Prong - Live At CBGB's promo 12"

Prong needs to no introduction... Awesome band with an impressive discography. So without further ado, here's a promo 12" that was released by Epic Records in 1990 promoting the then still unreleased 'Beg To Differ' album, also from 1990, which coincidentally is Prong's best album to date in my opinion. The 12" features 3 live-songs on side A, and the B side is etched with the band members' autographs. Opening track 'Third From The Sun' is a Chrome cover, and is the same live recording which also appears on 'Beg To Differ' (not on the LP tho). As far as I know the second track, 'Dying Breed', was never properly recorded for any Prong studio-album, so there's only this live-version. Which is a shame, it's a pretty cool song. The final track, 'Intermenstrual, D.S.B.', appears in a studio-version on 'Beg To Differ'. These 3 live-recordings would, soon after the release of 'Beg To Differ', be re-released on the 'Lost And Found' 12"/MCD, together with the regular version of 'Lost And Found'. Enjoy!

Just for fun and cuz of the Evil Dead video, here's a video of Prong's studio-recording of their cover of 'Third From The Sun':


Prong - Live At CBGB's promo 12"
Prong website

Darkest Hour/Groundzero split 7"

Here's an early Darkest Hour release, from before their first full-length 'The Mark Of The Judas'. Released in 1999 by East Coast Empire Records, this split 7" features 1 great track by Darkest Hour called 'Faith Like Suicide'. Darkest Hour started out in 1995 and has released a number of albums on labels such as Art Monk Construction and Victory. They're still around, in fact their latest album was released earlier this year. Anyways, this track would later appear on their 'Archives' album from 2006 which compiles their earliest material.

The other band on this 7" is Groundzero from CT, with 2 songs. Groundzero was an awesome metalcore band who were around from 1996 to 2003. The first track on here is a good example of their sound. However, the 2nd one is a Fear cover, 'Let's Have A War', which in my opinion doesn't work out too well... Both of these songs would later appear on their 'Healing Leprocy' MCD, which features an even odder choice for a cover, Blue Öyster Cult's 'Don't Fear The Reaper'. I have to give them credit for their choice of covers, and while I'm not too fond of this Fear cover, their BÖC cover is pretty sweet. Groundzero singer Darrell Tauro also ran a label called Upfront Records, and after Groundzero broke up would go on to bands such as Wrench In The Works and Emmanuel.7.

Darkest Hour/Groundzero split 7"
Darkest Hour myspace
Groundzero myspace

25 Ta Life - Live In Aachen, Germany, June 11th, 1998 tape

Say what you will about Rick Ta Life or his bands, but old 25 Ta Life rules, plain and simple, both live and on record. Maybe he's become a caricature of himself nowadays, but just check out his stuff on the old NYHC documentary to see someone who's super passionate about hardcore, gotta respect that. Here's a live-tape of a show 25 Ta Life played in Aachen, Germany in 1998. An old friend of mine, Job, used to be a tour-manager in the '90s and early 00's. He happened to be one on this tour as well, so in typical Rick Ta Life fashion there's a shout-out to him at this show, haha. Anyways, this live-tape was released by Lockdown Records, a small label which was run by a local guy called Stefan Maassen, who's still around in the German scene. The sound-quality is quite decent for a DIY tape release, so if you're into 25 Ta Life, you will definitely enjoy this one.

I've ripped it as a single 40 minute mp3, here's the setlist:

1. Wise To Da Game
2. Loose Wit Da Truth
3. Short Fuse
4. Where It Begins
5. Make It Work
6. Crucified (Agnostic Front/Iron Cross)
7. Strength Through Unity
8. A Bullet For Every Enemy
9. Loyal To Tha Grave
10. Took My Kindness
11. Keepin It Real
12. Turning Point

25 Ta Life - Live In Aachen, Germany, June 11th, 1998

Band profile: The Cold Front

There's a flourishing scene of cool new bands coming out of the greater Los Angeles area. I've already written about Colombian Necktie on 2 separate occasions here and here, but there are plenty more cool bands popping up over there like Confrontations and Seizures. Here's another band from that area, The Cold Front out of Long Beach, not to be confused with the old Cold Front from NYC obviously. The Cold Front released a demo in 2009 and are about to enter the studio again to record 5 new songs, and are playing shows regularly. The band plays modern hardcore similar to some of the Panic Records bands such as Another Breath and The Golden Age, with a few rough edges here and there. Nothing new or ground-breaking but they do this style well enough and with enough intensity that it keeps me interested and I would love to see this band live some day. I'm looking forward to hearing the new recordings which should be released sometime this summer. Hopefully on a 7" or something that I can add to my collection, haha.. Anyways, enjoy!

The Cold Front - 2009 demo
The Cold Front facebook

Strength Thru Pain - D.C. Hardcore 1996 demo

Don't let the 'D.C. Hardcore' title of this demo fool you, this has very little to do with the Dischord bands usually associated with the term 'D.C hardcore'. This is tough mid-tempo hardcore from DC/Virginia, plain and simple. If you like bands like With One Intent, Punch The Klown or Next Step Up, you will dig this too. As usual with this style, I picked this up at the RPP distro back in the day. Nothing too amazing, but a pretty solid and enjoyable demo nonetheless. Not a lot else to say really since I know pretty much nothing about this band. I think the singer did a label called Moosestyle Records after the band ended? No clue if they did anything else or if the members did any other bands, so if you have any info, please leave a comment. Enjoy!

Strength Thru Pain - D.C. Hardcore 1996 demo
Strength Thru Pain myspace

Colombian Necktie - s/t CDEP

I did a review for LA-based band Colombian Necktie last year, whose demo ruled. They've had some bad luck with getting some releases out since the demo I reviewed, just a split tape with Pariah managed to come together, but that one had the demo songs on it, no new material. The material CN recorded for the records that never panned out, 5 songs in total, are now put out by Reckless Minds Collective on a CDEP, with the 3 demo songs added as a bonus.

They stuck to their mix of harsh hardcore/metal, with rough and bitter-sounding vocals, which I certainly don't mind. The band has added more dynamics and subtlety to the songs tho by utilizing some quieter parts here and there, and overall it's clear the band has evolved as musicians as well as song-writers. The 4 tracks on here are awesome, and the band has definitely stepped it up a notch. I say 4, even though there are 5 tracks on here. That is cuz the 4th track on here, 'Lirit', is an instrumental track which feels out of place to me. It's mostly piano and sounds too uplifting to me to really fit in with the negative and aggressive atmosphere of the other tracks. However, it also shows this band doesn't mind straying from the beaten path. My favorite track on here is the 2nd one, 'Larvae', which starts off with a quiet and melodic intro before building up into a mammoth of a track. It's really heavy but also has an intricate song-structure and subtle leads and build-ups which emphasize the potential & progression of this band. But in no way does that mean the other tracks aren't memorable, cuz they are. This EP is pretty damn solid and the clearer production, which doesn't take away from the heaviness of the songs at all, adds to the aggressiveness of the sound while showing that the band can play and is more subtle than one might expect. All in all, an awesome follow-up to the demo, and it's great to see this band evolving.

You can check out the new tracks on the bands bandcamp page, but if you like what you hear, don't hesitate to (pre-)order it at the Reckless Minds webstore. Future plans include a split release with Ruined Tongues on Reckless Minds and a 7" on Irish Voodoo Records.