One Eight Seven demo

I don't know too much about this band. They were a short-lived deathmetal band from the H8000 area in Belgium around 1998-1999. Their singer was this small, cute, nice girl called Kathy 187 who was at pretty much all the H8000 shows at the time. I saw them once, at this show in Eeklo where on the day of the show they persuaded the organizer to let them do a short set. We'd only heard rumors about 187 and were curious what Kathy sounded like live... Well, we quickly learned she had a massive grunt, something we did not expect. Not too long after I picked up this demo, and I've not seen or heard 187 since. Members went on to other H8000 bands such as Edge Of Life and All My Sins. Anyways, this is a pretty decent demo, so check it out!

One Eight Seven demo

Born From Pain demo

Born From Pain from the Netherlands started in 1997 and was formed by Rob & Wouter of Feeding The Fire. I saw them numerous times in the late '90s and while they never really did it for me on record, their live-shows were always good. They've since become one of the biggest names in the European hardcore/metal scene and are still going strong to this day. Over time they've had many member changes, currently the only original member left is Rob, who now does vocals but played bass until last year, after original singer Ché left and several other singers dropped out one by one.

Here is their demo from late 1997/early 1998, released on Repel Records, which was done by Patrick Kitzel (Spawn, True Blue), who is now involved with Reaper Records. All 3 tracks from the demo were later re-recorded for their 'Immortality' and 'Reclaiming The Crown' records.

Born From Pain demo
Born From Pain website

Zero Hour 7"

As mentioned in the 'About me' section of this blog, I like and listen to a variety of hardcore. This doesn't mean I like all genres equally, but I'll give everything a chance and sometimes I come across a band that's quite different from what I usually listen to yet still like. Zero Hour, a short-lived female-fronted anarcho hardcore/punk band from the Bay Area, is one such band. This 7" was released in 1994, I got it a couple of years later at a random show for whatever reason, probably cuz I had some money to spare, and never regretted it. These 4 songs are awesome! From the distinct guitar-lines which are way more developed and intricate than yer average anarcho hardcore/punk band to the amazing, raging, emotion-filled vocals, this is great stuff. Lyrically it deals with conformity vs. individuality, patriotism and such, pretty typical themes for this style but done well nonetheless. Their drummer also drummed for Econochrist.

After this 7", the band did a split 12" with Apeface, a band I've never heard (of). I do have mp3's of the Zero Hour songs from the split and they're pretty good but they don't compare to the 7". The singer, oddly enough called Whisper, did another short-lived band called Children Of Barren Wasteland, and as mentioned already, the drummer also did time in Econochrist. I have no idea what the other members did musically. Because the sleeve folds out to 6 times its folded size (in a 3x2 configuration), I decided to not scan in the back-side, which is one large image, and scan in parts of the other side separately.

Zero Hour 7"

All Out War - Destined To Burn 7"

As requested in the comments to the End Of One 7" post, here's the 1st All Out War 7", also released on Hardway Records. If you're following this blog, you probably don't need an introduction to All Out War, so I'll keep this one short. Formed in 1991, they mixed hardcore with thrash & death metal and had lyrical themes dealing mostly with the evils of humanity and (organized) religion. They released some classic albums and made a lasting impact on the '90s hardcore & metal scene, and beyond, and what's even better, they're still around today.

This is their 1st 7", from 1994. After the release of this 7", the band broke up. 2 Years later they got back together and after a 2nd 7", 'Hymns Of The Apocalypse', they recorded their classic first full-length from 1997, 'Truth In The Age Of Lies', which was released on Gain Ground Records. All 3 songs from the 'Destined To Burn' 7" were re-recorded for this full-length. If you're familiar with the full-length, note the differences with the original versions, especially the song 'Fall From Grace' was changed a bit. Enjoy!

All Out War - Destined To Burn 7"
All Out War myspace

A Change For The Better comp 7"

Named after the Gut Instinct song 'Vicious Circle', a track from the 'Disturbing The Peace' 7" recording session that didn't make it on the 7", Vicious Circle Records started in 1989/1990 by Dave Brown, who also did Take A Stand fanzine. Together with Bombshell fanzine he released the 'A Change For The Better' compilation 7" in 1991, which was Vicious Circle's first release. Dave Brown is also the author/photographer of 'Adult Crash', a photobook detailing the hardcore scene in the DC/MD area over a 20 year period. I haven't seen it yet, but from what I heard and read it's quite nicely done with great shots, plus it comes with a free 7". So check that out!

The bands featured on here are Gut Instinct (MD), Step Aside (VA), Just Cause (MD), Face Value (OH) and Endpoint (KY). The A-side features the 'harder' side with the first 3 bands, the B-side the more 'melodic' side with Face Value and Endpoint. The stand-out track for me is Step Aside's track 'Show Me The Way', which reminds me of bands of that era such as Dmize, Enrage and Judgement Day in the way it mixes metal and hardcore. Good stuff. I'm still looking for their 7", also released on Vicious Circle. The production of the Gut Instinct track is pretty bad unfortunately, it might actually be from a rehearsal tape or something. Just Cause's track is pretty decent but nothing special. Face Value is always great and Endpoint's track is also featured on their 'Catharsis' album and at that time Endpoint were still amazing (I don't really care for their last records). Unfortunately there's a click right at the end of the Endpoint track that I am unable to remove, sorry! Also, the insert is too large for my scanner, so I scanned each band-section separately. Enjoy!

A Change For The Better comp 7"

Beneath The Remains - Self Destruction demo

Beneath The Remains from Montgomery, NY was sometimes referred to as All Out War's little brother by me and this one crew of people I used to go to shows with. While not sounding like a complete copycat their sounds do have similarities. The first time I heard this 1997 demo (and BTR in general) was when we were driving back home after a show, where I picked up this demo from the R.P.P. distro. When this demo played we were all like 'Mike Score has a little brother?!'... The vocals of singer Cesar Bobadilla are quite similar, albeit a bit rougher and deeper, and musically it's also pretty similar. We didn't mind however, as we quite dug All Out War and the demo. I can't speak for the rest of the people in the car, but I still do. On one of All Out War's European tours, Mike Score couldn't make it out here for part of the tour for whatever reason, and Cesar BTR did vocals for All Out War, so you know I'm not kidding here...

Either way, this demo is pretty good, although the sound-quality sucks and the levels are weird as fuck, especially when there's just one guitar playing the volume's way low compared to when the entire band is playing. The stand-out track is 'Last Breath' which is heavy as fuck and has very personal lyrics dealing with the loss of a loved one and seeking forgiveness. It also shows this band was more than just another band going for the All Out War sound. It has a build up in the second half of the track that still gets me all worked up, intense stuff. I remember on that car ride we uttered a collective 'fuck' after this track ended, and rewound the tape to play it again. I still love it loads. Incidentally, this track, and opening track 'Mutilation Of The Mind' were re-recorded for the 'Quest For The Lost Souls' MCD On R.P.P. Records.

As far as releases go, they did another demo, a split 7" with Punch The Klown (on Back Ta Basics) and the aforementioned 'Quest For The Lost Souls' MCD, both of which I can rip if wanted (ripped, check here). They also appear on a number of compilations. Based on their myspace, there are also some unreleased recordings. While the BTR myspace mentions trying to get these recordings released one way or another, it hasn't happened yet... Make it happen!

Beneath The Remains - Self Destruction demo
Beneath The Remains myspace