New Day Rising live LP

New Day Rising was one of the best emocore bands of the '90s. This band from Ontario, Canada played an explosive kind of emo. They were more metallic than the average emo-band in the '90s, but kept the soft parts mixed with the emotional and musical frenzy and outbursts, and going from soft vocals to gutwrenching screams. The first time I heard them was when I got the Atlas Shrugged/New Day Rising split 7", which I got because I was (and am) really into Atlas Shrugged. I got into the NDR track right from the start. I eventually picked up their other releases, all of which are awesome.

Anyways, after a number of splits and such, the band got picked up by Eulogy Recordings, who released a full-length CD, 'Memoirs Of Cynicism', and a discography CD, 'We Cannot Know How Much Blood It Costs' (which does not contain the track from the split 7" with Atlas Shrugged). Both are available from the Eulogy webstore for a couple of bucks b.t.w. and come highly recommended. However, this live LP isn't on the discography CD. And since there are only 500 copies, I figured I'd put it online. Released on the almighty Moo Cow Records in the late '90s, it's pretty barren in terms of layout and all, see here for the reason why, it doesn't even have a setlist. Each copy comes with a black cardboard sleeve with a photo tacked on and 2 tiny stickers, that's it. It's damn good though and I wish I could've seen NDR live when they were around, which you can see a video of here. Based on the rambles inbetween songs, this was recorded sometime in 1996 (but released in 1998 I believe), but that's about all I know of where and when, heh, and I couldn't find any other info on it besides the Moo Cow Records page linked earlier. No matter what tho, New Day Rising were awesome and so is this live-recording. Check it out and don't be scared of the word 'emo'.

New Day Rising live LP

108 - Spoken Words tape

Ripped and posted because of a request on the xCatalystx forums. This is 108's 'Spoken Words' tape from 1991. It's a seemingly random mix of explanations of songs from the at that time still to be released 'Holyname' album, Vic trying out stuff on his guitar, Vic doing what appears to be a Q&A at a Krishna gathering, kirtans, random rambles, and so on. I'm not sure what the deal was with this tape, and quite frankly it is not something one listens to a lot. But it's 108, and therefore it is worthwhile. End of story.

Because of the random nature of the contents, I decided not to attempt to turn each part into a separate mp3 and come up with a title and such. One mp3 for each side of the tape will have to do.

Also, my copy of the spoken words tape is not an original, but a 'bootleg' version, hence the bad quality cover that looks nothing like the original cover, which can be seen on the 108 website.

108 - Spoken Words tape
108 website

Soundtrack To The Revolution compilation 7"

Any compilation which features both Converge and Chokehold is worth getting in my book. This one is quite possibly the first one which features both bands, the other bands on here being Knockdown and Bound (the one from Massachusetts). It was released on Onlook Records in 1994. Onlook Records was a label done by Aaron Dalbec, who at that time also played in both Converge and Knockdown, but is also known for doing time in Bane. The 7" was limited to 500 copies total, mine's numbered 323/500, and is on black, but there are also copies on orange/yellow.

The best track on here is Chokehold's anti-smoking anthem 'Kill Me' which also happens to be the first track. Gotta love Chokehold! Knockdown do a fairly decent track but it's the weakest one on here. The band featured Aaron Dalbec on guitar as mentioned above and Tre McCarthy of Deathwish Inc fame on bass. Converge's 'Sky' is great if you're into old Converge (I am), it would later be featured on their 'Caring & Killing' CD which compiles a bunch of their older material. Finally Bound delivers a great track, making this an overall pretty damn good compilation. Bound would eventually turn into Hatchetface, but not before doing a 7", which I'm still searching for. Which reminds me that I should post some Bound (NJ) material at some point, they were also pretty damn good. Anyways... cool compilation, enjoy!

Soundtrack To The Revolution compilation 7"

Maharahj - A Replication Of The Process And Product MCD

Maharahj was an awesome chaotic technical metal band from Oakville, Ontario, Canada. If you like bands such as Creation Is Crucifixion, Chapter and Spread The Disease, you will like Maharahj. I got their 2 full-lengths pretty soon after they were released, also since I'm heavily into Creation Is Crucifixion and I had read some review of Maharahj's first album 'Chapter One: The Descent' comparing them to CIC. Loved both albums, but information about the band was pretty hard to find, at least over here in Europe they seemed to fly under the radar for the most part.

It took me ages, until about 2 months ago, to track down an affordable copy of their 'A Replication Of The Process And Product' MCD from 1999. Thankfully it only cost me about $5 and not the $150 that it's going for on Amazon.com. Insanity! I uploaded it here as it is by far the hardest record of Maharahj to obtain. This is the version on Now Or Never, which was released prior to their 1st full-length 'Chapter One: The Descent'. All 3 songs would be re-recorded for the 1st album later that year.

There were also plans for a split CD with Circle Of Dead Children on Robotic Empire Records, but as far as I know that was never released. However, if anybody has any information on it (it seems some recordings were made?) or any other Maharahj recordings, please let me know!

Here's a write-up on the band from Wikipedia:

"Maharahj" is a metalcore band from Oakville, Ontario. Their name originated from a modified spelling of the East Indian term maharaj. This now defunct band was founded in 1997 by Garren and Clay under the original name “One Winged Angel”. The band released 1 demo and 2 studio albums. They disbanded in 2002. Members went on to start bands Explode the Airwaves and Silverstein.

Maharahj exploded on the scene with screaming technical metal intensity. Hailing from the sleepy Toronto suburb of Oakville, Ontario, Maharahj created a whirlwind of chaotic metal that was already stirred up by other local acts such as Spread the Disease and The End (mathcore band). With the release of the independent demo (A Replication of the Process and the Product), Clay, Dave, Neil, Garren and Jon paved the way for a breed of metal that (at that time) had never been heard in the metalcore community. The demo was well embraced, selling out within the first year. During their first US tour, record owner Matt Beckerman signed them to his (also now defunct) nowornever records. Sharing the stage with such label-mates as The Dillinger Escape Plan and Diecast (band), Maharahj found success in their blend of cacophony and mathematical technicality. Shortly afterwards, they were in the studio recording their 1st full length "Chapter One, The Decent". With a major label financial backing the record, Maharahj was able to win over a huge fan base. Record sales soared. However, the rigorous demands of the touring and difficult musicianship had their toll on some of the members. The crack of the Maharahj whip created some dramatic lineup changes. Colin and Andrew were recruited later that year to replace Jon and Neil. Neil went on to join and play in the successful band Silverstein. Progressing as a more diverse band with more diverse interests, Maharahj later recorded "Repetition". Unfortunately, this album was not as well received as they had hoped. Poor tour support was also a contributing factor. One year later, the band split ways.

Maharahj - A Replication Of The Process And Product MCD
Maharahj myspace

Agni Hotra

After Chip's post on '90s Krishnacore I thought of Agni Hotra and how good they were. So I decided to post their releases (at least the ones I know of, and own). Agni Hotra was a Krishna-conscious band from Poland in the mid to late '90s. I got their releases through a Polish friend and was, and still am, quite into them. They went through some stylistic changes, not to mention starting out with a male singer and ending with a female singer. But they maintained a high level throughout their releases.

The 'Protect Your Friends' demo from 1995 kicks things off the right way. Upbeat hardcore, great songs, lotsa enthusiasm and sweet back-up vocals. A really good demo, and the title-track rules. The last track goes into a long recording of a group of Krishna's chanting and after that the band does the intro for 'Warriors' (by UK punk/oi band Blitz, tho among the hardcore community better known by the cover Judge did). Unfortunately it fades out so I'm not sure why this was added to the end, but maybe they used to do this cover at their live shows. Either way, this demo is good stuff for sure!

Their first album 'Govinda', from 1996, continued the sound from the demo and added some new sounds to it. To me, this is the least of their releases, since it sounds at times like the band was searching for a new sound but couldn't quite get there yet. Nonetheless, the album is pretty good and the re-recording of 'Protect Your Friends' is great, and the cover of Minor Threat's 'Straight Edge' is pretty decent. But I wish they had taken some more time to work on these songs, this album could've been so much better.

It took them until 2000 to have another album released, called 'Krsna'. At this point a girl had taken over vocal duties, and they had changed their style completely. And to me, while I like their older stuff, this CD is what separated Agni Hotra from other bands. It took me a while to get into, but damn, it's g-o-o-d. I'm sure a lot of people from Poland back in the day will disagree with me, but this is their best release as far as I'm concerned. It's softer at times tho not soft like Baby Gopal, it is quite layered, the female vocals are mostly soft but still compliment even the harder tracks very well... I can't think of any band that sounds like this Agni Hotra incarnation. Give it a chance!

I couldn't find a site or myspace for Agni Hotra, but here's a 'video' for the title-track of their demo:


Agni Hotra - Protect Your Friends demo
Agni Hotra - Govinda CD
Agni Hotra - Krsna CD