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AMERICA'S HARDCORE 4 way split Cd (Good life)
First the layout and artwork are really ugly. Second there is no lyric sheet, and not even the contact address for one of the bands !! Good life's advertisement is bigger than the bands photos. This looks very much like 4 demo Cd-R's put onto one disc and sold for the price of a full length album. Musically, it's obvious Good life is trying to cash in on the "Nu metal" trend. To be more precise, this is the new generation of "Nu metal" or grunge bands (call it as you will) drawing influences from Hc bands as much as emo bands, melodic Hc bands and, of course, KORN, LINKIN PARK and LIMP BIZKIT. Urgh. http://www.goodliferecordings.com/ (Y.B.)

FORTY WINKS "to the lonely hearts" Cd (trashed rds)
I can't bear this style of music anymore. Why are some people so obsessed with melodies ? This has nothing to do with punk-rock ! FORTY WINKS remind me a bit of SNUFF, they could easily be on Fat wreck or Epitaph, but they don't move me at all, and their lyrics are boring love songs. http://www.trashedrecords.com (Y.B.)

THE MOCKERS "worthless coins" mCd (Trashed rds)
When I heard the first notes I thought to myself "oh no, another generic ska-core band", but THE MOCKERS are more like a melodic punk-Hc band with horns. They're not super original, but they do their thing well. From Italy. PS : it always makes me smile to see bands that find it more important to include extensive thanx lists than lyric sheets. http://go.to/themockers (Y.B.)

ROOTS RADICALS "poker d'assi" mCd (Chronic)
Italian "street-punk" that reminds me a bit of our own BRIGADA FLORES MAGON (with melodious vocals) ; good but not too original punk-rock/Oï with good social lyrics in Italian. For a first shot this is a nice try. http://www.rootsradicals.it (Y.B.)

J'AURAIS VOULU "au dedans de toi" Cd (Trauma social)
Their first Ep was good. This Cd is really ok, but it lacks something. J'AURAIS VOULU play french punk-rock with a rhythm box. The music is a bit basic but is "saved" by the awesome guitar riffs/solos that stick to your mind for ages (the guitar player also plays in BRIGADA FLORES MAGON). The lyrics deal with social issues and youth in general, they're good but a bit naive at times. http://jauraisvoulu.free.fr (Y.B.)

ESKORBUTO "ya no quedan…" Cd (Discos suicidas)
This is two classic spanish vinyls put onto one disc. ESKORBUTO put out a lot of records, I've never been a big fan but this is probably their best records forthe price of a Cd. The 14 songs remind me of the French early eighties punk-rock bands that were on Ripost or Chaos productions (not the skinhead stuff). Good slow punk-rock with political lyrics. Cool stuff. hilargi@teleline.es (Y.B.)

FACE THE FACT "the safe place" MCd (Firefly companies)
Some bands are hard to describe. As it was on Firefly companies I thought it woud be emo-rock, so I was surprised by the wall of guitars and powerful sound. Nu-metal bands like KORN or LIMP BIZKIT came to mind after the first notes, but maybe it's the production, which is good but makes them sound like one of those heavy metal/ industrial metal bands. Then some Brazilian bands like SELF CONVICTION or POINT OF NO RETURN came to mind, except that FACE THE FACT have boring introspective lyrics. To sum it up, this is a decent release if you're a metalhead. http://www.fireflygate.com/ (Y.B.)

DEAD BLUE SKY "symptoms of an unwanted emotion" Cd (Good life)
Urgh. Good life turned from a Hc label to a metal label, but since metal is less trendy these days, I think they're now turning into a grunge or "Nu-metal" label ! This is really really bad. DEAD BLUE SKY play epic metal with screaming vocals (emo-style), acoustic parts, keyboards, and a whole lot of solos. It's terrible. I couldn't decipher the lyrics but I'm sure they're either dumb, biblical, or senseless. Or maybe the three of them. http://www.goodliferecordings.com/ (Y.B.)

HUMAN ALERT + SENSA YUMA + BURN AT ALL, 01/12/02, "mondo bizarro", Rennes, show review
Lots of people, especially considering it was a saturday evening., and a good friendly atmosphere too. I guess it was one of BURN AT ALL's first shows as they are a young local band, and for a first shot they were damn good. They play uptempo punk-rock with double-bass drum, kinda like if you mixed french punk-rock (LES RATS, etc) with GBH. SENSA YUMA , from the Uk, play midtempo punk-rock with a charismatic singer. They sounded typicaly british and were pretty good. I was a bit disappointed by HUMAN ALERT, whom I saw twice in the past when they had two vocalists. There's only one of them left, and musically their brand of punk-Hc was too varied and messy for me. (Y.B.)

DEHUMANIZE "animi motus" Cd (Fireflycompanies)
Geez, I thought this was a Ny/metal band from the "Roma legion" that existed a few years ago. Maybe they used to be one of those bands and turned their backs on metal, just like TIMEBOMB did ? Either ways, I really don't like their music, although they're not the worst band in the genre. DEHUMANIZE play noisy-Hc. 50% noisy intellectual stuff, 50% Hc (Ny). Uninteresting lyrics and layout. http://www.fireflygate.com/ (Y.B.)

LA FRACTION + SKUDS & PANIC PEOPLE, 17/10/02, "mondo bizarro", Rennes, show review
Quite a good turn up although there was another noisy-Hc show in town that day. It was a good show unfortunately for me I didn't see much of the two bands because I had to watch after my distribution. :( It wasn't SKUDS' (local ska-punk band) best show ever, but they were ok. LA FRACTION were totally awesome. They play tuneful punk-Hc and the singer has such a great voice ! I was really angry I only saw 3 minutes of their set. (Y.B.)

CRAWLSPACE "enter the realm of chaos" Cd (Final beat down)
I thought Final beat down was a subsidiary for Good life's NyHc bands, but CRAWLSPACE is plain metal. Thrash metal to be precise. The cover is really ugly, you get the compulsory poseur photos, the (very) silly lyrics about demons and hell (is this the only thing they can think about when writing a song ? Poor guys). Musically, I like some death/ thrash, but CRAWLSPACE didn't move me at all. Stay away.
http://www.goodliferecordings.com/finalbeatdown/ (Y.B.)

COURSE OF ACTION "carving our way…" Cd (Good life)
Very varied Belgian metal. Not varied in the sense that they include reggae, techno or grindcore parts, but varied because they explore all the realms of the metal horizon. So you get heavy metal, epic metal, Nu metal, death metal. Metal metal and more metal, + maybe a couple noisy or emo hints here or there. CATHARSIS meets METALLICA meets DRIVEN to give you an idea. Long long songs and introspective social lyrics deeply influenced by CATHARSIS, but not nearly as good. http://www.goodliferecordings.com/ (Y.B.)

CRY FOR CHANGE "broken hearts, broken trust" mCd (evil sheep)
It looked like an old school record, but no such luck. This is just heavy metal, and from Belgium too. They're far from being the worst band in the genre, but I've heard this stuff way too many times to appreciate it anylonger. The lyrics are very naive and silly, which doesn't help. Oh well… evilxsheep@yahoo.com (Y.B.)

SIX REASONS TO KILL/ ABSIDIA split Cd (Per koro)
The first words you can hear when playing this Cd are "the demon is coming !", so you already know what to expect. I hope they're not trying to pass this as hardcore, cos it's nothing but modern heavy (and really powerful) metal. Like, the VENOM, the KISS, the METALLICAs of the new millenium. Not my style at all. ABSIDIA have gone really metal too. Both bands lyrics are dark and negative (metal, you know ?), SIX REASONS TO KILL's one were almost good (for a metal band). Is Per koro turning into a metal label, too ? http://www.perkoro.de (Y.B.)

GUADANA "la isla de la calma" Cd (W.C.)
Their first album didn't impress me much, although it was far from being bad. This new one -wow !- it's one of the best albums W.C. records has put out in a while ! The production is awesome and so is the song writing. GUADANA play spanish uptempo punk-rock along the lines of EL CORAZON DEL SAPO (which they covered on the first Cd) or LA POLLA RECORDS. The songs are really varied but not a single one is bad. The lyrics seem to be in the social vein, I understood they had a problem with cops and were in favour of drug legalization. www.nav.to/wcrecords (Y.B.)

LOGGER HEAD/ UNHOLY GRAVE split mCd
Not sure if this sells as a mini or full length, but it sure doesn't last long (23"). UNHOLY GRAVE, from japan, play fast grindcore with crustcore influences. The lyrics are a bit weird, but they're a Japanese band, right ? LOGGER HEAD hail from Belgium and play traditional grindcore in the vein of AGATHOCLES. Ok stuff from both bands. (Logger head mail :) loggerbe@yahoo.fr (Y.B.)

IRRITATE/ UTTER BASTARD Cd (Broken noise)
I've never liked IRRITATE much. They have changed tremendously since the last Cd I heard. They used to be a basic grind core band, the music is tighter these days but they are much slower and heavier, making them sound like a sludge band ! Can't say I enjoyed them better. UTTER BASTARD come closer to my tastes with their power violence/ grindcore/ death mix. At times they reminded me of SPAZZ or ELECTRO HIPPIES but (unfortunately) more metal. Not too bad. I wish a lyric sheet was included !! http://diy-noise.tripod.com (Y.B.)

ARGON / DAMOKIS split cd (Broken noise)
This is for fans of extreme music that aren't allergic to metal. Both bands do the same kind of death/ grind/ thrash stuff. I can hear crust influences here and there, or maybe it is the production that lacks power (but the sound is good). Either ways a decent metal release. And ain't it nice to see grindcore freaks thank god ? :). "Allah the almighty, nobody can defeat him". Oh, I can. Ask him to come down for a second, I'll kick his ass so hard I'll send him back straight to the sky. http://diy-noise.tripod.com (Y.B.)

H2OIL "heyday to organic instrument lullaby" mCd (Molaire)
When I saw them live I thought they were a pretty good melodic Hc band with an emo bent. Ok, they're good musicians but that doesn't mean shit ; my aunt is a good musician too and she has terrible musical tastes. Some H2OIL moments are nice, but the offbeat rhythms and discordant guitars get on my nerves ! Intellectual, artistic music that has no sense. No lyric sheet provided, of course… WaitingforANgel@aol.com (Y.B.)

ANTI "the hardcore years 1980-84" (Grand Theft Audio)
This one is a cool G.T.A. release. I had never heard of this band before, although they put out 3 albums ! ANTI were a Californian punk-Hc band and one of the first "peace punk" bands in the world. And yes, their sound was not too far from DISCHARGE's, but with a more -guess what- Californian approach. Kinda like if you mixed early BAD RELIGION and DISCHARGE maybe. Not bad at all, especially their second album "defy the system". Lots of music (over an hour) and one cool booklet to top it all. briangta@earthlink.net (Y.B.)

BRIGITTE BOP "wack and woll" Cd (Trauma social)
I remember seeing them live back when they had dual vocals, and I think I enjoyed their first Ep better. This is typical french punk rock in the vein of LEGITIME DEFONCE, LES SHERIFFS, etc. Decent socially aware punk lyrics. Ok stuff. bastien.rousset@libertysurf.fr (Y.B.)

FICTION ROMANCE "lacher de punks" Cd (Limo life)
Typical french punk-rock/punk from Montpellier, with decent & basic punk or social lyrics. What else can I say ? Decent. (Eric Chatain, 143 allée des genêts, 84500 Bollène) (Y.B.)

KULARA "fragmental remembrance…" Cd (Molaire)
Urgh. Everything I hate about underground music. I would call this emo-jazz, or better yet ; modern psychedelic rock. Hardcore is like modern punk, NyHc/ deathcore and the likes stand for modern heavy metal, techno might be modern disco, and yes, I believe emo and bands like KULARA are modern days psychedelic bands. Intellectual music played by artists wanking over their instruments. Yawn ! WaitingforANgel@aol.com (Y.B.)

SPARKLING BOMBS + HEROINES + TH APERS, Rennes, 01/11/02, Mondo bizarro (show review)
Is SPARKLING BOMBS a joke-band or are they serious ? It's hard to tell. Some members come from the Hc scene (hard to believe they used to play in SAPO/ BRIDEWELL HOSPITAL, AHIMSA/ PITFALL !), but they play "glam-punk" ; a mix between 70's punk-rock and 70's (real) heavy metal. It was not bad but the songs were too slow to really hold my attention. THE HEROINES' records would probably bore me to hell, but live they were pretty good ! German modern rock'n'roll with an almost punk sound and great female vocals. Good stuff. THE APERS played tight melodic Hc, but they were such a big SCREECHING WEASEL rip-off I left after a few songs. I know it's not possible to sound original these days, but that doesn't mean you can't have a personality on your own. (Y.B.)

LARSEN "vomitas sangre" mCd (Radikal records)
I know it would be sad to let the past go and turn a blind eye on all the bands that started the punk-Hc movement, but some bands deserve discographies more than others. Even though LARSEN are ok, their punk-rock was really quite typical. Besides they only released one Ep and one 12". So that's 6 tracks of old spanish punk-rock, and I don't have much more to tell. Oh yeah, they have a song against French people, but I didn't grab the meaning. Radikal77@terra.es (Y.B.)

GAMENESS + AMANDA WOODWARD + THE FLYING WORKER, Rennes, 17/10/02, Mondo bizarro. (show review)
[Shhhh don't tell anyone, we organized an emo show with 3 french bands !]. To be honest I didn't watch the bands much, because I don't like this style, but from what I saw those 3 bands do their thing well. FLYING WORKER play powerful emo, AMANDA WOODWARD are more on the melodic side of things (at times they sound like a MOSS ICON rip-off), and GAMENESS, who used to be a NyHc band, now play pure emo (YAGE, ICONOCLAST, etc). Three hours of screaming vocals and weeping boys. Urgh. (Y.B.)

QLOAQA LETAL "nunca siempre" Cd (Melankronicam)
Holy shit, one of those incredible spanish Cd's again ! This is a complete discography by an old spanish punk-rock band (1984-1986 I believe), and as only spanish labels seem to be able to do, it comes with a "book" ! So you get hundreds of photos, lyrics, interviews, liner notes, etc. Musically, QLOAQA LETAL are not my favourite spanish punk bands ; they used to play typical punk-rock (like all bands at the time), their drums sound like a drum machine and the vocals are a bit weird. Still, this is a great document for any fan of old punk, it has one demo and two live sets with a decent sound. (Melankronicam, apdo 2120, 37080 Salamancaz, Spain) (Y.B.)

DENEBH Cd-R (Domaine rds)
Ex-ANANDA people playing german emo-metal, but DENEBH sound more grind than ANANDA. Big SYSTRAL/ CAROL/ ACME rip-off. I can't say I was impressed. The sound quality is average, and the lyrics are typical. No email but I got my copy through : kieffer.monnet.burn@wanadoo.fr (Y.B.)

AGHAST/ TEKKEN split mCd (Wee wee)
I guess you all know by now that I hate emo, unfortunately most of the emo records I received since I started this zine have been fairly good and I haven't been able to talk shit or spread any nasty rumours. AGHAST play tight and honest emo. Sometimes melodic, but definitely not pop. Average/ silly lyrics. Live, TEKKEN were a grind band. The quality of this recording is not so good, and the vocals are screamt ; emo-grind ?? I didn't enjoy those tracks much. Their lyrics, however, seem to be quite intelligent. davids@weewee.scs-internet.fr (Y.B.)

MAXIMAAL ONTHAAL Cd compilation (Royal blood)
This is an awesome comp that will probably remain a classic like "Not so quiet on the eastern front", "Barbaric thrash", "Peace 2xLp", etc. First the packaging is incredible, there is a huge booklet explaining why they decided to put out a compilation against the monarchy in Holland, and one page per band with lyrics, info, etc (we could have done without the jewel box). Then, the music itself is excellent. You got almost an hour of uptempo Hc/punk with an excellent sound quality (all the bands recorded at Bunt studios). Sometimes the tracks are even a bit overproduced. It is so rare to find compilation without ANY bad songs on them ! Curiously enough, my favourite ones were not the songs written by the most famous bands (SEEIN' RED, BREZHNEV, PCP, HUMAN ALERT…), but by some up-and-coming bands like : MILKMAN, LIVE FAST DIE YOUNG, FIRE IT UP, ALL TENSED UP, etc. Buy this ! royalblood@caramail.com (Y.B.)

ROT "socially conform" Cassette (Insane society)
Oh cool, some old ROT songs I had never heard before. This great tape includes a bunch of split ep's, and a good live set from around 1995. Good lyrics, strong NAPALM DEATH influences. barvak@insanesociety.net (Y.B.)

SLANG "skilled rhythm kills" Cassette (Straight up)
Discovering Japanese bands through imported Czech tapes coming from Poland. It's a weird world we live in… The SLANG I knew used to play fast mohawked punk in the lines of THE EXPLOITED, but they have been influenced by NY hardcore bands and it shows ! Now I would describe them as a punk-metal band in the vein of MASS MURDERERS, ACCUSED, whatever crossover stuff you might think of. Quite powerful. I was surprised to learn these guys have been around since 1987 (!) and that one of them runs the label Straight up. reallife@netfarm.ne.jp (Y.B.)

GFK "the social responsibility theory" cassette (Wyzwolenie)
I have no idea where this band comes from. Poland ? At least the label is polish. Basically, I would say this is a modern Hc band, or an emo band with metal and hardcore influences. They do their thing well, although they came almost five years too late. The lyrics are quite intellectual and deal with social struggles. Not bad. (And a couple weeks later I found out they are from Quebec !) wyzwolenie@poczta.onet.pl (Y.B.)

ROT "Sociopathic behavior" Cassette (Insane society)
Those eastern Europeans sure know how to release good tapes. Not only does the layout include all the information and lyrics, but you get around one hour of non stop brazilian political grindcore along the lines of early NAPALM DEATH. This includes the "sociopathic behavior" Cd, the split Cd with SUBLIME CADAVERIC DECOMPOSITION (I love this name) + bonus tracks as well ! barvak@insanesociety.net (Y.B.)

SHORTCUT + GALAHAD + NO TIME TO LOSE, Rennes, 04/10/02, Mondo bizarro. (show review)
One of those concerts you dislike because you have to hold a stall instead of watching the bands and talking with your friends. L. From what I saw, SHORTCUT did a good set, their songs sound more and more fast-core. GALAHAD are a local heavy metal band which reminds me of ACME at times, but much more metal. Long, slow and technical songs. Pretty good. NO TIME TO LOSE were awesome as always, mixing fun, politics, melodies and straight-forward tight hardcore. The kids seemed to enjoy them. 130 people turned up. Cool gig. (Y.B.)

PARAGRAPH 119 cassette
I didn't get to see this band when they toured Europe last year, and I have no idea if they have put out anything other than this tape (demo ?). This is really good punk from Denmark with strong political lyrics (in Danish). The music and dual vocals remind me of DISAFFECT at times, but PARAGRAPH 119 sound more punk than crust. I don't know if they live by their ideas, but the sure sound sincere and angry. Paragraf119@mailbomb.net (Y.B.)

NEILA mCd (In my heart)
New Spanish (Basque) band. I don't know, to me NEILA sound a lot of those terrible neo/ nu-metal bands (KORN, LINKIN PARK, etc), except that they are probably a bit more influenced by the current noisy/ emo trend. That's about it. Personal/ poetical lyrics. Give it a try if you like, but this is not for me. inmyheartempire@hotmail.com (Y.B.)

LEAN ON ME #3 fanzine
Lean on me est désormais un label, mais c'est la première fois que je lisais le zine. Bon sommaire 50% punk/Oï, 50% ska. Après un bon éditorial, beaucoup de chroniques & de comptes-rendus (concerts, livres, zines, disques) et quelques interviews (INFORMERS, REAZIONE, CHINKEES/ Asian man rds, JAH ON SLIDE, LIBERATOR) plutôt pas mal même si certains groupes (ska en particulier) n'ont pas grand chose à raconter, au grand dam du rédacteur qui aimerait bien les faire aller dans son sens. :). Voilà, un bon zine au format original et sympa, et le gars est très calé sur les styles qu'il affectionne, j'ai apprécié le ton passionné des articles. Leanonme.records@wanadoo.fr (Y.B.)

JOLT "human down" Cd-R (demo/ Jetlag rds)
New french modern emo band. A bit of heaviness, but not really metal. Some poppy guitars, but not really melodic either. Compulsory screaming vocals, but since the lyrics aren't printed I don't know what he's screaming for. If you're a fan of this style you should enjoy this. http://www.unhurt.fr.fm/ (Y.B.)

JUDOBOY Cd (Nihilove)
This is like the next big band in France. Before even opening the Cd I knew what to expect : modern "hc" along the lines of ANANDA, BURN HOLLYWOOD BURN or NOTHING TO PROVE. And I was right ! This band would fit well on Overcome records, or Per koro if they were german, although that Per koro bands are usually a bit more hardcore. JUDOBOY are powerful, they have strong metal and emo influences, and personal lyrics that don't really make any sense. http://www.judoboy.fr.st (Y.B.)

RAPTUS "bianco rosso e merda" Cd (Oi strike)
Decent Italian Oï. Can't tell much more ; the music is ok, slightly basic, the sound is good but the production lacks power, the lyrics seem to be ok and deal with "street" and social topics. Decent. http://www.soarecords.it (Y.B.)

PEZZ "with everything we got" Cd (Soul is cheap)
Varied American melodic Hc, drawing influences from punk-rock or noisy-pop at times. There's even a good reggae tune ! The lyrics are mostly introspective. Not too bad. One of the members thanx "the almighty god", hey cool, next time you cross him, say hi for me (and a good kick in the teeth). http://members.aol.com/pezz1/ (Y.B.)

SMITTEN "7 years of melody" Cd (Barulho)
This Argentinean band has been around for almost ten years and I had never heard of them before ! This Cd compiles three albums, so the cool thing is you get 72 minutes of music for the price of one album. SMITTEN play very melodic poppy hardcore in the vein of MEGA CITY FOUR, they do it well although nothing really makes them stand out. There were so many songs that I didn't translate all of them, but the lyrics seemed to be personal, which is surprising for a south American band. Well, if it's your thing… http://www.barulhorecords.com.br (Y.B.)

HARD UPS "alone in a crowd" Cd (Slide chorus)
Kinda typical melodic Hardcore from Spain. If they were from the USA they would probably be on Fat Wreck. Mostly personal lyrics sung in English (unfortunately). Next… slidechorus@slidechorus.com (Y.B.)

MOKSHA "antaryamin" Cd (Underhill)
A bunch of Spanish students heard ACME (or later SYSTRAL) and decided to start a band, which they called MOKSHA. Well, according to me this stuff is pretty bad ; 123th generation emo-metal (or heavy metal, I don't know), the artwork is bad, the lyrics seem to be uninteresting, one of the members even thanks god, who, I guess, must feel really honoured. http://www.underhillrcs.com (Y.B.)

DEAD FISH "afasia" Cd (3e Mundo)
Nice brazilian melodic hardcore recorded in 2000. DEAD FISH remind me of ETERNA INOCENCIA, Italian melodic hardcore bands like FRAMMENTI, BOCCA CHIUSA, or even LIFETIME at times. Good sound, good musicians, nothing groundbreaking but it's well done, and the lyric seem to be of a social nature (hell, they're Brazilians, right ?). http://www.deadfish.com.br (Y.B.)

BREZHNEV + SLEAZY JOKE, Rennes, 15/09/02, Mondo bizarro (show review)
Ok turn out for the first show of the year and two quite unknown bands. SLEAZY JOKE, as far as I know, only put out one Ep on Mass productions a couple years ago. They play good tight French punk-rock. LES RATS, BRIGITTE BOP ; that kind of stuff comes to mind. Just as I was thinking that they would have fit in well on Gougnaf movement in the 80's, they played a good PARABELLUM cover. Funny (or pathetic ?) the audience only started to dance when they played their ode to… alcohol. I heard they might be recording for an album soon. BREZHNEV have been around for 14 years but it was the first time I heard them ! And boy were they good. First, the singer was dressed up as a Mc Donald clown, which was a good start. Then, they play tight, fast, to the point hardcore (-punk) with a strong rock'n'roll feel. Not unlike HUMAN ALERT maybe. Maybe. The lyrics are serious, but these guys have a strong sense of humour ; the perfect blend ! (Y.B.)

PROPAGANDHI "today's empires, tomorrow's ashes" Cd (fat wreck)
One of the five best bands in the world returns after four years ! One thing that is cool is that they have kept on evolving while still remaining true to their fast-melodic Hc roots. This album mixes short punk/Hc blasts with tight and catchy melodic anthems. The cover art is awesome, there are a couple Cd-R tracks, lots of fun and political information. I was a bit disappointed by the lyrics, which are good but are becoming more and more philosophical. Hell, even when translated into French, I can't understand all the words. BAD RELIGION syndrome maybe ? "To not resist is to acquiesce in your own oppression". Right on. www.g7welcomingcommittee.com/propagandhi (Y.B.)

YA BASTA "lucha y fiesta" Cd (Maloka)
Good follow up to their split ep with ACTION DIRECTE. YA BASTA are a left-wing skinhead-ska band from Paris. They are absolutely awesome live as it is very pleasant to dance on music that is both intelligent and danceable. The studio recordings don't really capture the energy they display when they play live, but most of these tracks are still really good. The lyrics deal with social struggles in general. Don't miss them if they stop by your town. http://www.chez.com/maloka/ (Y.B.)

NOTHING TO PROVE "erase the metronome" mCd (Coexistence)
New French band similar to BURN HOLLYWOOD BURN. Modern Hardcore all the way ; off beat rhythms, screaming vocals, metal riffs, emo/ melodic parts. It's quite technical and they sure do their thing well. The production is really good too. The lyrics are intellectual/ philosophical and deal with capitalism, human relationships, work, etc. Not my style, but this is an interesting band. http://membres.lycos.fr/coexistence/ (Y.B.)

HIGHSCORE "1997-2000" Cd (625)
Haaa, I love straight-edge, when it's fast and angry. And this is exactly what HIGHSCORE is all about. This has their awesome Lp, their Ep, and their demo. It's fast, angry, desperate, to-the-point, these guys are out to change the world. The lyrics are really good and deal with social, personal, as well as scene related topics. Straight-edge the way it should always have been. www.bushidorecords.de (Y.B.)

INFLX/ PIGNATION split mCd (Shing)
Both bands fit well together. INFLX used to be called INFLEXIBLE. They started out as a mediocre H-8000 inspired metal band. They're still metal, but these new recordings sound more Hardcore. It's tight, it's powerful, it's quite good ! PIGNATION started off as a "power violence" band (it's written all over their releases) but the tracks on this Cd are nothing else than death metal songs. The lyrics are not even printed, so I don't know why they're screaming like that. www.shingrecords.com (Y.B.)

ANTICHRIST "the blind" Cd (Malarie)
I had enjoyed their first Ep which reminded me a bit of OI POLLOI, but this new album is completely different, although it was only recorded one year later ! This is modern punk ; tight punk-Hardcore with offbeat drumming, heavy parts, and more-or-less screamt vocals. Not really my thing, but I am sure a lot of kids will dig this. Good sound, nice artwork and intelligent lyrics attacking religion, patriotism, racism… Give it a try. www.malarie.ind.cz (Y.B.)

SICK PUNKS #1 fanzine
When Siue first told me about her intention to put out a fanzine about punks with diseases, I honestly wasn't too hot about it and couldn't really see the interest of it. So the zine came as a nice surprise as I really enjoyed reading it. Siue sent the same bunch of questions to various punks worldwide who suffer illnesses, most of the time severe or "weird" illnesses. I found it interesting to learn all the details and see how they managed to deal with it, and at times it was quite impressing to see them keep on with life despite all the problems they have to face everyday. Let's be honest, it was also very reassuring to learn about people that have much more problems than we do, and realize that our own little problems are after all not that serious. As INSTED put it "let's put aside the evil, and look towards the good, realizing what we have, is something we should, step back, look around, assess your needs, don't take for granted the things that you have, 'cause compared to some people, life's not that bad". P-nuts@bigfoot.com (Y.B.)

POINT OF NO RETURN "liberdade imposta" Cd (Liberation)
Their first songs sounded a lot like early EARTH CRISIS, the first Lp had a lot of death metal overtones, and live they sounded quite influenced by the german emo-metal sound. This second album sounds a bit less metal than the previous one, slightly more melodic. Well it's still tough guy, beat down heavy metal moshcore. The lyrics are political, a bit basic but good. It's only 23 minute long, too bad they didn't include all the demo/ live/ compilation tracks as bonus. What else can I say. A great band made up of great individuals. www.xliberationx.com/xponrx (Y.B.)

SPAZZ "sweatin' 2 : deported live dwarf" Cd (625)
This has the Lp, the split Lp with SUBVERSION and a decent live radio show. Around 50 tracks of awesome US "power violence", this Cd has excellent, varied songs with female vocals, a banjo, some totally silly lyrics and some much more committed. http://625thrash.com/ (Y.B.)

SPAZZ "sweatin' 3" Cd (Slap a ham)
67 SPAZZ tracks ! ! taken from split Eps and compilations. Crazy. One of the best bands ever, mixing fun and seriousness, thrashcore/ fastcore and mosh/ NyHc. This is excellent, but to be honest, after listening to "Sweatin' 2" and "Sweatin' 3" in a row, I started to get a bit sick of it. :) Hard to believe Slap a ham is no longer around. (Y.B.)

SHING RECORDS promo sampler 2001 Cd (Shing)
Ok, it's written 2001 but some of the songs are from releases that just came out. Shing records is a fairly big label from Poland that was mostly into old school Hc/ New york hardcore, but it seems they're putting out more and more metal releases. I already dealt with them a couple times and they sounded like reliable people. Most of the heavy metal bands on this Cd I don't care for, but out of the 25 tracks I enjoyed : COALITION (polish hc), SCHIZMA (Ny), RINGWORM (metal-core, Usa), BRAMBORAK (NyHc, Lithuania), 1125 (new track !), BIALA GORACZKA (ok-ish Hc, Poland). Decent sampler overall with lots of big well-produced bands. Tight music, but not much more. www.shingrecords.com (Y.B.)

VORT'N'VIS FESTIVAL, 16, 17, 18 August 2002, Ieper, Belgium (show review)
I was pissed cos we arrived late once again. But this year, we had paid to hold our stalls. 30 euros for three days ! Fuck. And the programme was really bad for this 10th anniversary, with 90% heavy metal bands. After a couple of them, everyone including metal fans seemed to be bored. There were less people than usual too. Most of our French friends had warned us they wouldn't go. We still managed to meet a couple good friends, hey, that's what the Vortn'n'vis is all about, right ? We were definitely not here for the music. I only saw about 5 bands out of 30. A lot of people were disappointed, distros didn't sell, actually most of them had "special sale" boxes, getting rid of Cds that only came out one or two years ago ! Hc, and METAL, definitely aren't fashionable anymore. Some friends say it's for the better ; only the best bands/labels will remain. Dunno. Either ways, it was still cool to be in a 100% drug free/ vegetarian environment. There were so many vegans that you could feel a minority if you were ONLY vegetarian, hahaha. Trends ? Oh yeah, this year, everyone had tattoos. I do mean everyone. And boy did people like to show them ! Sometimes it got a bit pathetic.
Bands : unfortunately I missed the band from Iceland, I really wanted to see them. From the few notes I heard, they sounded ok, I would say well-played heavy metal. I also missed RISEN, featuring ex-members of BIRTHRIGHT, but as I said, after one or two metal bands, all the other ones started to sound the same. And the sound was so powerful this year, it was ridiculous. It was so loud you couldn't even talk to other people. I kind of missed MAX REBO KIDS and ABSENCE. Both sounded average from afar. SMUT PEDDLERS were funny. Not the kind of band I would listen to at home, but live, and amongst all the metal shit, they sounded ok. The guys all looked like 40 year old punks with lots of tattoos and sunglasses. Punk-rock ('n'roll). PRETTY GIRLS MAKE GRAVES were one of the best bands of the festival. They sounded a lot like BIKINI KILL, a bit punk-rock, a bit emo, a bit noisy. The female singer had a great voice too. Here again, I would probably not like their studio recordings, but after hearing 10 heavy metal bands, I think I would have even enjoyed MICKAEL JACKSON. JR EWING were next, I've never been a big fan of this band, but they sure play powerful emo. NEWBORN are excellent musicians and play tight, varied heavy metal. CONGRESS played last, with a whole new line-up ; I think only Josh remains. They played all their old classics, I can't say I liked them much. It's just a death metal band nowadays, and they almost didn't say anything interesting between the songs. Maybe they should have split up for good.
DEAD STOP had the hard task to be the first band on saturday. They were great ! Fast and tight Boston style old school, with covers of NEGATIVE APPROACH and REAGAN YOUTH ! The audience was quite bad, but hey, that's Belgium. How can you expect metalheads to dance on old school hardcore, huh ? BURN HOLLYWOOD BURN : French tight chaotic emo-Hc-metal. I was disappointed by DEGRADATION, a german old school Hc band. Average stuff, slightly tough-guy. Just trying. LENGTH OF TIME were one of the most metal acts of the fest. No comment. At least they don't try to pass off as Hardcore. THE DEAL were good. Uptempo old school with quite a lot of aggressiveness. Ok stuff. I was disappointed by SUNRISE, not that I was expecting much, but I like some (real) death metal and I don't think they do their thing too well. Then came STRIKE ANYWHERE, a band I had never heard before, and wow ! All of a sudden the atmosphere of past festivals came back, you had huge circle pits, singalong, smiling faces, everything. There's definitely nothing better than an "old school" band to get everyone happy. And they had some cool positive messages too. HEAVEN SHALL BURN were super heavy and not too bad, but after STRIKE ANYWHERE…
Last day, and still hot as fuck. POINTING FINGER were first. Poor guys. But the old school fans in the audience were here to support them. The sound quality was much better than in Paris, and the show was quite good. Some silly covers (CHAIN OF STRENGTH, MINOR THREAT and "Young till I die") but apart from that, good show. ABSONE are a French heavy metal/ death metal band. Pretty good at what they're doing, but not my style at all. I remember hearing a BETWEEN THE LINES ep a long time ago and they sounded like SICK OF IT ALL. A few years later, and live, they still sounded a bit like that, lots of New York influences, more mosh-core than heavy metal thankfully ! I didn't see much of SWORN IN (Uk, ex-IN THE CLEAR) but they sounded good, old school Hc with screaming vocals I think. DEFORMITY were the most metal act of the whole fest, total real death metal. Nothing more, nothing less. Decent. POINT OF NO RETURN's show was not as good as two years ago, but it was still cool. Raging political death metal from Brazil, decent crowd reaction. Then a storm broke out and I honestly was wondering whether we were all gonna die under the big metallic tent. Or the bands would bring down the lightning because of the electricity. Man it was pouring rain, so I missed most of AMULET who sounded like an awesome melodic Hc band ! They've been around for years and I warmly hope I'll be able to see them again. CIRCLE played decent rockin' hardcore, and AS FRIENDS RUST, with a new singer, did an average show. We were happy to leave, but all in all we had an ok time.

NO TIME TO LOSE + VALUE DRIVEN + POINTING FINGER + GOOD CLEAN FUN + SHELTER, 15/08/02, Paris, Le Gambetta (show review)
Man ! Three of my current favourite bands playing together, on my birthday moreover ! ! Wow. After an ok trip we managed to find Le gambetta, a pub where a few skinhead shows have already taken place. To our disappointment it was very small, the stage was small, the sound was quite bad, and there was no place for a good pit. But who cares, with 4 or 5 positive Hc bands, things could only go well, right ? We were in Paris, so it was no surprise to notice in front of the pub a couple dickheads that often start fights at shows. Thankfully, they only decided to get inside for the last band, as they often do. NO TIME TO LOSE played a great set and people, to my surprise, seemed to dig them. Good. VALUE DRIVEN came next and played tight old school SxE Hc. A bit cliché, but well done, and quite fast. POINTING FINGER were late and they didn't have the time to do the soundcheck. I love their studio tracks, but live they lack charisma, the sound was average, they didn't talk a lot between songs, and they didn't play any of the songs I know. Urgh ! Still an ok set, my friends seemed to enjoy them. GOOD CLEAN FUN were next. It was the 5th time I saw them, and they're still one of my favourite band ! They played a lot of old songs + a couple covers like "you've gotta fight" by the BEASTIE BOYS. I've been dreaming for a Hc band playing that cover for years, only G.C.F. could do it ! Excellent show, lots of singalong, mosh and stage diving. It was weird to see SHELTER, an MTV band, play in such a small pub for a Hc/ skinhead crowd ! I don't like them as you can imagine, but when I saw them live 10 years ago they were excellent. What a disappointment ! Nowadays they play mediocre melodic grungy-Hc. Ray doesn't say anything between songs (for the best ?). (Almost) all my friends left the room before the end, only to witness a couple drunk skins start a fight between themselves. Cool.
And off we were to the Vortn'nvis.

QUE VIVE LE ROCK LIBRE n°23, newsletter
Une bonne newsletter reguliere et bourree d'infos punk-rock (+ un peu de Oi, de ska, de hardcore). Des chroniques de disques assez detaillees, des news, des contacts et deux-trois opinions. Sympa. grandz@libertysurf.fr (Y.B.)

UNLOGISTIC + FIST FUCK PRODUCTION, 27/06/02, Rennes, Mondo Bizarro (show review)
Geez, 5 shows in 7 days, I was starting to get sick… and it seems the local audience was tired too as only 20 or 30 people showed up. Too bad. FIST FUCK PRODUCTION is just two people playing home-made movies with silly stories and punk or rock music in the background. It's pretty good ! Some of these short movies are really well done. UNLOGISTIC used to be a melodic Hc band, but these days they play fast old school Hc with a drum machine and two or three crazy singers jumping everywhere. Crazy. They probably lost 500 euros worth of equipment on this show alone. :) (Y.B.)

TOTAL CHAOS + DISTILLERS, 25/06/02, Rennes, Mondo bizarre (show review)
I just wanted to have a laugh, it was like going to the circus for me, but I have to admit TOTAL CHAOS (and their following) were not that bad. The local punks & skins didn't seem to dig them, but that's probably because they're more into Oi or Rock'n'roll. TOTAL CHAOS were indeed quite powerful, with metallic guitar riffs and awful solos. Kinda like DISCHARGE meets RANCID. They even did a cover of THE EXPLOITED's "sex & violence", urgh ! I thought THE DISTILLERS would be very punk, but they were in fact a punk'n'roll band with raucous female vocals. Not bad, but not really my style either. I left before the end as the room was overcrowded and their were too many smokers. I was told the singer collapsed a few minutes later and the band only played 20 minutes. Ha ! (Y.B.)

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