Frenzy - Demo (2002)

 Frenzy was a hardcore punk band from western Mass/Connecticut active in 2002. I can't find any record of shows they played, but I'm sure they played around in the area. They are notable, even in their obscurity, for being the first recorded project of Kyle Naumec of Laid 2 Rest/Jagged Visions, and Ryan Pitz of Fucking Invincible/High Command.

This is an absolutely excellent document of blisteringly fast, exceptionally fun, yet fucking mean youthful punk. Not a single song is over a minute long, and the 50 second ones feel almost slow after you've been  bombarded with 3 20-28 second songs right before them. There's a certain New England flair to this where you can tell that as much as they loved bands like Out Cold, they were more than tapped into youth crew at the time -- just listen to the break in the first track. This is really good, really fun, and really addictive stuff that I find myself listening to multiple times a week. Check it out.

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Gris - Il Était Une Forêt... (2007)

 

I strongly recommend buying this album directly from the artist, especially a physical copy. This post exists purely to democratize amazing music.

Gris were (are?) an incredible DSBM band from Quebec. A two piece of Icare (guitar/bass) and Neptune (lead vocals/drums/seemingly everything else), they originally formed as Niflheim in 2004, releasing a wonderful LP and a promo under that name in 2006. Since then, they changed their name and have released this record, and "À L'Âme Enflammée, L'Äme Constellée...", another LP, in 2013. Since then, both members have also joined the project Misere Luminis, which released a record as recently as 2023.

This record is generally seen as Gris' masterpiece, and obviously so. It's probably the single best record in all of DSBM, and it's arrestingly obvious from just the first track how far above the pack it is. No kitsch, no posturing, even among its dramatics it doesn't feel dramatic -- this isn't DSBM that relies on sounding creepy or disturbing or crazy to maintain your attention, though it can certainly contain moments that evoke all of those emotions at different points. This is extremely well-written and well-played music that is, in a sense, profoundly listenable and enjoyable beyond just the extremity factor inherent to the genre.

If you've seen this record mentioned, you've probably heard people talk about the vocals, which is more than deserved. This is probably the single greatest and most pained vocal performance in the history of metal, maybe ever. The track "Veux-tu danser?" is particularly strained -- there's moments in that song where his voice will stop me in my tracks, and even regardless of the vocals that song stands as perhaps the main highlight of the record for me. Check it out.

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Withstand - Rites of Passage Demo (1993)

 Withstand were a hardcore band from Troy, NY, and Pittsfield, MA. Within the "troycore" group of bands, this is one that if you mention it around an oldhead you'll get an approving head nod and a "they were so dope". Among a crowd of progenitors in hardcore, they stood at the forefront, and yet don't get nearly the same credit that most bands do. I truly believe this band was ahead of its time enough that if they had been from like, NYC instead of upstate, or Boston, or somewhere that wasn't Capital Region/western Mass, they would be talked about in the same breath as some of the greats.

This demo might be the best example of that -- some of the riffing is like, insanely trailblazing for hardcore. Fusing metal and NYHC swag in this exact way wasn't really a thing bands were fully doing in 92/93 but Withstand was -- it was really just them and Conviction (post soon perhaps?). For fucks sake, Room To Room contains what has to be one of the very first examples of rapping in a hardcore song.

I'd be amiss to not mention the insane sounding production on this demo. It genuinely kinda took me aback the first time I heard it because of how just... unbelievably lo-fi it is. It adds so much to it. The drums sound like they were recorded in a cavern and the snare has to be turned off. So awesome.

Members were in so many good bands: Dying Breed, Catheter, Bloodwar, and particularly of interest to this blog, Wish and Pushbutton Warfare, both of which will be posted in the next week. I will also post more Withstand stuff later down the line because the whole discography is worth checking out.

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Canon - The Solution (1994)

 

Couldn't go this first batch without having an XVX band on. Canon were a vegan straight edge metallic hardcore band from Doylestown, PA. When it comes to the first batch of Earth Crisis/Conviction/Green Rage imitators, this might be the absolute best.

This is another band there isn't much backstory on online, but it's hard to imagine they formed in any other way beyond being the only five vegan straight edge high schoolers in the general Doylestown area at a time just before hardcore got its first big break by having Sick of it All on MTV and shit. Before you listen to this, I'd recommend watching this video of them playing NJ in 1994, sound muted, because I guarantee you will know exactly how it sounds purely from how they look and behave on stage. Masterclass of early/mid 90's XXXXXL 100 lbs soaking wet swagger. Rage fueled by tahini and the worst meat substitutes of all time.

What Canon lacks in instrumental proficiency they make up for with a genuine songwriting knack, being mad as fucking hell, and an absolutely un-fuck-with-able amount of old school charm. It's truly infectious and behind the bad production (which I truly think enhances the experience) there's some fucking insanely hard riffs and songs on this. The lyrics speak for themselves too.

Members went on to do a couple different projects, most notably the drummer was in Philly area edge screamo legends Frail around the same time, who are getting a Numero reissue as I type this. Check them out too if you haven't, it's different from this but similarly awesome. In the meantime, listen to this timeless classic of an EP.

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Breakdown - Blacklisted (1997)

 

When it comes to hardcore records that aren't on streaming, this may well be the holy grail. I feel like asking someone the question "87 Demo or Blacklisted?", no matter what answer they give, is an essential exploratory method in gathering if someone is a Trve Head or just another herb/an eternal new jack. For my money, though, this is the way.

I don't have a ton in the way of historical context of this record as I honestly haven't bothered reading much about it, but you know Breakdown, I know Breakdown, everyone who knows their shit knows Breakdown. They might truly be the best NYHC band of their time, and they are truly a progenitor of what, for my money, is the best style of hardcore -- fully swagged out, full of drum breaks, and with some of the goofiest yet most legit and honest lyrics and vocals of any band ever. For my money, this is the apex of their discography, particularly the breakdown in Jail of Depression. If you cover that at a gig I'm attending I'm making that place into a warzone.

Members have been in so many other bands but I wanna give a special shoutout to Slumlords. Not enough kids jocking that these days. Anyways, check it out and study up.

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Three Shades of Dirty - Paper Roses (1990)

 

I figured I'd make my first real post on this blog a record I love. If you've talked to me about emo or indie you've probably heard me bring this little demo tape up, and if you've taken the time to listen you know exactly why.

The story is something like "The Hated broke up in 1989 but also kind of didn't but also mostly did and then a few of them decided to start another band to develop on their already trailblazing sound even more with another project" and as such the Annapolis, MD indie rock band Three Shades of Dirty was born. Paper Roses compiles the only recordings we have from them, and what an exceptional batch of songs it is; it's hard to believe indie rock of this quality and style was coming out as early as 1990. Clearly inspired by R.E.M. (as was The Hated) but replacing a lot of the produced college radio kitsch for excellent lo-fi-pop charm, TSOD loses absolutely zero of the songwriting that you want and expect from a band like this, and I've found this particular sound almost entirely unreplicated still. The bass is fucking insane from the get-go and the vocals are precisely what I want from an early indie rock band.

TSOD was, to my knowledge, only a three piece, though the excellent Jenny Toomey provides backing vocals on tracks 1 and 5. She also was in the band Slack that featured Dan Littleton and Collin Meeder from TSOD, which I highly recommend and will likely post at another point. Drummer Sandy Whitesel has done some recent stuff which I have not checked out but would be interested to at some point.

Please note that the following download is actually technically the tiniest bit faster than the actual tape; I know, I know, horrible of me to post, but it's the only rip that anyone had for literal decades, and honestly I'm choosing to post it because I truly like it more that way. If you want the correct version I could provide you with that to. Anyways, I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

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Introducing...

Hi!

I figure that even though most of the people who see this first will know who I am, eventually (well, hopefully) others will come across this page while searching for new music/downloads of stuff they already know, and its good to start off with an intro of myself. My name is Valerie, but most people just call me Val -- she or they pronouns, please. As of writing, I am 22, and I live in northwestern Washington state in the US, where I attend (and occasionally book) hardcore (and other) shows super frequently. I've played in a number of bands, primarily as a vocalist; as of writing my two active projects are The Truth and Cry of Mankind.

I'm starting this blog not so much as an archival project -- most of what I post you can find in some other fashion online, and there's lots of people who's work I adore who do a better job of finding and digitizing stuff that no one's ever heard of than I could. I mostly just want a digital library of more cutty/hard to find stuff that I love and I wish people would've shown me when I was getting into hardcore, particularly stuff that only really exists via not-well-trafficked YouTube links or like, ancient downloads that don't work anymore. I don't like Soulseek, and Blogspots were a huge part of me finding stuff when I was younger, and there's plenty of stuff I have pretty painstakingly filed and archived that you can't really find downloads of easily. I'm a hater but I'm not a gatekeeper. If you like shit that I think is bad I want you to have access to shit I think is good.

My taste skews in a lot of different directions, but I'm particularly a fan of 80's USHC/NYHC, any 90's vegan edge heavy/metallic hc, 90's indie rock/emo, youth crew/revival, really any guitar music, along with a lot of noise and industrial shit. I'll readily admit to being in some regards overeducated on all this stuff and undereducated on other genres I should know more about, so feel free to send me any recommendations for other stuff that branches out into genres I don't really cover on this blog.

If any links break down the line please don't hesitate to reach out or comment and let me know. Even if it's a while from now and I haven't posted in a bit I will keep email notifications on so I can fix it ASAP. Upload frequency will probably be fast at first but taper off as I work through the backlog -- feel free to send in any requests for downloads. I can usually work something out pretty quickly and get it done.

Thanks for checking out the blog! I hope you enjoy your time and find some good stuff.