Those who know me, know that Sheer Terror is one my favorite bands. Their style changed quite a lot from Celtic Frost influenced hardcore to punk rock influenced hardcore, but I gotta say I love each album of them. I couldn't even say which one is my favorite.

I never saw them play in the past, but then it was announced they would play This Is Hardore fest. Unfortunately I couldn't make it, but I was stoked about them playing New York. As soon as the date was announced I booked my plane tickets to New York.

I've seen a lot of bands doing reunions lately, and let's say, well some should have never done it. But Sheer Terror, that's a whole other story. Even when Paul Bearer is the original member left, this band has every right to be on stage again. Every song was played tight, the banter and crowd interaction in between was pure stand up comedy, and the crowd just went insane. I also love the honesty when the Reverend is saying that Sheer Terror do get a fair amount of money to play shows. And to show, it's just not like a one off reunion, a new song was played as well.

Anyway, I'm at work, so I'm not going to write an extensive blog here. What I want to say is, come to tomorrow's show in Antwerpen! You won't regret it.

Ah yeah, those other NY legends Supertouch are playing too. I saw them play a couple of songs at the 2010's Superbowl, and it wasn't the most perfect set, but definitely psyched to check them out again.

See you in the pit.

I got something to say:

I'm lookin' at the world I live in, I don't like what I see. 
Bustin' my ass with nothing to show for it, it ain't fair to me. 
If being too patient is a crime, I'm guilty as sin. 
Getting held back while you get ahead, now it's my turn to win.
That's all that I can take, can take no more. 
Been a victim for far too long, time to even the score. 
Gotta fight the hard way, there's no easy way out. 
Nothing comes easy in this world that's what life is about. 
I've been a nice guy once too often, I always get screwed. 
Sacrifice myself to your greedy hands, why do you act so rude. 
I've come to realize, you don't care, you left me on my own. 
If you won't help me get where I'm going, I'll do it alone. 

Soundtrack written to my life these days, Outburst, The Hardway.
http://www.myspace.com/outburstnyhc

Superbowl of Hardcore, NY, May 15

It was the third time for me being at the Superbowl, and again, it was great. Personally the line up didn't appeal to me as much as the previous editions, as I already saw most of the bands playing in Europe in the last couple of months. I don't want to sound disrespectful to any of the bands who played, or to be the kinda guy who is only into the older bands, but what can I say, I guess Black 'n' Blue spoiled us with the previous editions.

I never thought to see bands (again) like Fahrenheit 451, Crown Of Thornz, Breakdown, Stigmata, Setback, Killing Time, CIV, Terror Zone, Bulldoze, Second To None. Many of these being exclusive reunions on 2008 and 2009 edition.
But we knew we'd have a good time anyway, so when the date was announced, the plain tickets were quickly booked. And with Yuppicide and Supertouch added to the bill, BnB managed to make it something special again.
Since I have already read a dozen of reviews, I'm going to do a full one here. I just wanted to share a couple of pictures I took.
Best set I have seen was Skarhead, I dug the ghetto blaster to start with. Good set, and nice to see Puertorican Mike back with Skarhead, and the stage being packed with DMS heads definitely made it impressive. There was also a really good vibe going on the crowd, hard dancing, but just as many singalongs, stage dives... Everyone was basically just having a good time. Oh yeah, Eddy Leeway was going berzerk. When JJ and his band did the Rise & Fall intro, I was still hoping to see Eddy come out again to do something crazy, but no.
Though, I expected more from Supertouch, it was definitely worth having seen them once. Same for Yuppicide.
From the younger bands, TUI made the best impression on me. I'm still bummed out to have missed H8 Inc, but the burritos before the show took us too long.
I really liked the venue as well. The ones who were there the last years definitely remembered Studio B in Brooklyn being packed and extremely hot. The Ritz was perfect, more space, rooms from the balconies, re-entry, good sound... and it has the history.

Looking forward to next year's edition!

Skull Crusher: live in Brooklyn May 14

I only heard Skull Crusher once before, in a car coming back from a North Sea swim in January. I do remember asking, 'hey, what band is this, sounds tight'. I didn't follow up on them, but in the meantime they released their first 12", Blind By Illusion, on Livewire and Reflections Records.
When we were in NY last week, we somehow found out they were playing their first show. So we headed down to Brooklyn to check it out.
The show was really low key, it's even better to call it a try out, before they will share the stage with Breakdown, Wisdom In Chains and Reign Supreme May 23. No real promotion was made (I'm not even sure how we found about it), and not too many people showed up. Anyway, it was good see that the Skull Crusher guys didn't care, as they were stoked to play!

Already during the intro it was clear that Skull Crusher sounds tight live, which is no surprise as none of the members is new to the scene, and the fact that they already recorded their 12" before playing any concert.
Musicwise, Skull Crusher plays a cross over between hardcore and (trash) metal. It's always difficult to make comparisons, definitely as they already have a style of their own, but one should think of bands like Cro-Mags, Leeway, Judge... I dig the double bass drum parts!
They played the complete 12", to finish with a Judge cover.

I didn't pick up the 12" itself, so I can't give you a full review, but from what I've already seen and heard, you definitely need to keep your eyes open for this band. Looking forward to seeing these guys play again in Europe. Make it happen!

I'm not the best photographer, and the pictures are just taken with a very modest camera, but anyway, I added some pictures here.

Oh yeah, on a sidenote, respect to the female DJ to play Neglect's 'the LSS' straight after Skull Crusher!

Find out more about Skull Crusher:

http://www.myspace.com/skullcrusherapocalypse
http://www.livewire-records.com
http://www.reflectionsrecords.com

I just wanna see a street fight

Breakdown is one of those bands which has at the same time lyrics which genuinely express the hardships of life, but on the other hand lyrics which are a bit, well let's say, tongue in cheek (a fact which later got confirmed by Jeff Perlin's lyrics for Slumlords).

One of those lyrics which always got me confused, where the words for Streetfight. Musicwise this song is close to perfect, but it was always hard to me to take the following serious:

"I like to see a street fight especially when it's on a weeknight. I dont care who's wrong or who's right. I just wanna see a street fight. Walking down the street with my Big Mac out of nowhere someone gets whacked.
I dont care if you're white or black. Start the violence. Fuck the facts. I don't care who's wrong or who's right, I just wanna see a street fight"

On a random note, it was really funny to see Breakdown live in New York last year, and when performing Streetfight kids were moshing with Bic Macs in their hand and offering them to Breakdowns vocalist.

However, wisdom comes with time, and yesterday night it came clear that the above lyrics are amazingly true to me.

Breakdown live at the Superbowl of Hardcore, NY, 2008

Don't get me wrong, I'm not the kinda guy to start a fight or anything, but I have to say, to see some random violence on the street always gets me siked.
So, I was going to take the subway, and while taking the stairs I already heard some stuff going on, but when I was at the tracks, I saw kids bringing da motherfucking ruckus. Imagine a dozen of youngsters brawling, kicking eachother to and on the ground, mixed up with some hysteric girls screaming at their boyfriends to stop, and more people crossing the tracks to get some as well. It must have been looking pretty bad to the subway drivers as well, as they just didn't stop anymore. I don't know the exact reason for the whole fight, but it was probably related to alcohol and a broken heart, which got mixed up with some racial tensions. But as just said before, fuck the facts, I don't care who's wrong or right, I just wanna see a street fight.

Anyway, the whole scene got my blood pumping, knowing that everything can go wrong at any time, seeing rage in people's eyes, seeing people being fucked up, and the general hysteria linked with it. It was at that moment, I truely understood Jeff Perlin's words. I took my Ipod, changed the music to Breakdown, got out of the subway again, and continued my journey through the snow with a big smile on my face!

Breakdown: www.myspace.com/breakdownnyhc
Slumlords: www.myspace.com/slumlords
Black and Blue: www.myspace.com/blacknblueproductions

Older, colder stronger

KICKBACK - no surrender cd review

Ask around and you'll hear everyone having an opinion about Kickback: the older guys will always be saying nostalgically how much harder the band was in the past, the younger kids will be jocking the band and saying how hard they are, and a lot of people will call Kickback just a bunch of fools or will simply be hating the band. Whatever you think of it, Kickback managed to get their name out and never gave a fuck about your opinion anyway.

It took nine years since the last album before No Surrender was released, that's a long time, even longer than the average career of kids in hardcore. In the meantime Kickback had been cancelling shows, playing fucked up shows, causing trouble, changing line ups, causing kids to cause trouble and luckily, playing some shows which were beyond hard! So, it's not a big surprise that to some Kickback became somewhat of a parody, instead of a band to really take serious.

However, one should not forget that this French band is one of Europe's longest existing hardcore bands, being around since 1991. Before releasing the, now classic, album Forever War, they already released two demos, a 7" and a full lenght. Also taking into consideration that Kickback's singer Stéphan released on his label Hardway records bands like Bulldoze, All Out War and Confusion, it is clear that Kickback has meant a lot to the (European) hardcore scene.

But now it was about time to let music speak for itself again, so let's talk music. With every new album Kickback succeeded to evolve as a band. The Cornered album was more of a classic NYHC album, Forever War became more of a crossover album mixing classic NYHC with metal and the Les 150 Passions Meurtrières album took the nihilistic, sick approach a step further. So what about the new one?

Never Surrender definitely is not a reunion album, going back to the early days, but is a logic continuation of Les 150 Passions Meurtrières. Never Surrender is a more complex album, adding some new elements to the well known Kickback sound. I'm hearing some people saying how Kickback added black metal riffs to their songs, could be, but this basically is still a hardcore band, which you might put in the same category with bands like Integrity, Starkweather, Ringworm, All Out War or Catharsis. I'm hearing the same rhythms than on the previous release, but additionaly to this, I hear a lot of noise and dissonant guitars. There's a good combination of compact, fast songs with some lengthier, drawn out songs. The vocals became even more high pitched, which all ads up the tension and sick athmosphere of this album. It's hard, it's mean, it's aggressive, let there be no doubt about that, but due to these new elements in the music this will never be my favourite Kickback album. And not to confuse you, that's a good thing, cause if it was, it would probably just mean that they recycled their old stuff. Here, they really took a step forward and extended their musical limits.

www.myspace.com/kickback

www.gsrmusic.com

oh shit, you know what this is? it's a motherfucking bloodbaaaaaath

It's been a long time since I posted anything on here. But don't worry, I'm still around. My man Pete sent me the new Setback record already a while ago, and it has been played a lot since! I have been planning to write a review since a long time, but never got to it. Here it finally is.

SETBACK - Unfinished Business

Setback was a band from the nineties coming from Queens New York which have released only one record called No Hope on the legendary Time Served records run by Bulldoze frontman Kevone. They broke up in 1998, its member kept on hanging around in the scene, and they are now back together with a new record on Crash Course Records. For those who wonder what this label is all about, it's about a hardcore principle called DIY: Setback released the album by themselves.

When I went to the Superbowl in 2008, I was really stoked to see this band, and let me tell you, I was right to be so. Initially they only planned to do a one time reunion at the Superbowl, but already at this show Setback busted out some new songs, which made me really looking forward to the new album.

I could keep it short here and just say, if you like genuine NYHC, you will definitely love this record. But let me explain a bit. The NYHC style is very popular at the moment, there's bands from all over the world playing a NY influenced style, and as much as I love many of these bands, most of them miss something. Somehow, what these bands are playing, I don't know, it's not the same as it was. It's a different sound, different attitude, different songs, and somehow, all of these bands have the hardest breakdowns in their songs, and sometimes it evens seems that the breakdown is the main element of the songs (especially when seeing these bands live).

It's hard to explain, but when I'm moshing to the new Setback album, I just hear the difference. It's the difference between a band playing NYHC and a genuine New York band. Somehow it's a good thing Setback had a break for over 10 years, because listening to this record it seems that time stood still for these guys and they didn't listen to any new albums released since 2000. Also none of the members have played in an other band since they broke up. This record brings you straight back to the nineties with straight up hardcore. Also production wise it's a pleasure to listen to 'Unfinished Business'. The record sounds like a hardcore record should sound like, raw, unpolished and pure. I especially like the bass sound which vaguely reminds me of Breakdown's bass sound on the Blacklisted album.

Lyrically nothing changed either with songs about surviving, sticking up for yourself and of course, taking care of business. Just to give you a quote "you know you fucked up and now you'll pay, you're out time, your ass is mine I'm out of control".

I said I could keep it short, so I'm gonna keep it short. Check out the record and start moshing.

Check out the band, listen to their songs, buy their record, and while you're at it, buy some merch:

http://www.myspace.com/setbackdms357

For the Europeans, the album is available at:

https://www.hardcore.gl/

http://www.filledwithhate.com/shop
http://www.lightthefuse.nl

BILLY CLUB SANDWICH

If you're into NYHC, you gotta know this band. BCS has been around for years, dropping some new music every couple of years and never disappointing, playing a great mix of NYHC, hard moshing and fun. I saw them play a home match in the Pyramid NY last year, and believe me, show was off the hook.
Right before they came to Europe for their latest tour, I had a little talk with BCS:

- For those who don't know Billy Club Sandwich, introduce the band. Who are you? Where are you from? Since when have you been around? What do you stand for?
Glen: BCS is Martin on vocals, Tony Malone on guitar, Gary Muttley on Bass, and Glen on drums. We are all from in and around NYC. Currently, Gary and Martin are in the Bronx, Glen is in Harlem and Tony is in Westchester. The band started in late 1990 but we didn’t play our first show until May of 1996. More bands should take their time before they come out! Don’t embarrass yourselves! Haha What do we stand for? I guess, drinking, smoking, eating, playing hard music and having a good time…We’re not really a political band. We have some songs that are political but we don’t have a set agenda about anything you know? We just write about different shit that we see around us. We try to keep it light and fun. Music is a form of entertainment and there for should be entertaining, too many bands are just straight serious. What’s the fun in that?? This band’s music is hard but we still want to have a good time and we try to keep the shows more like a party. That’s why we kept such a crazy name: Billy Club Sandwich, it goes with all of that, it’s a hard name but it should still make you laugh.- BCS will release a new album, tell me what can we expect from it?Glen: The new cd "The Usual Suspects" just came out in the beginning of October on Dead City Records in the US and Rucktion Records in England. And it’s gonna be distro’d in Japan by Juke Boxxx Records. You can expect more of the same BCS craziness! New York Hardcore with a touch of Metal. There are some big sing-a-longs in these new songs. Really catchy shit. The production is dope! The layout is hysterical!! Our boy, Jimmy Dreadz, hooked up some crazy photoshop work for us and the cover is a cartoon of us by M40 that looks so much like us it’s just crazy! There are less samples on this record but there are some of the familiar BCS "extras" including an outro beat.

- What's up with the Charlie Brown shirt? Where does that come from?
Martin: Well I’ve seen a lot of shows over the years… I’ve seen great bands, but you know… smoking… drinking… I try to remember but it’s tough. So I decided to go with the Charlie Brown shirt… You may not remember the name of the band but you will remember a big brown Dominican wearing a Charlie Brown shirt!!!

- Something which I always thought to be really crazy, is the piano on "D.E.A" on the "…Hold The Bolgna" 7". What's the story behind that?

Glen: Well, first off, you have to understand that BCS has never had much money to record with. That’s why it’s usually taken us 3-4 years to put each release out!! Our demo, 7" and the split 7" we did with EGH, were all done at NYU when I was going to school there. They were all done as class projects for the classes I was taking=they were free. We didn’t pay for a recording until the "Superheroes At Leisure" CD. So, a class requirement when we were doing the 7" was that one of my classmates had to play on a recording so he could grade how I acted as an engineer. I was sitting there thinking, "This is a Hardcore recording! Who can I have play on this record? And play what?" No one in my class knew anything about this kind of music (of course- this was 1997). I started talking to kids and this one dude who played piano wanted me to play drums on his project. So in return I was like, "Okay, but then you gotta play piano on my project." He agreed and then I had to think where to try it! "D.E.A." with the funk parts and all the other crazy breaks just seemed like the best choice. I wish I had put the piano louder in the mix because it IS crazy but I didn’t know which way to go with it and we had limited time to mix it. But we’ve always been down to try different things, you know, add some production to certain songs, take things beyond "just Hardcore". "D.E.A." also had hand drums on it and we’ve always liked putting 808’s (Rap style kick drums) in songs (the new cd has plenty!) Actually on the 7" we didn’t have access to 808’s yet so I tried to fake them by playing big hand drums and recording just the low end! Some people give us shit for having samples, 808’s and everything but too many people in this scene are so closed-minded now, it’s pretty sad. This music was based on breaking the mold and doing your own thing but for at least 15 years now it’s like 98% of the bands out there just do the same, "safe" thing. And I guess, people from outside of NYC have a different view of Rap music, and since so many bands have already done such a terrible job of mixing Rap and Metal/HC that people just hate it, but you have to understand that Rap music came from NYC. We all grew up hearing it everywhere our entire lives! It didn’t "find" it’s way to us in the late 80’s/early 90’s like the rest of the world. We knew about it almost from the jump. Remember that two of the guys in this band are from the Bronx. The cradle of Hip Hop, so it HAS to effect our music. Wow, that was a great question! I’ve never been asked about that before! Thanks…

- You're coming back to Europe. What did you think of the previous shows, stoked to get back here?

Glen: Oh man, we had a great time in 2004! And had always wanted to go back but it’s the same for us as always, no money… We barely scrapped enough together to do THIS tour coming up. The shows were fun in ’04, we didn’t have any problems. We are starting in Paris on Oct. 16th. This time we are playing 9 shows in Europe. 8 of them with Onesta from France. And 4 of those shows are with Backfire also so I expect those to be really good! They are good friends of mine too so I know what a bunch of fucking maniacs they are!! It’s gonna get real messy with these two bands together in Holland! Haha And we are finishing up the tour headlining the "Running Riot Fest" (formerly "Ninjafest") in London on Saturday, Oct. 25th. When we played at the Underworld in 2004, it was our best show of the tour so we are hoping that people haven’t forgotten about us after all these years but with Rucktion putting out the new cd LBU and the rest of the peeps there should be ready for us!!

- You have songs in both English and Spanish, which works out really well, but it isn't done by too many bands. Why do you do this?

Glen: Well, Martin is Dominican and Puerto Rican, but growing up the Bronx, he speaks both languages and like I said, we always wanted to try to do something different so that was one instant way to do something very few bands were doing. Once again some people talk shit about it and we have run into some racial problems over the years because of it but what are you gonna do? Better to try and be different and stand out then just be "another band". It also works because some phrases just come out better in Spanish than in English. Also, you have to realize that while NYC has every kind of person living in it, it has A LOT of Hispanics- haha, so Spanish is all around us. The rest of BCS doesn’t speak much Spanish but you can’t help but pick up some words living around here. NYC is so bi-lingual that almost everyone calls a delicatessen a "bodega", you know, a small convenience store on the corner. In fact, that’s the title of the opening track on the new album, "Bodega". The song is about going to the store to buy some beer, condoms, or whatever it is you happen to need. That song has the most Spanish out of all of the new songs. A couple of the new songs are only in English but the mix is still there.

Check out the band:

http://www.myspace.com/billyclubsandwich

http://www.myspace.com/billyclubsandwich

http://www.myspace.com/billyclubsandwich

Backtrack NYHC

Yo, here's a band from New York called BACKTRACK. Coming from NY and naming your band after one of the best NYHC songs ever, you can figure out what to expect. These guys are around since the beginning of 2008 an already gained a lot of experience by sharing the stage with bands like Sick Of It All, SubZero, Merauder, Cro-Mags, Death Threat, Madball...
Here's a talk with them about the band, NYHC, Long Island and more. Check it out and support these guys.

- What's up with the band 'Backtrack'?
Backtrack is a new hardcore band from Long Island New York. I'm James and I sing. Ricky the rager and Chris play guitar, John plays drums and Nick plays bass. We all live on different parts of Long Island. Some of us live close to the city, some of us live in the sticks. The NYHC scene is strong right now, so were siked to be a part of it. There are a lot of awesome bands on Long Island and in the city area, new zines are coming out of NY which is something that was missing, a lot of people are booking shows. I'm real stoked on the core in ny right now.

- How did you guys in the band all meet each other?

Ricky: Well me and our drummer John play in another band together, called The Fad. I've played in a band with our bass player Nick in a band before, called Black History. I met James through mutual friends and our other guitar player Chris has been friends with James for a long time. Originally the band was Me, John, one of my best friends Brian, and James because me and John were jamming and Brian and James wanted to start a band too so we just combined and then it eventually evolved into this lineup.

- You’re still a young band, since when are you around, and what did you record already?

Ricky: I'd say we started somewhere around January 2008 give or take. Since then we've recorded a 5 song demo. We've also been demoing out some tracks for and EP 7" we plan on putting out Early 2009.

- What can we expect for the planned 7"?
Ricky: I'm more than stoked about how the new songs are coming out. I'd say the songs are heavier but still have a lot of elements from the demo. We'll be announcing what label it's coming out on soon. Besides that Flatspot Records is putting out our Demo 7".

- Let's talk about music. You clearly play NYHC, but how would you describe your style yourself, and which bands do you see as an influence?

James: We all love NYHC but it would be hard to list bands that are a common influence. It's hard enough for us to all agree on a cover, but so far we have covered Warzone, Outburst and Life of Agony. I'd say our major influences are Madball, Warzone, Breakdown, Cro-Mags, Killing Time, Leeway, Outburst... mostly NYHC from the late 80s and early 90s. That's my list I'm sure it will be different if you ask every member of the band. Soundwise I guess you could say the same, well that's what we’re going for at least. We all just wanted to start a hardcore band on Long Island that was influenced by the bands we love.

- The Killing Time influence is already clear from the name. Next to Backtrack being one of the hardest HC songs ever, why did you pick that name?

James: We got the name backtrack from the Killing Time song. That song means a lot to me, its hands down my favorite hardcore song. One step forward, one step forward, one step forward, two steps back..that line sums up my life for the past two years. There’s been a couple of consistent problems that have been setting me back in the past couple of years, I felt that the name fitted our band. I'm caught in the void between anger and depression.

- Do your lyrics reflect these feelings?

James: Yea the lyrics on the demo reflect those feelings. I'd say that will come out more on the 7''.

- Though, you’re a young band, you seem to be playing all the hot shows in NY. Shows with SOIA, Merauder, Death Threat, SubZero, Madball, EGH, Cro Mags, Murphy’s Law. It’s a big audience you reach there. Who’s pushing you on all these shows?

Ricky: We've had a lot of help with getting on some pretty sweet shows. Cousin Joe from BlackNBlue Productions has been hooking us up a lot and it's been awesome of him to help out a newer band like us. Wes from Death Threat has also helped us out, along with our dawg Ronie and Steve Huey from Long Island.

- You say the NYHC scene is strong. But I gotta say I have a mixed feeling about it. When I was at the Superbowl, the place was indeed packed, but the next day it was SubZero, Maximum Penalty, BCS and others playing in the Pyramid, and there was like max 100 people. I mean, that's a crazy show. And I heard from some other NY heads, that NYHC is still pretty much dead. What's up with that?
James: I wasn't at the Pyramid show, but I was at the Superbowl. The Superbowl of hardcore speaks for itself, NYHC is not dead. There are a lot of factors as to why the pyramid show didn’t do well.-It wasn't all ages... this discourages a lot of younger kids from coming out. Even kids who are of age might not go because they know the shows is going to attract an older crowd which can be weird for a younger kid. I personally hate shows that aren't all ages... I'll still go but I can see why people would avoid them.- It was the day after the Superbowl, a lot of people can't get off work for two days in a row. If you could pick between seeing Breakdown, Madball, AF and a bunch of other sick bands or seeing the line up at the Pyramid what show would you pick? I know both line ups were awesome, but some people were faced with a dilemma. The hardcore reality is... NY is fucking expensive. A lot of people have to work 6 days a week just to pay bills. To take off for two days to go to shows is hard to do if you live in NY. That show is not a good show to judge NYHC by. We're playing with Death Threat and Merauder on Saturday, that will be a solid NYHC show. I'm siked... NYHC is still on top.

- Long Island, where is that, is it still NY City?
Long Island is not NY City. It boarders Queens. Some parts of Long Island are pretty close to the city, but Long Island's kinda big so some of us live pretty far from the city. I can get to Manhattan in like an hour if I'm driving fast. In the end, Long Island hardcore is New York hardcore. I've read people say on the internet "Backtrack isn't NYHC, they’re from Long Island" but Long Island is part of New York. Long Island has a different scene than NYC but still, we must be united as one. So to anyone who says LIHC isn't NYHC..suck it!

- Long Island hardcore, that's NEGLECT. Tell me did you ever singalong FUCK LIFE and got Brian's blood on you on one of their shows?

Yo neglect rules but I’ve never seen them play. I’m 20 years old... Neglect is straight up 90's shit. They have played a bunch of reunions on Long Island but I never went to any of them. I've definitely moshed in my room to Neglect before, and that’s a fact. Our bassist is actually second cousins with Derek the guitarist of Neglect, that’s pretty sweet. Brian from Neglect comes in to my job once in a while. Every time he's wearing the same Neglect shirt and he looks super pissed.

- Yo tell me. How does Brian look like these days. Is he still into hardcore, and does he still cut himself? And where do you work that this guy passes by?

James: Brian looks like an average dude... with a "Fuck Life" head tattoo. He always wears a Neglect shirt when he comes in to my job... so I would assume he's still in to hardcore. I don’t know if he still cuts himself, I haven’t gotten that close to him. I see the dude like once a month so I can't comment on what he does in general. I don’t picture him teaching 5th graders (due to the fact that he has a head tattoo that says fuck life) but I'm sure he has a job and a normal life. I work at a pizza shop as a delivery driver that’s where I see him. I always think about trying to talk to him but I don’t really know how I’d be able to do that without sounding like a dork/fearing for my life.

- Next to Neglect there also was VOD. Any other great bands worth mentioning?

VOD was awesome, they actually just played a Long Island show a couple of weeks ago. We were on tour but I heard it was wild. There’s a ton of awesome older bands from Long Island. Silent Majority is my favorite Long Island hardcore band, ever. Other bands worth checking out are Mind Over Matter, Kill Your Idols, Crumbsuckers, Milhouse. That’s mostly the 90's shit I’m in to. In the early 2000's there was a bunch of awesome bands Strongpoint, Gabriel, Subterfuge, The Back Up Plan, The Heist (scraps and heart attacks) but most of them didn't get much exposure out of New York.

- And what about present Long Island bands?

Present LIHC is awesome. Two nights ago we played a show with Crime in Stereo/Capital/Agent/Fake Problems and there were probably 300 kids there. Shit was wild, best show I’ve been to in a long time. There’s a lot of young kids siked on the core, a lot of awesome bands. For the past couple of years Long Island had melodic hardcore on lock with bands like Agent, Capital, Crime in Stereo, Thieves and Assassins. I love all those bands but until recently there wasn't a lot of heavy hardcore bands out which bummed me out. In the last year we've had bands start up like Incendiary, Short End, Curtains, Days, Point Counterpoint, Wolverine... a bunch of awesome bands. Different styles, all good shit. I couldn't be more siked on Long Island right now. Long island just needs a youth crew band. Soon.

- The NYHC style is very popular at the moment. A lot of non NY bands playing it like, Bitter End, Trapped Under Ice, Iron Boots (rip), Mongoloids, No Turning Back...

Do you like what these bands are doing, any other bands we need to check out playing this NY-style?James: The NYHC style has been popular for as long as I can remember. But it seems like right now bands are more in to the 90's style of NYHC. A couple of years ago it seemed that bands were more influenced by 80's NYHC like Underdog, Warzone, Leeway, Outburst. All those bands you mentioned are awesome and I'm really into what they're doing. At the same time those bands are doing they're own thing, so it’s cool. Other bands to check out... Bad Seed and Brick. Bad Seed is from Wilkes-Barre they sound like Merauder, hard as shit. Brick's from Baltimore and they have a mix of NYHC and Clevo style, it's tight. Both bands are awesome and they're only gonna get better. Short End is another band from NY playing the NYHC style… they don’t have a demo yet but when it comes out its gonna be huge.

- We mentioned Killing Time earlier, who will release a new album. Are you siked?

James: New Killing Time record could be awesome. Brightside is in my top 3 favorite records of all time. I have mixed feelings about the method. I'll definitely check it out. I just hope Underdog doesn't put out a new record.

- The Underdog reunion tour was top notch. And there has been some gossip about a new record. Why don't you wanna see it come out? If there is a band in which I’m confident they'll make a decent reunion album, it's Underdog.

James: I've seen Underdog at least 5 times since they started playing again in 05 and every time has been incredible. Underdog does not have one bad song and it would be devastating if they put out a new record and it sucked. I'm not saying they couldn't pull it off, but it's a serious gamble doing a new record. I'd rather just have them stick to the classics.

- Let's talke some more about NY, what's the best NYHC show you've been to?

James: Best NYHC show was probably "the last matinee" at CB's. Underdog/Killing Time/Bulldoze/Icepick/BCS. The show was packed. It was Underdog's first reunion(since the 90's), Killing Time ruled. Bulldoze was sketchy. Icepick covered Sheer Terror. It was an awesome show. Another show that was up there was the Superbowl 06… The line up was much better but I went to that show straight from the hospital pretty much. I was in a sling and i couldn’t move around at all so it kinda sucked. The show was sick tho.

- Any NYHC show you really wished you were but weren't?

A recent NYHC show I wish I was at was Outburst/Merauder/Dynamo/Backlash at CB's in 06. Outburst put out one of my favorite 7''s ever. I was on tour at the time so I couldn't make the show. I was pretty bummed but the show on tour that day was sick, so it's all good. There’s a thousand older NYHC shows I wish I was at. A bunch of old Long Island shows I wish I was at too. I've seen flyers for sick shows that were in the town I was born in. It's devastating to see a flyer for a show with The Crumbsuckers and Breakdown playing in the town I was living in at the time, when at the time of the show I was probably learning how to walk or learning how to count. Shitty

- Next to the upcoming 7", what's the plan with the band? What can we expect?

Ricky: Basically what we plan to do is play out as much as possible. Maybe a split 7" down the line. We're defintely going to keep busy.

- Any last words, shout outs you wanna do?

Ricky: Shoutouts to all our friends from long island and all over ny for that matter, all the awesome bands and people we met and played with this last tour, brick, bad seed, crown of kings, blacknblue productions, che flatspot, the agent, incendiary, and everyone who i forgot.

Check out the band

http://www.myspace.com/backtrackny

NJ Bloodline

Excuse me scumbag? I'm gonna keep it short here because NJ Bloodline doesn't need an introduction and Wreak has a lot of things to say! Make sure you show up Saturday 13 on their Belgian show to party hard on the dancefloor, because that's what these scumbags wanna see!

NJ Bloodline is coming back to Europe. Are you looking forward to it?
We always look forward to playing anytime and anywhere. Only thing we can ever expect is to see and play with some old friends, as well as just have a great time no matter what happens. We're easy, all we need is somewhere to plug into and a room to play in, we'll be fine with that.

What is the current status of the band? Are you officialy back together?
Yes, NJBL's back together and we have been at least since last year as opposed to just reunions every so often. It's a little difficult to plan stuff as often as we'd like being that all of us work, Ian's in school, and Joey's in either CA or FL most of the year. We really don't even play locally at all anymore that often. As you may have noticed our last shows were in Puerto Rico, then before that maybe a month and a half prior to that. For the next few months Eric from E-town Concrete is actually going to be filling in for us just to play around NY and NJ.We do have some new material in the works, but that's all a matter of how busy Frank, Ian, or myself is.

So it's fair to say NJBL is taking it easy at the moment?
Exactly, couldn't put it better myself.

Must be a good feeling after all the hard work in the past to be able to pick out shows you really want to play?
Well if it was up to us we'd be playing 2 sets about an hour and a half long each. The shows that mean the most to the kids are the ones we have to do.

How and when did you decide to get back together?
We tried a few times and it was a pile of arguments between me and Frank. Both of us were in Homicidal at the time too.Well about two years ago when E-town Concrete decided to end their run we were asked. Frank and I had already been talking once again and made plans to get NJBL moving once more.


So was NJBL something you missed doing? How does it feel to be back in the game now?
NJBL is my baby, I'm the only original member so... - this is what keeps me alive. I just regret not being able to spend every living moment in a metal box with my best friends every day. You would have to come on a tour with us to understand.

Do you remember the previous European tours / show?
I remember everything well, US shows as well. We have fun with every second regardless. As far as Europe well let me just leave no comment on that one.

Let's get back to the beginning. When and how and with who was NJ Bloodline formed?
January 1992 I introduced some friends that played instruments. I went along to hang out and watch, then ended up singing the few cover songs they were doing which was primarily stuff by Cro-Mags, Leeway, Killing Time, Breakdown, and Warzone. We realized there was a connection and we would definitely be a band. Within the following month we finished off our first three songs (sorry folks but if you write a song in 10 minutes, it's probably not going to be very good). The songs were something different that the stuff out at the time. We had a lot of straight up punk/thrash/hardcore, but also a lot of blues with some rap, reggae, southern rock -influences. The stuff was different, and it stuck out more than what we were hearing from other local or national groups. By Sept we had six songs plus a designated cover song, "New Release" by Killing Time. That was Jim Marela on Guitar, Mario (Guitar) and Tony Simoes (drums), then me on vocals. Our friend Joel from the classic NJHC band "The Human Offense" filled in for us on bass for the first two shows, the first being Friday November 13th 1992 with Biohazard, Dog Eat Dog, and Enrage at Studio One in Newark, NJ, and we were only going by the name Bloodline. Our second show was with Bad Brains on Dec. 3rd, 1992, and by that point we started hearing about other bands with the same name. I got news of a hardcore band from Minneapolis named Bloodline, so we became NJ Bloodline. The name stuck out like a sore thumb, kind of like our music, so we defined the name and it defined us too. By our third show we added J-Crime on Bass and we were complete.

In the early days, did it take NJ Bloodline a lot of time and effort before getting recognised?
In general, how were these early shows? Well just imagine our first show being in 1992, and playing with Biohazard, the show would be packed regardless who was on stage at the time. We did get a great response at our first show, and by the second show we got people moving. It progressed well, and actually by our third show there had been enough of a buzz (and also enough people talking shit...) going around North Jersey about NJBL so naturally that set turned out to be insane. We established ourselves as a "party hard dancefloor band" by the end of that show and over the next few months.

How was the NJ scene in the beginning of the nineties? I guess everyone immediately thinks about New York when it's about this period.
Well, NYHC was really strong at this point. Being from North Jersey though, we were all pretty much part of the NYC scene, and many of the shows happened near us. I grew up 10 minutes from CBGB's but still on the NJ side. I and alot of my friends were closer to CB's than alot of kids from NYC. Of course just saying you were from Jersey, many times you didn't get the attention that a band claiming NYC did. I personally didn't care, none of us did, we all just played when and wherever we could.NJ started getting really strong in like 91-92. The shows went to being packed for a national/headlining act with a couple locals, to packed by just locals. Everyone came out too, metalheads, skins, punks, skaters, etc. The bands were really a wide spectrum too. All of the bands had the NJ-thing about them, but also something distinct about them too. It was a good time to be a teenager.It's funny because I was talking to Mike the Gook last night (from Cold as Life, Sworn Enemy, Agents of Man, and now Vehement Serenade, we had a little party for him) at a death metal show (oh and one thing you all need to know about North Jersey as well as Brooklyn, death metal and hardcore bands played together constantly and shit was cool!), and he expressed one thing he loves about this area is how you don't see really metal heads and hardcore kids at the same shows anymore except here, nor do you see them dance the way they do here.


Which are your favourite NJ bands? I know bands like E-Town Concrete, NJ Bloodline, Floorpunch and Fury of Five for instance all were from NJ, but did they have any affiliation with eachother?
Well everyone knows each other pretty much. As far as E-town (E-town actually stands for Elizabeth, NJ our/my home town), I've known those kids forever and they actually played their first set on NJBL's equipment. Also Eric from E-town Concrete is married to our guitar player's (Frank's) sister. Fury are all pretty much good friends of ours as well. I live near those guys actually now since I moved to the Jersey shore. I first met Stickman ( AKA Ismean) in I think 1990 when he had a band called Locked Up In Life. The era when we were all around and the "NJ tough-guy style" or whatever was in full bloom, we were all pretty much always hanging out together. It was Fury, 2nd to None, E-town, NJBL, and Fat Nuts -always hanging out together. Good times...

How did Locked Up In Life sound like? Who else was in that band, and did they record anything?
I believe Mike Terror was also in Locked up in Life. Fury actually covered one of the LUIL songs called "Megablast to Hell". Stickman also had another band called Position of Power. The only thing either of those bands released was demo tapes.
Both bands were really heavy and dancy. I call it "stompy", others may refer to it as "beatdown". It's definitely more high energy than what you would call "beatdown".

New Jersey bands have a certain hip hop flavour to them, take ETC, 2nd To None and NJBL. What's up with that?
Just a bunch of ghetto rats, nothing more anyone can say.

Between the first demo (1993) and the next recording were 5 years. What exactly happened in this period?
For starters 2 lineup changes... After about 2 years since the start Jim and Jay left, each to sort out their own problems. Joey (my best friend) joined on bass and pretty much started teaching himself the instrument from that point. Tony played drums for maybe another few months then left due to a new job. We recruited an old friend named Ray Chojnowski (R.I.P. my brother) to play drums. The new rhythm section spawned songs that were more along the lines of "shake your ass" type material. It wasn't funk, it was good dancy beats delivered heavily as fuck. One common factor of NJBL was soul, any member of the band had to have it. Joey met Frank after another year passed and we were on hiatus. They got together with Ray and then called me after two jam sessions because they felt that we were about to take off and start something new. They had written a piece and wanted me to set lyrics down (that's actually the song Blackout #2 on the "Faceless" LP). Frank that fucking dick (hahahaha), pulled me aside to talk after maybe the third time we jammed as a four piece without Mario still (mind you I was stoned and not ready for this at all!). He asked me what our intentions were being the three of us had already been in NJBL. I told him we were trying to do something new. He replies with, "I like that band, I thought I was joining NJ Bloodine". I'll never forgive him for it, nor will I ever stop thanking him for it at the same time. Ray and Mario worked together at the time and began arguing at work, so Ray left. Ian had just left Fat Nuts, and I was asked to sing for Fat Nuts at the same time (Seth was both singer and drummer Fat Nuts, so it was either get a drummer he could work with or a singer that would entertain). While we got Ian into learning the old material, we really weren't playing, so it made sense me being in Fat Nuts. Well with Ian being added to the band, there was the "Be Afraid" lineup. This lineup had the same soul, but with a lot more high level violent energy. The stuff they were writing was intense and it got me going. I found the raw screaming power and added it to my style. The first show with the new lineup was chaos. People that had seen NJBL before expected 1993. They got not only that but the five faced demon we turned into. We went a year just gigging and finding and tweaking the exact new sound before the infamous "Red Tape" aka "Be Afraid" was finally released. The next couple years changed us all, and Mario eventually left about 9 months after "Be Afraid" came out.

Almost all the NJBL stuff was released on vinyl. Of course in the 90's it was still the standard, but the Faceless album is available in vinyl version too. Do you prefer vinyl to cd?
Vinyl is always something collectable. Chris Rykers knew Frank, Joey, and I would love to have Faceless on vinyl because we're old farts. It was necessary to put out a 7 inch for us just to have, and also to just release something that had 666 limited copies. Also the fact that people approached us and said they wanted to release vinyl for us, and it wasn't out of our pocket. The entirity of "Be Afraid" was never available on vinyl, nor was the "93 demo". Vinyl to me was always something collectable only. It was really a pain in the ass dubbing it onto tape. The standard for me was always cassette (through the 80's and 90's) because you can't carry a record player on the train or on your skateboard. Not to mention the cd player in my car skips every so often when riding over a speed bump, imagine a fucking turntable in your center console. When we released the cassette version of "Be Afraid", it was meant to be the last great "tape". I wanted it mastered and laid out like a late 80's major label release on cassette, and I specifically wanted it to be a clear red tape like Iron Maiden's "Stranger in a Strange Land" cassingle/7 inch. If you take a listen to the cd version of "Be Afraid" it actually sounds like shit in comparison because it was specifically mastered for cassette, The moron who mastered it for cd when RPP released it didn't read any of the instructions we sent, and the guy who did the layout ignored our instructions and the specs we sent him as well. WE EVEN SENT HIM THE LAYOUT SPECS IN METRIC!!! That pissed Frank off more than any of us because he's the one who went to art school and the one who did the artwork. So to sum it up we're into how our releases look and sound. It should be a total experience when you get a new cd (maybe because I'm a stoner and do bong hits while listening to music in my apartment all alone, reading the lyrics, and peeping the artwork).Vinyl's always the collectable memoribilia thing, but really not that important to me. I personally am all about the presentation of the entire package. Isn't that what you're actually paying for?


NJ Bloodline was / is a big band and has a thick following, but always stayed 'underground'. I mean you never got like Madball or Terror. What do you think of this?
Well, we ran into too many obstacles when the actual opportunity to make a serious run at doing NJBL for an actual living. The reason for that I think as well is that even though we had already been around for a substantial amount of time, a lot of kids were just starting to catch up with what our older material was all about. What amazes me is even while we were broken up and up to as recent as maybe a week ago, I've read e-mails from people just finding out about NJBL now. They say it's good to hear some fresh new shit that's hard as nails, or just say shit that implies they think we're a new band. It'd be great to break large and have the opportunity to do this full time. Who wouldn't want that? That's why I get a little angry when people hate on bands that have blown up or that are currently blowing up. I'm content though just as long as whoever gets into us really feels that shit!Over time it may actually happen where our stuff becomes cult status and we get to that point in popularity. I just hope if it ever happens, we're not too deteriorated from years of playing shows and partying to fully take advantage of it.

Next to the musical variation another element which is, to me, typical to NJ Bloodline is humor, how do you see this?
If you never laugh, you never live. Sarcasm makes for great lyrics and has always been part of some of my favorite songs. Old hardcore bands I still love to this day like D.R.I., the Beastie Boys, the Dead Kenedys, and Murphy's Law all have plenty of funny stuff in their lyrics and liner notes. I actually think the abrasive styled humor people find in my lyrics is misunderstood most of the time, but whatever.To sum it up, we still do this because it's fun. The guys with guitar/bass/drums play what's fun to play, I can only say what's fun to say. We switch back and forth from angry to happy, then stick profound in there -a lot of times in our set. It feels good to say things the right way for each particular song. I tend to say it with shoot to kill-type comedy where noone and nothing is safe.As for the skits in between, just have to take the jokes a little further than the song sometimes or add one where it just totally doesn't belong but somehow make it work also.

There was time when you did the Kiss style make up. When and why did you do that?
Not Kiss, John Wayne Gacy the killer clown...
I did the JWG paint for a halloween show and people started digging the idea, so war paint became a little treat for the kids.
There were times I ran out of either white, black, or red paint and so I couldn't do the clown paint, so I just threw together some quick war paint here and there. Other times I'd slice my forehead open like a wrestler, I've also spit fake blood on the crowd (or bite the inside of my mouth and spit real blood too).
One show the fake blood mist wasn't mixing right so I worked on it in the back by adding some vodka, cinnamon, and orange juice, then spit that on the crowd. I let it go right into a bouncer's eyes one time, then he was all stung and blinded for a few seconds. It was kind of like the mist you see Japanese wrestlers use in matches.
I like the funny last minute theatrics like wrestling themes, war paint, costumes, weapons, etc...
I don't go too crazy with it, but there've been times we did do it and it got messy.
Some people still have the costume samurai swords I bought before our last show in 2001 before we broke up back then. I'll tell you what. That shit was violent. I had my friend throw out swords to the crowd and from nowhere was blood, lots of blood!
"Nick did we buy fake blood capsules?"
"No. Why?"
"Oh shit, people got cut already! Hahahahahahaha!!!"
"Fuck it, just keep singing!"

Next to NJ Bloodline you've also been in a lot of other bands such as Homicidal, Hoods, Fat Nuts and now Hell Brigade. How were those experiences?
Fat Nuts was just mad fun. I was helping some friends and getting in shape. Fat Nuts had a purpose according to Seth. I knew NJBL would be doing something monumental soon too. Fat Nuts charged me up I always got energized singing that stuff. Hoods and NJBL became friends right away. The bands were almost identical in regards to the members' personalities. We all got along, and we all still do. I first joined Hoods in 2001 when Benito went to prison and after NJBL played our last show. I was thinking it was just a fill in but ended up staying and eventually moving to CA for a little while. I couldn't handle living in CA though. One thing to just live on the road and see friends and family when home. Then there's live on the road with no family when you get home. It took its toll and I had to come back to NJ. I also joined them again in 2006 and helped record "Ghettoblaster". Once again it was just too difficult being that my life is here in NJ. I had so much fun with Hoods and always do whether singing or just watching. Who knows, you may even see it happen again. When Homicidal started it was a little something featuring members of One4One, Bulldoze, and NJBL. The original lineup was Frank (NJBL), on guitar, Mike the Bull (Bulldoze), Brian the Kid (SubZero), Seth (One4One), and myself on vocals. We were basically trying to do "North Jersey the right way" once again. Everybody was sick of the way that current stuff mostly sucks nowadays. Once the name Homicidal was chosen, the mission statement of that band was just more important that the band or any of the members in it. Frank and I were arguing at the time, and I decided to leave Homicidal, plus ask my friend Brian (McG) to sing. I started jamming with Tomoki (of EGH and Dyingrace) and Hell Brigade started coming together.I personally liked Hell Brigade the most because it was more something to my personal tastes and liking. It was straight up thrash punk with plenty of driving hardcore grooves. On top of the 4 song ep there are still about 9-10 unreleased Hell Brigade songs we finished up. If we ever get the chance I'd like to finally record the stuff and lay it to rest.


Being in NJBL and some other bands, for such a long time, what do you consider as the hardest part of it?
The only hard part for me is being away from home, I think that goes pretty much for the other guys in NJBL as well. To be more specific, I personally just always wish we could bring more of our friends with us whenever we go on tour for a few days. Another thing is you can only find "Taylor Ham" (aka Pork Roll) in NJ! The biggest gripe about touring especially about NJBL, we all like to cook and eat together. You seldom get to do that when on tour, but when we do get the chance we cook and eat like a band, the same way we play music as a band. Let's say Joey and I are making breakfast, Ian does the dishes. If Frank makes breakfast, Ian does the dishes. If we have one of our friends with us doing merch and they cook breakfast, Ian does the dishes. I'm not even joking, Ian always does the dishes.

Do you still remember how you got in to hardcore, and the first shows you went to?
I was always into punk even when I was young, and eventually got into thrash so I was always into hardcore music just I never knew there was an actual name for it. I was all about heavy stuff like Celtic Frost and Venom too. I was never into power or glam metal (it was garbage then and still is today) like most people my age were. Face it, that shit was awful and Motley Crue blows.Being a kid and not really knowing the difference there were just two classifications which were the bands that were corny and bands that were good. The bands that stuck out the most when I discovered them were the Misfits, Bad Brains, Dead Kenedys, D.R.I., (First Album-) Exodus, Cro Mags, etc...I started going to shows around 12 years old. First to local shows, then I'd venture into NYC or down the Jersey shore. My home was the bricks though. My friends and I were usually at the clubs in Newark like Studio One (R.I.P.) and The Pipeline (R.I.P.). There was also Connections in Clifton (good riddance) which I hated going to (mainly because it smelled like cat piss and my allergies always bothered me in that place, but they had some great shows there. Then there was the Cricket Club, which was in probably the worst area of all, right down the block from Chris Bulldoze's house in Irvington.By that time I was deeply into the music and certain bands made it impossible to stay home. I loved walking into shows and having the sense of fear hanging over the entire place. It wasn't fear of getting beat up, it was fear of the place just erupting into chaos and getting trampled or just watching someone pull off an impressive move then getting clobbered in my amazement.

Which were the best hardcore shows you've seen?
Leeway, Suicidal Tendencies, Kurbjaw @ City Gardens in Trenton, NJ. I think 94Biohazard and Wrecking Crew at Studio one in Newark. 1992 or 93 not sureAlive and Well festival in Asbury Park either 96 or 97Leeway, Mucky Pup at the Cricket Club in 91Cro-Mags reunion where MCA got up and played bass when they covered Right Brigade hmmmmm-95-96Last August -Bad Brains in the parking lot of the Fastlanes in Asbury ParkToo many to try to remember right now.

Being in the hc scene for such a long time now, do think that a lot has changed? And would this change be for the better or for the worse then?
What I said about that pure element of fear when walking into shows in that last response, is missing nowadays. Now the kids fear not fitting in, or fear not being assimilated. Everyone looks the same. The people on the floor all do the same shitty moves without any regard for rhythm. I remember the crowd being a mix of skins, punks, metalheads, skaters, and just people that didn't fit in a specific category years ago. A lot of the bands nowadays sound the same and most of them suck. I liked how bands really didn't sound very similar when I first started going to shows. Every group I'd actually take time to go check out had something distinct about them. Sorry, but I'm being dead honest here. Also I just pretty much go to death metal or goregrind shows. Funny but those are the bands that are interesting to me now, and those are also the bands sound more like good heavy thrashing dancy hardcore, while "hardcore scene" bands just sound like bad and severely abridged metal. I mean don't get me wrong, there are still alot of bands that are putting out well written hardcore with a serious fire. Hoods always does that well, Homicidal is coming on strong, Billyclub Sandwich is amazing, The Ice (Germany), NTB (no matter what style they do they do it well), Lose None (BRUTAL!!!). Just have to look a little more these days. There are more bands now, that's great. There's more kids and bigger crowds now, that's amazing. I just think that musicians who are trying to put out inspirational hc music need to try a little harder. HC heads were always "picky" I think that should be one thing that remains.

So I guess you ain't the biggest fan of what is called 'metalcore' nowadays?
I like brutal hybrid metal hardcore, but screamo tight pants dyed black haired flay C chord crap is the enemy. There is already a Hatebreed and already a Converge. Also, there are a lot of bands that do metalcore the right way and the rough way, that should be getting more attention. Metalcore is a natural progression that just has too many people thinking it's easier than it should be. Too much of it is redundant and lazy sounding. Also too many singers are concentrating on how they say things, not what they're actually saying. That's a big thing about hardcore in general, the lyrics are the voice of more than just the vocalist.

Hardcore speaking, are there still some bands you think we should check out?
Oh yeah, Lager (NJ), Everyday Dollars (NYC), Jerk City (featuring Danny from Shattered Realm), Suffer the Living (NJ). I mentioned a few before as well. Like I also stated before, just have to look around for those bands that move you.

You've been in Europe, and played shows here. How did you like it? I'm sure you know a couple of good European hardcore bands. What do you think of European hardcore and the scene here in general?
The European scenes are pretty cool. I myself would prefer to hear more European bands' lyrics in their own language(s) though. That would sound and just all in all be more something authentic. Aren't we describing the experiences of our lives in lyrical format? Come real, use your own slang. I know that English is a common factor when crossing regional borders, so everyone just speaks English anyway, but I'd like to actually go in depth and read something in the pure form from the mind of the lyricist.
I love St. Hood (Finland), they're fucking HARD as nails. Punishable Act are just classic Berlin hardcore with a distinct style. Kickback is definitely in the top rung also. No Turning Back, as I may have said before are just great with whatever approach they come with. Black Friday 29 are good classic style. I could go on forever too.

Something completely else now, how did you actually get the nickname 'Wreak Havoc'?
My name's actually "Enrique", and since 6th grade people have shortenend it and called me "Rique", then eventually it was shortenend furthermore to "Riq". I can't even come close to remembering exactly when it started to stick but just once the first NJBL recordings were done, it was final.What some of my close friends say that "Wreak Havoc" is almost like an articulate well spoken Mr. Hyde or the Hulk, while "Rique" is still a nut just a little more passive and polite. At the reunion show in 2006, I remember going outside for some air about 10 minutes before our set, and hearing people say, "He's going to go transform right now, watch when he gets back!".


Thanks for the interview! If you got anything left to say, go ahead.
Let me shout out Waking the Cadaver (they're fucking sick!). Thanks to everyone we've met and will meet. Anyone who's bought, downloaded, or stolen any of our cd's or 7"s. See you all in Sept hopefully.

Check out the band yourself:

www.myspace.com/njbloodline
www.njbloodline.com