The Storm III...

One of Belgiums darkest, Black Haven have been plugging away for a few years now and show no signs of letting up...

For the uninitiated describe the musical intent of Black Haven ?

R: There's no real intent. We like playing intense heavy music. That might be our intent.

How did Black Haven come about ?

R: Black Haven actually has been existing for a while with different members as some kind of side project. But we started as a real band somewhere in 2006 when I met Pedro and I joined the band. The line-up then was Pedro from The Deal, Mondy from AmenRa, Kluze from hell and Nick from a metalcore band called Deathwish. We wrote some songs, recorded a demo, did some shows and tours, recorded an EP, did some more tours and then Mondy and Nick decided to quit. That sucked. But we found the best replacements in Bert and Tijs. They are awesome. So that's the line-up as we have it today and it will probably always stay until the Haven quits.

You are a band in an age where there a lot of darker, heavier hardcore, what makes you stand out ?

R: We shave our balls with whipped cream.

What progress do you see in each of your releases ? from your demo to The Cleansing Storm to Lazarus ?

R: Our demo sounds the rawest. Those were intense hardcore punk songs recorded in our rehearsal room with our socks on the mics cause the pre-amps were fucked. I love it. We should record more like this. The Cleansing Storm was the first EP I ever worked on. So I was kind of new at this, the other guys had more experience. But I'm still happy with how it turned out. I think we really captured that period of Black Haven well on a record. And that's what matters most to me now. The next EP already sounds different and our full length even will a lot more. You can hear how we evolved as a band between releases. Lazarus was a 'we need to record new songs for those Converge shows'- thing. The Cleansing Storm was getting 'old' for us personally and we wanted people to be able to get some of our new songs. I thought this was important as we were going to play some big shows. So we recorded 2 new songs. This one also got released in the states by SAMOB.

What lies in the future for Black Haven ?

R: We're currently finishing the new songs for our full length. We already did some pre-recordings which turned out great. We're giving it a lot more time this time. Maybe a bit too much, but it's paying off. I want this record to be as intense as possible. I want every song to be 100% finished before we record it. It's gonna be hard. It should be out at the end of this year, so we'll be touring at the beginning of 2010.

Do you see Black Haven as a band with longevity ?

R: We'll keep doing this as long as we enjoy it.

Has the band gone in the direction you saw it going at its beginning ?

R: We hoped to write some good songs, play some shows, maybe even do a tour. So we got a lot more than we hoped for. We're gonna try to continue doing it this way.

What bands sounds have shaped your view's on hardcore ?

R: Local punkrock and metalcore bands got me into punk hardcore. Going to shows got me to know more bands. Hardcore bands that impressed me most and had the biggest impact on me are bands like; congress, liar, converge, justice, rise and fall, neurosis, high on fire and rival schools. Black Sabbath and Danzig had a huge impact on me as for non hardcore music.

Pedro: Bands that were very important to me personally as well as musically, bands that shaped me as a person as well as my view on hardcore are bands like Unbroken, Abhinanda, American Nightmare, Bane, Have Heart, Coalesce, Converge, Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin. I consider all those bands as milestones in my life everytime I got to know one of these bands.

What would be your ideal 3 bands for Black Haven to play with ? And at what place in time would you play ?

R: Vogue, Oathbreaker and Doomriders. We'd be raging in biblical- or medieval times. I guess middle ages, as a dungeon would be a good setting for a show.

What is your favourite show that Black Haven have played ?

R: The Hull house show. Dieter The Viking is our man.
We played someone's bedroom. It was like 6 square meters. Needless to say this show was packed. We had a great time. Pushed in a corner, forced to play this show getting spooned by Bert. True bromance. The Swamp Thing set was insane too.

Famous last words ?

Thank's for the interview! Check our myspace page for updates on our next release!

Its a conspiracy...

The Process hail from my homeland, Scotland and play hardcore so dark, you will think you are being possessed by the god from below himself...RFC


For the uninitiated describe the musical intent of the Process ?

To instruct the intelligent, to unveil the higher knowledge. To commune with the like minded and to awake those who slumber in base metal existence. To transmit the music of the spheres.

How did the Process come about ?

A treatise was nailed to the door of a dwelling place of Brother Jamie, who at the time resided in Tubingen, and upon reading this his whisper on the air was heard and received by Brother Jason. A golden trumpet announced the arrival of The Process to Brothers Finch and Tommy. One night I was awoken by creature whose wings had eyes and an invitation was delivered to me. All five of us convened at the Chemical Wedding and here we are.

Recently Brother Tommy has decided to concentrate on meditation and as a result, though his spirit will always be with us, Brother Andy has joined us on bass and Brother Finch has moved to guitar.

I know you have been a band for quite a while now, what has been the motivation to keep going ?

To awake the world. To enter the third age of Elias.

What are your views on the current, for want of a better word, trend of bands to go for a darker more "cleveland" themed sound ?
I personally see it as a positive thing to a certain extent but do you see it as a good thing ?

Positivity can be found in darkness. Our sound is one created by forces outwith our boundaries of perception. We are willing instruments for their needs, dark or otherwise.

Do you see yourself fitting in with these type of bands ?

The Process have brethren in all places. Certainly when we play with like minded people there is a kinship.

I know you have fairly recently released your LP 'Rosenkreuz' and the Rot In Hell split, have these releases turned out the way you wanted ? Is there anything you would have done differently ?

The need to record is one we accept but not one which we truly believe is necessary. If humanity would embrace the ancient knowledge they have somehow forgotten then they would be able to hear the music of The Process incessantly vibrating in the spheres.

Both the releases you refer to are very pleasing and Brothers Bri Doom and Tommy did exemplary jobs as did Brother Beautiful Steve and Brother Bloody Chris. We are also very proud to have shared a record with our Brothers Rot in Hell. A vinyl release of Rosenkreutz will be available soon if the roses beneath the cross arise as foreseen.



What lies in the future for the Process ?

We travel to Japan in November to embrace the knowledge of the East. We record four new track in December for a possible split with our Brothers Tombs. In our next year we plan to travel the West Coast of Vinland with our Brothers Iron Lung.

I know that you have members doing a few side projects, does this affect the Process in being able to play shows or write new material ?

Side projects do not affect The Process, neither does the geographical location of The Process. We can convene at any given moment, our muse can link us wherever we are.

Has the band gone in the direction you saw it going at its beginning ?

We have no control over the direction that we take. Despite having the Mason’s word and second sight, the powers that guide us through the Hermetic arts and allow us to free the spark of creativity are not ones that can be easily influenced or controlled.

What plans/direction do you see the Process taking in the future ?

We will explore the nature of our polar homeland, our journey to the centre of the earth, our victory over the sun.

How has the UKHC "scene" changed since the Process' inception ?

The Process became. Venimus, Vidimus, Vicimus.

Do you see a place for the Process in todays "scene" ?

As leaders and followers, but mostly as instructors. We are the nourisher.

What bands sounds have shaped your view's on hardcore ?

Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Man 2 Man meets Man Parrish.

What would be your ideal 3 bands for the Process to play with ? And at what place in time would you play ?

Frankie Goes to Holywood, The Smiths, Morbid Angel. Salford Lads Club 1984.

What is your favourite show that the Process have played ?

Municipal Waste, Boston, Lincolnshire. 2004 or thereabouts.

Famous last words ?

All's well that begins well and has no end/ the world will perish but there is no end to us!

Smoke Weed...

Crowd Control are a band that you should all be listening to, combining the driving riffs of crust with the intensity of Ringworm. They are the heaviest thing to come out of Ireland since Paul Mcgrath...


For the uninitiated describe the musical intent of Crowd Control ?

To play hardcore punk that stands out a bit, and have our songs be about something different to being vaguely pissed off at the world, or how epic life is.

How did Crowd Control come about ?

Emmett and I got together with our friend Corm to a heavy and mean sounding hardcore band. After some dicking around, a shitty demo and a few line up changes we have the band of dickheads you see before you today.

What are your views on the current, for want of a better word, trend of bands to go for a darker more "cleveland" themed sound ?
I personally see it as a positive thing to a certain extent but do you see it as a good thing ?

While I love Integrity and Ringworm, I'm far from an expert on the Clevo style. But any band I've seen this tag applied to has usually been at least decent, and Rot In Hell are definitely one of my favorite current bands.

Do you see yourself fitting in with these type of bands ?

I suppose. We're not a million miles apart musically, I don't think we have that sound really, but we certainly fit in a lot better with them than Have Heart, or other modern bullshit "epic" bands like that.

What happened with the split with Mob Rules, correct me if iam wrong but i haven't seen a copy of it yet ? Is it just me or has there been a delay with it being released ?

There were many, many delays, but it is actually out now. You can grab a copy from us or Mob Rules themselves.

Has the band gone in the direction you saw it going at its beginning ?

Its hard to say. When we first started, I thought that we'd sound like Neanderthal, and we ended up sounding completely different. I also thought that it'd be a hard band to keep together and organize tours for, but so far its been smooth enough.

Do you see CC evolving as time goes on ?

Musically I think we have room to mess around a little bit. The songs we've been writing recently are a little less simple which I'm definitely happy about. I'd also like to bring some new styles into our mixture. Right now i'm trying to bring Death Side, old smelly Death Metal, and the d-beat into the mix.

What plans/direction do you see CC taking in the future ?

We all love touring, so we'll definitely try and do more of that. We've tossed around the idea of a south east asia/Japan tour, as well as trying to find an american band to do a split and tour swap with but we'll see what happens. I think we're going to try and do an LP after we come back from the UK, but we're all broke and I don't really see anyone jumping at the chance to press it for us, but you never know.



Whats your views on the current state of hardcore in ireland and the UK ?

This is the question that will get me beaten up. First i'll try and talk about the positives. The UK seems like it has two different hardcore scenes. One that rules with bands like Deal With It, Mob Rules, Rot In Hell, Nowhere Fast, Shitty Limits, Cold Ones, Human Race (RIP), and loads more in fact. Then there's this shitty one that seems more popular with a load of generic shite. We played with Integrity at this all dayer in Colchester and Integ had maybe a third of the audience as Get Fucking Dead. What the absolute fuck. But we try and stay away from that and thankfully due to the kindness of people like NGHC, we usually play with bands who are much better than us.

Ireland has it a bit better I think, but there's definitely still problems. Everyones friends with everybody, but the amount of shit talked is unreal, so there's a massive contradiction there. As a result I don't really fit in socially as I cant identify with most of the people around me. People will probably "call me out" for saying this at a "show", but it's extremely American-centric. Whilst I have respect for the amount of hard work people put into getting bands to play here, it's usually some flavor of the month band with a gigantic guarantee. I wish people would realize that there are so many fantastic bands in the UK and europe who are just as good if not better that aren't going to fuck you financially. Pesonally most bands here aren't to my tastes but most bands are great at what thery're doing and worth checking out if you're into the style.

what problems do you see in todays society ?

There's nothing but problems, and I don't think it's exclusive to modern society. The human animal is driven by self preservation and as such is an inherently evil being. The problems we have will never go away. Read "The Lucifer Principle" by Howard Bloom.

What do you think of when you read these words -

Gluttony Joe Blackburn
Sloth A sloth.
Wrath The new Mammoth Grinder LP.
Lust My hard cock.
Greed Avocado Booking.
Envy The hardcore scene.
Pride Madball.

What bands sounds have shaped your view's on hardcore ?

1) Black Flag
2) Citizens Arrest
3) Infest

These bands represnt hardcore to me. Angry, defiant, and fucking weirdos. That's what its about.

What would be your ideal 3 bands for CC to play with ? And at what place in time would you play ?

The three bands from the last question, and we'd play on easter island while aliens carve the big nosed dudes.

What is your favourite show that CC have played ?

Definitely the NGHC all dayer last year. There was tons of people there and Tom and Caroline NGHC are what all promoters should aspire to be. Totally organised and sound as fuck. Every band that played that day was incredible and I think it was the most people that have ever watched us.

Famous last words ?

Listen to Nazi Dust. If you want to rumble at Street Fighter IV or King of Fighters XII message the myspace for the gamertag.
Thanks Billy.

Crowd Control can be heard at www.myspace.com/crowdcontrolgo

Barrens...

Rot in Hell are a band that most of you should now know, hailing from the frozen north they are a gem in an over-crowded cess pool.

I will take a quote from a fellow enthusiast -

"I'm not going to talk about how good this band is anymore. If you haven't figured that out yet then I probably don't want to talk to you anyway"

For the uninitiated describe the musical intent of RIH?

To demoralise, discourage, confound and estrange. Holy Terror.

How did RIH come about?

In the parallel universes of Crumpsall and Margate via Innsmouth the founding members were each simultaneously visited in nocturnal visions by the glorious Mr Jack Abernathy. He saw something in us that we could not see ourselves and told us to leave our homes and pool our meagre resources to extol his name.

I know you have been in a few previous bands, how does RIH differ from those bands?

We find ourselves decrepit mouldering veterans with absolutely nothing in common with the fragile, clam-digger clad, flat-billed New Era toting, hair-straightened paying customers who we often find ourselves in front of, in what now passes for the modern hardcore show. More significant even than that, we are highly adept in the skills of alienation, disloyalty and burning bridges, hence there are an increasingly dwindling number of individuals who are willing to be associated with us. And who can blame them?

What are your views on the current, for want of a better word, trend of bands to go for a darker more "Cleveland" themed sound? I personally see it as a positive thing to a certain extent but do you see it as a good thing?

I'm not sure to which bands you are referring to; little moves us, however, we are stirred by the works of Witkin, Baudelaire, Kasner, Give Up and of course our inspirational leader Mr. Abernathy.

Do you see RIH fitting in with these types of bands?

We fit in with nothing, not even ourselves. But then nobody does. Don't cry with your dick in your hand when the motherfuckers come for you. Be ready. Make sure you know what you will do. Perhaps you will cry at their feet and beg for mercy or a quick death. Or perhaps you will make them regret the day their eyes fell upon you. I know what I will do, what I have done and what I am prepared to do. DO NOT kid yourself. You are on your own and they are approaching. That is the only reality.

Do you feel that you get a reaction that you deserve?

No. We deserve much, much less. We are resigned to be reviled in the present and revered in the future.

Are you happy with how things have turned out so far with the 'Hallways of the Always record on A389?

I have yet to see the version you refer to. By all accounts we are utterly beautiful human beings. We only hope that the music can begin to do justice to the incredible art and design of the genius that is GIVE UP.

I know you have also fairly recently finished recording your 'As Pearls Before Swine' LP for Deathwish, did the recording turn out the way you wanted? Is there anything you would have done differently?

It was recorded in a mere four fog bound days. It would have been nice to take longer, but as tasteless as it is, time is money. In terms of the recording, I think it turned out brilliantly. Particularly, the strings supplied by Daisy Thirkettle, which are utterly tear-jerking in their brilliance. Things we would have done differently? Well a working heater in the mark II Breadvan would have certainly been an improvement during our ice-encrusted cross-Pennine trek. We are contractually obliged to acknowledge that James Atkinson exclusively uses by Peperami “it’s a bit of an animal” and Pot Noodle “Bombay Bad Boy”.

How has it been working with Deathwish and A389 records so far?

It is a never-ending source of bemusement that such honourable establishments have acknowledged our existence and tainted their reputations by associating themselves with us.
I know that most members of the band are very busy, does this affect the band in recording and playing shows you want to? Do you prefer not to play too often?
Money is the only thing that is currently a barrier to recording; we have numerous burgeoning compositions ready to commit to tape. Touring is not really an option currently; however, we play live fairly frequently. If people want to see us, they should know where to find us.

Has the band gone in the direction you saw it going at its inception?

We are amused and surprised in equal measure by the attention and seemingly limitless envy that our existence generates. The bitterness is tangible; in fact you can see it in their eyes and taste it in the atmosphere. Our greatest achievement without doubt.

What plans/direction do you see the beast that is RIH taking in the future?

A BAPE Rot In Hell HT shoe laced with sarin and a concept album centring on stretched lobes and swine ‘flu. Also splits with Holy Terror luminaries VVegas and Roses Never Fade.

How has the UKHC "scene" changed since you first starting coming to shows?

Shirts now come in different sizes.

Do you see a place for RIH in today’s "scene”?

Oh, indeed.

What bands sounds have shaped your views on hardcore?

I’m not sure I understand the question, but humans tend to over-value in retrospect.

What would be your ideal 3 bands for RIH to play with? And at what place in time would you play?

Ironside, Kito and Dead Wrong, in 1066.

What is your favourite show that RIH have played?

With THOU and MOLOCH in Nottingham earlier this year and with INTEG in London last year.

Famous last words?

Death. Hate. Regret.

http://ingivingup.blogspot.com/

Rot In Hell can be heard at www.myspace.com/rotinhellband

Set It Off

So i haven't made a post for a while but iam back with a bang, here is an interview with Bjorn Dossche from Belgium. This dude knows whats up and is in your favourite band Rise & Fall.

Interview

Whats your full name, age and current mind set?

Bjorn Dossche. 27. Set It Off.

How have things been over the past few months with yourself and Rise and Fall? I know you have a job now, hows that going?

Rise And Fall has only been playing the occasional show here and there, which is weird and refreshing at the same time because we used to play out all the time. It took us a while to get focused after the summer of 2007, but we got a new practice spot and have been working hard on writing new songs. We're the slowest songwriters ever, but things seem to have been picking up lately so it's looking good. As for myself, I've been working at my new job since early March, I sell jeans at the local Levi's Store here in Ghent. It's cool.

How do you cope when you’re not on tour? I know from conversation with you that a 9-5 job is not your ideal path in life and that you prefer to be on tour.

I definitely prefer to be on tour, but at the same time the reality of life is that you can't always do what you love the most. I definitely needed a job to be able to make ends meet and I also think having a life a little more structured and plain will do me good. Besides that I've been lucky enough to have been on some awesome tours the last few years, with and without Rise And Fall so I can't complain.

I remember reading that George from Blacklisted just focus’ on the shows when he is on tour to get by. What makes you enjoy being on the road so much?

I love the feeling of total freedom. Being able to hang with like minded people, exchanging ideas, talking nonsense or whatever. Immersing yourself in hardcore, the music and the movement... It's the best thing there is. I love George by the way.

How does touring in the States compare to Europe? I guess it’s a lot more gruelling with the longer drives?

I never really thought the drives were that much worse... Maybe because when you're in the States, you're in the States ya know... To me that is still such a thrill... I feel like Eddie Murphy in "Coming To America" half the time. Other than that it's a lot of fun... Seeing friends you don't see all that much, shopping and realizing that mostly everything is so much cheaper there, eating Mexican food and pizza every day, hitting In-N-Out Burger in California... I miss it dude.

R & F are currently writing material for your 3rd album, hows that going? Did you ever think R & F would make it to 3 full albums ?

No, I never thought we'd ever make it to 3 full lengths... It's pretty crazy, but we're not there yet though. Rise And Fall started out as a project Vince and me wanted to do with our friends Murph and F-Double and things just got out of hand I guess? We started to do better and better, got the chance to record some records and some awesome tours and a few years later here we are... So like I said earlier on, songwriting for the new album has been picking up as of late, Cedric's been coming up with some ill riffs. I have a lot of lyrics written too so hopefully we'll be able to demo some new songs soon... Maybe have the album out in early '09? We'll see.

Whats the differences between writing your upcoming record and, say, the split with PTTR? Do you feel under more pressure to write a flawless album?

Definitely. See, that split CDEP (I had almost forgotten the damn thing even existed!) featured 2 songs we'd recorded for two compilations at the time. One was released on a GSR comp and the other one was for a 7" that my man Hans put out for his H8000 Fest. Marco then asked us if we wanted to put those same songs out on a split EP as well so we were like "sure". That was that. Those were some of our first songs ever, so there was no pressure, no expectations or whatever. Just us having fun, trying to write some hard ass songs. Writing a third album though is a different beast all together... It is so much harder to please ourselves and I bet it'll be harder to please everyone else out there that likes the band as well, since "Into Oblivion" was very well received.

How do you feel R & F have progressed as a band over the years? Has it gone the way you wanted it to?

I think we've become more aware of our abilities and have also worked a lot harder than we ever did before in any of the bands we were in. We sacrificed a lot to make it as far as we could with Rise And Fall. Even though we've been through some rougher times I feel like we've also matured a lot as people and still have common goals we want to reach, such as writing a record that will blow "Into Oblivion" out of the water. Hopefully that'll pan out. Musically, Rise And Fall is the combination of what all four of us bring to the table, even if we don't all write riffs or music, our own backgrounds and preferences still shine through I think. If all 4 of us did another band on our own, I have no doubt that you'd end up with 4 bands that sound nothing alike. But the challenge is to come up with a bunch of songs that we all love and that sound like Rise And Fall. I feel like we've been doing pretty good at that so far...

With so many bands going for that darker, for want of a better description, Integrity influenced sound do you see this as a good thing? Do you feel R has influenced this?

I don't know if it is a good thing or not. I love Integrity. I love Ringworm. Those are both bands that have definitely influenced our sound, but at the same time I still feel like we have our own thing going. If we've managed to get some people into those bands than that is cool, but it takes a lot more than third rate Integrity riffs and some "evil" song titles to create a vibe that is truly dark and threathening. I'm not saying that we've mastered that art, far fromit... But I'm saying that is not even what we want to do, emulating Integrity or whomever else, that just seems boring and pointless to me... I just want to see bands that do their own thing, put their heart and soul into that and carry on regardless of what's thrown their way.

You have been around for a good many years now, what do you think about hardcore in the year 2008? How does it differ from when you first came around? How has it affected your life over the years?

It has affected my life on so many levels. Without hardcore I would not be the person that I am today. I would not have the friends I have and I would not know the things I know. I wouldn't even know about the Antidote 7"... Imagine that?!
Hardcore has definitely changed a lot since I have started going to shows in '95, it's always been a changing, evolving thing since the early 80's... Although a lot of the things that make hardcore hardcore have stayed the same, or close to the same, musically, visually and ideologically it has changed. It has become a lot broader I think, there's more subscenes and subgenres and sometimes it is hard to tell whether certain bands still are hardcore or not, because it is obviously more than just music. We could discuss this for days and still not come to a conclusion... At the end of the day though, I think hardcore is still in good shape, there's still a whole bunch of bands out there that do it for me, that inspire me and keep me excited... I couldn't ask for much more than that.

How’s hardcore in Belgium at the moment? Are all shows in the middle of nowhere like the last Justice show? Ha Ha

Hardcore in Belgium has been taking some serious blows the past few years, with Dead Stop, Justice and the Lintfabriek all breaking up and/or closing doors... So while shows might generally not be as well attended and/or crazy as a few years ago, it still is a lot better than some of the darker times in the early 00's. Bands like True Colors, Reproach, Vogue and Losing Streak are doing real well, while we also have Rhythm To The Madness coming on strong, The Reactionaries working hard and putting out an EP later this year and so on. Belgium has always been the centre of hardcore activity in Europe and I don't see that changing soon.

Who do you see breaking out and being the new big thing in European hardcore?

Dirty Money? What's up Graham and Dearlove?

I remember reading in your zine (correct me if iam wrong) you had an article about missing shows when you were younger for various reasons, has there been any recently you have been really pissed you missed?

You have a good memory my man. I did write something along those lines for Vince's zine called Where It Ends a while back... 2003 I think? Let me think about recent shows that I missed and I'm bummed on... Terror in Holland a few weeks ago. Gutter Twins in Brussels last friday. I'll be missing Witchcraft again in a few weeks because we have a show that day. There's gotta be more... It's frustrating!

Could you list your top 5 favourite shows? Doesn’t have to be ones R & F have played.

Such a hard question... I'll give it a shot though. These are all shows Rise And Fall did not play... Neurosis / Today Is The Day, Brussels '99... Madball, Lintfabriek '02... Dead Stop / Justice, most Lintfabriek shows... Life Of Agony, London '04... Congress, Deinze '95... I actually freak out on questions like these 'cause I've seen so many good shows and it's impossible to narrow them down to 5.

Ok so what’s your top 5 favourite things about life?

Right now: Free Levi's gear, MVC Keizershof + Apetown Ghent, my friends + girlfriend, blogging and Chucky Edge.

Mars Volta, worst band ever? They are certainly the worst live band I have ever had to sit through. (yeah I have been reading your blog, ha ha)

Don't even get me started on that band. It's not even that their music is that horrible, it's just the band as a whole.... The vibe, the live shows... Makes me sick.

I don’t wanna make this to long so any last words? You can give a shoutout to one person, who will it be?

Thanks a lot for the interview Billy. I love zines. Don't forget that Vengeance Of Gaia feature. Shout out to Geert Hollanders, CEO of Powered Records, buddies for life. Peace.

Bust