horror movie crosswordLEAVE OUT THE SPACES AND SPELL OUT NUMBERS. ANSWERS IN BACK

1. Weakness of the aliens in ‘Signs’

8. Name of the murderer in the movie, Pyscho (2 words)

11. The extradimensional beings in the Hellraiser series

12. Serial killer in Silence Of The Lambs (2 words)

13. Name of american murderer who inspired horror movies such as Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Psycho. (2 words)

acrossdown

2. What is written on the door in The Shining that the boy keeps saying

3. Known as the ‘best worst movie’ (2 words)

4. Clown’s name in Stephen King’s ‘IT’

5. What country is the director of the ‘Zombi’ series, Lucio Fulci from?

6. Directors name of the original Nightmare On Elm Street

7. jeepers creepers, where’d you get those ____.

9. Book in The Evil Dead

10. Villian in Phantasm (3 words)

helloThank you to all my friends who helped with this issue & just hung out. Thanks to Margie Byrne for being an awesome girlfriend and supplying the Mixtapes interview. Dave Shonk for being awe-some. Sam Fetters for the great reviews. Cody Johnson for being my friend. Richie Peterson for drawing things for my zine always even though one didn’t make it in this one. Ryan Wade for doing the greater half of the Power Trip interview. Thank you to anyone who helps make hardcore happen, and thank you for reading.

Advertising: Half or full page ads for around $10-$25. A Few hundred printed

Distro: If you want to buy a bunch, I’ll sell you them at a ‘wholesale’ price.

Email me for either at IsolatedYouth@Yahoo.com

So here it is. Issue 4 of Isolated Zine.

Actually you’re kinda reading issue

4.5 because I made a lot of mistakes

in the original and also changed the

cover. Anyway, it looks like I’m doing

these about one every 3 months. Issue

5 should be out around Hellbent Fest

(Southern Ohio) in March. One of the

interviews should be with Old Wounds.

Oh, & trying to finish up this issue dur-

ing finals week in college was a rough

idea. Let’s hope I got all A’s. You may be

seeing an artsy zine between me and

Dave Shonk pop up some day called

Morbid Zine or something. Yep.

thank you

VICEny-style hardcore

vicehc.bandcamp

HOMEWRECKERpowerviolencehomewreckeroh.bandcamp

LAWSKOFmelodic punklawskof.bandcamp

GASMASKdoom-ish death metal

gasmaskclevo.bandcamp

MARANATHAdoom hardcore

maranathaisheavy.bandcamp

TRESPASSERmetallic hardcoretrespasserclevo.bandcamp

DEATH SENTENCEhardcore

deathsentence.bandcamp CHERRY COLA CHAMPIONSmelodic indiecherrycolachampions.bandcamp

LIGHT YEARSpop punklightyearsoh.bandcamp

ANNABELindie/emo/whateverannabel.bandcamp

MASAKARIcrusty metallic hardcoremasakari.bandcamp

EMPIRE OF RATS

hardcore

empireofrats.bandcamp

ISMENEdark deathcorefacebook.com/ismenemetal

WORSHIP THISpop punkdontworshipthis.bandcamp

IF THESE TREES COULD TALKinstrumental post-metalifthesetreescouldtalk.bandcamp

THE END OF THE OCEANinstrumental post-rocktheendoftheocean.bandcamp

CITYCOPacoustic screamo

citycop.bandcamp

AGESmelodic emo hardcore?agescleveland.bandcamp

VIGILANThardcorevigilant.bandcamp

MY MOUTH IS THE SPEAKERgroovey indie punkmymouthisthespeaker .bandcamp

SCUM OF THE EARTHyouth crewscumoftheearth.bandcamp

SIGNALS MIDWESTmelodic indie punksignalsmidwest.bandcamp

SUPPORTOHIO BANDS

IZ: What’s goin’ on man? Please take a mo-ment to introduce yourself to our readers, who you are, what you do, and what you do to keep busy on the road.

R: I’m Riley and I am the dude with a micro-phone in the musical group Power Trip. I usually keep busy on the road by reading or sleeping or participating in what we in the van like to call “monkey business”.

IZ: How would you describe the sound of your band to our readers who may not be too familiar with your sound?

R: Hardcore kids blending their roots with cross-over thrash metal

IZ: The release of Armageddon Blues in ‘09 really put you guys on the map and got peo-ple to shut up and listen to you guys. How do you plan on topping that release with your upcoming LP on Southern Lord?

R: It’s cliche, but we’ve grown. Time has passed and we’ve gotten into new music, gotten better at what we do, and have become better song-writers in general. I think we’ve taken the foun-dation of AB and built upon it to really create our own identity. But it all comes back to the same idea: the power of the riff compels us.

IZ: The thrash influence in your music is very refreshing in today’s scene. What made you guys head in that direction as opposed to what everyone else is doing right now?

R: I think it has always been a prevalent influ-ence in our music, but our early stuff was too focused on the New York scene. If you look at the demo up to Armageddon Blues, we were mostly influenced by that whole crossover scene in NY. Nuclear Assault, Carnivore, Cro-Mags, Icemen,

Leeway, Killing time... etc. what changed was stepping outside of that area and really embrac-ing influences from the bay, Europe, Canada, and so on. We covered Prong on the most recent record, so we still tap that same vein from time to time.

IZ: Some of the members of Power Trip are involved in other projects as well. Can you tell us a little about that and how you guys maintain the focus and drive to keep push-ing forward and creating great tunes?

R: Chris Ulsh, the man who drums, is the really busy one. He does Mammoth Grinder, Hatred Surge, Impalers, Criaturas, and some other projects. Everyone else tinkers around with other stuff here and there, but nothing that ever gets in the way of PT. Ulsh and I are starting up a straight up no bullshit, no metal, hardcore punk band, so I guess look out for that.

IZ: Being given the opportunity to per-form at This is Hardcore is incredible. How excited are you guys for this years fest and what are you looking forward to most?

R: We’re thrilled, like any band invited to play should be. I’m mostly excited about playing the same day as Suicidal Tendencies, that’s a pretty surreal line up for me. I’m bummed, our sched-ule is so tight, we can only be there for the day we play. I’ve never gone to TIHC, so I wish we had enough time to hang out and soak it all in.

IZ: Can you tell us a little bit about sign-ing to Southern Lord(how it happened, why Southern Lord, etc…) and the upcoming LP that you guys are getting ready to put out?

R: This is exactly how it happened: Graham Williams (who does Fun Fun Fun Fest) had put us on an after-show of the fest. We love Graham because he’s always taken good care of us. Greg Anderson is the man behind Southern Lord. A truly awesome dude named Sam Velde, who is Anderson’s good friend, was down at the fest with Trash Talk and he caught our set. We spoke and he had nothing but nice things to say about us, and insisted that we get in touch with Ander-son because he would be telling him about us

Dallas, Texas’ trippy riff slayers offered

their vocalist, Riley Gale to answer these

lovely questions asked by the beautiful

Ryan Wade as well as I, Brian Barr. Keep

Power Trip on your radar for their upcom-

ing LP on Southern Lord Records.

as soon as he could. I reached out to Anderson and showed him our self-titled 7” and Hammer of Doubt, and he was really into it and wanted to sign us. We spoke a lot on the phone. He knows our influences, knows how to run a label, and how to promote a band like us.

Southern Lord made perfect sense to us because Greg Anderson has been involved in the “aggres-sive” (hardcore, metal, punk) music scene for 20+ years and the experience shows.

IZ: So far, for 2012, what have been some of your top releases in, and out, of hardcore?

R: That’s a tough one because I can never remem-ber what actually came out this year. Midnight is my favorite band going right now. I love Juicy J. He’s probably my favorite rapper, so anything he’s done recently. Ulsh’s band The Impalers are a perfect hardcore band, the demo and the 7” we’re two of my favorite things released in a long time. I really liked the “Life Sux” ep from Wavves. Wiccans “Field II” is phenomenal. The new Acephalix. Cults. ANNE. Death Evocation. Omegas. Teenage Cool Kids. Whirr. Warmaster.

IZ: You guys have also recently been an-nounced for this years Fun Fun Fun Fest. Tell us a little bit about this fest, and what it means for you guys to be a part of it this year.

R: It’s the coolest big open-air festival I’ve been to. I mentioned it earlier, but Graham Williams and Trans-mission Entertainment are the masterminds behind it. Graham is an excellent dude, a 90’s hardcore kid, still straight edge. He’s been a HUGE help in Power Trip getting to where we are, and we owe him end-less thanks. He’s always been down to help us out, and throw us on the fest or a show. The exposure is great, the line ups are even better, and the hang outs can’t be beat. The only musical festival I enjoy going to just as much is Chaos in Tejas.

PHOTO BY:GRAY MUNCY

IZ: If you had the opportunity to tour with any band, past or present, who would you chose?

R: Motorhead in their prime, for the rest of my life.

IZ: How’s it been like to release a full LP on a bigger record label like Southern Lord? Do you feel more pressure on making sure the audio and visuals of the LP are exactly what you want everyone to hear?

R: We’re still working on the LP, but it’s almost finished. Southern Lord has been phenomenal. Stress can really kill the recording/creative pro-cess sometimes, and Greg/Southern Lord has been wonderful about letting us take our time to make sure we can pump our the best tracks possible without feeling any pressure to get it released. Being relaxed and taking our time has always proven to produce better songs. There will definitely be more of an emphasis on visuals with this record. The cover artwork is very complex and highly detailed and I can’t wait for people to see it. I wanted the cover to be something that forced people to stare at it for minutes, just to make sure they could take all the little details in. I can safely say it has a unique vibe to it. There will be some interludes/noise/samples on the album, to help bring an audio aesthetic that we haven’t really tried out before. I think everyone involved with the record is getting what they want out of it, in terms of allowing everyone to flex their artistic ideas.

IZ: A lot of the artwork used for Power Trip is usually a similar style. Is there a certain artist that usually does your stuff?

R: We’ve never wanted or tried to pigeonhole ourselves to a certain style or aesthetic, but when we love a certain artist’s style, we’ll run with it and make it our own and work with them quite a bit. Most people we work with end up doing more than one design for us. Jake Bal-lesteros is a friend from Austin who has done a few of the more recognizable shirt designs for us, and he also did the cover for our Lockin Out 7”. I love Jake’s style and find him an incredibly talented artist. He’s got something else coming up for us soon. We’re all about collaboration though. Our friend Jason James has done some great shirt designs for us, and a young buck named Parker Turney will be turning heads soon with this talents. He’s working on a shirt design for us right now. Martin from Terror did our infamous Juicy J rip-off shirt. Our cover art for the LP was done by Paolo “Madman” Girardi, an Italian painter.

IZ: How’s your local scene like in Texas?

R: Amazing. We’ve got an endless amount of incredible bands playing every style of music imaginable, with an open-minded, supportive scene to back them up. I think touring bands are rarely disappointed when coming through the Dallas/Texas area.

IZ: Thanks for taking the time out to do this interview, do you have any last words or shout outs?

R: Shoutouts to the power troopers or anyone else reading the interview. Any bands I’ve mentioned. Additional shoutouts to Backtrack, Minus, Downpresser, Alpha & Omega, Xibalba, Suburban Scum, Soul Search, Incendiary, and Southern Lord. I always forget somebody. And thank you for the interview.

PHOTO BY:GRAY MUNCY

POWER TRIPcontinued...

END.

MARGE: First of all, who are you, what hood are you reppin and what is your favorite pizza topping?

MAURA: My name is Maura Weaver and I’m from Cincinnati, Ohio! I live in the awful college cam-pus part of town called CLIFTON where all soul-sucking frat dudes sit on their porches hollering at girls and yelling at whoever is drunkenly playing “Wagon Wheel” by Old Crow Medicine Show on guitar next door. This is usually concluded by Dubstep echoes ringing through the streets. I really enjoy green peppers and fresh garlic on my pizza.

MARGE: So i know that mixtapes has been getting a lot of attention lately and people like me really fangirl hard when they see you play. does it ever weird you out that people actually know who you are?

MAURA: It does... But it’s not unwanted! I think it’s really awesome if it means that people are listening to Mixtapes. It’s music that means everything to me and the fact that anyone has heard of us and might be listening and relating to our songs somewhere is so cool to me. No matter the reason that someone might be “fangirling,” haha. It is weird being home and getting caught up in a daily grind and then leaving again and talking almost every day with people I don’t know who know me. It’s easy to come home and feel like you need to put emotional weight into stuff like that... like you start feeling bad about yourself because you burned a customer’s pizza and wonder if you’re pleasing your manager at Wherever, Inc. and then you remember your band is about to tour across the country and realize you’re an idiot.

MARGE: Does it ever bother you that some people might see you as a “female musi-cian” rather than just a musician who happens to be female? and what would you say to girls who deal with this kind of stereotyping within the music scene?

MAURA: It used to bother me. I used to never want it to be pointed out that I was female because it made me feel like a weirdo and I didn’t want to be the token “female musician.” I felt like expectations people had of me because of my gender caused me to have less friends. There was nothing I hated more than people coming up to me and basically saying, “It’s really surprising that you get on stage and get sweaty since most girls don’t do that. I expected you to get up there and put a flower in your hair.” But when I’ve thought about it... I can’t help but think it’s cool when I see a band and a girl is up there being awesome. Not because I expected less of her but because it really is harder to play in a band when you’re a girl. I had a really hard time finding anyone to

MIXTAPESHere’s an interview with Maura Weaver of Mixtapes, which is an

awesome pop punk band from Cincinatti, OH and on No Sleep Records.

The questions made possible by my lovely girlfriend, Margie Byrne. ---->

play music with growing up because when you’re a dude playing guitar people expect you to be good and as a female people just assume you can’t play. It’s harder to make friends in the music world. I think a key to females being respected and treated equally is acknowledging that the female experience really is different. If people try to act like the female and male experience is the same and refuse to examine gender they are ignoring inequality around the world and will never understand why it is harder for women to get into music in general, and why it’s easy for women to let men abuse them and become passengers in life. As a woman with serious ambition you’re not winning many friends or fans. It’s expected from men and women that you tone that down for men. Obviously this is horseshit and if you can brave through the abuse the world is going to give you for having your say, I can guarantee that you will inspire some girl somewhere. One of those girls will probably be me.

MARGE: Any newer bands/artists out there right now that you’re really into?

MAURA: It probably sounds like a throwaway answer because I sing on their new record, but I think Masked Intruder is the best band ever. They play pop punk but the songs have some serious Weezer-style vocal melodies and the song structures are near Beach Boys perfection. Plus Blue has a dreamy voice. We’re also touring with a band called Raindance in the fall and their record “New Blood” is one of the best hardcore releases I’ve heard in a really long time. Listening is just pure frenzy and hard to describe...

MARGE: If you could collaborate with anyone ever, dead or alive, who would it be? don’t say hologram tupac.

MAURA: If I could somehow have a songwriting workshop with Craig Finn, the dude from Modern Life is War, and Tim Barry, that would be awesome.... Guys?

MARGE: Lastly, any chance of a sundrinker reunion live show? the silence chronicles really got me through some tough times.

MAURA: I honestly think this has to happen at some point. Seriously though. Also have you ever heard Wooky Stax? Really good up and coming Cincinnati artist I’m seeing at the Verizon Wireless Arena next month. His label just signed this artist named Cherry and I’ve heard she’s a bad bitch but I don’t think her album is out for another few months, so I guess we’ll have to wait and see...

END.

PHOTOS BY:FACE FOREST

Richie Peterson --->

IZ: Okay so you’ve been build-ing haunted houses at your house for years. How did it all start out?

DAVE: It all started when i was 4 or 5 years old. My father and I stuffed some old clothes with blankets and put them on my front porch. It was a slow progression adding some tombstone and other vari-ous props till i was about 12 when i discovered through the internet that other people were doing the same thing as me and it just kind of took off. I did my first walkthrough that year with tarps for walls, a couple strobe lights, and some cheap masks. We had a local paper come out and had around 500 people come through. It was kind of crazy. It just kept expanding. Throughout the next 6 years we took over my backyard and eventually my driveway. Walls changed from tarps to plywood. We ended up having 200 sq. ft and 25 actors. We had over 3,000 people go through and it was insane.

IZ: What was your motivation to keep going with it?

DAVE: This guy built a huge home haunt a couple blocks from my house. We went every year. He was older, didn’t really have a family. He took

me under his wing and taught me a lot. He passed away like a year after we became close and I pretty much inherited a lot of his haunted house and still use parts of it today.

IZ: So tell us a little about what Hilltop Horrors was and how that all worked out?

DAVE: Hilltop horrors was a haunted house I did 3 years ago now. It was out on this farm in the middle of nowhere. It started out being me at 19. This farm wanted to do this haunted hayride for years. He wanted me to come out and build something, it was originally going to just be a haunted corn field. It was a disaster, but it wasn’t.

IZ: Why was it a disaster?

DAVE: Well being 19, and being poor as hell, I didn’t have the means to build what I wanted to build. I had been doing all this low tech stuff, figuring out old magician tricks to do in my haunted house so I could do it low budget, but I moved from doing a 2,000 square foot home haunt in my backyard to doing an 8 acre corn field and a quarter mile of woods. which is something that’s mind blowing. I thought I had a lot of props, I thought I had a lot of equipment, I

thought I had everything. but spreading that out was next to impossible. Our whole theme was, well we were on a farm in the middle of nowhere so you know we have to do the crazed hillbillies.

IZ: How was the reaction to it? Did people seem to like it?

DAVE: Yeah overall it was good. People enjoyed it. We were in an area where there weren’t many haunted houses. We were a half hour away from any decently good haunted houses. Some people knew I was linked to it. We had a sign in my yard where we always had my home haunt saying we were doing Hilltop Horrors on a farm. Overall, I think the only thing was, we didn’t have enough actors. I had no idea how many we would need for all our space. We had 35 people come out to work every weekend. I don’t think you realize how big 8 acres is until you’re in that. I think our acres are what set us apart. We had a great group of actors. We had guys that have been working with me in my home haunts for 10 years that started out hiding in piles of leaves in my front yard in grade school. I guess a corn field is just a glorified pile of leaves. We all became this big family.

This is my friend Dave. I’ve known him through local hardcore shows for a few years. He’s going to college for fine arts, majoring in print-making with a minor in painting. Dave’s been building haunted house attractions in his driveway since he was little. I used to think haunted houses were lame once I was too old for them to scare me but once you see one get built from the ground up and see animatronics get built out of old massagers and the creativity behind it, you grow a new respect for them. His current haunt he’s building, Morbid Estates, should be seeing a professional sized building soon.

DAVE SHONKHAUNTED HOUSE/ARTIST EXTRAORDINAIRE

rembranDtHaDarattaIl.tumblr.cOm

mOrbIDeStateS.cOm

IZ: Why wasn’t Hilltop Horrors able to work the year after?

DAVE: Well we almost did break even. Which wasn’t bad, especially for our location be-ing in the middle of nowhere. But we paid off all our actors, all out advertising. But I made no money, the farm didn’t really make any money. Which is all expected for a first year haunted house. But in the end, we’re in Ohio, our weather sucks. It was all outdoor. The weather had taken it’s toll on us. I was out there all day for 10 hours building stuff. Darkness was always a problem. We’d work until it got dark, and once it was dark, that was the end of the day. Where in a building, we could work all night. The farm was disappointed that they didn’t make any money, but I think breaking even was great for the first year, and it would’ve made the next year easier to make money, but I think it was a combination of everyone los-ing the morale. It was mutual. We wanted to move indoors and the farm didn’t make as much as they thought. It sucked being a quarter, half mile away from anything, like ‘I need water to clean this paint brush’. I’d have to get in my car and drive to the closest barn that had water.

IZ: What has been some of your biggest challenges?

DAVE: First off, we were all broke teenagers. We learned to make do with what we had and how to be thrifty. Not many other people know how to make a rotting corpse out of saran wrap and styrofoam. The real challenge in a way is still money. Four years ago we got shut down due to coding prob-lems because of the amount of people we were getting through. It is a problem we still have today and are currently trying to move into a build-ing. Its a lot more complicated than showing up with some plywood and just setting up. We need several different fire systems in case of an emer-gency and very few buildings already have them. We lucked out last year and found a build-ing we were going to have the haunted house in. It had the required fire systems and cheap rent. The week we were going to move in, our building got broken into and the control panel of our fire system got stolen, probably by the people who used to rent it. It was going to be $10-15 grand to replace it.

IZ: So you decided to do another home haunt this year since the building didn’t work out?

DAVE: Yeah, we pulled together what we could for a weekend. We didn’t even plan on setting up for a home haunt after we got our building taken away. But after going to a haunted house 3 hours away in Pittsburgh, PA.. I talked tot he owner and got me thinking how much I wanted to do it this year.

IZ: to get outside of this topic kinda, how many masks do you have?

DAVE: Right now I have 13… collectors heads in my room on shelves. There’s gotta be 90-100 masks around my house.

IZ: What was the most you paid for a mask?

DAVE: My girlfriend bought me a $175 mask for our an-niversary. It was a 1965 Don Post skull which was a mask that was to be used in Hal-loween 3 before that movie existed.

IZ: When did you first start looking at really creepy stuff and being like “that’s so cool”.

DAVE: I remember drawing werewolves in church in like 1st grade and my mom would get mad. It was like a were-wolf throwing rocks, haha. I showed it to my 1st grade teacher and she got pissed.

IZ: Haha, Were you the kid where the teacher had to call your parents and show them what you drew in class?

DAVE: My mom always got it. My mom never saw anything bad about being weird. She thought I should embrace it.

IZ: You’re also an artist of course. What’s your favorite medium to work in?

DAVE: Probably between oil paints and silk screens.

IZ: When did you first get into printmaking?

DAVE: Being 14 and wanting band shirts I couldn’t afford. Stenciling them out. I had a Choking Victim shirt I printed at like 14 or 15. I made this nice Rancid back patch and some nice Misfits patches I made a lot time ago.

IZ: Where do you think your inspiration comes from?

DAVE: You know, everything you’re not supposed to like, I was the kid that liked it. I was reading ghost stories in 3rd grade and Steven King. I probably didn’t get a lot of it, but he’s one of my favorite authors.

IZ: What do you want your art to convey to people?

DAVE: I’ve been working with serial killers a lot lately. You

see leather face killing people in Texas Chainsaw and you think it’s just a movie, but it’s a reference to Ed Gein. You know how real it is. There’s more serial killers out there than anyone wants to acknowledge. It’s life.

IZ: What do you think your art says about you?

DAVE: Depends on who you talk to. A lot of people think I’m disturbed and unhappy. I think I can be negative at points. If I’m painting some-thing negative, I don’t want to be cheery and happy. I want to be pissed and throwing paint down, not delicately placing it on. People can be igno-rant. For most people, it’s the forbidden, it’s the thing you’re not supposed to like, what you shouldn’t look at. I have books full of dead bodies. Death is a fact of life that doesn’t need to be hidden or forgotten.

IZ: What are some of your favorite horror movies?

DAVE: Halloween, of course. not the Rob Zombie ones. Halloween 3 is one of my favorites.

IZ: Which is funny because it’s the one without michael myers.

DAVE: It’s not about the blood and the guts for once. It’s about masks and I’m a nerd about

that. Evil Dead of course. It relates to my haunted house work. A bunch of young guys doing it DIY.

IZ: So when are you making your own movie?

DAVE: Haha, hopefully this winter break. A short film about zombies. It all started when we didn’t think we were doing a haunted house this year and talked about mak-ing a movie with friends and you!! Hopefully get it in a few local indie theaters. Maybe it won’t even happen. haha. Who knows.

IZ: So what are some of your favorite bands?

DAVE: Nine Inch Nails, as turdy as that sounds. I’ve been listening to a lot of Home-wrecker, their new record. They’re local guys. I think you gave me the link to that. Napalm Death, Insect Warfare. I’ve been listening to a lot of in-dustrial too. Marylyn Manson, haha. and of course Suburban Scum, Harms Way, TUI.

IZ: Is there anything else I should ask? haha

DAVE: My tumblr’s iplayfor-keeps.tumblr.com and I post my own art on rembrandtha-darattail.tumblr.com Like Morbid Estates on facebook and our website is MorbidEstates.com END.

IZ: So first off, what is Maranatha, and what’s next on the plan?

C: Maranatha is one guy who had some lyrics written, had quit his band a year prior, and really wanted to write some sludgy hardcore with an old-school death metal influence.

It was never really meant to do anything. But it just started “clicking” and my wife thought I was on to something and encouraged me to make it more real.

As far as what’s next—

Maranatha is playing it’s first show in January with Week-end Nachos. It’s going to be awesome. So I’m working on getting the live band together. After that, more writing. I just want to keep putting stuff out, rather it be splits or EPs. Not sure if I have the time (or patience) to sit and write an entire full-length though. But what I’m saying is that I’d rather put out music than play a bunch of shows.

IZ: So you record all the music yourself, correct?

C: Yes. Generally, after the kids go to bed. I sequence/pro-gram the drums (although, as a drummer, I take great pains to make it seem as “real” as possible—I probably spend the most time on this). I use amp modeling software. I record vocals in my basement. This process is so unglam-orous and diy. Most of the guitars and bass were written, performed, and recorded on my couch. A lot of people would be disappointed by learning all of this, but it’s a super fun challenge for me to make things not sound fake, and all I’m not paying God-knows-what per hour, I’m paying with my free time.

IZ: Was recording for this project your first time recording music seriously or have you had a past with it?

C: Well, for those that don’t know, I was formerly the

drummer/bassist/one of the primary songwriters for Symphony In Peril, a band on Facedown records. And after that, I played drums in In Tha Cut/Kingsblood. So I’ve had my fair share of time in the studio. The recording process has always been my favorite part of being in a band, so I’m always “all in” during recording sessions, paying attention to every detail. So I have a general idea of how things work. That being said, I couldn’t tell you what the best type of compressor is for whatever sound I’m looking for or any of that stuff.

When it comes to recording my own stuff, I know what “good” sounds like, I know what I want things to sound like, so I generally spend hours dicking around until it sounds right to me. Which is not as efficient by any means. But almost as good. Ha.

Maranatha is a music project started and run fully by Collin Simula out of Columbus, Ohio. Be sure to download both of his releases at maranathaisheavy.bandcamp.com. The music itself is very heavy and very good while the lyrics are very personal to his struggles, beliefs, and dislike towards the current American Christianity.

IZ: That makes sense. So you’ve already released a 7 song EP, and more recently a split with San-hedrin both digitally. How bad do you want to release a physical product, if at all?

C: Surprisingly, people ask for physical copies a lot. I’ve had the same 6 cd’s in my car for over a year that never get listened to because I always have my iPhone hooked up. So it’s surprising to me. I’d love to release physical stuff. I’ve been in talks with a couple small labels about funding it, but I don’t know if that’s going anywhere. Honestly, releasing it digitally has been awesome and stress-free, but my biggest reason (other than people wanting it) for being interested in releasing physical cop-ies is artwork. I’m a graphic designer by trade and we designers always love actually holding physically designed artwork.

IZ: That was my exact thought and why this will only be a print zine. haha. Speaking of you being a graphic designer, do you have a full time design job? Did you go to school for that and have you worked in the music scene in the past?

C: I went to Ohio State for a year and dropped out. My dad is a designer and he taught me most of everything I know. I’m a Senior Designer at a brand-ing agency here in Columbus and I love most every minute of it.

I’ve designed plenty of shirts for bands through my per-

sonal network of bands I’ve played with/toured with/been label mates with. I wish I did more music-based design but that stuff is few and far between these days.

IZ: The design of your first EP with the upside cross seemed to get controversial at times but seems to fit in my opinion. What exactly is Marantha “about” ? Would you call the proj-ect ‘religious’ ?

C: I am a Christian. I’ve been a Christian my whole waking life. I went to Chris-tian schools. I’ve always been in church.

If I said to you right now “Maranatha is a Christian band,” well, there goes 75% of normal listeners. And the idea that art can be “Christian” is weird and counter-intuitive to me. That being said, I can’t look at you and say “Maranatha is not Christian” or whatever. The struggles, the creative process, the doubts, the beliefs, the joy, the anger, everything that is represent-ed by Maranatha is deeply Christian in my opinion.

Maranatha is about being honest with myself, and be-ing honest with the listener.

I’m not going to write lyrics like a lot of big Christian hardcore bands, that are full of arrogance and power and strength. Because I don’t feel any of those things 95% of the time. The EP I recently released with Sanhedrin—those two songs pretty much sum up what Maranatha is “about”.

“Mourning the Light” is speaking from a place of doubt. A place of wanting God to show himself. A place of wanting to experience the Dive in some way but feeling nothing but emptiness and darkness. A lot of my Chris-tian friends were really taken back by that song because it so incredibly hopeless. But you know what? That’s how it feels a lot of the time. Some-times more often than not.

“I Never Knew You” is com-ing to terms with the fact that this group of people, this dysfunctional family that I associate myself with are seri-ously fucking everything up most of the time. It’s no secret that half of our culture thinks that Christians are arrogant, stupid assholes. And I tend to agree with that senti-ment much of the time. The “God” that is preached in our American religious landscape is NOT by any means worth believing in. And I think that most atheists / agnostics I know are justified in their disbelief in that god.

IZ: How’s the response been so far for Maranatha, music-wise, and message-wise ?

C: Really good. Surprisingly good. The biggest challenge of Maranatha (other than hav-ing a full-time job, three kids, and no other band members) is creating in a vacuum.

“MARANATHAIS ABOUT

BEING HONEST

AND BEINGWITH MYSELF

HONEST WITHTHE LISTENER”

I mean I have my wife and my close friends that I bounce ideas, lyrics, and riffs off of, but I’m creating music by myself essentially for myself. So putting my baby out there for every-one to listen to/critique is much scarier than being in a 5-person band where everyone has input. So for the music to be so well-received has been amazing and humbling and exciting, and more than anything, a catalyst to keep this thing going.

Message-wise either people are receptive, ignore it, or don’t get it. And I’m okay with all three. This is heavy music. In heavy music, riffs are first, message is second. I do find it hilarious though when people think that Maranatha is “satanic” or whatever because of an inverted cross.

IZ: Now that 2012 is coming to an end, do you have a top 5 albums from 2012? If that’s too hard to think of on the spot, then in general, who have you been jamming and get-ting into recently?

C: I’ve actually been work-ing on my top 10. It’s not final yet, so I’ll give you my top three.

Number three: Torche “Har-monicraft” — these dudes know how to be heavy, and they know how to write pop songs. Simple as that. And they keep getting better. I recently had the chance to

see them again, and they don’t disappoint live either. This record definitely shows them honing their craft.

Number Two: Converge “All We Love We Leave Behind” — a lot of people will be pissed this is my number two. I love this album. Amazing songwrit-ing. Amazing production. Best Converge album since Jane Doe (which is in my top 5 records of all time). Instant classic. “Coral Blue” is worth the price of admis-sion.

Number One: Baroness “Yellow & Green” — Baron-ess is one of my favorite bands. This record has been a love-it-or-hate-it record and I definitely love it. I’ve probably listened to it 100

times easily. It’s classic Baroness, it’s experimental Baroness, and it’s psy-chadelic Baroness. And in my opinion, it’s one of the first records I’ve heard that has the spirit of Pink Floyd without being derivative or trying to sound 70s. Listen to “Twinkler” and try not to FEEL in some way.

IZ: So i guess here’s the time that I see if you have anything you’d like to add to the interview? It’s been good.

C: This has been great. Lis-ten to Dismember, Obituary, and Entombed and you’re all set. Thanks so much.

MARANATHAcontinued...

END.

IZ: Can you introduce yourself, where you’re from and what all bands you’re in right now?

N: My name is Nicktape, I’m 26 and I sing for the band. Like everyone else in Coke Bust, I grew up in Montgomery County, MD... just out-side of Washington, DC. 3/4 of us currently live in the city. I also play in SECTARIAN VIOLENCE and ACID RAIN. Chris (drums) also plays in MAGRUDERGRIND, DOC, and SICK FIX. Jubert (bass) also plays in MISLED YOUTH. James (guitar) isn’t in any other bands right now.

IZ: So Coke Bust recently released a split with Vaccine. How’s the reception for that been so far?

N: It’s been good man! The record isn’t even technically out in America yet. There have been a bunch of delays with the pressing plant, but it’s out in Europe. We’ve received a lot of posi-tive feedback on it, which is cool. This record was the biggest “group effort” that we’ve ever had and I think it shows. We’re the most proud of this one, I think. It’s certainly my favorite.

IZ: And I heard you guys are already start-ing to write for another release for next year?

N: Oh yeah... we’re already like 6 songs deep into our next full length. That will be out on Grave Mistake Records (USA) and Refuse Re-cords (Europe). We hope this will be out in time for our huge tour plans for next summer.

IZ: Oh yeah, I think I read you guys are planning to tour South America, right?

N: We’re going to do Brazil, Argentina and Chile. After three weeks in South America, we’ll fly to LA and work our way up the coast to Canada, fly back to DC (so I can attend our old bass player’s wedding, hahah) and then the next day we’ll go to Europe for a month and hope-fully play some spots we haven’t hit yet.

IZ: I’m assuming you haven’t toured South America. Do you know anything about the scene down there and how it compares to the North?

N: To be honest we don’t know much about it. But that’s part of the reason we want to go so bad. It’s totally uncharted territory for us. I’ve heard that the shows can be wild and the kids are hungry for it. We got approached by some kids in Brazil who really wanted us to come down and they’ve been incredibly helpful and supportive in turning this idea into a reality.

IZ: The other band you’re in, Sectarian Vio-lence has members from other countries. Can you talk a little bit about how that all got started and how you keep it going?

N: Sure! I met all the other guys from SV at a show in Gothenburg, Sweden on our 2010 European tour. The promoter of the show was named Staffan (he’s the Swede), and also on the bill was a band from England called NEVER AGAIN. That’s where I met the British guys that we would go on to start the band with. Long story short... NEVER AGAIN’s singer was kind of on his way out of hardcore and punk and they were talking about how they wanted to start a fast, no bullshit hardcore band. I jokingly said, “man... I’ll do it!” Staffan said, “haha! And I’ll play bass!” I totally didn’t expect them to follow through. Next thing I knew, they had recorded a 6 song demo and sent it my way. I recorded some vocals, I shared it with a few friends and the 7” came out like that. I ended up going over there to do a weekend’s worth of shows with them... just for fun and just to get out of the country for a few days, and we all totally ended up clicking. Since then we’ve got a new drummer (who is also British) and things have gelled that much more ever since. We’ve done a 3 week Euro tour and a 1.5 week US tour. We’re going to do another 3 weeks in the Spring. We’re all friends first, and a band second

COKEBUST

I was stoked to do a nice facebook IM interview with Nick Tape from the D.C. straight edge band, Coke Bust. Awesome band I got to see last year at West End in Ashtabula, OH, which is an Awesome venue.

IZ: You said you’re in Acid Rain as well. What style is that and how’s it all going?

N: Haha. ACID RAIN isn’t too serious. It’s just me and a few friends playing heavy metal stuff. So far we barely have any songs really fully down. I play guitar, my friend Nolan (also in DOC) plays bass, and our other friend Zack plays drums. I’m excited about it.

IZ: haha that’s tight. It’s probably fun to play something different than usual. How’s the DC scene like right now?

N: DC is really cool right now. There are a ton of young kids who bring a lot of positive energy to the table. A lot of the people my age are either bitter, burnt out, or just pretty much un-involved at this point, so I’m very glad that they’re all here doing their thing. There are lots of shows, lots of kids, and a sense of urgency. I wish we had more venues, but such is life.

IZ: Who are some of your favorite current DC bands right now?

N: Number one, without a doubt, SATAN’S SATYRS. Younger kids playing gnarly metal. Other awesome bands: SICK FIX, DOC, MISLED YOUTH, GIVE, LOJ, OVER AND OUT, METH LAB, TRUE HEAD, ILSA.

IZ: Ilsa’s new stuff outta a389 was awesome. Speaking of Give, I know you got the idea for the Newsletter/zine from them. Can you explain what exactly that idea is to the people who wouldn’t know?

N: Sure. The idea behind the newsletter is just to get in closer contact with the people who like our band. So much personality gets lost in hardcore with the internet these days that it’s just an effort on our part to connect and open the channels for communication and creativity on everyone’s parts. We’re some weird dudes and we know that there are some weird people into us. We want to know more.

IZ: What’s some of the coolest stuff you’ve got-ten in the mail so far from the newsletter?

N: A german guy sent in his blood. We got a package from a couple in Canada that sent us a $10 Tim Hor-ton’s gift card along with a photo album of them taking their coke bust records around town... bringing them to museums, hockey games, the zoo, diners, etc. Also gotten a lot of really cool letters.

IZ: haha awesome. The blood is pretty insane. What kind of stuff do you think will end up going in the newsletter?

N: History of the band, we’re going to interview each other, photos, stuff that our roadies/old members have written... cool shit. A mixtape.

COKE BUSTcontinued...

PHOTO BY:MATT GILL

IZ: So everyone in Coke Bust is straight edge, right? What reasons did you have to make such a commitment?

N: Yes, everyone in the band has been straight edge for a while. All of our reasons are differ-ent and we’ve all had different life experiences leading up to it. Personally.... I became straight edge when I was 15 years old. All the kids who I would skate with started getting drunk, smoking weed, and taking acid in the bathroom. That was never my style or who I wanted to be, really. When my older sister slipped me a Minor Threat CD, I made myself a tape and that’s basically been it. Over the past 11 years it has only made more and more sense as I’ve grown up. At this point in my life it’s not even like a choice any more. It’s just how I am. I want to be a healthy, focused, motivated and responsible person. Drugs and alcohol really have no place in my personal model.

IZ: Is it still possible for straight edge kids to party?

N: Come on tour with Coke Bust and you will find out for yourself.

IZ: hahah. I have no doubt. People have asked me the same question. So if you end up at a party where a lot of people are get-ting drunk, what are you drinking?

N: Probably just water, to be honest!

IZ: Good stuff. So now that 2012 is coming to an end, what were some of your favorite records that came out this year?

N: Suicidas 7”, Stripmines LP, Sick Fix LP, Sa-tan’s Satyrs LP, Devils Hand Demo.

IZ: So I guess I’ll close this up. Thanks a ton for giving me your time. Is there any-thing else you want to add

N: Hell yeah! Thanks for the interview. Thanks a million to everyone who has supported us over the years. Doing this band has been amazing.

END.

DOWN FOR ANYTHING #3 (ERIE, PA) INTERVIEWS: PIG DESTROYER, SELF DEFENSE FAMILY,

VICES

At first look, it’d be cool if the DFA dudes got a little more into the layout of the zine creatively. I feel like that’s what makes a zine a zine. Regardless of the look of it, the interviews are pretty cool and so are the few ‘columns’ or whatever you call them. The interview with Vices was a nice read and I learned that their scene in Jackson-ville, FL is doing the best it’s ever been. I’m JEALOUS. There’s a lot of reviews too, at least more than I put in this zine. Plus I gotta support the Erie, PA scene, they’re my 2.5 hour away neighbors.

P.S. it says ‘Down For Anything Records’ at the top but it’s not a label showcase at all.

acquire: $1 at downforanything.storenvy.com

SPILLED BLOOD #3 (CHICAGO, IL) INTERVIEWS: ACxDC, TWITCHING TONGUES,

HAKA, HARMS WAY

This is definetly my favorite hardcore fanzine going in the US. One reason being that it’s made it to an issue 3. It’s nothing over the top, good interview questions, cool bands interviewed, and a pretty cool layout & print. The Harms Way interview in this issue is a reprint from a differ-ent zine called Earth Sucks and it was a good decision to reprint, it’s a good read that’s pretty humorous. Fun cross-word, show reviews, and a photo page repping Cleveland hardcore !! It’s probably also a favorite of mine because the dude doing it (John Snyder from Weekend Nachos) is actually consisent to on putting out issues (3 this year) and is already working on issue 4. Don’t stop.

acquire: $3 at spilledbloodzine.bigcartel.com or any Weekend Nachos show.

# HARDCORE issue 1 (THE NETHERLANDS) INTERVIEWS: STATE OF MIND, NO TOLERANCE, IN EFFECT

FANZINE, RISE & FALL, MURPHYS LAW

While I feel like the name [Hashtag] Hardcore is a little cheesy, I truly love this zine. It’ll definetly win over my heart if more issues come out. So many zines lately never make it to a second issue. This one’s got a real DIY feel to it which I love. I can definetly say that Europeans know how to make zines. And it’s got so much more than just interviews and re-views. This guy’s full of ideas. A googled photos page of the word ‘stage dive’, Bjorn of Rise And Fall talking track by track about their album, ‘Faith’, and a section about those hid-den messages bands put on the inside of a vinyl record, and more. The biggest bummer about it is the shipping cost.

acquire: hashtaghardcore.bigcartel.com

ZINE REVIEWS

RUMPSHAKER #6 (NEW YORK, NY) INTERVIEWS: MIKE JUDGE, CEREMONY, PUNCH, TIM BARRY, B9 RECORDS, SICK OF IT ALL, & MORE

First things first, this isn’t really a ‘zine’. It’s more like a book with interviews. Well I guess he calls it Rumpshaker Hardcore Reading. But don’t take Rumpshaker lightly. To think this guy put together 145 pages with no ads and prof-fesional binding and done as awesome of a job as he did is insane. It could have a more interesting design/layout to it but it’s awesome other than that. He even interviewed Dan Yemin of Lifetime/Paint It Black and his mother. Also take note that Eric Weiss has been doing Rumpshaker since the early ‘90s and his last issue came out in 1999 so he’s been laying low for years. This will keep you busy for quite some time, check it out.

acquire: $10 at rumpshakerzine.com

DEATH WOUND #1 (BOSTON, MA) INTERVIEWS: THE TEMPLARS, TOM SULLIVAN, BRIAN YUZNA, AND MORE

Death Wound, Death Wound, Death Wound. I have one complaint about this zine. When you first flip through it, it can be confusing on what you might be reading. I just think the headlines need to stand out more or something. ANYWAY, this zine is the coolest. It’s not a hardcore zine at all by the way. Well there’s a few interviews with bands, but it’s all about horror. There’s interviews with people like Tom Sullivan, one of the make-up/visual effect artists for the Evil Dead series and Brian Yuzna, a producer for Re-Animator and writer for From Beyond and more. Also, with Death Wound, you get a poster that’s huge and awe-some and a printed on toe tag tied to the inside of the zine. SO cool.

acquire: deathwound.bigcartel.com/

GET UP AND GO #2 (SAN FRAN, CA) INTERVIEWS: TITLE FIGHT, PRAISE, VACCINE,

LIVING EYES, DEVOTION

At first view of this zine, I wasn’t sure what I was about to read about as the only text on the front is the zine name with a full page photo of some british skinhead looking kids. To my surprise, I skimmed through the pages to see interviews with all kinds of bands like Title Fight, Praise, & Vaccine with a real DIY cut & paste done layout. Through the 36 pages of the 8.5”x11” zine were the mentioned in-terviews, a column, a few pages of (not band) photography which I was really into, and some record reviews. I’m real into this zine and would definitely suggest it. The inter-views were all well done and good reads. It might help to have the names of the bands interviewed on the front cover so people know what’s inside, but regardless, it’s a good zine and looks great aesthetically.

acquire: $2 at getupandgofanzine.bigcartel.com

HARNESS - VICTIM OF SUFFERING 7”

(MIND MELT ENT.)

harnesshc.bandcamp.com

I’ve always seemed to play this EP when I’m too

distracted to appreciate it as much as it’s worth.

Recently I gave it another chance and I finally see

what I’ve been missing this whole time. It’s defi-

nitely one of the heaviest hitting, angriest hard-

core EPs I’ve heard come out this year. I’ve even

heard this band labeled as ‘beatdown’ while I’m

not normally a fan of that style, this is much dif-

ferent than generic constant breakdown ‘beat-

down’ bands. They have that metal influenced

hardcore sound popular in the 90s such as Dis-

embodied and Buried Alive. I’d say it’s also com-

parable to contemporaries like Xibalba and Dis-

grace, which they’re putting out a split with soon

in 2013. Great riffs, catchy vocal patterns, low

tuned breaks will all have you pitting when Har-

ness comes to your town. California keeps pump-

ing out these heavy hitters and I’m okay with that.

- BRIAN BARR

STRESS X RELIEF FEELINGS OF EXPIRATION (MIND MELT ENT.)

stressxrelief.bandcamp.com

Fast, short power violence songs can easily define

this 7” record. Very fast, sometimes I question if

too fast, but nahh. The lyrics are pretty cool, noth-

ing ground-breaking, but they’re real and straight

to the point. My favorite lyrics are in ‘Macho’ and

say ‘People treating people like pieces of shit Vio-

lence and Violence and everyday life. Who cares

who called you what, if it’s not true than what the

fuss’. See, nothing over the top and crazy but I’m

about it. The songs are short like in ‘DIY’, it’s 16

seconds. Don’t let your ears blink. The song ‘Jus-

tice’ may be my favorite. It’s the longest at 3 min-

utes and slows it down with a repeating catchy

riff between each verse. The fast songs are awe-

some as well, but I love when a fast band can slow

it down for a song. I wish the recordings would

have been much better. You’re not really going

to catch any of the lyrics without a lyric sheet,

which might be hard to find without owning the

record. Cool album from some cool Cali edgers.

- BRIAN BARR

TRASH TALK - 119 LP

(ODD FUTURE RECORDS)

Trash Talk released their new record, 119 on Odd

Future Records. When the label decision was an-

nounced, a ton of kids saw it as a sellout money

grab. More likely, Trash Talk are still broke as shit

and doing things the way they want to. Still, it’s

pretty silly “ODD FUTURE” is more prominent

on the outermost packaging of the CD than Trash

Talk’s name.

Last year’s Awake EP showed Trash Talk at their

fastest and most rock n’ roll, while 119 is kind of

a return to the dark and heavy mid-tempo vibe of

2010’s Eyes and Nines. The songs are catchy and

have cool choruses. Production wise, everything

sounds stripped down and muddy. Given the

label choice, some were expecting something a

little slicker and cleaner. But 119 is still a Trash

Talk record. The band is still filthy and fun.

The songs are repetitive and groovy, and they

are Trash Talk’s best songs. The band plays as

tight as they ever have.

Trash Talk and Ceremony started in the same

scene and kind of moved in different directions,

but they’ve both “developed” as songwriters in

the last few years. I can’t help but feel a struc-

tural similarity between the more repetitive riffs

on 119 and the droning monotonous songwriting

on Ceremony’s Zoo. Repetition is good.

I’m not going to say a lot about the much dis-

cussed sixth track, “Blossom & Burn,” other

to say the verses from Tyler, the Creator and

Hodgy Beats are more bizarre spoken-word

than nu metal.

This record is worth listening to a few times, but

I don’t know if it’ll get much more play around

here. I’d like to see these songs live, but I’d re-

ally prefer a tour without the OFWGKTA scene.

- S. FETTERS

MUSIC REVIEWS

AVERMAN / STONEWALL

Split 7” (PUSHED TOO FAR RECORDS)

avermanpartytime.bandcamp / stonewallvb.bandcamp

The two bands on this split are pretty different,

but compliment each other well. Averman is

an emo-esque pop punk band while Stonewall

plays fast rock n roll influenced hardcore, both

from the Virginia Beach area. Both are very

real and not too polished, but the recordings

aren’t bad at all. The Averman side has 4 songs

digitally but 2 on the record. It’s not extremly

happy which is probably why I’m a fan. If that

makes sense then check at least one of these

songs out, you’ll probably be about it. They have

some cool sing alongs and choruses. Get into it.

The Stonewall side is much more energetic

and hardcore full of rock n roll riffs, two steps,

and some catchy lyrics. My favorite that’s

“sometimes I feel like I’m walking through a

dream where nothing’s real.” They’ll keep you

rockin that noggin for their side of the split.

- BRIAN BARR

TWITCHING TONGUES PREACHER MAN EP (CLOSED CASKET)Twitching Tongues are back with a dark and heavy EP, Preacher Man (Closed Casket).Twitching Tongues seem to be finally hitting their groove with this release, it feels more natural than some of their previous attempts at melding straight up hardcore with groovier (and as the message board community decries, “ra-dio-friendly”) hard-rock stuff. But, they haven’t gone soft and they haven’t turned into Avenged Sevenfold. They are still an abrasive and heavy band— or proof, listen to the intro and outro riffs on “Feed Your Disease”,the 2nd track

Lyrically, the record is full of eerie story telling, sometimes things get a little cheesy, but noth-ing seems forced. Furthermore the vocals are more polished and less nasally than they have been in the past. The clean vocals have been a big issue for kids in the past, but on this release they suit the music and lyrical themes— the vo-cals make sense.

The weakest aspect of this record is the Can-dlemass cover. This EP has two of Twitching Tongues’ best songs, yet they chose to cap ev-erything off with a goofy cover of a goofy song. I imagine it was included as an opportunity to show off a little bit of range and diversity (and guitar wankery). Vocally, this is the poorest and seems to be the most forced performance on the record.

It’s easy to discount Twitching Tongues as a throwback to late 80’s/ early 90’s melodic crossover stuff, but they aren’t retro and they are pushing the envelope. I’m not a total con-vert, but I get the sense Twitching Tongues are moving the scene in a new and good direction. Preacher Man is a solid EP and leaves me curious about the next full length— it’ll be worth paying attention to. scene. - S. FETTERS

RETRIBUTION - CONSUMED 7” (LOST TIME RECORDS)

losttimerecords.bandcamp.com

I’ve seen Retribution a few times and I’ve found them to be kind of forgettable, but last week I saw them open the Expire/ Bent Life tour stop in Dearborn, Michigan and I was blown away. I had to go back and listen to this band again.

Retribution’s new EP, Consumed (Lost Time Records) came out on November 3rd, when the band opened up Trial’s Detroit show. Con-sumed is a straightforward and fairly simple effort—the riffs aren’t super original, but the songs are catchy and fun. The band is thrashy and slips into these mid-tempo grooves which I like a lot.

There’s something inexplicably raw about this record, though the production quality is excel-lent. The bass playing on this record is super tight while the drumming is kind of loose and swingy (in a good way). The instruments aren’t clashing and the guys in the band sound like they’re really comfortable playing off of each other. The guitar solo at the end of “No More” is a cool little thing thrown in.

Lyrically the record doesn’t break into new ter-ritory, but also doesn’t fall back on clichés. It’s weird to say, but I like the singer’s voice a lot. I wish the vocals weren’t as low in the mix as they are.

The cover art rules, Lost Time Records rules, Detroit Hardcore rules, Retribution rules. Go hear this record.- S. FETTERS

TOP 5zines of 2012

TOP 10 12 “ records of 20121. HOMEWRECKER - WORMS & DIRT

2. XIBALBA - HASTA LA MUERTE

3. TITLE FIGHT - FLORAL GREEN

4. MUNICIPAL WASTE - THE FATAL FEAST

5. CEREMONY - ZOO

6. MINDSET - LEAVE NO DOUBT

7. CODE ORANGE KIDS - LOVE IS LOVE // RETURN TO DUST

8. YOU BLEW IT - GROW UP, DUDE

9. NOTHING - DOWNWARD YEARS TO COME

10. MIXTAPES - EVEN ON THE WORST NIGHTS

1. DAYLIGHT - THE DIFFERENCE OF GOOD AND BAD DREAMS

2. LIGHT YEARS - JUST BETWEEN US

3. FULL OF HELL / CODE ORANGE KIDS SPLIT

4. WRONG ANSWER - CROSS A BLACK CATS PATH

5. ADVENTURES - SELF-TITLED

6. SEVEN SISTERS OF SLEEP - SELF-TITLED

7. MUNICIPAL WASTE / TOXIC HOLOCAUST SPLIT

8. BEWARE - WON’T GET THE BEST OF ME

9. COKE BUST / VACCINE SPLIT

10. HARNESS - VICTIM OF SUFFERING

1. DEATH WOUND ZINE #1

2. RUMPSHAKER #6

3. # HARDCORE issue 1

4. SPILLED BLOOD #2

5. FIXED FREQUENCIES #1

TOP 5demos from Ohio bands

1. LAWSKOF lawskof.bandcamp.com2. GASMASK gasmaskclevo.bandcamp.com3. MARANATHA maranathaisheavy.bandcamp.com4. TRESPASSER trespasserclevo.bandcamp.com5. DEATH SENTENCE deathsentence.bandcamp.com

TOP 10things I got into fromNetf lix during 20121. THE X-FILES (tv show)

2. FREAKS & GEEKS (tv show)

3. LIFE IN A DAY (documentary)

4. BEYOND THE BLACK RAINBOW (movie)

5. THE STUFF (movie)

6. BOMB IT! (documentary)

7. HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN (movie)

8. TERRORVISION (movie)

9. EXIT THROUGH THE GIFTSHOP (documentary)

10. WITNESS TO JONESTOWN (documentary)

TOP

THINGSACCORDINGTO ME

2012

10.

1. HOMEWRECKER - WORMS & DIRT

2. XIBALBA - HASTA LA MUERTE

3. TITLE FIGHT - FLORAL GREEN

4. MUNICIPAL WASTE - THE FATAL FEAST

5. CEREMONY - ZOO

6. MINDSET - LEAVE NO DOUBT

7. CODE ORANGE KIDS - LOVE IS LOVE // RETURN TO DUST

8. YOU BLEW IT - GROW UP, DUDE

9. NOTHING - DOWNWARD YEARS TO COME

10. MIXTAPES - EVEN ON THE WORST NIGHTS

1. DEATH WOUND ZINE #1

2. RUMPSHAKER #6

3. # HARDCORE issue 1

4. SPILLED BLOOD #2

5. FIXED FREQUENCIES #1

ANSWERSTO THE CROSSWORD

1. water 2. redrum 3. trolltwo 4. pennywise

5. italy 6. wescraven 7. peepers 8. normanbates

9. necronomicon 10. thetallman 11. cenobites

12. buffalobill 13. edgein