Bushido Code - The Ronin

This is a fun one. As many of you know, I'm a hardcore kid at heart, but obviously I love metal. To find a band who elegantly fuse the two is always an exciting prospect for me. Bushido Code is made up of dudes who have been doing the hardcore thing for a good long while, so to hear them pull it together with thrash on The Ronin, is a goddamn blast. While there is nothing overtly flashy going on here, what's not to love about the concept of samurai themed thrash-core from Western Pennsylvania? Exactly - you already want to get in the pit. 

The manic playing behind tracks like "Harvest" really speaks to just how good this band is. As you dig deeper you increasingly get the sense that these guys are flying by the seat of their pants. There is really something to be said for a band who do such a good job of flirting with disaster with every passing moment but constantly finding a way to pull it off. The Ronin come out with a sense of over the top energy that makes for some truly compelling listening. It's a delight to really immerse yourself in the pure chaos and angular riffage that helps to make these tracks so special and drive towards so much more. 

The Ronin sees Bushido Code taking their unique brand of thrashy hardcore to a whole new level. With big choruses, fun solos and an overarching sense of headbanging madness this is exactly the sort of record you want to be blaring as you grind through some extra work on your Saturday as I am. They are a band who are a credit to their always excellent label, Upstate Recordings, and who continually show you that they are the real deal. If you want something that elegantly fuses thrash and hardcore, give this monster a spin.

Pre-order the album!

https://upstaterecords.bandcamp.com/album/bushido-code-the-ronin

Counting Days - Liberated Sounds

Now this is my favorite part of the job.  Listening to a band that is hands down better than what the main stream kings are selling.  "Liberated Sounds" by Counting Days is a mind blowing reminder of what bands you don't know of yet have to offer.  Before I get too deep into the songs I also want to point out the value of having a physically appealing album cover or merch design and I know someone will say "looks are deceiving" or I'm "superficial" but why do you think bands pay for professional artwork?  Because they are professional. It's a representation of what you are and the first thing someone sees on your merchandise.  It's your brand and this band has bad ass written all over it.  

"Liberated Sounds" starts off with a straight dropkick to the face and no apologies.  This is the sound bands in the hardcore scene wish they could write but lack the ability to think of the song as a whole.  These songs are groovy and heavy with a sound similar to bands like It Dies Today and Chimaira.  This has the elements expected of a hardcore band with that thrash edge combined with a metal background ever present in these songs.  As I listen to the album more and more I find that I'm involuntarily playing air guitar while head banging in my kitchen with people just staring at me.  There is some slower parts in the song which show off a more relaxing side of the band also.  I personally love when bands take it down a notch and get fresh with the audience.  These bands members are no strangers to success and the road, which shows in this well executed medley of hardcore music with metal and punk influence.   

There is a common idea that all metalcore/hardcore music sounds exactly the same and I can see where that stems from but it doesn't change the fact that there are bands out there that are doing it right and make a name for themselves and break away from the pack to become a force of nature.  Counting Days is a quintet of mayhem that has put in the work and it really shows.  Don't get me wrong you aren't getting something groundbreaking but your getting the cream of the scene when it comes to "Liberated Sounds."  There are people that imitate and people that are real songs writers, and for me this band delivered one hell of an album.  If you like tons of screaming with gut punching guitar riffs, dirty breakdowns and catchy melodies than you need to look no further than my friends from the U.K.

Find them on Facebook !!
https://www.facebook.com/Countingdaysuk

Interview with Dead Gakkahs

For those who have missed out on my introduction to this band back in November last year, Dead Gakkahs is an absolutely killer Fastcore/punk band hailing from South Korea that I discovered during one of my lucky hours searching for new music on the web.

I had always wondered how, despite the growing interest in South Korean culture in the West, we had yet to hear about the countries talents in the indie music scene. It was during one of these curiosity-fueled internet searches that I encountered with this exceptional, ferocious act from Seoul. I was lucky enough to get in contact with the band and ask them a few quick questions about their background as well as the punk scene in South Korea.

1.        So to start things off, could you tell us how you guys started out?

Dead Gakkahs started out 2 years ago by our vocalist and guitarist Juhl with the intention of playing music amongst the likes of bands like Sugar Pie Coco.

2.        How would you describe your music?

The best way to define it would be Fastcore, Thrashcore. We basically focus on playing fast music. We just want to sing and call assholes out. We’re neither left nor right wing, we oppose authoritarianism, bureaucracy and social stratification, and that’s what our songs stand for.

3.        What are you main influences?

Bands like Sugar Pie Coco, Punch, Fuck on the beach

4.    Despite the growing interest in Korean culture over the past few years, korean indie music culture still doesn't get much coverage. Could you tell us a bit more about the punk/metal scene in Korea?

The Korean punk scene seems smaller than that of other countries. However that doesn’t mean that it’s flat or boring at all. Although the quality of the songs are the primary aspect of any kind of music, we think the business part (event planning, promotion, management etc…) is also important. Our hardcore punk scene friends are always thinking of ways to make the scene more fun. Hopefully, the more interestingly the local punk scene is run, the more active it will eventually become. But in society run by capital, everything runs on money. Every day consumerism grows stronger, land prices increase… it’s very hard these days.

5.    Could you recommend any other bands from the Korean music scene to our readers?

The Kitches, Find the Spot, Scumraid. These are all ripping and passionate bands from the local Korean scene.

6. If you could tour with any band (active or disbanded), who would it be?

Sugar Pie Coco. Masshysteri

7. To finish things off, what can we expect from Dead Gakkahs in the future?

We plan to release split album and hope to release a full length album after that.

Robin

A huge thank you goes out to the band for taking the time to answer my questions.
Again, I can only reinstate my suggestion that you take 1 minute of your time to check out their lightning-fast songs. Before you know it, you’ll be playing the whole demo on repeat for the 5 time in a row.

 

Dead Gakkahs

Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/DeadGakkahs?ref=br_tf

Bandcamp
https://deadgakkahs.bandcamp.com/album/dead-gakkahs

My review for their self-titled debut release:
http://www.twoguysmetalreviews.com/2014/11/dead-gakkahs-self-titled.html

Dead Gakkahs - Self titled

For this next review I'll be doing things a little differently: I going to be reviewing a slightly older release from this year to hopefully bring this local underground gem to your attention. This release is an EP/demo by Dead Gakkahs, a Female fronted Fastcore/Punk band hailing from Seoul, South Korea. The tracklist is comprised of 7 mindblowingly fast and energetic songs that add up to barely 7 minutes of runtime altogether (including 2 cover songs).

The bands' overall sound is very straightforward, sticking to lightning-fast old-school hardcore punk songs from the likes of Negative Approach and Minor threat. The band are not exactly reinventing the genre here, but they offer a very enjoyable and effective take on it, with simple but devastatingly effective riffs and grooves played at a thousand miles per hour.
One of the highlights of the bands'sound would definitely be the 2 frontwomens' incredible vocals. The 2 vocalist are yelling at the top of their lungs with an amazing amount of raw energy and intensity, with an incredibly catchy vocal flow that really helps each song in standing out from one another.
While extremely intense from start to finish, the band does manage to prevent each song from sounding like the next. Every song on here has a distinguishable intro riff and has enough variation to maintain a sufficient level of diversity.
The mix isn't as loud and agressive as what we're used to in the fastcore/hardcore punk genre today, but it is also much clearer. The instruments are recorded in a clean way that makes every note decipherable and everything has some proper space in the mix. This approach to mixing, while rather unorthodox for a release with incredibly intense songs, actually helps to showcase the bands' real potential. The band does not rely on a brickwalled, "in your face" type of production to deliver heavy songs. Rest assured, the recordings, while very clean, also retain a level rawness to them, with little to no effects added to the intruments and vocals.

In short, this extremely short yet catchy release is sure to be stuck on repeat on the music player of any of you potential fans out there looking to check out some new exciting sounds from the internationnal punk scene. Relying solely on their talent as musicians and songwriters, Dead Gakkahs have put out a solid collection of songs that give us a good reason to be excited for the bands' future.

Robin

Be sure to like them and show them some love on their facebook page.
You can listen to this release on their bandcamp and buy it for only 3$.
Also, be sure to check out their impressive live performances on Youtube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPv1m-572k0

Dead Gakkahs

Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/DeadGakkahs?ref=br_tf

Bandcamp
https://deadgakkahs.bandcamp.com/album/dead-gakkahs

Interview with Mike Arellano of MOD!

And here we have it, my final interview transcription from This is Hardcore Festival. This time it was one with a good old friend of mine, Mike Arellano, a dude who I had previousy hung out with back in France. In the interview we got to talk a lot about MOD, and also Mike's own career as a musician.Arellano was at the festival as a replacement for Die Young's drummer as part of a one off. It was really interesting to find out a lot more about the drummer in one of metal's most legendary acts.

Find MOD on Facebook!
https://www.facebook.com/ModMethodOfDestruction

How the hell have you been Mike?
I've been great man, life is good, I can't complain. Everything is just going so perfect right now man. Doing the whole tour with MOD and doing Hellfest... and now I'm here, back to helping out Texas hardcore bands. I'm here with Die Young, we play tomorrow, it's badass man. Life is good.

You've found a sense of balance between real life and getting to do awesome shit like this.
Right. I've got a job back home man. I'm just thankful when I come back it's their. I work in the food service industry. Coming to do this is awesome. That's the whole beauty of it, doing what you love to do and then coming back to reality and working like everybody else.

Do you feel like if you didn't work like everybody else you wouldn't be as connected in the music? Do you think it would hurt the music?
In a way maybe because staying connected with the people at work with is important. But if I was doing music full time I'd be even more focused on it. Not having to worry about getting early to go to work or anything else.

There's a guy over there wearing an SOD shirt, how does that feel, to be one of the few people who can play SOD songs live and to see that kind of shirt at a festival?
It's not weird at all, it's badass. Growing up and getting introduced to all the different levels of metal and then getting into punk, hardcore, and thrash and finding out that SOD was the band that mixed it all together... Billy too. He created something so special. In high school I used to watch SOD videos like Live At Budokan with my friends. Being connected in that is cool When I got my first drum set back in 2000 I was all over the place. When I heard Billy moved to Austin I was like "Wow, that's cool" Then they went on tour with Bitter End from San Antonio and Billy asked the guys about finding a good drummer and they told him about me. Now I'm jamming with the guy, I would never think that I would be on stage playing with that guy. It's a dream come true. It's any metal, hardcore, or punk kids dream come true to be on stage with a guy like that. After playing Hellfest with thousands of people, where it's just incredible.

Do you have a sort of comedown effect after Hellfest, being like, "I played in front of 40,000 people and now I'm down to 400"?
Not at all man. Now I can say I did it. When I come back and do this it's kind of like a relief. I know I can do something big like that again if the opportunity came again. Before Hellfest I thought something like this festival with a few hundred people was the biggest thing that I could do. You've got great hardcore bands from all over the States. Going overseas and doing that, that was unreal.

Are you going to try to do the European festival circuit again next year?
That's all in the air. We'll see what happens. It's all up to Billy. Personally, I would love to go back. We'll see what this world brings upon us. People are saying there's going to be a world war three, I don't know how it's going to be next year. We'll see...

This could be the last summer.
It could be man, that's why Billy wanted to go out on tour. I'm not a political guy at all. That's all Billy. He's right though. He wanted to tour Europe before something bad happens.


You say you're not a political guy, but you play in hardcore punk bands, isn't that kind of a oxymoron?
It's all in the music man. I love the music and the aggression. I love playing abrasive music, it gets my blood flowing. Hardcore got me where I am right now. When I joined Will to Live back in 2005 that opened up the doors to going on my first tour and then introducing me to the rest of the hardcore scene throughout the states and getting my bands up there. I had a band called In Disgust and we did pretty well. I'm really thankful for everything the scene has done for me. It's about making the right decisions too. For me it's all about music and the scene. Everybody's so close to each other, it's like friends and family, that's what it's all about.

What do you love so much about music?
Ever since my Dad first introduced me to it when I was little I just fell in love with it. He's the reason why I'm doing this. He took me to my first concert when I was three years old, Cinderella and Judas Priest. It went on from there with Van Halen. I even saw Pink Floyd in 94. I was like, I'm going to do something like that, I want to be involved with music. I knew I wanted to play guitar or drums. When I first got on the drum set I felt like I knew what I was doing, I knew it was a gift and I had to do something with it and do something with it. I grew up in a trailer. When we first moved into a house in 2000 I got my first drum set and we got going. I played my first show in 2002, I was 16. Here I am 14 years later touring all over the world, taking all of the opportunities coming towards me, that's what it's all about. Life's too short man.

Last words of wisdom?
Be there for your friends and family when they need you the most, go with your guy and your heart, that's what life's all about.

Discipline X-Wasted in Hollywood

Discipline X are a thrash metal band from Finland, so it certainly feels a little weird that they'd be putting out a record called Wasted in Hollywod. But when you dig into it, it's actually pretty clear why they went with that name. Wasted in Hollywood does a wonderful job of reflecting not only pure and glorious 80s Bay Area thrash, it's also a wonderful party record with a more serious side. Unafraid to add more than a touch of hardcore punk into the mix, Discipline X have a very clear of what they are doing and how they want to do it, bringing the mosh is simply a part of the job.

Yet this record has a lot more depth to it than that. The acoustic mastery found on T.A.B is evidence these thrashers know how to slow down. The thing that really makes them special for me though is their incredible ability to groove. It drives the entire thing forward and makes Discipline X simply fun to listen too. This is not a thrash band who take themselves too seriously, in fact, they seem to do the opposite, but they also understand the power of the genre to bring in a political message. Songs like Bukowski show that the band are a lot more intelligent than their party-hearty image might suggest, leaving you pondering the magic of a band who can fuse the party with intellectual conversations.

The band says they are "Thrashier than your average punk and punkier than your average thrash" and this is very much the case. Discipline X may owe a large musical debt to bands like Suicidal Tendencies and DRI, but they also bring in their own bombast, reminiscent of bands like Iron Maiden. Toss in the diversity in lyrical topics and you start to get a sense that Discipline X are only going to get better. Throw this record into your CD player and feel the rage boil up inside you, Discipline X understand what thrash is all about, and the party is only just starting!

Find them on Facebook!
https://www.facebook.com/disciplinexcrossover

Warm Up Day Three with Pervert Asshole, Lokurah, My Mental Health Degrades, Sublime Cadaveric Decomposition, Benighted and NAPALM DEATH

So now Warm Up is said and done, Napalm Death have played, blown my mind and left me begging for more. The bands I saw today were all great and the food surprisingly top notch (and pretty darn cheap too!) I saw all my friends from the first few days of festivaling and a lot more fans were here for the top bands. Fortunately not too many people showed up so we got to get a really personal experience for every concert, and let me tell you, it's INCREDIBLE to get to see a band like Napalm Death with less than a hundred people in the room. So now we are left with one thing to do, the review of the third day of the festival! I'm sitting in my kitchen exhausted at one in the morning let's do this thing.

The first band I saw today was Pervert Asshole, now here is a band who are wonderfully decadent in a live setting. Be it their guitarist, who wears a Mexican luchador mask or their singer who parades about gyrating freely in his underwear these guys are the definition of extreme. Their music is gloriously over the top and their new album title 'We Say Fuck a Lot' pretty much sums up their entire ethos. In other words, Pervert Asshole are the kind of thing that is gloriously offensive, gaining power through raw decadence, the kind of band who will make fun of you, if only because they think its funny. Not to be taken seriously and a blast to see live, Pervert Asshole will definitely be getting more coverage on Two Guys in the future.

Up next was Lokurah bringing their own brand of thrash metal madness to the fore. Tossing in touches of metalcore to an overall thrash derived sound these guys are pretty ferocious live. Throughout the early part of their set they were plagued with technology and mixing issues and I think it limited peoples ability to get into the music. Yet once they had a couple of songs with no problems people started headbanging and it became clear that Lokurah are quite a powerful live group. This is a band who come on and play tight and heavy thrashcore until heads are banging all around, and really, what more can you ask for from a local thrashcore band? Suffice to say, these guys know how to deliver and I'd like to see them again soon.

Then, My Mental Health Degrades charged on to the stage and delivered thirty plus minutes of destructive metalcore madness. Their music is melodic and powerful, the kind of hardcore that I genuinely enjoy, even if I think the performances can be a little silly sometimes. One of the coolest parts of their set was when the singer from another local melodic hardcore band, All My Memories, came onto the stage to perform some songs with the group. They went over so well I almost feel like the band should be doing a two vocalist thing. On their own though these guys are still stellar, the music is powerful and they know how to connect in other words, this is definitely a band I'd recommend to a friend.

I then took a break for dinner and too talk to some of the bands as well as a few of my good friends who I don't get to see as often as I like. These selfsame friends started telling me about the band to come, Sublime Cadaveric Decomposition a band who were apparently just as brutal as their name. By god were they right. With a grinding rage ripped straight from Origine Sublime Cadaveric Decomposition are violent, destructive, and totally triumphant in creating some glorious death metal that ripped my head off for the entirety of the set. Sure there music isn't intelligent or classy, but it certainly rips faces off and shows a band who have been dedicated to brutality for longer than I have been alive. These guys aren't going to stop soon, so you NEED to check them out and become a slave to their incredible heaviness.

The second to last group was French metal heroes Benighted who had a ton of local punters out to worship them. Their set was violent and vicious, the kind of thing were people (including me) were getting bruised and bloody from the very first song. Benighted's music is a sort of deathgrind with no respect for the normal rules of the genre, instead just opting to blast heads off with an attack that will hold you in thrall for hours. I could have watched them play an entire other set they were simply that good. Coming at it with a lot of energy and a vicious dedication to their music it was exciting to see these guys play, they definitely deserve their place as mainstays in the French scene.

And now on to the big guys. Napalm Death. The name says it all, legends in their lifetimes these guys have been doing this for more than thirty years and their performance is delivered with so much expertise you can not deny the bands greatness. As I headbanged in the front row I realized how impossibly lucky it was that we got to see Napalm Death in this super intimate setting. The band was tight and destructive as I imagine they always are (This was my first time). What I'm trying to say is that the sheer ferocity that Napalm Death attacked their set with was inspiring to me and their lyrics blew me away (as they always do) I especially liked how open they were with their message, aware that they are bringing good to the world. In short, I NEED to seem them again as soon as possible.

In conclusion, today was an incredible event, even more so than the previous days of Warm Up Festival. Not only was it topped off by one of the most impressive live sets I have EVER seen (And to give you a sense of scale, I've seen thirty one bands since September 1st) but all of the other bands on the bill were really well picked and fit well with the whole idea behind the festival. I sincerely hope I can come to the festival next year, Warm Up is intimate and fun, the sort of thing that creates memories that will last a life time. With a wonderful familial atmosphere and great vibes all around I just have to congratulate the team behind this event for a job well done.

Find the bands on Facebook!

Pervert Asshole: https://www.facebook.com/ZombieCatHouse?ref=ts&fref=ts

Lokurah: https://www.facebook.com/lokurahmusic?ref=ts&fref=ts

My Mental Health Degrades: https://www.facebook.com/mmhdband

Sublime Cadaveric Decomposition: https://www.facebook.com/scdmusic

Benighted: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Benighted-official/102125209845927

Napalm Death: https://www.facebook.com/officialnapalmdeath

beyond the Styx

Alas and alack! Another band who will be performing at the inaugural edition of Open Wall Fest! A deathcore band from the noble city of Tours in France beyond the Styx have been creating face shredding metal since 2010. Their approach to metal is interesting, fusing more mainstream elements with an attack that can not be ignored. Sure there are some cool melodies here but when this band gets a breakdown, stuff gets heavy. I especially like the growls, they have a lot of variety and give songs like Between Scylla and Charybdis a special flavor that keeps things interesting. The thing is, beyond the Styx know what they want to do and they do it very well. The melodic lines that characterize some of these tracks have their place, showing beyond the Styx not to be poser scum but interesting and very competent musicians who know precisely what needs doing. If you're looking for some deathcore that isn't afraid to chop you into little pieces then beyond the Styx is the band for you!

Find them on Facebook!
https://www.facebook.com/BEY0ND.THE.STYX/app_178091127385

N.W.D

An impressive hardcore thrash band from Venezuela who purvey an old school hardcore sound and infuse it with a raw thrash metal energy yet don't leave behind the genres trademark breakdowns. An interesting and logical, yet still surprisingly fresh fusion of genres N.W.D find an incredible combination of Discharge and Exodus for an end result that is an interesting and unique sound that could easily become huge. With a potential appeal to a large fanbase (the thrash guys AND the hardcore punks) I could see these guys becoming subculture united legends. Yet I feel like they need to polish their sound a bit more to get the sound they are really searching for. As is, they show a lot of promise and I really like the sound they are getting, yet these guys have the potential to be so much more! In short, these guys are stunning and when they get their groove on minds are blown, yet they need to tighten there sound before they can fully achieve thrash metal godhood So, if you're looking for a potential packed young thrashcore act then search no more, N.W.D are gearing up to take the world by storm!

Find them on Facebook!
https://www.facebook.com/NWDband/app_2405167945