Hard work usually tends to pay off, and not always in the most expected of ways either. The tireless touring ensemble known as This Is Hell have been serving up lessons in authentic hardcore for the better half of ten years now, oftentimes with little more than conviction and hard work ethic to stand on, in the absence of adequate recognition from the hardcore scene. If you’ve been involved with hardcore for more than a little bit, and your eyes are at the very least half open, you’ll notice that it’s not necessarily the hardest working, most creative, and best-sounding bands who rise to the top of the scene’s ranks in record time. It’s the hype bands. And hype is one thing that has eluded Long Island’s This Is Hell since signing with the now-defunct Trustkill Records and releasing their beautifully somber debut full-length, “Sundowning” in 2006. Whether the all but absent hardcore credibility of their former label had anything to do it, or the band was simply not cool enough by the standards of modern hardcore kids, it seemed like This Is Hell were climbing a steep slope slicked with oil, year after year. We know that the bulk of hardcore kids associate a high measure of importance to what label a band is on, either snapping up every release regardless of quality, or avoiding the label at all costs due to a more varied roster; and Trustkill was home to a much broader diversity of artists during its final years of operation than back in its heyday of the 90’s. But with their third full-length and Rise Records debut, “Weight Of The World,” and an upcoming tour supporting the U.K.’s Bring Me The Horizon, along with Emarosa, August Burns Red, and Polar Bear Club, it appears they are finally being shown some understanding that the hardcore scene had been depriving them of for years. And with This Is Hell’s pride still hiding away in their collective back pocket even after being re-signed and booked on a hot tour, there is something to be said about a band that doesn’t breakup at the first sign of adversity, nor turn themselves into an enemy of the scene whilst publicly exposing its shortcomings as other underdog bands have done in the past. Both on record, live, and in person, This Is Hell stand as one of the highest quality hardcore bands today. “Weight Of The World” both continues the band’s powerful studio legacy, and also sets a new bar for both themselves and other bands to strive to attain. Whether inspired by Boston’s American Nightmare and other melodic post-hardcore bands as on their earlier releases, or crossover thrash which plays such a dominant role on “Weight Of The World,” This Is Hell can always be counted on for knowing what they’re doing and not biting off more than they can chew. But this new album is one that people who didn’t come to terms with guitarist Rick Jimenez’s sheer songwriting gift and instrumental versatility in the past would not have predicted him to create the guitar lover’s wet dream that is “Weight Of The World.” Founding member of This Is Hell and his side-project Soldiers, Jimenez lives and breathes guitar and touring, something that anyone who gives “Weight Of The World” a listen will say makes absolutely perfect sense. The band have always been an intense and interactive live experience, but the metallic and raw turn the band has taken here is likely to transform them into a feared touring unit that should unsettle any band taking the stage after them.

“All Glory to God (even songs of zombie chaos)” Those words personify The Devil Wears Prada’s new EP almost perfectly. While maintaining their intelligent and powerful lyrics, the TDWP guys bring something different from their usual spiritual and religious based content. I’ve personally never had a problem with TDWP’s religious world views, I am myself a christian and love their content old and new. But the Zombie EP is exactly that. A collection of five songs about nothing but zombies. And it’s awesome! Mike Hranica’s intelligence shines through in his dark, undead riddled lyrical subject. Everyone has seen zombie movies, and there have been zombie songs, but this isn’t your typical “the undead have risen to eat us” type of cd. Hranica uses each song, all titled to coincide with the zombie theme, to tell a different part of this horrific tale. And Jeremy’s semi-poppy, semi-screamo vocals are utilized at just the right amount. They add to the tone of desperation, and fear, but don’t take away from the heart pounding brutality. One of the most impressive parts is that each song does flow into the next via an excerpt from an old zombie film, but they don’t tell a linear story. The best way to describe it would have to be that each song can tell it’s own story while being part of a larger theme. They do all fit together just not (technically) on a timeline. Not only is the lyrical content a change of pace, but the music is also a bit more breakneck, and brutal. To me TDWP has always had it’s heavier moments, especially on their last full-length With Roots Above and Branches Below. Well on the Zombie EP the guys who gave you last year’s AP (Alternative Press) record of the year, bring it and they bring it hard and fast. With more fast, punk-based instrumentalism and deeper growly vocals, “Zombie” is easily one of the band’s more punishing albums. Along with just the right amount of zombie film excerpts to accent the living dead theme, TDWP knocks the concept album out of the park.

One of the most storied bands in death metal history is back for more, and it appears Florida’s Malevolent Creation are in the best position possible to kick off a new album campaign than they have been in years. Like a mistreated and misunderstood pitbull, the former Roadrunner Records death thrash pioneers who were somehow left behind in the mid-90’s when the trend in heavy music took a turn for the worse, must really have felt the urge to make a powerful statement at the turn of the decade, because “Invidious Dominion” delivers in every single way that its rushed predecessor, “Doomsday X,” did not. Basically, Malevolent Creation are back on track…again. For all of those who have followed the band’s dizzying lineup changes, legal and media battles, and wild fluctuations in gigging frequency and release distribution, and are still somehow keeping up with possibly the best death metal band of all-time, will find much reward for their patience with “Invidious Dominion.” In terms of song structuring, selection of riffs, and plain menacing attitude, this album could very well be the missing link between two of the band’s finest (and drastically different) works, their blackened death landmark from 2000 “Envenomed,” and the J-F Dagenais & Shawn Ohtani production/engineering masterpiece “The Will To Kill,” which arrived two years later. Founding vocalist Brett Hoffman breathes fire throughout “Invidious Dominion” in ways fans have not heard since “Envenomed” and “Retribution,” showcasing the extent to which consistent touring since rejoining the band almost five years ago has amplified the veteran frontman’s supremacy. Having faced ample bouts of label instability, crookedness, and lack of investment has led to some of the most memorable songwriting of their early years, notably on the album “Eternal” (1995), be buried beneath muddy production values and poor mastering; a similar fate endured by Suffocation’s classic “Breeding The Spawn” from which the Long Island band (with whom Malevolent Creation now share representation by Extreme Management Group) have been re-recording one track on each successive album since their comeback record “Souls To Deny” was released in 2004. If Malevolent Creation would follow suit and re-record some of this iconic material that proved to be drumming phenom Dave Culross’ (Pyrexia, Suffocation, Hateplow, Incantation) hard landing in the metal scene, it might go a convincing length to finally certifying Malevolent Creation in the public’s eyes as one of the few classic death metal bands who always went against the grain, even in the scene, and often to unpredictable results in either direction. Nothing, obviously, can replace the necessary, year-long touring grind the band just set in motion by kicking off the “March Of Brutality” tour as direct support for thrash darlings Exodus. Even public endorsements such as members of Slipknot and CKY publicly naming Malevolent Creation as one of their most decided influences can’t bring a band overnight success, as the band’s current standing shows. They’ve been chomping at the bit for a good 23 years now, and it looks like they’re about to hit a good skid. Returning to their comfortable position of raising the bar for songwriting prowess and speed with “Invidious Dominion” could however prove slightly bittersweet to some, as the band technically should have hit their stride years ago when joined by Hateplow frontman Kyle Symons for the impressive and modern-sounding sequence of “The Will To Kill,” “Conquering South America,” and “Warkult” records. Critically-acclaimed yet marred by instability on the back-end, the Kyle Symons era elevated Malevolent Creation past their main influences Slayer and Dark Angel and into Hall Of Fame territory, with the tag-team of Phil Fasciana and Rob Barrett (Cannibal Corpse, Hateplow, Solstice) coming off the “Envenomed” cycle and buzzsawing their way through death thrash classics in a way that has not been heard from any band before or since. And with Symons an invigorating, ferocious, and all-encompassing recorded vocalist and performer as any fan of the band could have asked for following the here today, gone tomorrow status of Brett Hoffman and Jay Blachowicz at the time, Malevolent Creation seemed poised to finally breakout and get their due during his tenure. But the departure of Symons set the band back once more, and it has taken more than a few years for the remaining members to recover from his untimely loss.

Easily one of the more unpredictable veterans of the early-mid 90’s upstate NY hardcore scene, Poughkeepsie’s much-fabled powerhouse All Out War have tended to come and go over the years more times than many of the band’s devout followers can probably count on their two hands. So in true, out-of-the-blue All Out War fashion, 2010 has just seen the release of what could possibly be the band’s career-defining record, “Into The Killing Fields,” a collection of truth-seeking, instant Slayercore classics that overwhelm the listener much the same way as All Out War’s records did over ten years ago. If bands like Destruction, Kreator, and Bolt Thrower, each longstanding influences on the pioneers of New York metalcore alongside Brooklyn’s Merauder, are themselves producing noteworthy albums nearly thirty years following their inception, then there is no reason All Out War cannot do the same. However, there is always the stability factor of hardcore vs. metal bands that need be taken into account here. Metal bands who identify as such tend to have built-in fanbases, record labels with longstanding infrastructure, and booking agents & promoters who expect the bands in town most years. The lifespan of a hardcore band, for those who don’t pay much attention, is far more volatile and uneven; that is, if the band even makes it past the first couple of years of their existence, which many do not. With that in mind, the fact that All Out War have released their fourth album as they approach their twentieth anniversary as a band is a testament to their love for writing and performing ground-shaking, metallic hardcore, spreading a message of awareness and open-mindedness, and being involved in a constantly-changing scene that has not always been the most supportive nor recognizing of the band’s heritage and influence. In the hardcore scene, the process of “making it” does not consist of selling records, having fans tattoo the band’s name on themselves, or selling out mid-sized venues across the world. It’s about one thing, and one only: Survival. In that sense All Out War have made it, because they’ve managed to outlive and outlast shallow trends, shady promoters, closed-down venues, controversial record labels, the breakups of many of the bands they came up with, and more adversarial factors still. But “Into The Killing Fields” could in fact mark the beginning of a new era for the band, as numerous veteran bands from the past are collectively making enough noise that vocalist Mike Score and company are appearing to find more friends than foes in the underground for the first time in years. Bands like Starkweather (whose former longtime bassist Michelle Eddison assembled the layout for “Into The Killing Fields”), Ringworm, Merauder, Kickback, Maximum Penalty, Darkside NYC, and even Blood For Blood have all found new life over the past few years, and this revivalist movement seems to have played some part in All Out War’s decision to flex their muscles again. The band’s ever-changing lineup also appears to be at its most solid in years, boasting players like bassist Eric Carrillo who performed on the band’s debut full-length “Truth In The Age Of Lies,” returning shredder Brad Mader who co-wrote and performed on the band’s heavily-underrated (also under-promoted and under-toured) 2003 beast of an album “Condemned To Suffer,” and guitarist Jim Bremer, who has been a cornerstone of the band’s latest lineup for a number of years now. Neglecting to shed light on All Out War’s newest addition to the lineup, founding Breakdown drummer Lou Medina, would be criminal, as his performance on “Into The Killing Fields” boasts arguably more persussive flair and feeling than any drummer since Joe Branciforte’s massive performance on “Truth In The Age Of Lies.” On “Into The Killing Fields,” all the puzzle pieces have fallen into place. The Big Blue Meenie production (Merauder, S.O.D., Agnostic Front, Vision Of Disorder) turned out great with All Out War sounding as close to a live band on tape as they have since their demos, Mike Score’s glass-shattering screams are unhinged as ever, and Score’s lyrics that address real-world issues like war-mongering, genocide, fear culture, brainwash, religious factions, and materialism are more called-for and pertinent than ever.

The reasons that I like hardcore are very simple. Hardcore has a strong emotional aspect to it, and for that reason, hardcore will always win out. For me, hardcore as a genre is not defined by its tough shell and the "I don't give two fucks about you" attitude. That's all cool though, and I am sure it impresses a lot of prepubescent youth. But progress is only achieved when you expose the angst, rage, frustration, limits, and incapacities that stand in your way. For that reason, hardcore will continue fighting a brick wall, and will refuse to ignore it by simply leaning against it. It might be absurd to fight such a wall but I won't fucking just stand there and do nothing. Hardcore is not about puffing your chest and taking it on the chin, pretending it didn't hurt. Hardcore is not about flair and attitude. It's about exposing everything inside oneself, and coming to terms with our complete vulnerability. Nine Eleven is the perfect example of all this.

Don't you just love it when an amazing band subdivides into two of them? Dutch hardcore metallers Arma Gathas are the stunning new subdivision resulting from a former Cataract guitarist and Born From Pain vocalist who seem to still not have gotten their fill from their years writing and performing in the European metalcore scene. It comes as no surprise that Metal Blade recognizes the mark of distinction when they hear it, and Arma Gathas surely precipitated the label's awareness of the brutally heavy stew they were cooking up with the Swiss Slayercore unit Cataract being longstanding residents of the label. If ambitious enough on the touring circuit these guys could easily dominate the American scene in a flash with their uncompromising style, which on “Dead To This World” reeks of the potent metallic hardcore crossover genius of modern classics such as Hatebreed’s "Perseverance," All Out War’s “Condemned To Suffer," and Terror’s “One With The Underdogs,” among others. European metalcore bands have always been ambitious, sometimes to a fault, as over the years hardcore fans would argue that certain groups from overseas sound like they are trying too hard to sound heavy, or real, or street; however they interpreted bands’ attempts. But with Arma Gathas, whose frontman Ché Snelting and guitarist Simon Fuellemann both have lengthy discographies under their belts with Born From Pain and Cataract, respectively, the veteran leaders of this band seem to know exactly what they want to accomplish with this project. Focus, as we all know, is a master key to successful execution when creating any manifestation of art. And “Dead To This World” is most definitely art; the kind that compels listeners to swivel their arms and destroy anything within a 360 degree radius via spin-kicking. If Arma Gathas’ pedigree hasn’t already given away what style these guys are long-proven to be good at, then it’s time to let the cat out of the bag. Slayer, Sepultura, and Machine Head have influenced more hardcore bands from the 90’s onward than any other crossover/groove metal bands on the face of the planet, and Arma Gathas go back to their roots on “Dead To This World,” pulling from all three and thus keeping the scope of influences relatively consistent with those of the most trusted leaders of the American metalcore scene. One of the wisest things Arma Gathas could have done was to keep this project in the workshop for a few years, which is exactly what they did. The importance of doing so, especially for a veteran supergroup like them, is to respect the processes of growth and evolution within a band’s ranks. How many overhyped supergroups end up being colossal wastes of label investment, valuable press time, and booking agents’ time, only to prove to be nothing but an easily-bursting bubble of hype? If only more such projects would let their lineups and songwriting gel as Arma Gathas have, the scene would have many more success stories of formerly respected musicians seeking to recreate themselves. Not only is “Dead To This World” an impressive album and one of the best metallic hardcore records to be released in years taking both European and North American scenes into consideration, but it makes the unexpected return of imposing frontman Ché Snelting to the scene all the more worthwhile. His departure from Born From Pain, the 90’s tough guy phenomenon that he formed nearly fifteen years ago and has since wisely reinvented itself in recent years, signaled to most that this outspoken frontman had done his time in the scene and had decided to move on. But to have been reeled back in by longtime Cataract guitarist Fuellemann is a testament to not only the longevity of European hardcore, but to the potential for a second wind to be even stronger than the first, if instincts manage to serve correctly. And everyone involved in making Arma Gathas a reality must have great instincts, because “Dead To This World” is an album that the scene needed.

By now, the twentieth year in existence for Montreal’s distinctly epic melodic death metal veterans Kataklysm, everything and more that the band set out to accomplish has been achieved. Was it truly necessary then, at this stage in their career, for frontman and all-around ambassador of metal Maurizio Iacono and his expert team of lifers to release an album that would pound metalheads’ and critics’ expectations into a fine dust? Well by the sound of “Heaven’s Venom,” the band certainly set out to deliver what would turn out to be either a special statement or gift to the metal scene, depending on who’s on the receiving end. As one of the few bands who can serenade listeners with somber, European-style harmonizing and then minutes later destroy their worlds with crushing breakdowns fit for a Hatebreed pit, Kataklysm’s expert song-arranging ability is one of the not-so-secret ingredients to the band’s longevity. By the time the band released “Victims Of This Fallen World” in 1998 it was already made clear that, much like the other avant-gardists in the Montreal scene notably Cryptopsy, Gorguts, and Obliveon, they refused to be narrowly confined in a particular subgenre of metal stemming from their over-the-top, Jeckyll & Hyde vocal patterns, attack-style drumming, and a fascinating fusion of extreme guitar riffing. The albums that followed for Kataklysm pushed the envelope even further as to how far the band could possibly extend their ultimately experimental melodic death vision, and produced material that continues to be requested live today. But what Kataklysm have put to tape with “Heaven’s Venom” represents the entering of a new dimension for this intimidating force. From the largely standard set of tunes aired on “Prevail,” a stark contrast to the overwhelmingly moving material from the most mature album of their storied career, “In The Arms Of Devastation,” it was anyone’s guess as to what they’d manage to craft in their Montreal workshop. It would be too easy to file “Heaven’s Venom” next to “Serenity In Fire” as the 2004 landmark record’s most obvious sibling, but there exist more similarities than if other album’s in the band’s career were compared. “Heaven’s Venom” showcases the band as its fastest, most technical, and ultimately, extreme as they have ever come across on record. But that’s not all the album offers for longtime fans patiently waiting for the band to truly assault their instruments like eager teenagers again, like they did back in the 90’s.

When you engage in any activity and then you stop doing so, not only does your progress stop but it recedes. And the worst part is that those who were doing the activity when you were don't stop; they keep going. So when you decide to pick it up again, you're already far beyond everyone else who you might have been toe-to-toe with at an earlier juncture. This happens to a lot of bands that stop and pick up again. Not only are they dated entities, they also happen to have dated ideas and dated music. There is always the customary over-hyped comeback album that is quickly forgotten once the light stops illuminating it. But perhaps the most pathetic part of it all are the bands who fail to acknowledge that when they stopped writing and performing the first time, the world was a different place not only musically but technically, and their influences are no longer what they used to be. This happens when you put on albums from your past, and try to convince yourself that they were some of the heaviest albums ever made. Time, however, has since passed and those albums are now mere fingerpaintings compare to what is being done today. Many albums hold up but a great many more do not. It's the same case with bands. In our world, there is only a handful of them that will never suffer from any of this. Motorhead, AC/DC, and GBH. These bands are the shoulders on which everyone stands, shouting and complaining about their woes. A million bands have stood on those shoulders, but most have disappear after the blink of an eye. Some have hung on, but most have left the scene dejected, with their tails between their legs. The three aformentioned bands that never took a vacation, or had a personality crisis, or found the meaning of life inside of a cereal box. "Perfume and Piss" is The 11th album by GBH, and even if the band has existed as a writing, recording, and touring act since 1978, they are still the Gods we should all be looking up to as a model to follow.

I first had the chance to witness this band live at a small bar on the eve of Montreal's biggest summer metal festival, Heavy MTL. When bands get signed and play these festival, they come armed with a team that tries to shove the product down every available hole. These bands get shown off, and their spines must be built with a certain liquidity for them to fit in everywhere as they seem to. As soon as a band develops a harder spine though, it becomes harder to package and fit them into certain orifices. Certain bands pass through this manufacturing process untouched and unsifted, but most end up being liquid, following the laws of the recording industry as a falling body follows the Law of Physics. Most of these bands I saw at this festival would fall at the speed of gravity if not supported by a bigger body underneath it. Some of these bands raise more than a few questions as to how such liquid spines can even be held up by a major label. The manufacturing process is a manufacturing process regardless of what it manufactures. It can be music, animals, vegetables, or rebellion. It's the concept of manufacturing. When you cater to the masses by trimming and removing any sort of imperfection to make everything the same, a cloned product that has no edge won't challenge the listener; and a carefully-placed "fuck you" here and there doesn't make up for its lack of authenticity. It manufactures dissidence and rebellion for those who at one point had it them. It's like putting a picture of some grandmother on a jam jar to hide the fact that it was created by a culinary robot. This festival was a giant alcohol bottle with the image of a rebel on its label.

Much like life itself, music is prehistoric and goes back farther that we can remember or observe. Everything depends on something that came before, and to be remembered, what came before depends on what came after. Those who can remember are about as important as those who created. Without memories, creations are obsolete and as good as invisible. The existence of humanity depends on memory and the carrying of those ideas forward. George Orwell said “Who controls the past controls the future: Who controls the present controls the past.” For music and bands to make it into the future is a very tenacious process. Trial & error and survival are not easy. Many who begin the journey will not make it past their first show, and the tribulations that follow only get harder and harder. Traveling out of one's hometown, first tour, first album; the likely stressful situations begin to mount often and early. And to top it off, bands actually have to sound good. How are the cards stacked against individuals who want to create music? Los Angeles' The Ghost Inside have defeated all those odds thus far. Now bring on the rest.