YOUTH OF TODAY
VIO-LENCE
MELT-BANANA
KOOL KEITH
CANDY
PORTRAYAL OF GUILT
Youth of Today is a Straight Edge hardcore band from New York City. Formed in 1985 by singer Ray Cappo and guitarist John Porcell, they took the core values of straight edge, no drinking, no smoking and no drugs, incorporated no meat eating and set out to change the world. With anthems like Break Down The Walls, Positive Outlook and Make a Change they influenced people’s lives, and left their mark on music, lifestyle and culture for years to come. At a time when there was no template or real infrastructure, they booked their own tours, started record labels, fanzines and developed merchandise. Recent collaborations with top brands such as Vans, Thrasher, NOAH, Supreme and more, speak volumes to how 35 years later, Youth of Today and the esthetic they created is still a relevant force.
Joined by Walter Schreifels on bass in 1986 and Sammy Siegler on drums in 1987, they were the first ever Straight Edge band to tour Europe in 1989. The band released the Disengage 7” in 1991, it was their fourth release before splitting up. The four of them went on to form various influential bands such as Shelter, Quicksand, CIV, Rival Schools, Glassjaw, Gorilla Biscuits, Judge and others. This original line up reformed in 2016 to headline This is Hardcore in Philadelphia, PA, and have been playing select performances ever since.
A very important part of the Thrash Metal scene was and still is the Bay Area quintet known as VIO-LENCE. Even though the group disbanded in late 1993, their legacy and recorded output still appeal to Metal heads around the World. Formed in 1985, VIO-LENCE laid the foundation for one of the more controversial groups the scene had to offer while always delivering a devastating live show.
Well, they are back with their intense live performance and their frantic music Vio-Lence are leaving crowds around the world craving more. Their return to live performances began on April 13 of 2019 and has not taken a breath yet. Vio-Lence is schedule to perform around the world in 2020, in Puerto Rico, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, England at the Bloodstock Festival, Germany, Austria, France, Brazil, as well as shows in North Carolina, Chicago, Maryland and more.
MELT-BANANA is a band based in Tokyo JAPAN. Main members are YAKO who is a lead singer and AGATA who is a guitar player of the band. Wth their unique noise-punk style of music, their activity is spread not only in Japan but world-wide.
Kool Keith has long been hailed as hip-hop's greatest eccentric. Over the course of a career stretching back to the mid-'80s, he's perfected a singular style of abstract yet deadly precise rhyming that often focuses on subjects such as science fiction, hardcore pornography, and a distrust for the music industry. His sprawling discography includes numerous collaborations and aliases, with some of the most acclaimed including Dr. Octagon and Dr. Dooom. He began his career as the mind and mouth behind the Bronx-based Ultramagnetic MC's, whose influential debut, Critical Beatdown, was released in 1988. Following the release of the band's third album in 1993, Keith headed for the outer reaches of the stratosphere with a variety of solo projects. His lyrical thematics remained as free-flowing as they ever were with the N.Y.C. trio, connecting up complex meters with fierce, layers-deep metaphors and veiled criticisms of those who "water down the sound that comes from the ghetto." Dr. Octagon's debut became an instant classic upon its release in 1996, and Keith signed a major-label deal for the release of his 1999 solo album Black Elvis/Lost in Space. Dozens of releases on independent labels followed, from solo efforts like 2001's Spankmaster and 2009's Tashan Dorrsett to collaborative ventures such as the Analog Brothers (with Ice-T) and the Diesel Truckers(with KutMasta Kurt). His output during the 2010s has included 2015's Time? Astonishing! (with L'Orange) and 2019's Keith(produced by Psycho Les of the Beatnuts).
In pushing the limits of standard chaos, Candy has been a transitory force within the hardcore music scene since their debut in March of 2017. Refusing to adhere to the paradigms and principles of hardcore, punk, metal, pop, or whatever label the listener has tried to affix onto them; they’ve created a space all their own.
With their Triple B Records debut Candy Says in the fall of 2017, listeners were violently ushered into Candy’s own dystopian soundscape. Synthesizing influences from punk and hardcore from across the globe such as Bastard, Discharge, Cro-Mags, and Integrity; the group demonstrated their ability to match the energy of their inspirators while creating an experience vehemently theirs’s. From the deep guttural cry of vocalist Zak Quiram on “Love Wants More Love” to Michael Quick’s contemplative guitar work on the title track “Candy Says”, we see all the working parts of a band hell bent on warping the reality of its listener. The use of shimmery chorus effects over down-tuned guitars only works to further affirm the sweet/grotesque dichotomy of Candy’s brand.
Over the course of a year and some change, with a handful of live appearances, Candy has rendered the performatory aspects of their art down to a science. Playing to increasingly larger and larger audiences, they are able to create a unique atmosphere each and every show that leaves the crowd equal parts satisfied and hungry for more.
Now, Candy has once again teamed up with Triple B Records for their most fantastical and sinister release yet. Keeping in line with the artistic dualities of pleasure and pain, fact and fiction, peace and violence, their debut LP Good to Feel delivers 9 songs of their most ambitious and focused material to date. Aligning with the esteemed engineer and producer Arthur Rizk, Candy has finally achieved the type of artistry that transcends the confines of its own medium. Where they once dabbled in the marriage of noise and image, Good to Feel succeeds in its pull from deep cinematic wells. Utilizing the atmosphere of films such as Escape from New York and Akira, Candy’s new record grants the listener a psychotic joyride into a world one misstep away from absolute obliteration. Environmental devastation, police violence, political corruption, and a myriad of tragedies privy to the human experience all make their way into the vaudeville demonstration that is Good to Feel.
"Portrayal of Guilt have carved themselves out as a unique force in the realms of post-hardcore and screamo; their Self-Titled 7” and ‘Chamber of Misery (Pt. I)’ 5” releases are exemplary exercises in intensity, not to mention the razor-sharp assault delivered on their split with industrial-metallers Street Sects.
Their debut full-length sees their discography expanding and intensifying; ‘Let Pain Be Your Guide’ is a visceral, multi-faceted attack that blurs the line between aggressive styles, leaving you emotionally bludgeoned. The record’s musical nihility is akin to Robotic Empire’s discordant output from the likes of Pg.99 and Majority Rule; all of which is blended with a high-octane swell of grindcore-esque riffs. Whether it’s the artillery-fire tracks like ‘A Burden’ and ‘Life Holds Nothing’ or the post-punk suffused ‘Your War’, there are glimpses of warped melodies that diversify the albums unrelenting nature."
Broken tape players, rusted strings, and dirty microphones. Dragged down red river through a pool of blood. No faith left in humanity. No hope in the future. No escaping the spiritual awakening. 20 Blank Hellscape 20. Voted must see act by iTunes.