Back in my college days, I met a guy on my Music Tech course who shared an interest in some similar music and we have continued contact for 10 + years. Having had a band at the time called Muswell and then somehow ending up in the more DJ world, he is still making hard hitting music with his industrial influenced project This Be The Verse. Started back in 2014, This Be The Verse is pretty much the brainchild of "Cyrus King", who, at least on the debut Consequences EP, did most of the musicianship himself. Although obviously heavily influenced by the likes of Trent Reznor/Nine Inch Nails, Cyrus King's vocals lead more towards the shouty hardcore side of things a la Frank Carter or even Rou Reynolds. It certainly has that very British flavour to it. A few months back, This Is The Verse released the track Stubborn Youth and more recently posted an audio only video of Unveil. Whereas the former takes in prog rock influences, flipping in between being almost Muse-like to Mastodon riffage and headbanging, the latter sticks to the industrial script, incorporating an intense funky beat, crunching bass, synths, heavy guitars and a gloriously anthemic chorus.
This Be The Verse may not have discovered its unique sound as such yet, but everything that has been put out so far is enjoyable and of great quality and musicianship. Hopefully, a full length album will emerge some time in the near future. If you like what you hear and want to check them out, they will be headlining a Camden Rocks show on 5th March at Camden Barfly, Chalk Farm, London. For more info see here.
During my teens, I was discovering new bands and new genres year by year, maybe even day by day. Having liked the more Brit pop, Brit rock and alternative acts that I saw on shows like Top Of The Pops and The ITV Chart Show, to then discovering more nu metal acts through Kerrang magazine, I then discovered the likes of Terrorizer magazine and even RockSound who opened me up to more "hardcore" bands. Somewhere along the line, hardcore came into my life and I was blown away by UK bands such as Stampin' Ground and now London HC heavyweights, Knuckledust. With the help of some friends at school, I started attending small London hardcore shows at around the age of 14, pretty much seeing Knuckledust at least every month for what has to be a good 10 years straight. This year finally sees the release of Knuckledust's newest offering, Songs Of Sacrifice. Despite also having released many split cds and Eps, this is the band's 6th (I think..) full length within their 20 years existence, the first since 2012's Bluffs, Lies & Alibis. Although always staying true to their original sound, Knuckledust were not afraid to experiment a little bit on the last record. Life Struggle, their latest video and first song to be previewed from the new record, shows that the boys have gone that little bit further this time around. Starting quite iconically Knuckledust, with Pierre's growling vocals accompanied by the fast and hard musicianship of Wema (guitar), Nicky (bass) and Ray (drums), the song takes an unexpected turn when, for what I am pretty sure is the first time ever, Wema takes over vocal duties. He's, of course, done the odd back up shouting now and again, but here he actually does clean vocals, bringing a bit of sensitivity into the song. Again, a first for Knuckledust. I have absolutely nothing wrong with clean vocals/singing in hardcore, although I do remember when most of the people from this "scene" were badmouthing Your Demise for experimenting and suddenly singing and being more melodic and therefore find it interesting to hear it from Knuckledust. That said, it was probably more the "Americanising" of their sound that irritated everyone. Luckily, we don't get that here and you never will with these guys. The track goes between their fast tough guy hardcore and the more H2O/Wisdom In Chains thumping hardcore punk with a sing-a-long chorus and a classic style solo thrown in. The video also cleverly fits the changing moods of the song, with Pierre battling with himself one moment, Wema wandering around talking to himself the next and then a massive pile-on as the band play to their people. Knuckledust may be bringing in influences from different bands and even other genres like Oi and hard rock, but, unlike other bands, they somehow still manage to stay them. They are basically reinventing what the Knuckledust sound is on every record and I can't wait to check out the new album.
Who are Kula Shaker, you ask? Well, I'm guessing you weren't an indie/rock kid during the 90s, then.
Kula Shaker are a band from London, UK, fronted by Crispian Mills, son of award winning actress Hayley Mills and director Roy Boulting, who had great success in the late 90s with their throwback Indian inspired psychedelic rock. I was quite into them as a pre-teen, having liked their classics such as the more Indian influenced Tattva and Govinda and the more classic rock songs Grateful When You're Dead, Hey Dude and their cover of Deep Purple's Hush (although admittedly unaware for a while that it was a cover). The band split in 1999 but came back in the mid '00s. I'm actually pretty sure I won tickets to and went to see them at the ICA in London but it's all a bit hazy. 2016 sees the release of their long awaited 5th album, entitled K 2.0, in honour of their massive debut, K. The band have treated fans to a new track, Infinite Sun. Whereas the Indian influence was a little lost in later records, it seems to be back, as Infinite Sun uses sitars and chanting as well as pure rock to create a catchy song which harks back to the band's old sound. From this song alone, the new album sounds promising. Kula Shaker might still be playing a style which can be considered dated by some, but good music is good music!
For those who don't know me, my "hardcore" background comes from being introduced to the band Knuckledust through a Terrorizer compilation CD and then being taken by friends to my first London hardcore show. Since then, up until I moved to Israel, I have been going to London shows and supporting Rucktion Records' releases. Ironed Out is a new band on the scene; kind of a super group, including members of some of my London faves such as the previously mentioned Knuckledust and 50 Caliber. For those familiar with the whole Rucktion/LBU scene, this band has that same tough-guy London swagger with more of a "rap" emphasis, similar to that of other London band TRC's earlier work. On this EP, they also incorporate something which, to me, is pretty closely associated with London hardcore bands; using samples from British movies and TV. We can hear it in the EP's intro as well as in third track ACAB (which is a sample from British sitcom Only Fools and Horses about the police aka "the old bill"). Unlike more popular rap-hardcore bands like Biohazard and Madball, Ironed Out take more of a leaf out of E-Town Concrete's book, using melodic guitar parts as well as groovy riffs. Penultimate track on the EP, Built To Last (not a Sick Of It All cover), even has singing in the chorus. Personally I love that, but I remember a time when this side of the London scene made fun of Your Demise for introducing singing on their later material. On the other hand, Your Demise's sound pretty much completely changed so that was probably more the issue. Built To Last stands out as one of the EPs best tracks, along with final track Survivors. The whole EP is heavy and groovy; totally my sort of thing. However, there are a few issues. When the music kicks in on ACAB, especially when listening on headphones, the first guitar's chugging seems a little off which is a little distracting. Luckily the rest of the track compensates for that. There is also a section nearer the end of the Never Gonna Change, where the guitar part and the drumming seem out of sync but once again, everything sorts itself out and the groove is back on track. One other criticism is, as much as I've always loved the scene, the whole shouting "LBU" thing every so often and talking about the scene just doesn't really do anything for me anymore. It's like when a rapper says his name quite often. That aside, this is a perfect band for fans of E-Town Concrete, Fury of V, TRC and most things Danny Diablo has had a hand in. With bands like Hacktivist and TRC having gained popularity over the years, there's a possibility that Ironed Out will not just remain a hidden gem. 3.5/5
