75 % Feud, 100 % Second Combat!

Thanks to Dha for this pic featuring 3/4 of Feud (me, Ray and Pao) and the whole of Second Combat. We're gonna miss these guys. One of the mot awesome bands and group of people around. I hope to make it to KL this year just to see these guys. This is a time we'll remember...

Have Heart, Asian Tour, Pilipinas leg

Holy shit. This is it. Non-Compliant Issue No. 25 = HAVE HEART in the Philipppines.


I hope nothing drastic goes wrong and this tour pulls through. Keep your fingers crossed. Details to be announced later.

Antagonist A.D. (New Zealand)/Mouthful of Air (Borneo) @ San Pablo City

Up now is the flyer for the Antagonist A.D. and the Mouthful of Air show to be held at Lion's Club @ San Pablo City, Laguna. Great line-up. Definitely gonna be there. The venue there is great and its pretty cold which is a nice welcome from the upcoming summer heat. Yeah.

Good stuff: xStaidx demo, Kaktus Karuka demo, upcoming Bohol trip, Mean Season discography, Verse 'everything', Have Heart 'Songs to Scream at the Sun', Snapcase 'Steps'

Review: V/A Deadly Rhythms From the Production Line

Cover

Flyer

V/A DEADLY RHYTHMS FROM THE PRODUCTION LINE

One of the most anticipated releases from Take-Four Collective, Delusion of Terror Records and Love from Hate Records, this 4-way split features two bands from the Philippines and two from California, although Eskapo is definitely a Pinoy hardcore punk band.

ISTUKAS OVER DISNEYLAND kicks off the hostilities with their own brand of fast and at times melodic politically-charged hardcore punk straight from San Fernando, Pampanga. This band has definitely improved and changed a lot since I first saw them. This is their best work to date and it f’n rocks. The guitar tone reminds me a lot of latter-era Vitamin X, though less of the fast thrashy riffs of VX. IOD does it best when they sing in their native tongue. Though you rarely see them at shows, these guys are one of the best local acts around. Songs about war, the influence of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Philippine policies, minimum wages will definitely have you thinking and checking out this band for more.

LA GRITA comes from California and proceeds to destroy in the second part of this CD. They blaze through nine tracks of fast hardcore punk. The lyrics are in Spanish but the inlay provides for English lyrics. By the way, what happened to the Spanish lyrics? Songs deal about the capitalist system, propaganda machinery of the rich and living in the USA as Hispanci minority. Definitely comparable to classic bands such as Los Crudos and Huasipungo, in music and lyrics alike. Awesome shit here.

KILL RATIO is up next and they play 7 tracks of From Ashes Rise/Victims inspired fast hardcore. They have progressed since their demo CD-R and I think they’re just getting better. They start off with a gun being cocked and then they click on all four cylinders. Fck yeah. These guys rip. The dual vocals and haunting melodies are sick. Songs about poverty and war with the lyrics painting a dark imagery of the chaos to come. “We march behind a big black hearse carrying with us what used to be dreams and and passions everything that mattered, maimed and slaughtered before our eyes, the path we are treading leads to our own demise, freedom waste away…”

This CD coincided with the recent ESKAPO Pilipinas Tour this January and the aforementioned band blazed through 7 tracks of more fast hardcore punk to close out this CD. They start off with ‘Wind of Hell’ from their full-length of the same title. These guys were awesome live in their recent tour and their previous full-lengths and they did not disappoint with the songs in this CD. Songs about military oppression, the International Customs Enforcement, the effects of World War II and greed. Rupert never fails to amaze me on how he writes lyrics in the vernacular. I hope they come back next year. Also, watch out for Echo of Bullets…

The packaging of this CD is done by Mr. Dangleregs and as usual, the guy delivers. Looks a little like its taken from a Rage Against the Machine video but better. All in all, this CD is a great representation of what’s happening in the Pilipinas and California hardcore punk communities and the lyrics reflect what is happening outside our little punk rock communities. Listen to this and then grab that sledgehammer.

www.myspace.com/delusionofterrorrecords, www.myspace.com/takefourcollective, www.myspace.com/lovefromhate

Second Combat @ Ten02, Quezon City, Show Review

The crowd after the show hanging out.

The line-up. Check out the markings at the side.

The day started off bad with some news regarding the previous night's show. And I was pissed to say the least. That kind of lame ass shit should not be happening in this day and age and should not in any way be tolerated.

Any way, we picked up the Second Combat guys at Led's place where we also meet up with Arjelou who will be picking up Motivation at Clark Airport. Now, that guy's dedicated. We arrived at the venue at around 4:30 and there was a nice crowd swelling up. We decided tolo start up the show at around 5:30 with Bystorm kickin out the jams first. We got a knack for opening up shows, I must say. Other bands ALWAYS shy away from the task but someone needs to step up, right? So we bust out 7 songs to start the show and the crowd was getting pretyy thick. STAID (see review of their demo below) belted out four songs of fast energetic hardcore with Ray on vox. Awesome band. Definitely watch out for these guys. KAKTUS KARUKA went up next and did not shy away in delivering their fast thrash from Pagbilao. I heard about these guys but I didn't know they were these good. The first three bands played while the sun was still up so it's a nice thing.

HALF THE BATTLE, a perennial crowd favorite, started off the second half with an interesting twist. They switched instruments before playing with Pao delivering the vocal duties. Smiles were all around and the singalongs were all in the right places for them. After HTB, SAUNA came up and proceeded to deliver their usual selves - outright chaos. Fck yeah. These guys never fail.

SECOND COMBAT went up next and the kids went nuts, shouting out every line. Stagediving, crowd surfing, floorpunching, you got it all. They ended their set with a cover of "Flame Still Burns" - my favorite Youth of Today song. These guys never fail to amaze me.

We went out for a quick bite because we were f'n starving and we missed ISVARAH and only caught the tail-end of PLAY's set. Bummer. MOTIVATION went up next. These guys came straight from Clark Airport to play this show and were awesome. Fast, positive sxe hardcore that never lets up from start to finish. They even did two sweet covers from Uniform Choice and Alone in a Crowd. Hell yeah...

As the show ended early, the crowd still hung out for some time outside the venue. One of the best shows this year and there's plenty more to come. More review coming up soon. Thanks to everyone for coming and hope to see you again on the Antagonist A.D. (New Zealand) and Mouthful of Air (Borneo) weekend this March. Flyers will be up soon...

Good stuff: Second Combat! the Positive Motivation Crew! Staid - demo, Kaktus Karuka - demo, cool new shirts from Kill Ratio, IOD and Omerta, Take-4 Collective in full effect last night...

Review: Kaktus Karuka - Demo CD-R

KAKTUS KARUKA – Demo 09

What happens when a great band breaks up? Most just fade away. Others stand up and start something new. The latter was the case when Chokecocoi broke up. Without a question, the best all-female hardcore outfit that ever graced the Philippine soil. When they broke up, Tweety started Staid (see review) while Odessa and Sheryl started a brand new thrash outfit called KAKTUS KARUKA. When I saw them play last Sunday, I said to myself, fuck yeah, these guys got it going! All out fast thrash all over the fuckn place.

This is their 8-song demo which never lets up. No slow breaks here. It’s just fast and faster hardcore. I think Sheryl’s voice has grown throughout the years and it shows in this demo. Recorded live, the quality needs a little more to desire but this demo is f’n awesome. The packaging was very nicely done too. Screen printed cardboard and CD-R. The inlay features a nice fold-out piece of paper with nice artwork and lyrics. How can you go wrong with song titles such as “Dog God” and “Demokrazy”. It’s the season for new bands to pop out of the woodwork so keep your eyes and ears peeled for this one. www.myspace.com/kaktuskaruka, kaktuskaruka@gmail.com.

Review: Staid - Demo CD-R

STAID – DEMO 09

We got here a brand new straightedge hardcore band courtesy of people from T4 and Major Malfunction. It features Ray of Feud on vocals so it might sound a bit familiar to you. I’ve been in a band with Ray for a loonngg time but I haven’t appreciated his stage presence as a frontman as much as the first time I watched Staid played on Sunday. Probably because this is the first time I saw him sing without me and the rest of Feud backing him up. Hehe. This band also features Easy from Half the Battle, Tweety of Chokecocoi and Led of Major Malfunction fame.

Anyway, they recorded this four-song demo to coincide with their debut weekend. It starts off with a feedback laden open riff, then the basslines kick and then all hell breaks lose. Fast paced hardcore with some very angry breakdowns. To state that they sound a bit like Verse would be a good starting point. Got some cool sing-along parts too. The lyrics are nothing less than thought provoking. Check this out: “Look nowhere if you want to rebel against something, here inside our head alone, things are rather interesting”, “With my words, I can sell you everything, Make you buy important things that don’t really matter. Like spinning lies to soundful truth, murder respectable, I can make you think like everyone else”. Cool eh? Check these guys out. I see great thing to come from this band. www.myspace.com/xstaidx, xstaidx@yahoo.com

Second Combat @ Plaridel, Bulacan

Led's Cutsick shirt

Half the Battle shirt I got from a trade with Easy. I'm goin to bring the Play shirt tomorrow!

Life's Halt 'Skate to Live, Skate to Die' shirt. Thanks Eric!

Terror 'Not this Time' shirt

I met the rest of Bystorm, Led and Easy somewhere in Trinoma to avoid the hustle and bustle streets of Cubao. The travel to Plaridel was easier than expected. When we got to the venue, the landmark was a big lighted heart in the middle of nowhere. The fucked up thing is that there was military presence in the venue. Can you believe that? Haha. But they made no trouble the whole night so it was cool.

We met our buds from Second Combat, hanged out and ate some great food care of the organizers. Forgot to take a picture though. Awesome shit.

Bystorm kicked off the show. The sound system was great. After finishing our relatively short set becue of the f'n smoke machine, Nuclear Punishment went on and proceeded to destroy the stage. Half the Battle went up and they opened up with a new song. Great. YxFxCx followed and went on to their drug-induced thrashcore. Glad to see these guys active again. The Flowergrave crew came up next: Execution of Terror, Guerra Mundial and then Eyes of Fire - f'n stoner inspired music. I was 'stoned' to say the least. Hehe. These guys play great, sludgy stuff. Check em out.

Up next was Second Combat. We've played with and watched them a couple of times already but they were awesome as always. The crowd went nuts. Some, just too nuts and started to start some shit. But the entire set of SC was full of sing-alongs, stage-dives. Great set. Too bad, I couldn't watch them today because I had to do some domestic stuff. Gonna play with them again tomorrow and for sure it will be nuts. Be at Ten02 early and hang-out. Gonna be crowded too.

Vegie Chili dog I cooked at Led's house. Not too spicy though but awesome nonetheless.

My body still hurts but the night was worth it. Can't wait for tomorrow!

cavite = thrash!

So I've been looking around for something nice to post here today at work and I saw this really cool pic of one of the best shows that happened around Cavite in the early 2000's. Most probably around 2001. The show was organized by one of the cool kids there. The venue was their really big house in a semi-posh subdivision in Imus which will soon be sold at auction so he decided to put up a show there before the house got sold. We used the ground floor and the grand staircase for the band and the pit. Some kids even went swimming in the nice pool at the side of the house.

The line-up was awesome. I remember The Beauty of Doubt playing and the kids just went nuts. Dance of Decline was at their peak.F'n A. Beng ruled. Feud was there. Y.F.C. f'n destroyed the crowd. Thrashcore all the way. Forgiveness Denied was supposed to play but his bandmates abandoned Felix (haha). So we put up this makeshift band wherein we played a couple of FD songs and a cover of Point of No Return's 'Centelha' and another one by Congress. That sure made his day.

Definitely one of the best shows I've ever been in. The pic above made it to the cover of 'This is Cavite, not L.A.' which was a compilation of six (6) thrash/fastcore bands from Cavite but we'll get more on that later. Moreover, the pic showed how intense the show was. Clyde, wearing the MP helmet at the pit, giving an elbow right smack into Brian's face while Ronald (wearing a "very rare" Feud shirt) fingerpoints his way to the crowd while they are being blasted into a frenzy. Fck yeah...

So, tomorrow will be the kick-off show of Second Combat at Plaridel, Bulacan and I hope to see everyone there. Led will be there to bring Staid demos so be sure to check it out as well.

Good stuff: Ignite 'Call on my Brothers', Leeway 'Born to Expire/Desperate Measures', Kill Ratio 'everything', Lights Out 'everything', and of course, 'A People's History of the United States' by Howard Zinn

second combat/motivation @ bacoor, cavite this monday!

Hey. So things have been going rather slowly the past few days. Just been too busy. Up now is the flyer for the the Second Combat/Motivation show at my hometown in Bacoor, Cavite. Nice to see that some guys there are keepin the flame burning. Thanks to Flowergrave for hooking up with the Cavite crew to set this show up. Awesome. So if you're in the area and not doing anything fruitful on a Monday night, please drop by and support this show and give yourself a good time.


The Second Combat show kicks off at Plaridel, Bulacan this Friday. Bystorm will be playing so I'm psyched.

Fuckn' great news. STAID had finished recording their 4-song demo at Earbender Studio last Sunday. I heard it and I was blown away. Review coming up later. Don't forget their debut shows at Laguna and Quezon City this coming weekend. Their demo will also be available at that show. Go nuts!


I stumbled upon a great Catharsis interview at Yann Boisleve's website. I was about to put it up a couple of days ago but then I forgot so I'd be posting it later. You'll love this one for sure.

Good stuff: A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn, The Sopranos Season 3, The Simpsons Season 3, Staid demo, upcoming Second Combat/Motivation tour


posting more later...

couple of meals and a small pair of nike cortes

small nike cortez for a small kid

vegie "relleno" @ likha diwa

tofu sinigang @ likha diwa

check it out!

vegan korean bbq @ greens resto

hey everyone! what's happening? nothing big on this part. still waiting for the second combat/motivation tour next week. going to be awesome. so just a small food update this week. the korean bbq @ greens is awesome. they don't sell this everyday, so good luck getting your hands on this one. another awesome treat is the tofu sinigang @ likha diwa. served in a clay pot which gives it a more authentic feel. awesome shit. i also got to buy my son a pair of nike cortez to mosh in. so clear the dance floor.

good stuff: stuck in the past webzine, double cross, outspoken 'spark', gameface 'every last time', morning again 'hand of hope', a-rod admitting to steroid use (ha!), planning to go to panglao island in bohol this summer (stoked!)...

Second Combat @ Laguna and Bulacan

Up now are two flyers for the upcoming Second Combat/Motivation tour. The debut for Second Combat is at Plaridel, Bulacan while the 2nd show will be at Calamba, Laguna. There are also rumors of a swimming session before the Laguna show. Should be fun.

Thanks for the Painside Crew, Northern Territory Records, United One Blood Records and Fakecrown Hardwear for putting up these two shows. Make sure you'll go to both shows before going to the Sunday Matinee show @ Ten02, Quezon City for the debut show for xMotivationx.

Unfortunately, Dead Pits can't make it to this tour because of financial constraints but they promised to do it within this year...

Good stuff: Infest 'Slave', V/A Deadly Rhythms from the Production Line, Nations on Fire 'On and on', V/A Anti-Matter Compilation

"It's All In OUr Hands, Feud, Play, Half the Battle 3 way split" REPRESSED!

Due to the recent demand for this 3-way split between three of the best bands to have ever graced the local hardcore scene, Play, Feud and Half the Battle, this release was repressed by Take-4 Collective. So if you're one of the unlucky ones who have been patiently looking for this CD, now's your chance. Available at shows and mailorder.

Boston vs. LA today. Skip work. Morning coffee. Total relaxation mode.

Currently listening to: Rites of Spring 'End on End', Ouspoken 'Spotlight'

persian/indian vegie food...

pita bread with curry sauce @ grilled tomato

vegie samosa @ the new bombay

vegie masala @ the new bombay

So I tried a couple of Indian and Persian restos this week. I've always loved Indian food and they always have a nice vegetarian selection. Always spicy and "violent" to your taste buds. The last two were eaten at The New Bombay Restaurant somewhere in Makati. I was told they have three (3) branches in Makati City, so definitely check them out: one @ The Columns, the other @ Glorietta 3 and their main branch is @ Salcedo Village. I ate the Pita bread with curry sauce @ Grilled Tomato which has I think two branches, one at Tomas Morato and the other one at Ma. Clara cor. Banawe. They don't really have much to offer but they got some nice grilled tomatoes and onions that would go well with the pita bread.

Some things happening this month:

-I heard the Feud/Half the Battle/Play 3 way split is going to be repressed. More news about this later!

- Second Combat/Motivation Pilipinas leg of their Southeast Asian Tour!

- Hopefully recording new Bystorm songs this month.

Good stuff: Celtics 12-0 run and currently awaiting the Celtics-Lakers match up tomorrow, As A Whole demo CD-R, R.D.A. 'Brave United in Trust (TRC classic!), Withdrawal radio interview, Sopranos Season 3 reruns, Creepout tour diary (prepared by a non-member of the band!), NBA Live 09 and I still hate work...