by BBG

Pulling Teeth's final show at A389 anniversary (more by BBG)

A389 Records have dropped their annual mixtape sampler, a ridiculous and borderline obnoxious 52-track extravaganza featuring multiple new or unreleased songs from the likes of Masakari, Mighty Sphincter, Seven Sisters of Sleep, Ilsa, Homewrecker, and many many more in addition to contributions from names like Integrity, Ringworm, Pulling Teeth, Gehenna, Full of Hell, and many many more. Download your copy here for FREE.

Pulling Teeth's contribution to the sampler is a cover of Rorschach's classic "Lightning Strikes Twice" from their flexi of the same name (available here). Reminder: Rorschach plays Maryland Deathfest and the now sold-out Le Poisson Rouge show in the coming week.

by BBG

Negative Approach at Fun Fun Fun Fest (more by BBG)

This is Hardcore returns to Philadelphia, PA for four days in August at Union Transfer (on 8/9) and Electric Factory (8/10 - 8/12). Both shows will have no barricades for you headwalkers/divers and in the case of Electric Factory, the venue will actually construct a stage in front of their usual stage (!) to get around the existing barricade. Now thats dedication/brutality.

As for the lineup, as usual the cast of hooligans gracing the stages of TIHC are a cast of notables, including Cro-Mags, Negative Approach, Gorilla Biscuits, Breakdown, Blacklisted, Killing Time, Nails, Ringworm, Gehenna and many many more. Full lineup is below and tickets go on sale on May 17th at noon.

Power Trip is part of said lineup, and reminder, the band will hit Acheron on May 15th as part of a string of East Coast dates. All tour dates are below.

Continue reading "This is Hardcore announces 2012 lineup and new venue"

words & photos by BBG

Integrity & Pulling Teeth @ A389 Anniversary

After Weekend Nachos played Sonar's smaller stage on Saturday, the party then moved to the larger stage, where Young and In The Way played their blackened-crust on a candle-lit stage. Black Metal aesthetics and a taut set made YAITW's performance one of my favorites of the day. Make sure and check out the band's new LP V: Eternal Depression, as well as their forthcoming 2LP Amen/I Am Not What I Am compilation due on the label this week.

Junior Bruce, featuring Scott Angelacos of Bloodlet on vocals, played stoner-doom which was a perfect lead-in to the great Seven Sisters of Sleep. The latter, who played Friday at Acheron (pictures on the way), play sludgy-hardcore and ripped out an excellent set of mid-paced pummeling. The always dependable Magrudergrind helped speed things up directly afterword.

Pulling Teeth played their final show after Magrudergrind, and had the crowd bouncing around and singing along to their set. Vocalist Mike Riley spent the final two songs bouncing between the stage and the crowd, as his backing band played material from across their output, including latter works like "From Birth" and "At Peace" from their latest LP Funerary. It's always sad to see a band of that caliber go away, but at least the Baltimore quintet does it with style and grace. Check out my interview with Dom of Pulling Teeth that we posted last week.

The caustic-negativity was ratched up for Gehenna, who played their black-metal-infused hardcore to a somewhat quieter audience. Mike Apocalypse staggered across the stage like a wide-eyed madman for the duration of their set, which seemingly confounded those looking to do some good old-fashioned moshing.

Integrity's metallic hardcore followed Gehenna, closing with the unfuckwithable trifecta of "Vocal Test" into "Hollow" into "Micha: Those Who Fear Tomorrow". The night at Sonar ended with Eyehategod, who dipped into all of the old classics for their set, as well as their "new" song "New Orleans is The New Vietnam" (which they have been playing for a few years now).

Overall, a great night with my personal highlights of the evening being Young and In The Way, Pulling Teeth, Weekend Nachos, Gehenna, Full of Hell, and Integrity. One final note... as much as I love Eyehategod both live and on record (a lot), the band is in desparate need of some new material... its been 12 long-years since Confederacy of Ruined Lives and they definitely have some creative-life left in them (see Soilent Green, Down, the recent Kill Life flexi and Mike's work in noise music, Hawg Jaw, Outlaw Order, Arson Anthem, etc).

Pictures from the first part of the day are HERE. The rest of the pictures from Saturday's A389 Anniversary show, aka everything mentioned above, are below...

Continue reading "A389's anniversary @ Sonar in pics & review (PART 2) -- Eyehategod, Integrity, Gehenna, Pulling Teeth & more"

words & photos by BBG

Weekend Nachos

A389 Records descended upon Sonar in Baltimore on January 21st with sixteen bands, hailing from from places like Belgium and Canada, and all over the US. The 9+ hour show was headlined by Eyehategod and included repeat A389 Anniversary offenders Integrity, Gehenna, and Seven Sisters of Sleep. It featured bands, that while rooted in hardcore, dipped their toes into crust, powerviolence, grind, doom, sludge and everywhere in between.

The first portion of the show took place on the smaller stage at Sonar, where Eddie Brock kicked off the evening followed by Homewrecker featuring fill-in bassist Joe Yanick of Masakari. John Hoffman of Weekend Nachos (who is touring with Homewrecker, and recently played ABC No Rio) and Dylan Walker of Full of Hell both dropped in to do vocals for Homewrecker.

Hatewaves, which features members of Pulling Teeth and Triac, followed the pair, opening their set with an appropriately absurd announcement: "Direct from a supporting slot from Don Ho, you wanted the second best, you got the second best... Hatewaves."

The crew deals in ridiculous lyrics over brutally fast hardcore, and delivered on both fronts despite an absurdly short-and-to-the-point set. Triac's blistering grind followed Hatewaves.

Low Places, who were a bit loose at times, played following Triac and pounded the crowd with their negative hardcore, eventually trashing the stage before Full of Hell got on. Full of Hell's noise-peppered hardcore brutality was the first set of the day to get the crowd really moving.

Pick Your Side, a new project featuring Jeff of Haymaker/Left for Dead/Chokehold and two members of Fuck The Facts, followed Hatewaves, and by the end of the second song Beckmann had already incited a pit and stage-dived. The band is prepping to release their new LP Let Me Show You How Democracy Works on A389, but had a select set of the LPs with special screened covers at the show.

Weekend Nachos batted clean-up on the small stage, which was packed to capacity by the time they took the stage. Possibly the most violent pit of the day, the Chicago crew had plenty of stage dives and singalongs to go along with their uber-brutal set.

The party then moved to the larger stage. More on that (with pictures) HERE. More pictures of everything mentioned above, below...

Continue reading "A389 celebrated their anniversary at Sonar (pics & review - PART 1) -- Weekend Nachos, Pick Your Side & more"

by BBG

Integrity at A389 in 2010 (more by Chris Bavaria)

The annual A389 Anniversary bash returns for its eighth year in 2012, expanding to TWO stages of acts at Sonar in Baltimore. The show goes down on January 21, 2012 and will feature appearances from Eyehategod, Integrity (a staple for the bash), Gehenna (who recently revisited their Land of Sodom 7" and Upon The Gravehill and played A389 in 2010), Starkweather, Weekend Nachos, Seven Sisters of Sleep, Starkweather, and Pick Your Side all in their only area appearances, in addition to appearances from Full of Hell (who is streaming their new record), Triac, Low Places, Hatewaves, and many others. Full lineup is below. Tickets are on sale now.

In related news, A389 will release a new flexi from Kill Life, a band featuring members of Integrity, Crass, Fucked Up, Magrudergrind and Pulling Teeth. Kill Life is joined by none other than Mike IX Williams of Eyehategod on the D.E.A. (Dead End America) 7", which is up for order now.

For those of you who can't wait until January, you can catch Integrity in Connecticut in October.

Full lineup is below, alongside some video.

Continue reading "A389's 2012 Anniversary Bash announced & on sale"

by BBG

Gehenna at A389 Anniversary 2010 (more by Chris Bavaria)

Vestiges are currently on a US tour that will take them from coast to coast in celebration of their new LP The Descent of Man, available HERE for free, and on CD/vinyl/cassette via the band and on tour. Lake of Blood will provide the assist on the West Coast, while the East Coast will get Full of Hell. Look for both Vestiges and Full of Hell (with Pharoah) at Stolen Sleeves on June 28th. Full tour schedule below.

Full of Hell are preparing to release a new 12", Roots of Earth Are Consuming My Home, at their new home, A389 Records.

In other A389 news, the infamous Gehenna will revisit their Land of Sodom 7" (reworked and re-titled Land of Sodom II) and Upon The Gravehill for a single release on A389 Records. The 7"/CD package will also include a poster and is one of several releases that the members of Gehenna will release in the coming months on the label. Gehenna also has a 7" with Rot In Hell, Integrity, Vegas, and Cape Ov Bats available now. Gehenna play Outsleazed Fest in Las Vegas on July 1st, and nothing else at the moment.

Another release due from A389 is the Practitioners of Fell Sorcery 12" by the mighty Gravehill! Limited to 500 copies, this early incarnation of the band that were so fun at MDF featured Mike Apokalypse of Gehenna on throat, as well as Shane BastardDemon on guitar who also serves as a member of another Gehenna project, Penetration Panthers. Penetration Panthers, which features DC Grave of Gehenna, will also release a new three song EP on the label entitled Perpetual 80s, which nods to early hardcore.

And last but not least, DC Grave is also involved in Witch-Lord, who will release their Atomized In The Black Solarian 12" via A389. Hardcore this is not. Witch-Lord fits more in the glacially-paced doom realm, while dipping it's toes into strong hallucinogens.

All of the releases above are currently streaming at the A389 site and are available for preorder. All tour dates and some video is below.

Continue reading "Vestiges touring w/ Full of Hell, Gehenna releasing stuff, Gravehill & Witch-Lord too"

by BBG

Rorschach at The Charleston (more by Ryan Muir)

Last year's jaw-dropping lineup at Chaos In Tejas was sick, and 2010 is proving to be no different. For four days across four different Austin venues, May 27th to the 30th at Emo's, Mohawk, Red 7 and Beerland, the festival will offer some of the most impressive names in the independent/underground scene including the indestructible Rorschach, the first ever US appearance from Australian punk greats X, a one-time reunion of Japanese crust-core band Bastard, the quirky cutesy indie pop-punk of Grass Widow, Gehenna (who just played A389), Subhumans, Bastard Noise (who have a new record), Bone Awl, BV faves Jeff The Brotherhood, The Spits, Psychedelic Horseshit, Ty Segall, The Ponys, Iron Lung (who recently played Cake Shop), Poison Idea, Inquisition, and many many many others.

In addition to the obvious mayhem that will ensue over the four days, Chaos in Tejas will also showcase art from some of the scene's most interesting names including Tim Kerr (of Big Boys), Winston Smith (responsible for tons of collage work, including the Dead Kennedys best album art), and Bryan Ray Turcotte (best known for his book Fucked Up and Photocopied).

The full (and intimidating) list is below...

Continue reading "Chaos in Tejas 2010 (May 27-30) - intial lineup (Rorschach, Bastard reunion, Spits, Bone Awl, Ty Segall, much more)"

words by BBG, photos by Chris Bavaria

Dwid of Integrity

Billed as "The Show That Ends The World", heavy music label A389 Records celebrated six years of existence (and it's owner Dom of Pulling Teeth celebrated his 33rd birthday) at Sonar in Baltimore on Jan 8th & 9th, 2009. It marked the second year in a row that Integrity and Pulling Teeth graced the Sonar during one of the first weekends of the year. Integrity (featuring Dom on guitar) teamed up with Oak, Pala, and War Priest last year.

Dwid, PT & the gang were on board for the second night at the venue (along with Ringworm, Seraphim, Gray Ghost, and Gehenna), but Pulling Teeth also made an appearance the night before as the backing band for Jon Mikl Thor of Canadian metal greats Thor:

Jon Mikl THOR is an enduring icon of glam rock/metal, and one of the true originators of rock theatre. THOR's enviable career got off the ground with his appearance on the Merv Griffin Show in 1973 and he has maintained a steady pace ever since, selling hundreds of thousands of records. Over the last three decades, THOR has explored the tongue-in-cheek Sweet/Mott the Hoople/Bowie stylings, hard hitting metal moves of the 80Õs, and flirting briefly with Nu-Rock/Metal in the late 90Õs. - [Thor bio]

Slumlords (which also features Dom of PT), Deathammer (mems of Oak), and No Redeeming Social Value were also on board for the festivities, though the previously billed Starkweather were forced to cancel their appearance. No offense Starkweather, but from the looks of the near riot below, Baltimore did just fine.

More pics and a shit ton of videos from the melee are below...

Continue reading "A389 celebrated a birthday in Baltimore - pics (Integrity, Ringworm, Thor, Pulling Teeth, NRSV & more) "