Asphalt - 357 Knockout CD

Project or band, Cleveland, Ohio's Asphalt was one of a kind. Their sound was both unlike anything that came out of the Clevo scene at the time, while at the same time fitting right in with the creepy, brooding atmosphere it created. In 1994 2 members of Integrity, guitarist Chris 'Hawthorne' Smith and drummer David Nicholi Araca, got together with the bassist of their old band False Hope, Sam 'Salvatore' Lopiccolo, and started jamming. They enlisted the help of various people from the Clevo scene for doing vocals and additional instruments, including Dwid who does vocals on most tracks. The end result was the '357 Knockout' CD which was released on Dwid Integrity's Dark Empire label in 1994. The album also includes one track each from 2 other projects/bands they were doing at the same time, Backslider and Mammoth. All in all, this is a great release, altho I admit it took me quite some time before it really grabbed me, it's just not yer average Clevo hardcore album, hah. If you don't like it, give it time and some more plays... It's well worth the effort.

Within weeks after finishing the recordings for this album, drummer David Araca died of a brain aneurysm. Hawthorne and Lopiccolo would do another 7" a year later (which I don't have unfortunately), but that was basically the end for Asphalt, a unique entry in the already quite diverse history of Cleveland hardcore. Their other band Backslider stayed active for quite a few more years and Hawthorne also ended in Keelhaul.

 Asphalt - 357 Knockout CD

Omega Man - s/t MCD

While Florida bands like Morning Again and Culture got a lot of attention, other awesome Florida bands stayed fairly obscure and underrated, such as Omega Man from Tampa. I don't know why tho, Omega Man was every bit as great as them. Maybe it's cuz they weren't as prolific and their sound was less polished? In any case, Omega Man deserves more recognition... Formed out of the ashes of another underrated band, Scrog, Omega Man stayed around long enough to contribute to a couple of compilations and self-release a MCD, in 1997. A year later, No! Records out of California re-released that MCD, which is the copy I have (and yes, I'm still looking for the self-released version in case anybody wants to part with it!). Lyrically the band touches upon their straight edge background, but also topics such as domestic violence and rape culture. Oh, and if you're someone who enjoys samples with their metalcore, Omega Man is just the band for you!

Omega Man - s/t MCD