Maine’s DNA are like the A-team; they’re a group of guys flying under the rader, with not much public information available, playing for the greater good. With members of Cruel Hand they’ve formed a solid line-up and that’s all you need to know, because they play an amazing mix of trash metal and punk. Get to it!

The first comparison that popped in my mind when listening to this debut 7” was Municipal Waste. Together with crossover legends D.R.I. those thrashers probably had the most influence on DNA. But where those bands are more on the Thrashy side of things, DNA is definitely more punk influenced.

Clocking just under 12 minutes, this record is plain energenic fun. Although it’s not quite the most original or groundbreaking music you will ever hear, DNA accomplished to make a beast of a 8 track debut. Shredding solo’s like the one in ‘Gonna Break’ remind of Kill ‘Em All Metallica era immediatly, while the poverviolence-esque breaks in ‘Answers’ are a breeze of fresh air.

Still, probably the most important thing about this record is the atmosphere it is capable to create. The band sounds like they had really much fun when creating it. I can’t wait to see a ra wand sweaty performance by these guys, and I hop you can’t either after hearing the self-titled.

Track list – DNA

1. Gonna Break
2. Answers
3. Distraction
4. Post-Core
5. Unresolved Conflict
6. The Fiends
7. The Crooks
8. Patterns of Behavior

Words by Niels Koster

Our friends at Crawl Back Bookings are proud to announce the booking confirmation of Maine’s Cruel Hand on July 20th at Aloys, Eindhoven (NL). While the band will be touring Europe with Trapped Under Ice and AYS, this will be an off show and Cruel Hand will be supported by Hawser. So far, this is the only BeNeLux show that has been confirmed.

All European tour dates for Cruel Hand:

07/19 Berlin, DE @ Magnet **
07/20 Eindhoven, NL @ Aloys w/ Hawser
07/24 Wien, AT @ Aera **
07/27 Aschaffenburg, DE @ Katakombe **

** w/ Trapped Under Ice, AYS

Expire’s new album is called Pendulum Swings; it is a traditional and above all an angry, very angry release. The guys did good to stay true to their roots by improving their song structure while still relaying on the very thing that makes this band a success; pure energy.

The record knocks you over right from the start. The album opens with their second single ‘Just Fine’, a killer song. Powerful chaotic riffs combined with the great quality of this record really got my hopes up for this album. I can tell you it lives up to my every expectation.

‘Reputation’ is the first track that wasn’t pre-released. It is a great track because of the fast and angry vocals of Mister Josh Kelting and will do very well during the live shows of the Milwaukee quartet.

Something I love about this album is just seeing the track list and the duration of each and every track. All these fast, short tracks make sure that the album is diverse and keeps its strength. A fun fact: None of the tracks take longer than 2 minutes. This is a hardcore record the way it is supposed to be; it’s there, it does what it is supposed to do and then it is all over. Expire comes, sees and I dare to say it conquers the very heart of the scene.

‘Pendulum Swings’ is the end of the road for this record. A track that goes from fast to slow, with catchy riffs and lyrics. The song is one for the book, it ends by delivering a critical blow, a sing-along to remember!

Pendulum Swings is a crazy, hard record to remember. With it you can say that the band kicked in many doors that lead to the very corners of the world. Expire is here to stay.

The record is out through Bridge Nine Records and can be found in the B9 Webstore. Go check it out!

Track List – Pendulum Swings:

1. Just Fine
2. Reputation
3. Spit Out
4. Dig Deep
5. Anxiety
6. Abyss
7. Bark
8. Sleep Lost
9. Pills
10. YDN
11. Focus
12. Pendulum Swings

Expire: Facebook / Twitter / Bigcartel

Words by Ruben Middelweerd

Belgian hardcore fivesome Rebuild have revealed the artwork of their forthcoming EP which is due out this summer. Titled Losing Love, the EP will contain three songs, characterized by three different chapters. The lyrics for ‘Losing Love’, ‘Abandoned’ and ‘Black Painted Walls’ can be read above in the artwork (after the click).

In the mean time the guys also printed some new, great looking merch. So get to it, and head over to their Facebook page for all information.

Feed The Rhino have premiered a new video for ‘Left For Ruins,’ off of their new album The Burning Sons. The new record drops on July 16th, beware!

Pre-orders for Gideon‘s highly anticipated new album Milestone are now available. Multiple bundles are available through the Facedown Records webstore, including a limited edition run of black vinyl and blue vinyl, tank tops, t-shirts and more. Milestone is due out on July 3rd, get ready! If you haven’t heard their new song ‘Prodigal Song’ yet, check it below.

There is a lot happening in the world of Madball, so the band has posted a video of their time in the studio, giving us all an update on what’s going on. They have been recording the upcoming Rebellion EP. The EP will be released digitally and on a 7 inch vinyl through Freddy’s very own, brand new BNB label.

Check out the video below:

The Sleep Therapy European tour is coming up, what do you guys think of the hardcore scene in mainland Europe?

All of Europe is amazing. We were lucky enough to be there in March of last year when our 7″ came out and we had some wild reactions.

The album dropped in March, how have the reactions been so far?

It actually came out in April. The reactions have been great so far but of course there will be negative opinions when a band sounds different. It feels great to finally have it out since it has been recorded for over a year.

What does making/playing your music mean to you?

It means everything to us. From playing live to writing to recording, the whole spectrum is my favorite thing in life. I don’t want to do anything else, ever.

We love your (unusual) sound; what bands would you say are or have been an influence for you guys as a band?

We all listen to a lot of things. When we started the band, the idea was to start a band like Type O Negative mixed with Only Living Witness, who we named the band after, as well as other 90′s Boston/New York hardcore like Sam Black Church, Life of Agony and 454 Big Block. After the demo, we decided to incorporate more elements of classic doom and death metal like Pentagram, Candlemass, Warning, Bolt Thrower and Obituary while keeping the same flavor we’ve already built.

If Twitching Tongues hadn’t worked out as well as it did, where would you see yourself now?

Ruckus would probably be a bigger band. We would have focused on that instead. We’ll never stop doing that band either, it’s just more of a fun band to make ultra ignorant music with.

What is the weirdest/funniest thing that has happened to you on tour?

We’ve had some crazy and silly shit happen but I don’t have time to type that all out. The other day, the alternator died in our van and we drove without any electronics in our van for almost an hour. No gauges, nothing.

You guys are playing a lot of shows and have started to play some big tours a long way from home. How do you manage to combine tour life and the situation at home?

It’s not too bad. I have a recording studio so I just work when I’m home. Everyone else’s jobs are similar, except for Keith [Paull]. He couldn’t get off work for the European tour so we have our friend Nic Samayoa, who sings in HARNESS, filling in on bass for us. Check out Harness ASAP.

If you could choose any band in the world, hardcore or not, with who would you like to play a show?

My dream line up for a Twitching Tongues show would be: Type O Negative/Carnivore, Candlemass, Breakdown, Kickback, and Twitching Tongues. One of those is impossible though.

What places in the world do you really want to go to on tour?

Australia and Japan. I’m hoping we can make those happen in the next year or so.

What is the ultimate goal of Twitching Tongues?

We just want to play everywhere we possibly can, and do it with bands we like.

Words by Tim van Reyswoud

After No Omega shared the above picture via All Out, we found out about the incidents around the Ukraine Gay Pride on Monday. The man that’s being assaulted is organizer Svyatoslav Sheremet, head of  the Gay Forum of Ukraine. Moments after he met with the press to announce the cancellation of Kiev Pride, a group of unidentified attackers assaulted him without knowing their actions were being documented. The anti-gay hate crime was caught on camera, not that the video material can be shocking.

Gay Star News reports:

“Ukrainian capital’s first ever gay pride was cancelled yesterday amid fears of attacks from far right thugs.

Police advised pride organizers to abandon the march through the center of Kiev just 30 minutes before it was due to start, claiming 500 ultra-right football hooligans were en route to the rally point with the intention of preventing the event from going ahead.

Two activists were beaten up and tear gassed by a dozen youths in central Kiev after those already gathered for the march were evacuated with police escort.“

This is rather off-topic, but we wanted to make you aware of this situation. Everyone can form their own opinion about homosexuality and same-sex marriage, but everyone should be treated equally and be respected for living their own lifestyle. Spread the word.

Swedish doom hardcore mob Grieved have uploaded a stream of their newest album Samaritans. The record is recorded, mixed and mastered by Lewis Johns at The Ranch Production House, and will be released via Anchors Aweigh Records. Pre-orders will be shipped at June 1st. Stream the album now via Spotify in the player below, or head over to iTunes.