Triphammer - 1997 demo

I received this demo from Sean XClearX after writing him about the XClearX 7". He sent me this demo along with a letter. I don't have the letter anymore, but I still have this demo. And an awesome demo it is.

With an average length of over 5 minutes, these 6 songs have little to do with youth crew hardcore. Heavy, mid-tempo metalcore with frustration and hate filled vocals. Think Painstake meets Bloodlet. The Salt Lake City scene has spawned a number of great bands, but Triphammer is definitely right up there, together with Lifeless.

After the demo, Triphammer released an equally awesome CD on Life Sentence Records, which you can check out here.

Triphammer - 1997 demo

Malcolm's Lost

Some bands have a sound that's incomparable with any other band you've encountered up until then. Malcolm's Lost is one such band. I saw their 'Sustain' 7" at some distro at some show, I was intrigued by the cover, I had some guilders to spare so I got it. Sometimes you got to take a chance with a record! I'm happy to say Malcolm's Lost didn't disappoint. Far from it! This band from Staten Island managed to create a sound of all of their own, and wasn't afraid to do things their own way. Of the 4 songs on this 7", 2 are instrumentals, and they are beautiful, just like the other 2 songs are. They use both electric & acoustic guitars, almost indecypherable samples, frantic bass & drums, additional female vocals in 'Godsend', crazy build-up's. While you can definitely hear the hardcore influences through the cracks, this band managed to go far beyond that and do whatever the hell they wanted and make it sound incredibly good. Moo Cow Records called them 'Brooklyn meets Iceburn', if that helps any. The 'Sustain' 7" was released on Shadow Records in 1993, the same label that also released Next Step Up's 'Heavy'. How's that for a change?!

The previously mentioned Moo Cow Records released a Malcolm's Lost / Cable split 7" the following year. Which also happens to be Cable's first proper release. While the Malcolm's Lost track 'Idle' is again awesome, it is a bit more straight forward than the 'Sustain' 7" and the vocals are more high-pitched. Maybe this is what inspired Mike Ski of Brother's Keeper, hahaha... Nothing against them though, I love Brother's Keeper. The Cable songs are decent, though nothing special really. It's all about Malcolm's Lost on this split as far as I'm concerned.

Anyway, apart from these 2 releases I know nothing about this band. A few years ago I managed to score a Malcolm's Lost t-shirt, with the Shadow Records logo, on the almighty eBay. So if anybody has any info on this band, or additional releases or demo's, please please please let me know. I'm still looking for a copy of the split 7" with the better covers as mentioned on the Moo Cow Records page linked above.

Malcolm's Lost - Sustain 7"
Malcolm's Lost / Cable - split 7"

Dyingrace - demo

Japan has a long history of spawning awesome bands, in every conceivable (sub-)genre of hardcore. So it usually pays off when you come across a compilation from Japan. I first heard this band, Dyingrace, on a compilation from 1998 called Nothing But A Hardway. Their track, Revive, is the opening track and it is heavy, I mean seriously heavy, the perfect mix between metal and beatdown. So I wrote them a letter and their drummer wrote me back and sent along their demo, which is from either 1997 or 1998. 3 Awesome tracks, including the track from the compilation.

As far as I know the only other release they did, besides compilations, was a full-length CD called 'Only The Determined Path Remains' on S.I.H. Records which I unfortunately don't have, not even MP3's. If anybody can hook me up with a copy, get in touch! I'm also not sure what happened to the band-members, I believe some of them went on to Age Limit 20 and John Holmez, but I'm not sure. Any information is welcome!

Below is a 'video' of 'After All' from the full-length, which is a re-recording of the demo-track.



Just for the sake of it, here are the lyrics for 'Revive', as printed inside the compilation (my copy of the demo didn't come with a lyric sheet), spelling errors and all:

The virus swept to peaple / fear fell upon everythin' / It's suddenly come along / before I know / sufferin' from illness / infection onset / become insane / I'm out of mind / bear down upon the illness / dreadful situation / you don't escape again / you don't escape again / fuckin' terror struck again / revive the fear / insanity was born / from everybodys inside / its growin' bigger day by day / everythin' is overawedeat up the scene eat up the kiz / eat up the fuckin' fakass

Dyingrace - demo

A Way Of Life - 1997 demo

In the mid to late '90s I went to a lot of shows in Belgium. And often times Alain (Out For Blood) who ran R.P.P. Records would be there with his distro. Awesome guy, awesome label and awesome distro. He always had a large selection of demo's, typically of bands in the harder/tougher NYHC/NJHC style, what people now refer to as moshcore and beatdown. And if you're into that style, and I was/am, the demo's he carried would almost always be quality, only the good shit. So when I saw this demo at his distro at some fest in the summer of 1997, and I read they were part of the infamous K.D.S. crew from Rennes, France, I bought it instantly. K.D.S. stands for Karate Dance Style btw, the most well-known K.D.S. band was Stormcore.
After the first listen I was hooked on A Way Of Life, or A.W.O.L. for short. After the excellent and eerie intro, 'KDS In Action' shows what this band was all about, (very) metallic hardcore that alternates between up-tempo and mid-tempo parts and is extremely 'violent dance-able'. This was back when violent dancing was almost an art-form on the dance-floor around these parts, the pits were hard but people were also showing off moves. Good times! The few times I saw A.W.O.L. they did not disappoint, their guitarists especially were damn good musicians.

After this demo the band started to become more technical and more metal, but they still ruled and had their own sound. They released a 7" called 'Deep Thoughts About The End' on Braveheart Records and a split 7" with Headway (also from France) on MoshxBart Records and were on a couple of compilations. Their guitarist had plans to release an A.W.O.L. 12" but as far as I know, that unfortunately never happened. I guess the 7" and split 7" are near impossible to come by these days, so if anybody wants me to rip those, just leave a comment. In the mean time, enjoy this awesome demo. And remember: 'Religion is a lie... Move it!'.

A.W.O.L. - 1997 demo
A Way Of Life on Myspace

Channel - 1st 7inch

I don't have much information on this band other than that they were from Virginia in the mid '90s and that supposedly Nate of Converge played in this band. I know they released at least 2 7inches, this one and a second one, on Clay Garden Records, which is way different, more emo ('90s emo, not what kids call emo these days!) and doesn't come close to this one as far as I am concerned.

This 7inch came out on Stillborn (Jamey Jasta's label, of Hatebreed fame) in 1994 and is without question one of my all-time fave pieces of vinyl. Despite being released on Stillborn, it has nothing to do with beatdown, mosh or toughguy hardcore. This is harsh, mid-tempo hardcore with raw, scathing vocals and bitter, to-the-point lyrics that are personal and political at the same time. Quality stuff! Too bad they went emo with their next 7inch, but at least there's these three songs to feast on. I have 3 copies of this 7inch, in 2 different versions. One is a xeroxed, folded cover (I have 2 paper color versions of this one, and a black and a clear red record), the other a cardboard cover with a small copied lyricsheet. No idea of pressing numbers or versions, sorry!

If anybody has any info on this band or knows about a demo or other releases, do let me know please!

The statement by the band that comes with the record, I love it in all its sincere naivety, it really hit me when I first read it (I bought the 7inch on the cover alone, I'll admit it):

forget all that you've learned. you are not free. you have no say. you never will. we live in a system that is impossible to change. when we enter life we are given a guideline to live by. when these are followed the system works like a well-oiled machine. when we are born, and until the day we die, we do not exist. we follow the pattern of oppression. empowerment is the most important thing that a human being is capable of. to empower yourself is to control yourself, and thus allow yourself not to be controlled. empowerment is revolution. revolution against the government, against mind control, against addiction, and against ignorance. hardcore is the ultimate tool of revolution, because it is empowerment. a call for revolution. i love hardcore, i love revolution. to have any bearing on this system we must empower ourselves. become politically, and socially aware. the unexamined life is not worth living, is yours? rebel. destroy. create. we are the only true threat. do not live your life as a pawn.

Channel - 1st 7inch

One Path

Welcome to my '90s hardcore blog. I should've named it YAHCMB, Yet Another Hardcore MP3 Blog, but I decided against it in the end and went with a quote from one of the best bands of the '90s (and beyond) instead... That's 108 if you didn't know that already, and shame on you if you didn't!

I started listening to hardcore in 1991 when someone lent me a Leeway 'Born To Expire' CD to check out and I haven't stopped listening since. So '90s hardcore is what I mostly grew up on. I love all kinds of hardcore and from all ages, but '90s hardcore just means that much more to me. And so this blog will focus on that era, give or take a few records I have in mind. Enjoy yourself and stop by regularly, I hope to update here frequently.

Take care,

Edwin