new band form Belgium who remind me a bit of Rise and Fall. They played 'Paint It Black' by the Rolling Stones which is okay, but not if you fuck it up. Meanwhile the venue got more and more packed, I think in the end at least 150 kids were there. If this show took place in the Netherlands I think there would only be 30 people attending, so expectations were set for the rest of the night.


Belgium youngsters Accept the Change put up an impressing set. I'd seen the band before but love the new direction they're taking. Think Have Heart meets Undertow and done really intense. These guys should record these songs soon and get on the road. Definately a band that stands out in the crowd.


Together is a band from Germany. I never heard of them before but boy did they also play a solid show. Defeater and Verse come to mind when seeing this band. They have a new record coming out which I'll definately check and it was great to see the mayhem when they kicked in a Modern Life Is War song.


Though the crowd was moving and appreciating all the bands, none got as much response as hometown heroes Midnight Souls. Stagedives and singalongs, pit action and all around chaos ensued when they started playing. They gave everything and received even more from the kids. This set alone was worth the drive.


A hard task for Ritual to finish up the night. But if there is one band capable of doing so it's them. They played lots of songs from the awesome 'Beneath Aging Flesh and Bone' record and some songs from the upcoming 7". This band is such a tight live unit it's incredible. I will for sure check them out this saturday at This Is Europe Fest.

With the show over, it was time to put the merch back in the van. That's when we noticed it was pouring. After an okay drive back to Johan's place I got on my bike for the last fifteen minutes home. I was soaking wet when I got there, but it was worth it.

All pics by Nous Davidse. See more of this show here.

Midnight Souls - Colder - 7"

'And I curse every streetlight
Run away and find myself at the gates of Leon's old factory
Where my father used to work
Before they fired him
The economy takes its toll old man
Here's your check now raise up that chin'

Belgium's Midnight Souls have already made quite a name for themselves in their own country. With 'Colder' they show that they're ready to take the band to the next level.

There's no denying the band is influenced by the school of American Nightmare and Modern Life Is War. Especially vocalwise it could be Jeffrey Eaton behind the mic every now and then.

But to put the band aside as merely a clone wouldn't do them any justice. Midnight Souls bring their own history in the mix. Hence the lyrics about growing up in a Miners town on 'Black Lung Disease'. Much like the way Modern Life Is War described Marshalltown, USA on 'Witness'.

Songs like 'Black Days' and 'River Town Rains' show that Midnight Souls aren't afraid to step out of hardcore borders on their way to a style of their own. Though they aren't there yet 'Colder' offers five angry outbursts of life in Belgium. People into American Nightmare, Modern Life Is War, Touche Amore and The Hope Conspiracy can definately add this 7" to their collection.

And yes the artwork is done by Linas Garsys (known for his work for American Nightmare, Count Me Out, A Fire Inside and a dozen other bands), so you know it's good.



I have a white copy. Reflections also released a black version.

Midnight Souls - July 15 - Tilburg

It's bloggerin' time. My vacation is over, so it's back to the computer and back to my blog. Posts about Right Idea and Rearranged are coming up soon. But first I want to share the show of Midnight Souls in Tilburg on July 15.

Midnight Souls is the latest addition to the Reflections roster. A 7" entitled 'Colder' is coming soon with artwork by Linas Garsys.

The last time I saw the band was when they opened up for The Hope Conspiracy in Antwerp. Big stage, big venue so I was curious how these new Belgium heroes would do it in the small intimate setting of the Little Devil.

Boy they blew me away. Midnight Souls is somewhere between Modern Life Is War and American Nightmare. While many bands play a similar style, Midnight Souls bring something extra which makes them stand out from the rest of the wolfpack. They have a very intense show. The future is bright for these guys, though their lyrics are kind of dark.

Can't wait for the ep to arrive.

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

We've lost control!

Yesterday I once again reinvented my love for hardcore. This whole 'scene' is sometimes so stagnant and overrating itself it's not funny anymore. Luckily there are bands like Omission and Modern Life Is War who keep things sounding fresh and do give back energy to the crow instead of acting like some dumb posers.
Hell, this show was the first show where I did lots of diving and singalong in a long time. I left Arnhem all bruised, sweaty and with a bleeding mouth but it was well worth it. The above picture is me throwing myself in the crowd. More (and with that I mean tons!) pictures of the show can be found here.