DOG EAT DOG "funnel king"

HAPPY NEW YEARS EVERYONE. R.I.P. Two Thousand & Sick. Be safe and have fun. Here's a little song to end the year with. Shit is hard yo. - EMS


DOG EAT DOG - "FUNNEL KING"http://www.mediafire.com/download/nbbnoby334s9dl9/dogeatdog_funnelking.mp3
taken from their 1994 CD "All Boro Kings" on Roadrunner Records

Wake up Monday nothing new
Weekend has caught up with you
Lie in bed hold your head
Pray to god you ain't dead
Alarm clock rings out like a bell
Start this day a living hell
Take a breath and what's that smell?
Well it smells like shit... but you can't tell

Just like you - always there
Just like you - never care
Just like you - head's in a sling
Just like you - the Funnel King

Puke it out think its gone
But you're in for a marathon
Lips are blue eyes are gone
Grab the rim and just hold on
This is like a weekly thing
'Cause you are the Funnel King
OK now but you ain't done...
Just wait until next Monday comes
Knock knock knockin' at your door
Never ever gonna drink that filthy beer no more

v/a OVER THE EDGE volume 1

The value of a good compilation these days is pretty much non-existent. I don’t know if it’s just because every joker out there tried to put one out & oversaturated the scene with sub par bands, or the fact that labels can now afford to give away free samplers these days. Either way, you just don’t really see much focus on them like there was a decade ago. Compilations like “East Vs. West”, “Voice of the Voiceless”, “NYC The Way It Was”, “Only the Strong”, “Where the Wild Things Are”, “East Coast Assault”, “In Our Blood”, and so on and so forth… At the time when every kid on the corner didn’t have a record label, t-shirt company, webzine, or a band that went straight to releasing full length records; bands were struggling to be heard. Hardcore kids didn’t really have the kind of money they do now or the readily available resources there are present day. A good compilation was an amazing way to hear so many new bands. I would sit there and track down releases from just about every band on the comps. I’d order 7”s or demos, anything I could find. It was just a great resource for up and coming bands. Normally a few bands on a comp from that time would go on to do bigger and better things. It’s a shame such a great avenue for promoting new music has gone the wayside for myspace music players.

In 1993 a well known but troubled label called Endless Fight released a 14 song compilation with some of the groups that were playing frequently along the Northern East Coast of the US. You would have either seen their name in a zine or read it on a flyer at one time or another. Many releases from this label were pretty damn solid but I believe that it eventually folded in on itself for reasons that I can’t really remember. Regardless Vol 1 of this compilation turned me on to many great New England and other area new comers.

A few standout tracks would be; Shift who played a nice rock influenced brand of Quicksandy hardcore whose female drummer went on to play in Hole & Motley Crue I think. Their track is actually one of their heavier ones from their back catalog as it wasn’t too often you would hear them bust out a break down like in the middle of this track. Jasta 14 features a very young Jamey Hatebreed on vocals (or as you could have guess, Jamey Jasta). This was a great track and I’m regretting not being able to locate my Jasta 14 demo these days. Overcast as you know went on to turn a lot of heads with their early brand of metallic hardcore. Mayday as well was a great sample of a band ahead of their time. The Converge track is from early on and you can hear a big difference in their approach. Vocally Mr. Bannon seems to be going for a bit more of a Starkweather feel. Dive would round out this comp with more of their brutal take on music. All in all this compilation served its purpose by turning this young kid onto many new and exciting bands of this time.


v/a OVER THE EDGE volume 1
Released 1993 by Endless Fight Records EFR 001 CD
http://www.mediafire.com/download/wmk02wwumozbh32/Over_The_Edge_Compilation.zip

Tracks:
1. Shift - No Avail
2. Jasta 14 - Broken Records
3. Overcast - As a Whole
4. Mayday - Arcane Eye
5. Time's Expired - Total Awareness
6. Malachi Krunch - I'm De Kat
7. Dissolve – Wire
8. Dissolve – Ambition
9. Frostbite – Traditions
10. Alert – Penance (That Song)
11. Converge – Divinity
12. Age of Reason – Portrait
13. In-Line – I Survive
14. Dive – Now They Run / The Water Drove Her Crazy

YOUTH OF TODAY "no more" VIDEO

NYHC on Donahue in 1986

SHELTER & 108 flyer

05-15-1993

This was the last show at the Reading, PA location of the Unisound which was pretty much the end of an era for me as I'm sure many others. I got to see so many amazing shows at that venue. Krishna Consciousness was very present at this show with the usual drum circle before Shelter. Every band was awesome that night including the very energetic and young Prema. Note that Forethought is misspelled on the flyer. Kinda funny since they played the Unisound quite frequently. No Drugs... No Alcohol... No Prejudice.

BURST OF SILENCE "Thicker Than Blood" 7"

BURST OF SILENCE were a straight edge hardcore band from Ontario, Canada. Their songs covered pretty much the standard fare for the time. On this album it was; 1. "Hold True" - staying true to the edge, 2. "Thicker Than Blood" - unity, 3. "I Refuse" - smoking stinks, and 4. "Senseless" - vegetarianism / animal rights. Musically this is a lot like their peers of the time - Chokehold, Earth Crisis, & Integrity. Not too shabby.


BURST OF SILENCE "Thicker Than Blood" 7"
Released on Stability Records (SR #001) and was recorded in Fall of 1993
http://www.mediafire.com/download/smjui09j4km33ki/burstofsilence_7inch.zip
1. Hold True
2. Thicker Than Blood
3. I Refuse
4. Senseless

KILLING TIME writeup in Puszone

In the late 1980s artist extraordinaire Pushead had his own column in Thrasher magazine. Puszone covered a good bit of NYHC over it's existence. I used to read about all of these bands very intently and I would even cut out every picture of them and hang them on my wall. Well, somehow I have managed to hold on to some of my clippings for a good 15+ years and here's a small sample of what has been sitting in my "vault". This is a brief write up about one of the many legendary albums to come out of the NYHC scene during this era. The band was KILLING TIME and the album was "Brightside" which was released on In Effect Records around 1989.





Half page advertisement featured in the same issue:

NO ESCAPE "Just Accept It" CD

I first heard NO ESCAPE on their split 7" w/ TURNING POINT. I immediately feel in love with both bands. NO ESCAPE were a great band from the historic early 90s hardcore scene of New Jersey. No Escape had a cool slowed down vibe to them as opposed to many of the bands playing circle pit anthems of that time frame. Vocalist Tim Singer later went on to front the slightly more chaotic group known as Kiss It Goodbye. I believe that guitarist Steve Crudello also did his time in Turning Point. This CD was released on the now defunct Overkill Records from Seattle WA. It was recorded in March of 1993 at Why Me? Studios. The bonus demo tracks are from 1990.



NO ESCAPE "Just Accept It" CD + bonus demo tracks
http://www.mediafire.com/download/olxziqz8i08zl9j/NoEscape_justacceptit.zip

1. Falling
2. Just Accept It
3. Bed of Nails
4. Left Hanging
5. No Question
6. Time Bomb
7. Downtime
8. Framework
9. Guilty
10. No
***BONUS - Demo 1990***
11. Falling
12. Thread
13. Blind
14. Search
15. Guilty

-----------------------------------------------------
UPDATE: xYosefx requested that I put up scans of the full Gatekeeper Demo that was posted last April. So here you go man... hope they are good enough.
Insert side 1 - Insert side 2

ARMS LENGTH "s/t" 7"

The Cleveland, Ohio hardcore scene has spawned many heavy and dark hardcore bands through out its history. One not too heard of is Arms Length who hold their own with the scenes past. Arms Length have more of a fast old school feel to it along the lines of Confront more so than the metallic leanings of Integrity. However I'm sure they all shared the stage at one time or a nother.

After I dug this out of my collection I was reading the liner notes and was surprised to see that the typesetting and layout was done by none other than John McKaig which I thought was pretty cool (although John there's a lot of typos in the lyrics haha j/k). The cover and band logo's font definitely do remind me of my old 11x17" Attack & Answer fanzine that McKaig did back then. Another Syracuse connection to this release is that it was put out on Shane Durgee's (singer Framework, Gatekeeper, etc...) label Reflection Records (not to be confused with the current Reflections Records from the Netherlands). The 7" was recorded back in 1992 and some liner notes mention that there were 10 tracks recorded in all and that the other 6 were available on a cassette directly from the band. That would have been cool to check out. I'm sure there's only a real limited amount of those around. Anyway, if you like the history and sound of the Cleveland hardcore scene over the past 20+ years hopefully you'll enjoy this as well.

"Roaming down the street. There's a corpse lying in front of me. A bullet in his head and blood dripping from his eyes. Self-inflicted death - a suicide. What justifies this action? Why did he have to die?" - Realm of Hatred


ARMS LENGTH "s/t" 7" recorded May of 1992 in Canton, OH.
Released on Reflection Records.
http://www.mediafire.com/download/axnpf85k0s6a749/ArmsLength.zip
1. Intro / Your Control
2. Blood From Stone
3. Realm of Hatred
4. Last Draw

SOULSTICE "Dark Hour" 7"

More syracuse vegan straight edge coming at you in coregasm. There seems to be no shortage of this stuff in my collection which some people will love and others will hate. This '90s hardcore band had everything going for them; they were from syracuse, had the same drummer that displayed his amazing skills in Green Rage, Guav the straight edge weapon did their logo, and Joel Jordan did their 7" layout. This 3 song 7" was recorded at Penguin Studios in January of 1994. I think it took forever to actually come out and somehow i scored one on red vinyl. Check out those freaking dive bombs in EVERY song! The band later went on to release a CD on Lifeforce records and you can still find it at Very Distro for only $4.99.


SOULSTICE "Dark Hour" 7"
Released on Scorched Earth (Stanton, NJ) in 1994
http://www.mediafire.com/download/ttb36a86eg19dac/Soulstice.zip
1. Turn Away
2. Blind
3. Dark Hour

BK / OKD / DOS flyer

BLUDGEON "Body Lure" 7"

It bums me out whenever I go to rip a 7" that I was in the mood to put up on here, and then as I'm listening to it, it starts skipping. Therefore ruining my chances of putting it into MP3 format. This happened twice tonight, first with the Falling Down 7" (Pre-Day of Suffering) and Chicago's Everlast 7" (not Whitey Ford the rapper). Oh well, life goes on...

So I decided to settle on this 2 songer. I normally can remember a lot about bands and when or why I bought their releases. This 7" is not the case thought. I think the only reason I mail-ordered this back in the day was for 2 reasons; 1. they were a straight edge band and 2. its from the same label that put out a pretty kick ass 7" comp with Integrity / Catharsis / Backlash / & Congress (which will eventually be on here) .

I believe that Bludgeon was a band from the Reno, NV area. They have that whole evil straight edge thing going on that was big for a few years around this time. I mean hell, they thank "Satan and... the Straight Edge!" The 7" is also complete with a Star Wars sample which will also show you the era it was from. For some reason Star Wars was huge with the Straight Edge scene and then so was Calvin and Hobes. Why? I have no fucking clue. Anyway these guys were definitely influenced by the likes of Integrity but pulled off more with the skills of Chokehold. The 7" says it's from a pressing of 200 (mine is stamped 092) and is on clear vinyl. So I don't know if that means there were only 200 pressed all together or if that only indicates the colored vinyl. Either way I wouldn't expect to find this anywhere soon so check out the mp3s and maybe you'll like it.


BLUDGEON "Body Lure" 7"
Released 1994 on Area 51 Records from Reno, NV.
http://www.mediafire.com/download/u1z172872422gbe/Bludgeon.zip
1. Body Lure
2. Darkside

HAPPY BIRTHDAY COREGASM!!!

As of today Coregasm is officially 1 year old. It’s crazy to think that 365 ¼ days ago was my first post about Disembodied. We’ve accomplished a little bit in spotlighting some obscure gems (in my opinion) but I still have A LOT of ground to cover. I still have a stack of about seventy five 7”s sitting beside my turntable waiting to be put into mp3 form for your enjoyment. I have boxes of demo tapes that need to be dusted off and popped up on here (although my cassette deck just crapped out on me). So yeah, 1 year is over with but there is still so much good stuff to share and talk about. So here’s to the future! As a little token of appreciation I am going to give you guys all something that will hopefully amuse you…

At the end of the 80’s I had found myself immersed in the skate boarding scene and punk rock. I thought it was the greatest thing ever. In 1990 I started to have the notions of wanting to be in a band so me and a few buddies of mine all got instruments. I got a guitar (a canary yellow Vester), my friend Chad also bought a guitar, and his brother Jakie bought a bass. We all started taking guitar lessons. I started out by taking in music from the Misfits, DRI, Danzig, Suicidal Tendencies, Minor Threat, the Sex Pistols, & Agnostic Front for my instructor who was a long haired dude named Ray and taught us out of his basement. We didn’t know anyone who played drums so somehow we ended up all pitching in and buying a drum kit off of someone for $40. It didn’t even have a bass pedal so we just used the floor tom.

The McGinty brothers and I used to steal. I mean we stole a lot. You name it, we stole it. We decided to name our band after our little crew of bandits. The name of our thieving crew was The Guild of Thieves. Hell we even stole that name from an old Apple game of the same name… you know, when computer monitors only had one color screens that were all green dots… and there we had our first band.

The first song we ever all played together was “We Bite” by the misfits followed by “Some Kind of Hate”. We would all take turns playing different instruments. We only ever went on to write 2 more songs. One of which the lyrics were all taken from a verse from the Satanic Bible (which we stole the books of) called Das Tierdrama. The other song was called “Loser” (with me laying down some sick vocals) and was our own little anti-drug manifesto. The lyrics are quite humorous to hear now. We were so pumped on it that we ran up stairs and played it for their mother who responded saying that she appreciated the sentiments but didn’t really care for the language.

The “band” later broke up when one of the brothers picked a fight with me over reasons I can’t even remember (I think I was spending more time skateboarding instead of playing with the band). It was my first full blown fist fight and it happened in the morning when we got to school. We were bashing each other around between the lockers and a huge group of kids surrounded us cheering. We proceeded to pound each other pretty good. I had to get my hand x-rayed from the fight and landed some good hits but Jakie also managed to chip one of my teeth. Unfortunately we were never really friends again but the legacy of “Loser” by The Guild of Thieves lives on.


(my general appearance at this time)

The Guild of Thieves were on this song:
EMS – vocals, Jakie McGinty - drums, Chad McGinty – guitar.
It was recorded on a boom box in their basement in 1990.

Click here to listen to "Loser"

“LOSER” by The Guild of Thieves

You’re a fucking loser and you know it’s true.
You huff gas and you like to sniff glue.
You smoke dope ‘cus you think it’s cool,
But all you are is a motherfuckin’ fool.

You’d take it up the ass just to get another hit
‘Cus you’re addicted to that motherfuckin shit.
You spent a lot of money and you kissed a lot of ass
And all you got was a bag of fucking grass.

You stupid asshole.

NO ONES HERO "no ones hero" 3rd 7"

A few weeks ago I was at a friends house in Erie. I looked in his closet and he had a small stack of 7"s given to him from another friend to sell on ebay. I freaked out as I pulled this gem out of the pile. You might remember NO ONES HERO from an older Coregasm post that you can hear/read by clicking here. Well this is their 3rd 7" and I was more than excited to finally hear this. I can't believe it took me over 10 years to randomly find it in my friends closet.

Check it out as it's 3 more powerful songs from this great band. The vocals are even a little bit more frantic and the kick drum just cuts through to your chest. There's some sweet grooves that remind me of some older Turmoil parts here and there and the vocals sound somewhat like the singer of Starkweather only in a full blown hardcore band. Over all a good solid release by Motherbox Records & No Ones Hero in 1996.


NO ONES HERO "s/t" 7" on Motherbox Records(#17) 1996

http://www.mediafire.com/download/l64ism24smx221e/nooneshero_3rd7inch.zip
1. Roadside
2. Car 54
3. Crow

TRUE BLUE set list from 2001

TRUE BLUE were an awesome hardcore band from Europe with a great mix of The Icemen meets Bad Brains with a German vocal flair. I really enjoyed their stuff and was fortunate for my band to play with them in Europe. I also got to see them in the U.S. as well. This was their set list from one of our Euro shows together and their singer Patrick (who now runs Reaper Records out of Syracuse NY) signed it at the bottom as well as "signing" it for their drummer Rene (who is now in World Collapse).

ONLY LIVING WITNESS video

I saw this video on the bands myspace page and knew I had to repost it. This MA band had such a unique sound of Kiss meets sludgy hardcore played by punk & metal dudes, it was just awesome. It just shows you that during that era you could really do whatever you wanted and all walks of the music scene would accept it. You can hear some of their MP3s on their myspace page as well. I strongly recommend it. You can also pick up the recently reissued 2 cd set on Century Media @ Surprise Attack Records Webstore.

CANON "the solution" 7" - inserts / lyrics

It seems like a bunch of people were stoked I posted Canon's "The Solution" 7" awhile back. I received a request for the lyrics for those so I figured if I'm going to take the time to scan them I might as well post them for everyone. So here you go, here's the Canon 7" inserts.

Side 1 - Side 2 - Hardline Disclaimer

SHOCKWAVE pictures

I was looking through some old stuff tonight and came across a handful of really old pictures of Erie's favorite Transformer / GI Joe loving hardcore group, SHOCKWAVE.

This pic is from their first show ever. It took place at the Harborcreek YMCA most likely in 1997. Their demo was all ready out at that time.


I'm pretty sure Shockwave played this show as a surprise guest. Another Victim also canceled this show because they couldn't wait one more day to kick out their bassist. It took place at IQ Records in Erie PA. Jan 3rd 1998.


Jan 3rd 1998:


This flyer is for their "Warpath" 7" / Cassette release show in Erie, PA which took place at Ace Auctioneers in Erie PA. April 4th 1998.


Pics from the release show April 4th 1998:

FEEBLE "self titled" 7"

Pennsylvania's East Stroudsburg punk/hardcore band FEEBLE played a great mid nineties mix of energetic punk along the lines of Avail blended with a little bit of an Oi! flavor to it. It was upbeat and even had a bunch of quirky little lead guitar work in the songs very indicative of mid nineties punk like Lagwagon or Nofx. Their singer Jotham Oliver has a nice gruff but slightly melodic twist to his vocals giving their songs that anthemic feel to them.

Now if you didn't immediately recognize that name maybe you have heard of what he goes by in his current records, Mad Joe Black. That might ring a bell for anyone who knows of my favorite bringers of the Thug Rock BOXCUTTER as well as one of my favorite hardcore bands that have been pounding the streets lately, WISDOM IN CHAINS. He's even spent some time playing bass in OUT TO WIN. Yup, it's the same guy only a decade later. And you can definitely tell in his delivery where his current styles have come from.

There's brief explanations of the songs in the liner notes which are very reminiscent of the time. Anyone who grew up in Eastern / Central PA during the mid and early 90s hardcore scene can definitely relate to songs like "Myself":

"This was written after a couple of Nazis harassed our singer at a mall and we asked the question "Why does everyone put up with this..."

Or the obligatory song bashing hippies as in the song aptly titled "Hippies". They also have the track "No Sense" on a personal reflection about a friend who would change identities often:

"This song is about a kid we knew who convinced everybody he was for real but then became a "gangsta" followed closely by his sudden overnight change into a tie die wearing hippie." Man, Jotham really doesn't seem to be a fan of hippies huh?

After not hearing this 7" for so long I got a good chuckle out of the track "Anthem" which mind you is over 10 years old. The song goes on to talk about a kid they knew:

"We once met a kid who lied, stole, who claimed he was Mr. vegan straight edge while eating KFC & drinking Jose Cuervo he also claimed to be "Core to da bone" while lying and stealing from friends and family. This song is about him."

Ironically enough, judging by the last name in the song and the references to "Or we'll send you back to Cherry Hill" leads me to assume this song is about the same person who was one of the organizers and part of last years debacle known as Hellfest. You know, the fest which was was turned into a media seeking prostitute and canceled the week it was supposed to happen. Said person also being arrested while driving the hellfest bus around in the parking lot of the venue in protest. I guess that dude has had his share of problems throughout the years with people because not every average joe can get a whole song written about him! Did anyone actually ever get their money refunded from them for Hellfest tickets?

Anyway, this is a great 7" not only just because Mad Joe Black is still an active member of the PAHC scene, but the songs are catchy and a good listen. Did any of these other guys go on to be in other bands?

Feeble: Jotham Oliver - vocals, Mike Borrasso - guitar, Evan Ivkovich - guitar, Simon Oliver - bass, Keith Yosco - drums.


FEEBLE 7" released on Stirling Records 1996

http://www.mediafire.com/download/qzfq5z06x4mtjyg/Feeble.zip
1. No Sense
2. Anthem
3. Myself
4. Hippie Song

EARTH CRISIS "firestorm" the demo

Earth Crisis (name taken from the reggae band Steel Pulse) really doesn't need much of an introduction. At least I would hope not. One of the leading premier Vegan Straight Edge bands that took the professionalism and ethics of hardcore to another level. The band many love to hate, but just as equally, many love to call their favorites.

Here you will find 8 tracks recorded sometime between the "All Out War" Ep and the "Firestorm" Ep. I'm not sure if this is what they sent to Victory to help land their deal with them or not. A few of these songs never saw the light of day on anything else, and a few would wind up on later recordings. I love the sense of urgency in these recordings. It's a little sloppier than you're used to hearing ExC but you can just tell that they were onto something new and exciting for the time.

I couldn't even ball park how many times I saw this band from 1993 on up. I would travel to any show within 6 hours to see them. Every time I loved it. I received my first and only (unintentional) black eye during an Earth Crisis set at the Turning Point reunion in NJ. I also busted my hand over some (deserving) guys face during one of their sets in Pittsburgh PA which resulted in an emergency room visit. All in all though I still have respect for these guys and what they were doing. I'm not the best at reciting lyrics for bands but put some Earth Crisis on and watch out. The lyrics to "Forged in the Flames" are some of the best Straight Edge lyrics ever written in my opinion. After all of these years they still ring true to me.

"Forged in the flames of chaos. Hammered by trials to tempered steel. Convictions, tried and tested, onto a razor's edge, that's true and real. Wrought between the hammer and the anvil, strengthened to never break. The weakness that surrounds is the evil that I forsake. Never have I taken in vain the sacred vessel of my soul. I am the master of my faith, my destiny I control. Nobility lies in actions, corrections where once was wrong. Ascension from evil with a heart that's true and strong. Through this veil of shadows, the light of truth is my only guide. A knight unyielding. To the X I'm crucified." - lyrics to Forged in the Flames

The recording has a little bit of trebly hiss to it but overall it's great archival material. Enjoy.

The file is zipped into a sendspace file as our server still hasn't been fully set up for coregasm. Thanx for listening.

EARTH CRISIS - "firestorm" demo recordings
http://www.mediafire.com/download/uc74i55xfvn54rd/earthcrisis_Firestormdemo.zip
1. Behind the Mask
2. Forced To Kill
3. Firestorm
4. Ecocide
5. Forged in the Flames / The Order
6. Goddess of Death
7. Knight of Justice
8. In a Time of Strife

HATEBREED flyer

In honor of Hatebreed's new CD coming out this week and the fact that we currently have switched servers and can not upload any mp3s at the moment, I figured I'd post an old show flyer. This was one of the last shows that I had put on in Erie, PA. It was an off date from Ozzfest and Hatebreed called me up to see if I could set up a show with maybe 2 weeks notice. I figured what the hell. The show had some awesome bands and some not so awesome bands. I'm sure some of you reading this that were at that show can comment on the not so good ones. Regardless Hatebreed were awesome but towards the end of their set I found myself standing on stage sporting a Carhart jacket ("Punishment" era biohazard style) and toting a backpack which contained a billyclub. The "bouncers" kept getting themselves into trouble with the kids (usual shit) and several fights broke out. The "security" then felt it necessary to jump on stage, insult the crowd, and say that the show was over due to the way we were acting. I was standing on stage right predicting such an over reaction might occur and grabbed the mic, stammered a few words out to the effect of "Fuck this, I paid for the club for that day and they were going to continue playing". This didn't go over so well with security which lead to the head of security charging the stage, a few arguments on stage with me yelling at dudes twice my size, Hatebreed giggling at the situation, and all of my friends looking at me with the "Give us the word and these dudes are history" look. The weight of the situation kind of took affect of "I am about to incite a small scale riot here". I don't remember how it all got resolved, I think I just kept telling Hatebreed to keep playing and they proceeded to kill it for an hour long set (which was awesome). This definitely lead to the decision for me to stop booking shows for the time as people are idiots. The security were only making matters worse and just didn't get the fact that for the most part they are considered the "enemy". Getting on stage and yelling at my friends and peers is one way to get bonked over the head with a tire knocker. The best part is that my best friend loves to pull out the video of this and make fun of my pathetic attempt of a "speech". A few stutters and pauses here and there but overall the band played on. Good times.

BREAKDOWN - live in Tompkins Square 1988

DIVE "s/t" 7"

Dive were an early metallic hardcore band from the New England area. When I first heard this 7" over 10 years ago it gave me chills especially in the beginning of track 2. It has a nice mix of that chaotic metal that Massachusetts residents have been churning out for almost 2 decades and a little dose of Deadguy, Rorschach, 1.6 Band style of hectic hardcore. Members of this band went into the almighty Overcast and I believe Get High (I could be wrong about that one). Here you will find their first 7" that was released in 1993 on Evolution records. I'm pretty sure this was hard to find back then and obviously even more so now. I strongly recommend track 3: "Functional Starvation". That song has so many elements that make me want to punch myself in the grill.

"They're trying to put me out every day kicking down and manipulating so he said they're fooling you, you're fooling yourself. The hate grows stronger every time you hit the floor, the strength to continue is not in you anymore. It's so fucked up and upside down to tell you what you can't believe the workplace lives on an addiction to drink the blood of evil thieves. Evil thieves. Try to escape - there is no way - that you can stop this perfect stalemate." - Functional Starvation


1. "Force Five"
2. "With Forgetting and Reforgetting"
3. "Functional Starvation"
4. "The Bends"
5. "Final Decider" - Instrumental

EROSION "III" CD

Erosion were an early German band fusing elements of thrash and hardcore. Not the nostalgic sounding bands you hear today. You see, Erosion were around from 1989-95. Somewhere between Carnivore and Tragedy you could possibly find Erosion. I remember my friend had picked up one of their 7"s sometime in 1992 and I bought their CD "III". We'd borrow our mom's cars and drive around blasting the CD. It was just this weird mix (for us at the time anyway) full throttle metal influenced hardcore with a crusty punk edge to it. I didn't know what to think. I mean it had fast as hell parts accompanied with lots of double bass and an occasional groovy breakdown. Hell there's even some trading off of guitar solos that you would think Kerry King & Jeff Hanneman were doing. The recurring theme of war was seen throughout their releases with an apocalyptic & pessimistic view of the future Europe and the rest of the world. Surprisingly enough a few years after having this CD my band became labelmates with them for a brief period before their demise. I liked what I heard, hopefully you will too.


EROSION "III" 13 song CD
Recorded and released in 1992 by We Bite Records.
1. "Erosive Life"
2. "Enemy"
3. "Power Within"

AGNOSTIC FRONT "live on cable access" video

NO ONES HERO "s/t" & "the bridge is burning down" 7"s

Pennsylvania has produced some pretty awesome hardcore bands over the past 20 years and I've been fortunate enough to witness many of them. Some have received great status and acclaim and others are virtually unknown at this point. 15 years ago there was a band called NO ONES HERO who I believe were from the Lancaster PA area. Other than these 2 7"s featured here I am unaware of any other releases from this band. I was lucky enough to see them live a few times in 1992-94 and their sets were always very energetic and passionate. I would have liked to have seen what more this band could have accomplished. Judging by these releases I could have easily pictured them opening up for Unbroken on a full US tour. The recording on the "S/T" 7inch is a little muddy but the rawness really works with it. I love some of their transitions and tempo changes. A few of these tracks have really stood the test of time for me and upon hearing them again I still feel that energy. The 2nd 7" has a slightly better recording quality to it. Check them out and enjoy some older PA HC.



NO ONES HERO "s/t" released 1991 by Crow Records
1. "Healing of Time"
2. "Escape"
3. "Dead Empty"
4. "Critical Pain"


NO ONES HERO "The Bridge is Burning Down" released 1993 by Crow Records.
1. "Rain"
2. "Autumn"

BIOHAZARD & ONYX

THIS WORLD REJECTED "s/t" 7"

Buffalo NY spawned an amazing metallic hardcore band by the name of Zero Tolerance. ZT went on to influence many bands of that region. Bands like Solid State (who became Snapcase), Slugfest, Sumthin To Prove from Erie and I'm sure countless others. One of the main reasons anyone outside of the Great Lakes area might know them from is their appearance on the 1993 Victory Records "Only the Strong". Prior to that they had some other killer material that may find it's way onto Coregasm sooner or later. Word on the street is that someone somewhere is working on a discography. If that is true I know that there would be at least one sale to this guy right here.

This World Rejected featured members from Zero Tolerance and released a 7" on (oddly enough) Initial Records. Which in hindsight seems really strange for this label due to the amount of more melodic "emo" releases they went on to release. This 3 song record is nothing short but awesome in my eyes. TWR's sound is unique and one that many people might not be into. On the other hand the select few that are into it fucking love it. For some reason I always enjoyed the cover photography. There was just something about the tones and colors in it. I am unaware of what really became of this band and I had never really heard much more about any other releases but if they had more out there I would love to check it out. Check out the sick double bass. It's some sweet stuff.

P.S. If anyone has the Zero Tolerance 7" and would either like to sell it or if anyone has those songs in MP3 format I would be eternally grateful to get a copy. Thanx. - EMS


THIS WORLD REJECTED "s/t" 7"
Released 1993 by Initial Records
1. "M.O.I."
2. "The Dogs Bark"
3. "This World Rejected"

CANON "the solution" 7"

Canon was a short lived Philadelphia area band, Doylestown to be exact. Vegan straight edge was ascending in status throughout the hardcore scene. These youngsters picked up "Firestorm" and must have been immensely inspired by it. I had the chance to see these guys play a few times back then. I was still in highschool in central PA and would make the trip to Philly or NJ what seemed like every other weekend. Basements, firehalls, & church shows were in their glory. Up and coming local bands at this time for the 215 area were Frail and Canon (who happened to share a drummer). Both were straight edge bands with political slants but extremely different in sound.

Canon drew influences from the burgeoning Syracuse hardcore scene. At times they remind me of Earth Crisis, Green Rage, and what Morning Again would later go on to do. Their live shows were decent and the kids seemed into what they were doing. After a locally distributed demo word on the street was they had a 7" coming out soon. I remember that this 7" took quite some time to be released, like almost a year or so. It was on Chapter Records which was ran by the same guy who did Fade In mailorder. Many people were starting to talk about their sketchy dealings and lack of responsibility & organization. After many months the 7" finally saw the light of day and at the time, the slick glossy 7" sleeve was real impressive.

I'm not too sure how long after the 7" came out that the band broke up or as to why they did. I would have been interested to hear more that came from them. The title track "The Solution" lyrically is something that I have always felt is overlooked in the straight edge scene, promiscuous sex. So having always adhered to this level of responsibility myself I was and still am glad that bands touch(ed) on these subjects. Now whether or not they back these lyrics up is another thing. I'd be real curious to know how many from Canon are indeed still vegan and still straight edge, but that really makes no difference to me. They released a solid 7" and put on a good live set and have a place in my memories from 1994-95.


CANON "The Solution" 7" recorded Nov 1994
Released on Chapter Records
1. "Self Destruct"
2. "The Solution"
3. "Declaration"
4. "Into the Fire"