by BBG

Battlemaster at Heart of Winter Fest (more by Diana Lee Zadlo)

Call it the "heart of early spring" fest. Two stellar bands that roughed up the crowds at Heart of Winter fest, Battlemaster and Bastard Sapling will re-emerge from their coffins and team up with Inter Arma for The Charleston TONIGHT (Easter, 4/4) with Mutant Supremacy (who replaced Castevet on the bill). Later this year Bastard Sapling and Inter Arma will hit the road for a (much more) extensive US tour. Full tour dates below... lots of TBA's. Contact the band to help out.

Inter Arma have a new LP entitled Sundown due on Forcefield Records this spring. More on that soon.

40% of Inter Arma, 20% of Battlemaster and one Elway (of Celebrity Murders, CR, and Murdock fame) make up the great Bastard Sapling whose unholy rituals I managed to witness when they played Lit with Lightning Swords of Death.

Battlemaster are also on board for the third year of an absolutely insane free festival on Governor's Island. Punk Island returns this year on June 20th. The massive lineup features Negative Approach (!), Midnight, Nunslaughter, Star Fucking Hipsters, Infernal Stronghold, No Redeeming Social Value, and many other notables. The current and currently expanding lineup with some videos and those dates, below...

Continue reading "Punk Island's initial 2010 lineup (Negative Approach & MANY more), Battlemaster & Bastard Sapling tour dates "

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) "

photos by Zach Stern

"Hailing from Queens NY and known for their crazy stage antics and upbeat insanity, NO REDEEMING SOCIAL VALUE have been a staple of the New York Hardcore scene for many years. They made their vinyl debut in 1992 and have since enjoyed continued success with many CD and Vinyl releases. In their history NRSV have also toured the USA , Canada , Japan , and Europe numerous times. From playing keg parties in Queens to playing a wedding in the Netherlands these guys have done it all. Even bands like hardcore legends Warzone have covered NRSV songs in the past. Maybe you have heard all of the crazy stories such as past members going insane, being banned in Italy , or the infamous Polish boarder crossing. As for the music, No Redeeming Social Value bring the fun back into hardcore. And when we say hardcore we mean straight up old school no frills hardcore! The way it was meant to be! So sit back, grab a can or bottle of your favorite grog, chill out for the moment, and then hardcore your lousy ass off!" [Dead City]

It was the 90's all over again for those that got to the Bad Brains show early enough to catch NRSV (and Killing Time who went on right after them) last night (11/5). Some older videos, and more pictures from the show below...

Continue reading "No Redeeming Social Value @ Irving Plaza, NYC - pics "

by Black Bubblegum

HR @ Crash Mansion, CMJ night 1 (by Mark Iantosca for Free Williamsburg)


Bad Brains have announced the opening bands for their previously discussed pair of shows at Irving Plaza. Re-reuniting NYHC heavyweights Killing Time and crazies No Redeeming Social Value are playing the first, and heavier, night (11/5). Trouble Andrew and a little band that you may have heard a little about around here, Rival Schools, are playing night two (11/6)! Tickets are still available for both 11/5 (here) and 11/6 (here).

Rival Schools play (a longer set) at Mercury Lounge later that SAME NIGHT. They also play Maxwell's two days earlier. Both of those are sold out.

Rival Schools recently played the BrooklynVegan Day Party at The Knitting Factory during CMJ while HR of Bad Brains played a CMJ show of his own. I got the chance to interview Walter Schreifels & Sammy Siegler of Rival Schools, and you can check out part one here. Part two is coming soon.

Speaking of Bad Brains... former drummer Chuck Treece and his skatepunk band McRad (see Powell/Peralta videos from the 80s) have a few area shows this week, including tonight (10/27) at Europa (tickets here) and 10/29 in the Old Office at the Knitting Factory (tickets here).

All Bad Brains dates below...

Continue reading "HR played CMJ, Rival Schools, Killing Time, No Redeeming Social Value opening for Bad Brains @ Irving Plaza"