Live Review: Eternal Struggle EP Release Show @ Levontin 7, Tel Aviv [19th August 2016]

Eternal Struggle

Coma 7

Ganza

I've shown a lot of love recently for local tough-guy hardcore band, Eternal Struggle. Although the shows I've seen them at prior to now have not had the best of turnouts, I've brought myself along to this special occasion; their EP release show. I've already sung my praises for Breaking & Entering (see review) so it is no surprise that I am here tonight in support of it.

Ganza

First band in support are Ganza. I've written about these guys twice before; the first time wasn't great and the second was good. Still with new singer Max, the guys sound and perform better than the previous show. Max is still incredibly enthusiastic, with his hair windmills and high jumps, and Ohad's guitar solos impress me more and more each time. The musicianship all round is pretty solid but their actual music style is still a bit all over the place, sounding like about 4 different tribute acts all in one. It still has the essence of some sort of college project as opposed to a real band. However, their songs are still catchy (e.g. Butterflies and Junkie) and they put on a good show, getting the crowd energised.  

3.5/5

Coma 7

  This is my second time seeing Coma 7 but my first time reviewing them. I remember first hearing something by them along time ago and thinking to myself "what decade are we in?" It was so nu-metal that I thought I was still wearing my Criminal Damage baggy jeans from when I was 15! The track I heard was actually poorly produced which ultimately let it down for me. However, it turns out that they are one of those bands that need to be witnessed live. 

  Yes, it is old school rapcore. Yes, it is reminiscent of bands like Clawfinger, Senser and Rage Against The Machine, of whom they covered (Killing In The Name, naturally). Yes, it may be considered dated by some...but damn it! I still have a soft spot for it. Frontman, Shimon, does sound a lot like Zack de la Rocha (RATM) albeit with a slight accent, which brings in the Zak Tell (Clawfinger) comparison. Even on their original songs, the solos by guitarist, Kobi, are straight out of Tom Morello's handbook. They also use politically charged lyrics, like on songs such as No More War, Pigs In Ties and Yeti, with its "We will not be controlled by you" refrain (that the band ironically manipulates the crowd into chanting. Haha!)

  Despite the comparisons, the cool, more drum n bass style beats by drummer, Elad, make things more interesting and I can't help but smile. The rest of the crowd were impressed too, getting up on stage with them and generally going crazy. If anything, Coma 7 are damn good fun!

4/5

Eternal Struggle

  They still might be a tad under the radar in the Israeli scene but Eternal Struggle have pulled in a pretty damn big crowd tonight. Maybe it's because of the support acts and the special guests all mixed together. Either way, the atmosphere is buzzing before their set even starts.

  To make things even more fun from the get go, we suddenly feel things fall on top of us, as foam tubes (aka "pool noodles"), beach balls and all sorts of inflatables are released into the crowd as the band open up the set with a yet untitled new song. (I wanted to do something like this for the Woolly Boy comeback show but didn't have the guts to go through with it.) Of course, a few people lose their minds and the place becomes a giant kid-friendly Jedi battlefield. With the band's down-tuned heavy hardcore in the background, it's a surreal yet also amazing moment.

  I will admit that the rest of the show is a little bit of a blur as I was just having so much fun either punching the air or pretending to ride a motorbike (my body does what the music tells it to). However, it is safe to say that the band plays tracks from their Breaking & Entering EP as well as a track called War and a song for all the footie hooligans, Fucking Football Fanatics. The latter sees the place go crazy, because Israeli metalheads like their football, apparently. Each to their own!

  
  As promised on the show's posters and event's info, the band had some friends join them on stage. Arie Aranovich (Ex-Hammercult/ex-The Fading) plays guitar on the beatdown filled crowd-pleaser Lost, which leads to bodies flying about the room and a lot of head-banging, Alon Karnieli (Sinnery) joins in on vocals for Pride Kills, Lemmy Keller (03/Sintax) plays guitar on the bouncy Repeat Nothing near the end of the set and both Eliav Torjman and Ben Saada of Canine join them on guitar and guest vocals respectively. Not only do the Canine boys help out on the Born From Pain-style anthem Tonight We March, this guest appearance brings about the highlight of the night - A FUCKING HATEBREED COVER! Even though they also do their usual cover of Sick Of It All's Take The Night Off later on in the set (for which I go up on stage and go crazy), it's actually hearing I Will Be Heard for the first time in ages which makes me scream at the top of my lungs. Man! I had forgotten how much I used to love that band...

I've said before in previous reviews that Eternal Struggle deserve a bigger and a more in-tuned crowd; tonight seems to have brought that. There may still be the odd person who has just come along to get drunk and shout "HEY!" at random points in songs, but who cares? To me, Eternal Struggle have two important things that I like in my hardcore - groove and beatdowns. It might not be groundbreaking but it does make me want to break shit!

5/5

Photos courtesy of:
Sharon Shapira (for Ganza)
Miguel St. Labao (for Coma 7)
Assaf Bergerbest (for Eternal Struggle)

Live Review: Liberating Justice Mini-Fest @ Gagarin, Tel Aviv [29th July 2016]

Ganza

Eternal Struggle

Knees Please

Methods

Almonim Metim

Elephant Hive

Tonight, the Gagarin club in south Tel Aviv sees a coming together of bands of different genres in order to collect donations of tinned food, clothes, condiments and other such items for refugee children. The event has been put on by Eternal Struggle members for the Elifelet charity.

Elephant Hive

First on tonight is Elephant Hive. They are a crazy rock duo who play really short cuts of instrumental experimental rock. The idea and the energy is great but, from a drummer's point of view, the drumming is a little too over the top and sometimes doesn't sit well with the guitar. It feels at times that the drummer's choices are kind of unnecessary. He even uses an upside down champagne bucket (of sorts) at times which mostly sounds great but has its moments where it is out of place. The guitar riffs are actually good but there are some "songs" which feel totally unfinished, such as Tom Shush, which suddenly stops as it was just getting going. They certainly have talent but just feels too much like a jam band at the moment.

3/5

Almonim Metim

I've reviewed noisy punk outfit Almonim Metim (Anonymous Dead) before and even played a show with them (with Woolly Boy) but each time I tend to hear something new. On the surface, they are just a "shouty band" but beyond singer Anastasia's screams, there is Amit's jangly guitar, Benjamin's soulful bass lines and Ben's interesting drumming that give them something a little different. It even sometimes brings up elements of surf or 60s rock which not many expect to hear in "screamo hardcore punk." 

The screaming does get repetitive at times and this isn't the most energetic I've seen Anastasia (one time she came up to me and screamed in my face). The band in general are a little agitated already by the age restriction hindering friends from coming in, so that might have something to do with it. I think they have something special musically but the vocals could do with more dynamic changes to keep in with the dynamics of the music itself and just to keep things that little more enticing.

3.5/5

Methods

Methods are another band I've reviewed before and I liked them then and I like them now. The music they do is quite refreshing, not just in the Israeli music scene but in general. Their music reminds me of bands like Therapy?, Incubus and even Three Days Grace all sort of mashed up together. They use dynamics and sometimes changing time signatures which are interesting but sometimes sound messy. They nevertheless do have some catchy songs, like Sub-dimension, which makes me smile!
 The sound in the venue isn't helping them all too much. It could just be where I am standing but it all sounds pretty scratchy and unclear. The rest of the crowd, as small as it is, are moving a bit but I think might be going through the motions. Methods' sound could be considered a little too mature for some show goers. Sometimes, people just like to switch their minds off when they go out and listen to very angry people play very angry music... angrily. Methods have melody, precision (at least try to) and follow almost pop-standard writing formats. Hence the name, probably. It's methodic and well thought out. Although there are a lot of bands that you can say that about, with Methods, it's somehow more apparent. They've got to get tighter playing-wise, but musically, they have something good going on.

4/5

Knees Please

I've reviewed Knees Please before, both live and on record, I've seen them a bunch of times and even did a show with them and I've tended to really love them. Now, however, I'm not all that into it.
This show in particular consists of all new material that I am just not feeling. Besides Barry The Lizard, which is an interesting groovy number, everything else is just a bit too long and uneventful for me. They're still a heavy band and have great stage presence, but sometimes my head can't deal with 30 minutes of only 5 songs. This is unfortunately one of those times. I may be alone, though, as others are headbanging and "moshing" away and simply liking the heaviness. 

3.5/5

Eternal Struggle

I only recently reviewed their latest EP and am most likely going to do more of a write up of their upcoming EP release show, so I'll keep this short. Eternal Struggle are doing groove based tough guy hardcore and they are doing it pretty damn right. I think it's still lost on most of the crowd here tonight who, again, are just enjoying the intensity of the music. The Sick Of It All cover of Take The Night Off only sees a few people, like myself, actually singing along to it. There is still some movement and audience participation but I am never going to stop finding the fist raising and the "hey" chanting misplaced and generally quite annoying. That's just me. Call me a snob, if you will, but I just think there's a time and a place for it and an Eternal Struggle show isn't it. There should just be bodies running about the place and high kicks and bloody faces. These guys need to get to Europe and they'll get the reaction they deserve.

4.5/5

Ganza

With a new vocalist and new drummer, Ganza are practically a new improved version of the band I saw a while back. Whereas I previously likened them to basically trying to be Alice In Chains/Guns n Roses tribute act, new singer, Max, takes their sound into more Pantera territory. Despite having the same songs, everything just somehow sounds a lot heavier and I am digging it more this time around. Butterflies, especially, comes out sounding great and everything is made even more entertaining with Max spinning his hair around.
By this point in the night, there isn't much of a crowd left, but those who have stayed are running around and some even singing along. Ganza might still be nothing special, but they have improved.

3.5/5

It may not have been the biggest turn out I've ever seen for a show like this, but it was a massive result for the Elifelet charity. Well done to all involved.  


Thank you to Assaf Bergerbest for the photos (where labeled). 

Live Review: TEDER FIGHT! @ Teder, Rishon LeZion [7th April 2016]

03 Ganza 

Eternal Struggle

Petrichor

 Up until now, the only main reason I ever had to venture down to Rishon LeZion (a city just a little south of Tel Aviv) was for a teaching job I was doing. I haven't had to go back there in quite some months. Tonight, I find myself in a section of the city I've never been to before, on the edge of a cross section next to pretty much nothing else except this skate park/youth centre/music venue called Teder. I have come here to finally support Eternal Struggle and 03 (Efesh Shalosh), as well as finally check out Petrichor and Ganza, who have all come to play in front of a crowd of, what looks like, mostly 15 year olds.

Petrichor

Photo by ANON

 I've already checked out a bit of Petrichor beforehand via some of their music videos. From what I gathered, it was basically a kind of metalcore/easycore with clean vocals. Tonight, there is that but also with more of a hint of hard rock simpleness.
 I managed to just come in during opener One Of A Kind, which is jumpy and fun enough but a bit weak lyrically. It's fine for the very young crowd that's here tonight but doesn't quite resonate for me. This goes for most of the band's material. The musical style of hard rock meets fairly watered down metalcore mixed together with the lyrics just brings to mind something you might see on a coming-of-age tv show. It borders upon the likes of softer Avenged Sevenfold and Atreyu.
  There's a hint of metallic riffing here and there, such as at the beginning of Take It Off and final song Hate Me, which generally brought to mind both Alice Cooper's 18 and Nirvana's Rape Me due to its chorus. A circle pit breaks out for Desperate Call, despite it not really being heavy or fast enough to be worthy of a circle pit. But that's just the kind of crowd we have tonight; kids desperate to get their frustrations out. I remember those days...
 The band themselves are talented musicians. Frontman, Gal, manages to hold some fairly good notes but it's bassist, Yuval, who is the most impressive. Not only is he solid throughout, but he even manages to slip in some cool bass solos, like on Paranoid (not the Sabbath song). Whether the band will make it in Europe and the States, I'm not entirely sure. The sound and songwriting needs to mature a tad more but in the meantime, I think both the very young and more old school fans of rock and hair metal will dig them.

2.5/5

Eternal Struggle

  I have only managed to see Eternal Struggle once before. Technically twice, but I don't really count their awful sounding support slot for Biohazard. They may have had some of the same material and band members, but i just don't remember even sounding near as good as they do now.
  Eternal Struggle basically play the sort of hardcore I grew up on. Very NY influenced groove hardcore, with some beatdown parts and gang vocals. Although there's a few bands out here that fall under the hardcore banner, Eternal Struggle currently fill the space that was previous left empty since maybe Instinct or You're Next!
 Although things did get a bit feistier during the song Lost, which more people are probably familiar due to the video, I feel that this kind of hardcore was lost on these more metal orientated youths. That said, I wasn't totally alone on the spin kicking and arm flailing front; I did spot a few others. I don't mean to say that you need to do all the kung fu in order to enjoy hardcore, but there was a fair bit of standing about and unsureness of what to do in the slower parts.
  Although the band's own material, such as Lost, Pride Kills and Repeat Nothing, hold up well on their own, it was nice to hear a Sick Of It All cover. Maybe not my favourite SOIA song, but Take The Night Off is more of one of their modern classics. They actually played this the very first time I saw them but it was almost unrecognisable for the most part. This time, however, it was a spot on. With a mixture of two step and bouncing parts, it did get some people moving, but judging by the fact that really only I and the 03 guys cheered when the band said Sick Of It All, it's safe to say that the crowd here were not all that familiar with the band or the song.
  When Eternal Struggle's album finally drops, I am hoping that it's interesting and fresh enough to get them some interest at least over in mainland Europe if not also the UK and USA. Those markets are hard to crack but it's not impossible.

4.5/5

Ganza

  Like Petrichor, Ganza is another band I was only partially familiar with beforehand. From what I could tell from the first few listens, is that it seems to be a more classic hard rock band compared to many of the other Israeli bands around at the moment. In actual fact, Ganza's live shows portray them as a band that hasn't quite discovered its own identity.

  From the outset, the band have a stage presence of a classic rock band who would have fit perfectly in clubs along Sunset Strip during the 80s with the likes of Motley Crue and Poison. As the band play on, the material is a bit of a mixture of genres, touching upon hard rock, grunge and metal. To be honest, I spent most of the set wondering if they were a covers band. As well as covering Alice In Chains' Would? in memory of Layne Staley and Pantera's A New Level...just because, I guess..., the rest of their repertoire sounds familiar and brings to mind other songs. The song Junkie has an Immigrant Song style riff and generally has a bit of a Living Colour feel about and All The Love has a riff which I was so sure I had heard before but I could not put my finger on it.
 When now Canine vocalist and temporary ex-Ganza vocalist Ben (Saada) joins the band on stage, everything takes a bit of an over theatrical turn. Deciding that he's now American and speaking to the crowd mostly in English, Saada manages to get the crowds attention before singing along in a pretty Axl Rose style manner. Again, there isn't much originality to the track. As great as the vocals and musicianship are, everything still has a sense of "college band" about it.  Frontman, Ari, acts like he's been in the business for decades. Having that sort of strong attitude can be considered both a good thing and a bad thing. Every performer should have confidence and bring a mindset of "this is going to be our biggest show ever" to a performance. That said, there is a fine line between confidence and arrogance and that line is often blurred during tonight's performance. The rest of the band seem to be pretty modest, but it could just be that he has such a strong stage presence that it was hard to really notice anyone else.

  Ganza may have some songs that can get a certain crowd singing along and interested, but in the general scheme of the type of bands that exist in this generation, Ganza don't quite seem to stand out or bring anything incredibly new to the table. Obviously, finding a unique sound is an incredibly difficult thing to do but it could just take some time and harder work to get the right ingredients.

2/5  

03 (Efes Shalosh)

Alongside Eternal Struggle, 03 are a new favourite of mine in the Israeli scene. Where I once thought of them as hardcore metal by numbers, their grooves and heavy riffs have taken a hold of me over time. Seeing as I did not make notes for them during the set, it's hard for me to recall their songs. However, the likes of No Racism and Something To Talk About, the band's currently only available track, gets people going. 

  They are great to watch. Guitarists Lemmy and Oren and bassist Misha spin and jump around while playing as vocalist Jenia runs about constantly as his harsh Born From Pain-like vocals jump out from the speakers. There is the odd metallic cliche, such as fist pumping and encouraging circle pits with the international finger twirling symbol, which don't settle with me too well but it seems to do the trick for the metalheads here tonight. 

  Being the end of the night, there is not as many people here as there was for the other bands. Those who are there include more of the band's closer friends, and the others are still the younger crowd who might not be used to his kind of hardcore. That said, their Hatebreed-like sound may have got them some new fans. 

  

I'm still eagerly awaiting 03's album to come out already. Not saying that their songs sound the same, but it would make it easier to hear the distinction between them on record than in a live setting. Especially as tonight's sound wasn't all that clear. 

4/5

Photos come courtesy of Miguel St Labao, Sharon Shapira and one anonymous photographer.