"Everything we do is a tribute to Black Sabbath"

It’s been more than long enough again since my last update and everything I have stacked up in my Megalomaniacal folder isn’t getting any younger while collecting digital dust. So here’s an interview I did with my friends in Rise And Fall around the time their “Into Oblivion” record was released. It took some time to get the answers back and it took three times as long to post the stuff up here. Some of the stuff might be outdated, but whatever… In the meanwhile Rise And Fall has done a European tour with Doomriders and a US tour with Guns Up and Blacklisted. Also their record got released in the US by Deathwish Inc. Records. All this didn’t happen when the interview was done, so keep that in mind. Here’s the interview I did with Bjorn and Cedric.
Oh yeah, if someone can tell me how I put this blog’s sidebar with all my personal info and stuff back to the top of the site, let me know. I fucked it up one way or another. Also it seems as I can't upload any pictures. If someone can help me, get in touch.

Okay, let’s kick it off properly. "Into Oblivion", your second full length has been out now for almost a month and I’ve seen quite some interesting reactions on the release by various segments of the hardcore in-crowd. How do you feel about all those reactions so far? I don’t know, but to me it seems that the reaction to the album is a lot bigger than I would have thought at first and I assume it’s a bit the same to the members of Rise And Fall, even after just one month. What are some of the most curious reactions you have gotten in the four weeks since the release?

Cedric: Well, I'm positively surprised about the reactions. The positive response seems to have broadened indeed, it seems that a lot of "different" people are into our sound now, as opposed to when we put out "Hellmouth". The major part of reviews I've read have been really enthusiastic. Looking back at the reviews "Hellmouth" got, feelings were sometimes mixed and we were considered good but average. Now, the feedback's been nearly overwhelming. I did expect "Into Oblivion" to do better ", but looking at the reviews they definitely surpassed my expectations! The most curious reactions would have to be the people that prefer "Hellmouth" but hey, to each his own... I just think the new record has so much more to offer.

Are you actually satisfied with the way everything turned out? I know I was a bit bummed when I first saw the artwork as I expected something, how to say, more original from a band like Rise And Fall. Are there little things on the record you get annoyed about already, like every member of every band gets once they have put out new record? What are some those little futile things?

Bjorn: Generally speaking, I'm really satisfied and proud of the album. But of course being the overly critical perfectionists that we are I'm sure everyone in the band already has a few minor issues with the album, the songs or the layout. For me personally that would be the cover art, because as much as I love the rest of the lay out (the booklet, the back cover etc) and Jake's work, I feel like the cover isn't the best part of the artwork and could've been "better" maybe. I'm not sure though. It is a strong and harsh image though so that's the upside, and a lot of people seem to really like it and I have to admit I'm into a lot more than I originally was so what am I talking about?Cedric: I'm really satisfied with the result. I think we managed to create what we envisioned. I personally wanted to push this record to the extreme soundwise, and that's what we did. Of course as a musician you work on a record with a certain time limit, so you can't avoid the fact that some parts "could have been better" or whatever. But for us it's hard to put it all into perspective as we were working on the album the whole time. I recently listened to the record again, for the first time since long and it turned out that the concerns I had were kind of exaggerated. Those futile things I worried about are just little things that turned out different but not for the worse. They're pretty irrelevant. We learn, you know.

Comparing "Into Oblivion" to "Hellmouth" it definitely sounds like Rise And Fall finally has found its sound. Where I think "Hellmouth" sounds a bit boring at times I don’t have this feeling anymore when listening to the heavy monster sound of "Into Oblivion". Do you tend to agree with what I’m saying? What are some of the reasons for this evolution? Did you guys start listening to other music between the writing of "Hellmouth" and "Into Oblivion"?

Bjorn: I definitely agree. I still like "Hellmouth" and it was an album we had to make in order for us to get to where we are now. Looking back it sounds a little dull, too polished and clean. Most of the songs sound too much alike in my opinion and that is definitely something we worked on when we wrote "Into Oblivion". The main reason for the change in sound and songwriting, next to everyone getting a little older and better at what they're doing (well, hopefully), would have to be that for "Into Oblivion" 90 % of the music was written by Cedric, while on "Hellmouth" he'd only been in the band for a few months... so in my opinion it's definitely Cedric growing into his own as a songwriter and everyone in the band being involved with the whole process and being determined to write a record that would blow "Hellmouth" out of the water.

Cedric: There has most definitely been a big evolution in the sound of Rise And Fall. Right after the recordings of "Hellmouth" I started to find my place in Rise And Fall. I felt more self-assured and I knew what the band and I were capable of. As we were writing songs I always found it important to write in function of the song, which means stripping down my riffs when they were too complicated, finding the best possible song structure, etc. All this in order to get the most aggressive and complete songs. As for influences I get influenced by anything I hear and anything that can contribute to the primitive, raw sound we were aiming for. As a fan of music I continuously discover new music and new bands, it could be that some bands got my attention, but in the end it was all about getting that aggressive vibe and still being Rise And Fall. When I write a new riff I basically think about how hard I can bang my head to it.

Let’s talk punkmetal. I remember last year, before summer, that we were joking around in your car again about weird/stupid subgenre names such as rapcore, metalcore, etc. Eventually we ended up saying that Rise And Fall plays punkmetal and at that point you decided to coin the phrase and to begin profiling Rise And Fall as a punkmetal band rather than a hardcore band. So, for once and all, define punkmetal to the bloggists. Why did you decide to coin the phrase? What other bands (old and current) do you consider punkmetal? And who do you feel are the godfathers of punkmetal? What bands or sound or philosophy would you totally not like to see associated with punkmetal?

Bjorn: Punkmetal first and foremost is a state of mind, an attitude. It is a fuck you towards all the polished, overproduced would be hardcore that has been flooding our scene. It most definitely also is a fuck you towards the attitude that has come with it: bands nearly whoring themselves out to "get somewhere" and climb that ladder, the increasing commercialisation and commodification of hardcore and this whole situation where all these bands that have nothing to do with hardcore (musically and ideologically) still take advantage of this scene, its kids and its network. That's what comes to mind when I think of the PUNKMETAL attitude and it is something that grew out of disgust for all the shit I see around me these days. Musically we decided that PUNKMETAL was the term that best defined our music, since we try to combine the attitude, anger and energy of hardcore punk with the heaviness, darkness and brutality of (good) metal. Musically, we're not a pure hardcore band, though we're all hardcore kids obviously. We sure as hell ain't a real metal band either so you could say we're hardcore punks playing metal. PUNKMETAL. I wouldn't claim to have invented the term because I swear I've seen it being used before in old magazines when dudes would try to describe the Cro-Mags for example, or Integrity. Those bands would definitely be the godfathers of punkmetal, in my opinion. Other bands I'd call punkmetal would be bands as varied as Ringworm, Gehenna, His Hero Is Gone, Mind Eraser, Tragedy, Celtic Frost, Venom, Motorhead, Inepsy etc. I guess you get what I'm saying.

We touched the subject of your artwork a little bit already and coincidently the artwork was done by Jake Bannon, the singer for Converge, the mixing of your record has been done by Kurt Ballou, the guitarist for Converge, and you’ve toured with Converge and now, surprise surprise, you are doing a US release of "Into Oblivion" with Deathwish Inc. Can you kiss any more ass to get a deal with Deathwish Inc. or what? What’s the deal with that? Does Rise And Fall kiss any ass to get something done or don’t you all give a fuck?

Bjorn: In order to kiss even more ass, we're touring Europe in March with Doomriders, which is Nate from Converge's other band. We figured we might as well go all the way! Seriously though, we like to work, play and tour with people we respect and that know what they're doing, plus we're all into Converge so I guess that explains a lot. Deathwish is putting out "Into Oblivion" because they're really into the album and believe in us as a band - if they'd put out every band that kissed their ass they'd put out a few records every week I'm afraid. We've always done and will continue to do things our way... Kissing ass and sucking up to get ahead is NOT something we've ever done or will ever do.

On a more serious note now, I’m assuming you are pretty happy to get the Deathwish Inc. support. I know you have two US tours planned, can you tell something more about that? Why two already? And what’s the deal with touring Japan, I heard things about that too.

Bjorn: Well most of these things are only plans so far, but we're definitely doing a ten day East Coast tour at the end of April with Blacklisted and Guns Up! Siked as hell about that. After the summer we want to do a longer US tour as well as a Japanese tour. With Deathwish doing our record in the States and Alliance Trax doing it in Japan, it only makes sense to go over there and promote the record. I hope everything works out as planned because touring those places would be like a dream come true. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

“Hellmouth” also got a US release, on SA Mob Records, are you happy with how that worked out? Did you have any intentions to work together with them again for “Into Oblivion”? And do you have other foreign releases planned in order to get better tour support? I’m thinking about a Russian release or a Chinese release or something.

Bjorn: Yeah, we're definitely pleased with how SA Mob helped us out with the "Hellmouth" record. It's a small label with no real distribution or whatever, but EMS is an awesome dude, one of the nicest dudes I've ever met in hardcore actually and the fact that he took the risk to put out a record for a band that no one over there had heard of just because he was into it says a lot. He works hard for the label and is an all around genuine person, and actually, he might be doing the US vinyl for "Into Oblivion", that isn't sure yet though. No Russian or Chinese adventures yet, but we are talking to a sweet Brazilian label for a South American release so there ya go!

I remember walking into the studio when you had just recorded your demo and that has only been some three years ago and now here we are, again doing an interview, but so much more has happened to Rise And Fall in-between. And it seems as if the crazy ride isn’t over yet. Can you and the band still cope with the fact that you keep getting more and more attention? Do you think eventually you will be totally exhausted with the pace of things that you either will have to step back, break up or something like that? Are you afraid something like that could happen –perhaps sooner than you wish-?

Bjorn: I don't know honestly. Thing is, you only live once and all I want is to get the most out of what I have and what I love doing. So on one hand I'm really happy with how things have turned out for Rise And Fall, starting as project between friends with no real ambition or plans and growing into a hardworking band that tours and puts out records and does fairly well. On the other hand I'm never totally satisfied and always want more. Maybe because this band is one of the only things that truly matters to me and I put so much of myself into it, just like the other dudes in the band. So right now I think things will only get busier and I'm looking forward to that. I don't think we'll be exhausted anytime soon, it's not like we're going to tour 9 months out of 12 or anything. We want to go as far as we can, play as much as we can and spread the punkmetal plague... and when our time's up and we don't love what we're doing anymore then we'll have to step back or break up.

Your record starts with some cracking guitar amp noises followed by a few heavy slow notes before all hell breaks loose. Are both of those things tributes to Black Sabbath (Sabotage kicks off with resembling cracking and Black Sabbath the album starts with one of the heaviest riffs of all time before all hell breaks loose)?

Cedric: The beginning of the record is all about setting the right mood for what's about to come. We wanted to sound as live as possible on this record, so what better way to start it then to plug in your guitar? About the slow notes, they just feel right, they have to be there, it's hard to explain. As I said earlier, I stripped it down to what is really necessary.

Bjorn: Everything we do is a tribute to Black Sabbath.

Let’s talk songs titles and where you got inspiration for them. Let me know if what I assume is wrong:

"The Void": Black Sabbath’s "Into The Void".

Bjorn: YES.

"To Hell And Back": the opener of "Lucifuge".

Bjorn: No, I stole it from Venom. It's a Venom song.

"Lost Among The Lost": an island where a bunch of people survived a plane crash and get haunted by something mysterious.

Bjorn: No. Even though I am in love with Evangeline Lily.

Any other song titles you care to explain?

Bjorn: "Ruins" as a song and songtitle is kind of sequel to "As The City Burns" off "Hellmouth". "Stakes Is High" is the title of a De La Soul album... I'm not a big fan, but thought it sounded good. There's more but I don't want to give everything away.

Where did you record that crowd going mental at the beginning of the track Into Oblivion? Was that that one show Pit counted at least 20 people moshing during the break in Give And Take?

Bjorn: No, it was recorded at that one show on the same tour were we were forced to play at 7.15 and the doors opened at 7.10... Now, that was fun. In all seriousness though, for people that were wondering, we got that off Slayer's "Decade Of Aggression" live album.

What’s that dude saying in the beginning of “Lost Among The Lost”? Something about God? Where’s that sample from? Does it have to do with the fact that your drummer JP is a practising Catholic drumming for a devilish punkmetal band? Did he want to get some sort of praying as compen sation for all the evil on the record?

Bjorn: JP being a Catholic and Cedric being a Satanist definitely complicates things for us, but we manage. The sample on "Lost Among The Lost" is actually Danzig being interviewed on the infamous Danzig home video. It's the part where the interviewer asks him "Do you believe in God?" and then Danzig's like "Do I believe in God?" etcetera. Pure genius.

On different descriptions of Rise And Fall I see the same bands always popping up as influences, let’s have a little check-up on how far these influences are correct. Tell me where, when and what you listened to (of) the following bands and whether or not you feel as if those bands are an influence on Rise And Fall as a band:

Celtic Frost: Cedric: I listen to the first two records almost on a daily base. This band has redefined the RIFF. They know like no other how to write a REAL RIFF. Next to that they have the sickest guitar sound, it still doesn't sound dated. Let's not forget "Morbid Tales" dates back to 1985. Yes, that's one year prior to "Reign In Blood". Bjorn pays tribute to Tom G. Warrior’s "OEGH" in every song we write.

Motörhead: Cedric: We want to be as loud as Motörhead. Next to that we try to capture the raw drive that Motörhead possesses like no other in some of our songs. You just cannot deny Motörhead's legacy on heavy music.

Leeway: Cedric: We obviously took our name from this band. This is definitely one of my favourite New York hardcore bands. AJ Novello writes amazing riffs and songs that certainly have an influence on me. Although I prefer the Born To Expire record this band has kept on progressing through their other albums without watering down.

Neurosis: Cedric: Although a lot of bands try to imitate them no one gets near the sound they've been creating since the "Souls At Zero" record. Isis? No offence, but give me a fucking break. Neurosis can be loud or quiet but they got you by the throat ALL the time! That influence kinda infiltrated on “Stakes Is High”.

Ringworm: Cedric: This band, together with Integrity and the Cro-Mags is the foundation of our sound, our starting point if you will. "We are Gods if we are heartless. Drink his blood and piss on the bastard’s carcass."

Danzig: Cedric: The first four Danzig albums are the exception on the rule that no record is perfect. There is NOT one flaw in the first four records. I know it, Bjorn knows it and you'd better know it too. His music influences me in all my musical endeavours, no matter how far stretched that might seem.

Cro-Mags: Cedric: Pure genius. The second riff in Live In Sin is my personal ten seconds of Best Wishes-era-Cro-Mags-worship.

Entombed: Cedric: Yes. As a guitarist I cannot deny the influence the sound and music of Entombed has on me. They made me turn up the mids on my amp pretty bad. From the Nihilist demos to the newer stuff, we listen to it all.

Discharge: Cedric: A band I personally discovered way too late. The pounding drums, manic guitar and raging vocals is something I want to translate in a maybe more contemporary manner in Rise And Fall.

Dead Stop: Cedric: The mark that Dead Stop has left on the hardcore scene here is nothing short of amazing. Not only are they talented musicians but they showed everyone what the essence is of playing in a hardcore punk band. From releasing their own records to creating a huge manic following to introducing kids to bands that otherwise would be long forgotten. I'm certain this band has a huge influence on every hardcore-minded band around today. It will be weird to see them play their last show.

Integrity: Cedric: As mentioned a starting point and still a big influence on the Rise And Fall sound. Personally I got into hardcore in a time where every hardcore band was starting to sound like a third-rate Slayer rip-off. Integrity showed me you can wear your Slayer influences on your sleeve while still being a real hardcore band.

Black Sabbath: Cedric: This is the band where everything starts with for me. Tuning down your guitar in 1970, creating a wall of sound surrounded by a dark overtone while everyone is wearing flowers in their hair, now that's a statement. I will listen to the first six albums everywhere anytime.

Tragedy: Cedric: One of the more recent bands that has influenced me. They create this dark, original, dirty, raw sound that reminds you that between all the crap that we're exposed to there are still bands that capture a true hardcore punk feel. Seriously, the intensity and the power they possess is almost scary. Few bands can be this convincing.

Born From Pain: Cedric: This band shows that to get somewhere you just got to do it. A shitload of hard work has gotten them where they are today, Europe's biggest hardcore band. They definitely got their shit together.

When Rise And Fall just started out you played a bunch of cover songs, I remember an Icemen song, a Ringworm song and Leeway’s Rise And Fall. It’s been a while since you played any covers, are you planning on keeping it that way, or are you cooking some up?

Bjorn: We're into playing a cool cover song once in a while but since we switched drummers and worked on "Into Oblivion" for such a long time (writing songs, recording them etc.) we didn't really have the time to learn any new covers. However, we recently recorded Integrity's "Kingdom Of Heaven" for an Integrity tribute record so I think we'll play that a couple of times too live. I have a few other songs in mind that I'd like to cover but it's hard to get everyone to agree on what we should and shouldn't do.

What’s next for Rise And Fall? What will be the next thing you’ll be recording?

Bjorn: In 2006 we'll focus on touring and playing as much as possible so we'll see how that turns out. We just recorded that Integrity cover and there's talk of maybe recording some more songs later this year for a new release in one form or another. Nothing solid yet, so I can't really tell you more.

Do you have any idea how many times you had to answer to me on this question already: Any last words?

Bjorn: This would have to be the 3rd or 4th time, I think? Probably the 4th if I count the interview we did in Roeselare in '98 outside Ronald's infamous Salon Benefit show. As always, thanks for the interview and continued support. Stay punk.


http://www.riseandfall.org/

http://www.myspace.com/riseandfall13

http://www.deathwishinc.com/

http://www.reflectionsrecords.com/

http://www.alliance-trax.com/

Saturday May 13th

First of all, welcome back and thanks for all of your patience. I know it’s been quite a while since you last heard from me. Life’s been pretty busy lately and to be really honest, doing this blog isn’t my biggest priority. Not that I have been sitting still behind the scenes. I’ve been doing some interviews and writings and stuff the last few months, but didn’t get around posting anything up here. So yeah, you could say that you aren’t rid off me yet. So today’s May 13th and what else for a comeback could be better on this very day than a new interview with True Blue’s Patrick Kitzel? I wouldn’t know. Originally I had the plan to post some live MP3s of a show True Blue played in Belgium a couple years ago, but as I haven’t figured out how to moderate anything like that you’ll have to do with just the interview. I think what Kitzel had to tell me was pretty interesting and I got answers to some questions I had on my mind for some while in typical PK-style.

What was the whole vibe or concept behind True Blue? When you guys started out kids weren’t into Cro-Mags yet and the hardcore world seemed to be under the reign of mediocre youth crew revival bands or third generation Earth Crisis-influenced bands. You dudes stood up like a sore thumb. How did a band like True Blue deal with that?

René and me never respected much separation in hardcore. We always hated and despised it. When in late ‘96 the whole “youth crew” revival arrived it was some sort of near death experience once again for hardcore. I mean for the most part all those bands and followers cared about was their ill clique of bands. I kept hearing “this ain’t hardcore, that ain’t hardcore”. It was like it had been before when the first “youth crew” came around. Nothing but separation and alienation. It seemed like everyone jumped onto that train. I mean, there were of course the few and the proud around (like Big from Mainstrike) that always had been into that sound and style, but it seemed like the new “fashion” arrived at that time. And time has proven that most kids that jocked that shit are now into whatever is cool now. Minus once again a handful of people like Big. Anyway, both, René and me would sit around and just shake our heads. We tried to look back at which bands got us into hardcore and inspired us the most and that pretty much gave us the musical direction. We didn’t try to be like anything, man. We just wanted to play a style of hardcore that we love most, you know. For us it wasn’t like “hey let’s try to sound like this or that band”. It was just natural. So we got a few peeps together and went for it.

Do you have any ideas how many shows True Blue played? What are the ones of which you have the best memories?

We probably played around a hundred shows I’d say. Best memories? I don’t know... One of the last shows we played in East Germany at some festival was a great show. Tons of kids knew the words and went nuts. I always liked playing Belgium and Holland. The whole US tour was amazing, the trips to Switzerland. It was all great. It’s always hard to talk about “best memories”. It was all good and it was all bad in a way...like real life.

What was the reason for True Blue to break up? Did you still have any unrecorded songs then? Will you ever record any of those? I heard rumours that True Blue already recorded some songs (or demo versions of songs) for an upcoming full length. Is there any truth to that? And how about that On The Attack song that World Collapse did, was that originally a True Blue song?

I guess I was the reason for the break up. I was in a weird place in my life during the last year of the band’s existing. To make things worse I couldn’t stand the people in the band anymore. In my eyes except for Rene nobody was what I’d consider hardcore. I had a hard time doing with the band what I wanted to do. People had different ideas were to take the band I guess... (editor-???) I mean, most guys in the band consider themselves musicians and I ain’t one at all. All I cared about was to get on stage and let go, to speak my mind, etc. I would fight and argue constantly with people in the band. Flo, who was a important part of the band, wanted to quit to go to school full time... It was all a mess. When we wrote the LP songs we recorded some demo versions. So, yes it’s true. Some of that might end up one way or another on the discography that’s coming out sometime soon. And yes, On The Attack was a True Blue song. We played it a few times in Europe and on the US tour. The lyrics were slightly different. I love the World Collapse version. Shit’s mad hard!

What was the meaning behind some of those abstract lyrics True Blue had, e.g. God Of Wrath?

I think that life in general inspired most words. World Collapse was about our planet going down the drain, God Of Wrath was about struggle in life, Devilangel was about people that abuse hardcore. It was important to us not to have the lyrics written a certain way, which ended up confusing a lot of people I think. I mean, we didn’t have your “step in the back” type shit.

You told me there will be a True Blue discography sometime in 2006. What will be on that CD? What label will put it out? Can we expect some new classic True Blue gear with the release of that CD?

The discography will have a ton of cool stuff. Tons of pics, flyers etc. It will have the demo, The Ice, one or two unreleased songs, live stuff, cool stuff man... I am pretty sure that there will be some merch with that release. Labelwise I am not sure. I might put it out on Reaper Records. We will see. Some bigger labels are interested so who knows.

Currently you are working on a demo of a new band you’ll sing in again, Retaliation. Who else is in that band? Can we expect to see some live shows of Retaliation, or is this band more of a project? When will the demo drop and how many songs will be on it?
We recorded 6 songs as a demo, last week. This coming week we’re gonna get the words ready and then try to go in the studio a.s.a.p. Maybe later in April or May. I’ll have to do the vocal recordings in the States. The bass will also be recorded over here in the States by Buske from The Promise/Terror. The line up is René on drums (ex-True Blue, currently in World Collapse), Frank on guitar (ex-True Blue, currently in World Collapse) and last but definitely not least my good friend J. Buske DNA on the bass (ex-The Promise, Another Victim, Terror). We will definitely play shows and try to tour. But nothing is definite yet, due to the distance of band members. Some song titles are Death By My Side, False Prophets, Kingdom Of Heaven... Hopefully we will play Yper Fest, Posi Numbers, etc. We will see. The website should be up soon too with some more info and songs and what not. Stay fucking tuned. 2006 will def bring some stuff that’s worth checking out.

Anything to add? Any cool things you wanna share about either True Blue or Retaliation that I haven’t asked you about?

Retaliation is gonna be a band to be taken serious. This is not some jaded fucking attempt to put a record out. People gonna not like what they hear. I have quite some shit to say and it won’t be pretty. The way I see hardcore these days. It’s fucking invaded by bands that might have roots in this scene but that drifted too far away from the core. Bands that no longer have any sort of message involved and def don’t sound hardcore either. Bands like As I Lay Dying, 18 Visions, Bleeding Through, Bury Your Dead and God knows who else needs to pack it up and quit playing shows within what’s called the hardcore scene. I am sick of meeting people that find out that I listen to hardcore and they go “Oh I listen to hardcore too... Do you like yada yada yada...” I get pissed off that your regular Joe thinks that this is what hardcore is. A bunch of freaks with crazy hair, tight jeans and a lyric book filled with suicidal dreams. It’s time that all this shit gets out of this scene. People think I take this shit too serious, but I mean it, hardcore can be anything you want. But if you lose all the ingredients like having a message that’s real then I don’t know what to say other than... Fucking get the fuck outta here, I don’t care what you sound like or dress like but as I said, if you don’t have the heart and the hardcore attitude and lifestyle then you ain’t supposed to be here.
Also get ready for the new Terror LP, shit’s gonna be ill!

Love it or leave it,

God bless, Patrick Kitzel DNA

www.reaperhardcore.com

www.worldcollapse.com

www.givemedrugs.com

It's Better To Burn Out Than To Fade Away!

Welcome back, this Megalomaniacal Supernaut hasn’t been sitting still lately, only it doesn’t show from this blog. Anyway, I’m back from a small hiatus and I’m ready to throw shit at that blogfan again. Obviously I won’t be updating daily like my blog splinter bomb before last year’s end, but I’ll try to update a few times every month again. I’ve got a lot of interesting stuff up my sleeve, you’ve been forewarned.
First things first, as you might have heard already, the greatest European hardcore band ever is breaking up. Dead Stop’s calling it a day, a lot of people knew about it already, but now it’s official, there’s no turning back and, yes, we’re all gonna cry when that last feedback fades. Well, I know I am going to. I know it is kinda lame for hardcore bands to have some sort of press statements about why they are breaking up and stuff, but then again, you better take a stand as a band as to why you are breaking before the world wide messageboard maelstrom breaks out and ends up twisting the truth.

So, here’s Dead Stop’s official notice:

"Though the decision to break up was a hard one to take, we feel like there is no better time to do it than now. We have accomplished everything we wanted to achieve with this band and then some. Rather than fizzling out like a candle we would like to go out with a bang, now that we are still fully enjoying what we do and before petty bullshit ruins what we have built throughout the last 4 years. We feel that with "Live For Nothing" we have written the best record we were capable of and have said everything we wanted to say with Dead Stop. We've been all over Europe, from England to Greece and from Norway to Spain . We've toured the US twice. We got the chance to play our beloved Lintfabriek countless times and got to share the stage with a lot of the bands we greatly respect. We are grateful for all the support we've gotten and all the craziness and hardcore enthusiasts that followed us nearly anywhere we went but it is time for something new. New challenges and new bands. We started this band to pay tribute to the early 80's hardcore pioneers we all loved and most kids seemed to have forgotten about. At the same time we were sick of seeing lame bands playing watered down hardcore to bored crowds. With a lot of hard work we managed to gain monumentum rather quickly and soon played shows of which we could only have dreamed of playing before, plus we think we managed to open a lot of people's eyes to the truly important and often overlooked early 80's hardcore bands that inspired us and brought us together in the first place. We are proud of everything we have achieved and how we achieved it. Thank you all for your support and we hope to see you all on the 20th of May and/or at the other shows we'll be playing before we say goodbye."

Dead Stop’s only planned on playing a few last shows all over Europe, if you can’t make it to the final show try to check ‘em out at one of these shows:

February 24th – Antwerpen, Belgium w/ Career Suicide, Seein’ Red

February 25th – Kortrijk, Belgium w/ Justice

March 3rd – Brugge, Belgium w/ Turn The Screw

March 23rd – Gent, Belgium w/ White Crime Club & Minutemen documentary

March 25th – Hoogstraten, Belgium w/ The Kids

April 2nd – Manchester, UK w/ Underdog, Justice

April 9th - Hengelo, Holland w/ Underdog, Justice

April 29th – Barcelona, Spain w/ Restless Youth, Fearless Vampire Killers, Bold

May 7th – Bremen, Germany w/ Fearless Vampire Killers

May 20th – Kontich, Belgium w/ Set To Explode, Iron Boots, Annihilation Time

One more thing, if you are one of those idiots thinking about Dead Stop as a mediocre hardcore band I suggest you a few things: 1) Done With You 2) Live For Nothing 3) Larry Edge 4) a clue. Besides, if Dead Stop is more than good enough for Dave Byrd, Poison Idea’s Jerry A and Henk Kangaroo, why wouldn’t it be for you? Just get out and find another “hobby”.

Also, Complete Control Records have just launched their freshly designed website, you can read their news update about Dead Stop, Restless Youth, Justice and the upcoming tours of Annihilation Time, Iron Boots, Set To Explode and Underdog by clicking here!

Let’s stick to Dead Stop for today’s entry. Last November Dead Stop flew across the Atlantic again, not that it is their only place to go, but one of the many, to tour part of the United States for a second time. This time I unfortunately couldn’t make it, but GLUEtarian Bjorn Dossche could and kept a little tour diary for us, Get-In-The-Van-style. Check it out, read it, close your eyes and pretend to be surrounded by these dudes in a van or at a venue, it’s not the real deal, but with a bit of imagination you get the overall idea! Thanks to Dossche for hooking me up.

SATURDAY 10/29/2005: THE BASEMENT, NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ: Landed at JFK around noon local time, picked up the rental van which to our surprise had been pimped (it had a Dead Kennedys logo scratched on the side) and set sail for the first show of the tour. We got to New Jersey early as hell which left us with some time to kill. We strolled around town but there wasn't much to see so we just got pizza (in case we wouldn't have the chance to eat pizza in the next 2 weeks) and hung out. The show was in a basement which got me excited because I guess it's just an American thing you know... basement shows. We met up with the 86 Mentality and Set To Explode dudes and Dave Sausage who'd taken care of Dead Stop's merch and brought them their Havoc LPs and their 7"s on his own label, Six Feet Under. He takes care of business! To everyone's surprise the show started in time and I remember Set To Explode putting on a good show, as well as an awesome 86 Mentality set with original guitarist John, since their current guitarist was still in Europe wandering around. They got a great response and set the mood for the rest of the night. Dead Stop was next and did fairly well - kids were going off but I knew the best was yet to come. Forward To Death sounded very Black Flag-ish and covered the Dead Kennedys. Headlining tonight was Kill Your Idols and we were all siked about that since it's been ages since they've been to Europe. Kids went nuts and rightfully so. Their set ended with a ton of Breakdown demo covers, "It's Clobberin' Time" and their Jawbreaker cover. Good times. After the show Coorde explained us all what "grease trucks" were and we drove to DC where we were staying at the hardcore mansion there, with dudes like Tad To Explode and AfterMatt living there.

SUNDAY 10/30/2005: THE U-TURN, WASHINGTON, DC: Jason from 86 Mentality had organized this DC hardcore matinee and I was thinking how crazy it was that we were actually in DC - one of the most crucial cities in the history of hardcore. This show just had to be cool, there was no other way. It was definitely sweet to see that a lot of kids turned up... and it also made Jason's day a little less stressful. Forced Forward went on first and just when I told Michiel that they kinda reminded me of old Rollins Band meets 108, they busted out a 108 cover. Pretty cool. Even cooler was talking to their singer after the show about Liar, Congress and the H8000 scene. Set To Explode played another explosive set, with some crowd response and the band going off on stage, causing John's amp to take a nosedive and nearly die a painful death. Dead Stop was welcomed as if they were coming home after having been away for a year. There were circle pits, lots of kids singing along to the Done With You songs and Dead Stop was getting into gear. DC's own bastard sons 86 Mentality then went on and boy... mayhem ensued. Hard as fuck, tight and dudes were definitely "getting aggro". Awesome show. The only bummer was that Gert twisted his ankle while doing the pogo to 86 Mentality and his foot looked fucked. And it was the foot he uses to play his kick pedal. Despite everyone being worried Gert played every show of the tour, this dude is obviously hard as nails...if you've seen his leather jacket you know why. After the show we all got some awesome vegan food at Jason's house, while Michiel played "House Of The Rising Sun" on an acoustic guitar. Even though everyone was dead tired, a few of us went to the Black Cat (owned by one of the Iron Cross dudes) afterwards to chill, play pool, get drunk and request Bad Brains, Bowie and Stooges songs on the jukebox. Awesome night.

MONDAY 10/31/2005: NANCI RAYGUN, RICHMOND, VA: Dead Stop and myself had been really looking forward to this show because we all know a bunch of people there, plus Richmond has a reputation for being one of the best cities for hardcore shows these days on the East Coast...and Dead Stop had already played an awesome show there last year. So after some serious shopping in a mall halfway between DC and Richmond we get to the venue, which is an awesome and spacious (but punk looking) place, kinda like our own Lintfabriek. It was awesome getting to see old friends again and catching up. Great food too. Government Warning played this show, they were really good and include members of Direct Control and Alex Dimatessa, one of the nicest dudes ever and owner of Grave Mistake Records. Mad As Hell played too, their second show ever as this band is kind of a goofy side project of various Richmond scenesters and Down To Nothing members. Things got kinda wild already and when Set To Explode starting playing kids went off even more. The band was on form and a lot of kids already knew the 7" songs. A raging and energetic set, definitely one to remember. I had been watching Set To Explode with my man Jason Mazzola, and as soon as they were done he turned to me and said: "That old man's still angry" (referring to Dave Byrd) and that about sums it up. Then it was Dead Stop's turn. Now I knew it was going to be good, but this show was actually off the hook. An awesome response and Dead Stop raging harder than a motherfucker. Opening their set with "Tied Down" was a great idea, and so was closing with a couple of Bad Brains covers. Kids were eating that shit raw. The cool thing was that the response to the covers and their own songs was nearly the same - I was proud of them. After the show we hung out with the Iron Boots dudes and other cool people that were there. Iron Boots seemed determined to make it to Europe in 2006, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed! We left Richmond around midnight because we had a long drive ahead of us, to Daytona Beach, Florida.

TUESDAY 11/01/2005: SEABREEZE LOUNGE, DAYTONA BEACH, FL: Driving overnight turned out to be a tight plan because it meant we arrived around noon, drove up to the beach and actually just parked the van on the beach, hopped out and jumped into the sea. Best thing ever. The waves were big and the water was warm and it was the first of November. Siked! After getting food and exploring Daytona Beach (nearly deserted when it's not summer) we got to the club early. Lino, Larry and me chilled with the girl that owned the club. The club was sketchy looking to say the least. It usually housed death metal shows, and there was exactly one customer there, who seemed to be on a serious bad trip and kept yelling at himself in the mirror. The girl that owned the place was kinda nice, kinda chubby and kinda not so smart, but she did tell us about how she "redecorated" the place with a chainsaw while a death metal band was playing. Cool. When Billy, the promoter, got there and brought us food we knew it was gonna be cool because Billy rules. The first band played and covered Infest, Discharge, Charles Bronson and more. I forgot their name though. When it was time for Dead Stop to go on, Billy took the mic and told the 40 kids there how awesome it was of them to come and then went on to motivate everyone to buy Dead Stop gear, support touring bands and small shows and then got kinda angry when he thought of the 22 year old washed up computer nerds that don't even bother coming to shows no more. He was on fire and so were the 40 kids there by the time he'd finished. The show was awesome, constant circle pitting, singalongs, tons of energy. Larry was doing circle pits! We stayed at Billy's house, which was like a hardcore mansion where all kids came to hang out. We all went kinda crazy when we saw pictures of Floorpunch and Degradation, taken at our own legendary Lintfabriek...not to mention the awesome Liar picture! Billy took us out for breakfast the next morning, told us about his company called "Straight Edge Cuts" and his motto: "If it's not straight, it will be". I miss Billy!

WEDNESDAY 11/02/2005: THE BEDROOM, ATLANTA, GA: Atlanta, Georgia. None of us knew much about Atlanta, nor about the scene down there but still we were kind of excited to be there. If all went according to plan Dave K. of Hardware Fanzine fame was gonna be at this show...but he wasn't. The show got moved in the last week or so and ended up being a house show. We got to the house at around seven and chilled there. Ordered pizza and hung out on the porch which was fun. Kids started showing up and to avoid a huge bum out if cops would show up and shut the show down, Dead Stop went on first. They played someone's bedroom and the place was packed with kids. Not a whole lot of moving around, but a tight set none the less and during the Bad Brains covers things got crazy. We sold merch in the kitchen and talked to drunk locals and vampires. If I remember it well, two other bands went on after Dead Stop, one featuring Jesse, our host for tonight. Jesse used to be a drug dealer and got very enthusiastic when we told him most of us did drugs, weed, coke, XTC and what have you. That was cool. He wasn't even too bummed out when it turned out we were just making shit up and four out of the six dudes at his house were actually straight edge. Jesse also did Dead Stop a huge favour by calling and threatening UPS because they kept fucking up the delivery of a package with some extra merch Dead Stop had ordered. He drove to the local UPS office early in the morning and worked it out, and returned with the box. Much respect.

THURSDAY 11/03/2005: RAMP RIDERS, ST. LOUIS, MO: Set To Explode didn't play the past two shows so tonight was our "reunion" with those dudes. Plus tonight would also be Michiel's debut on guitar for Set To Explode since their guitarist John couldn't do the whole tour due to legal issues or something like that. This show was in a huge skate park which made me wish I wasn't such a loser and could actually skate. Dave Byrd proved that you're only as old as you act and impressed everyone with his skills in the half pipe. Quite a sight seeing this 34 year old rip it up with a stylish pink safety helmet. Since everyone was obviously hungry we decided to order pizza and I'll be damned if this wasn't some of the best pizza I ever had. Rob who put on the show also told us he was taking us out for pizza after the show too so this was perfect. Unfortunately not too many kids showed up tonight, even though Dead Stop had played an awesome show in St Louis the year before... Hardcore kids, who understands them? Rob's band Cardiac Arrest played a good set and a band called Step On It played a few songs too, but I thought they sucked and the whole vibe was definitely getting weird. "Going through the motions" would best describe their set and the response they got. Michiel's first show with Set To Explode went really well, without rehearsing once as a band – quite spectacular. Tad To Explode was so taken back by how well things went that he stopped playing for a few seconds. When Dead Stop played kids were a little hesitant at first but the longer they played, the more kids got into it and "Nervous Breakdown" did the rest. Overall, a forgettable show, but there was pizza and casinos ahead, so whatever! Pizza was good again and the casino was on a boat that was in the Mississippi river, the natural border between Missouri and Illinois. Gambling is illegal in Missouri, so the boat was on the Illinois' side of the river. I love America! Larry and Lino proceeded to win $300 in the casino while poor folks like Michiel and me just ordered free drinks and went sight seeing on the upper deck of the casino boat. Tad To Explode played blackjack the whole night, no one knows why as he didn't make a buck. He's a hero though! It got late so we went back to stay at this huge house/squat that looked like the HQ of an underground rebel army.

FRIDAY 11/04/2005: HAUNTED KITCHEN, KANSAS CITY, KS: Well, this show wasn't in Kansas City, but a smaller town about half an hour further down. It took us a while to get there and everyone in the van got kinda nervous to meet Felix Havoc, Dead Stop's US label boss, for the first time. The show was in the basement of a pretty big squatted house. First person we saw when getting out of the van of course was Felix! Larry was on the verge of a nervous breakdown! Felix Havoc looked normal and didn't appear to have a gun on him, nor did I see any blood anywhere, so that was cool. Felix was nice as hell, he was there with Regulations from Sweden who he was driving around on their nearly two month long US/Canada tour. What I remember about this show:
1. Some of the best mashed potatoes I ever had, EVER.
2. This 40+ hardcore dude with a Cro-Mags shirt that drove four hours to see Dead Stop. He had kids and a wife and was so stoked to see Dead Stop it was unreal.3. Kids in Justice shirts.4. People going nuts to Regulations in that mid ‘90s French emo style. This is how you do it: wiggle back and forth, wear glasses, hold your shoulders (or backpack) with both hands. Cry if you want to. Weird.

SATURDAY 11/05/2005: TC UNDERGROUND, MINNEAPOLIS, MN: After the show in Kansas we drove halfway to Minneapolis and slept in a motel. Today was actually a day off but we wanted to check out the first day of the Midwest Hardcore Fest, Extreme Noise Records and Minneapolis. I can tell you now that Extreme Noise is one of the best hardcore punk stores I've ever been too. Everyone was stoked and bought loads. Lino neglected to buy Belgian hardcore classic Strike The Match by Nations On Fire for $1, luckily Larry was there to buy it instead of him. I only saw a few bands play due to the Mall Of America, the presence of the internet in the venue, the record store next door and the absence of bands I really wanted to see. State was pretty good though and so was Caustic Christ. The show was done around ten. Coorde, Gert and me and went to check out a show in another club in town, with Coliseum, Torche and Kylesa. Not too many people there either, but both Torche and Kylesa played blazing sets, with a huge crushing sound. Coliseum is a great band, but their show was a bit of a letdown due to the sloppy sound. While we were head banging, Dave Byrd and Tom To Explode nearly got in a fight with a bunch of bouncers from the bar next door.Day 2 of the fest, with Dead Stop, Set To Explode and Regulations. Before those three went on, I also saw a young local Lockin' Out type band called Listen Up and they were good too. The singer's stage presence reminded me of a young Matt Bold. I didn't see most of the other bands due to merch duties. All in all, Felix and everyone involved with the fest were kinda disappointed with the turnout as they were expecting 200 to 300 people to show up and I'm guessing there were only maybe 100 people there. Still, Set To Explode played another solid set, some people even knew the Government Issue cover which must've made Dave Byrd happy (for a little while). Dead Stop also played a solid set and got a good response, especially when they covered Minor Threat. It's funny to see a whole room explode after a whole day of standing around. Just like last night, it seemed most people were excited to see Regulations, and even though I'm not a fan, I can understand why cause this band does what they do well, they have presence, a good sound and play tight. Highlight of the day was actually going for pasta with the whole tour "crew" (Dead Stop + Set To Explode + roadies), some of the best pasta I had in 2005. Unfortunately plans for another night out were cancelled because we had a long drive ahead of us and we wanted to hang out in Chicago before the show tomorrow night too. Too bad cause I really wanted to see Big Business who were playing elsewhere in town.

MONDAY 11/07/2005: PULASKI PARK DISTRICT BUILDING, CHICAGO, IL: Chicago is cool. Checked some record stores and second hand clothing stores, didn't buy much, but it was cool to stroll around. My man Cedric loves Chicago and I can't say that I don't understand why! The show tonight was at some kind of community center at the edge of town, there was a daycare center for kids and an indoor basketball court. Cool. There was a ping pong table in there, so Lino and me went for it and played 25 sets or something ridiculous like that. We also met the fella who does Lifeline Records (Modern Life Is War, Kill Your Idols etc), a really nice guy. The room the show was held in was too big and wide, and again, there was no stage, but whatever. Turnout was good for a Monday night. Wound Up was playing this show too and to everyone's surprise they covered The Kids' "Fascist Cops" in honour of the Belgians that were in their town. Unfortunately for them people weren't really into them and the "zotte sfeer" was definitely absent. Weird, cause this was their 7" release show, and as we discovered afterwards, their last show too. "Is anyone angry?", is what Dave Byrd asked the crowd tonight. Before anyone could think of something that pissed them off, Set To Explode had already played half of their songs. I could keep saying this, but this was another raging set, this band doesn't disappoint. Some crowd participation too, but it wasn't until Dead Stop went on that this show started looking like a hardcore show... Lino dedicating a Bad Brains cover to the one black guy in the audience was a winner too. Good show. Mexican food afterwards and some drinking and brawling (courtesy of who else than the mighty Dave "Monsieur l'Oiseau" Byrd?) ended a fine night in Chicago. We stayed at Mark from Punch In The Face/Wound Up/Pinkeye's place which was a really nice loft. The man also showed us around Chicago the day after which was nice of him. Too bad the Married With Children fountain was out of service.

TUESDAY 11/08/2005: REFUGE SKATE SHOP, DEARBORN, MI: A tiny skate shop in Dearborn, Michigan (fifteen minutes from Detroit) was the setting for tonight's show. Due to some other shows happening the same night (Converge and Ringworm somewhere in Detroit for example), this show wasn't too crowded. The skate shop was cool though and the owner/promoter of the show was a really nice dude, so hanging out was fun. I don't really remember much else, besides the Mexican food we got after the show and the sleepover at the dude's house, with Tad To Explode threatening to kill Lino if he didn't stop making fun of Tad's hair. Good times. By this time it became obvious that Tad was a genuine "heerser" and an interesting character to say the least. He also decided to wear his hair down instead of Discharge-styled in order to cross the border to Canada without getting into trouble.

WEDNESDAY 11/09/2005: ADRIFT SKATE PARK, TORNTO, ON: Armed with a semi waterproof plan (we had a "contract" for one show in Canada and the other one got “cancelled”) and Michiel's expertise at the wheel we got to the Canadian border early in the morning. As expected we had to get out of the van, the van got searched, Michiel got questioned and we had to wait for quite a while until we were finally allowed into Canada. When I think of Canada I think of Spoiler and Friday, No Warning, Haymaker, Fucked Up, Criminally Insane and Cursed, so needless to say that everyone was pretty fucking excited, me especially since it was my first time there. Oh, on the way to Toronto Gert also decided to call Set To Explode to say that we'd been refused access to Canada and would have to try to get in through another border. Afterwards it turned out this had led to serious panic attacks in Camp To Explode, a bunch of calls to American Border personnel and DC officials. Uh oh! Got to Toronto, went shopping, drank hot chocolate, hung out with a few heroin junkies at McDonalds and then head to the house where we'd be spending the night and where the dudes that did the show lived (one of them sings for Urban Blight). They'd cooked up some great food and we hung out before heading to the show, which was in the back of a skate shop. It had a little ramp in the back too. Cool. Turnout was good and so were the opening bands. Dave Walling was there, the dude has driven up all the way from Philly. Heerser. Terminal State played a good solid set of fast, trashy hardcore and Gunnar Hansen were really good too. Early 80's styled stuff with a Black Flag touch. Their singer was a true madman, foaming at the mouth, running and rolling all over the place wearing a white Justice shirt, which he later tied around his head. Toronto was ready for Set To Explode, who were on form tonight, as well as Dead Stop who got the crowd moving again. Mostly from left to right and back. Dave Byrd was moshing. Good show. Food afterwards was brilliant and so was Tad's quote of the night: "No, it's not like that man".

THURSDAY 11/10/2005: CAF L’INCO, MONTREAL, QB: Half of Dead Stop drove up with Dave Walling, reportedly listening to a lot of death metal on the way to Montreal which made me jealous because I hadn't heard any metal in over ten days at this point. Montreal was cold as fuck. We got to the venue and heard this was the same place where Fearless Vampire Killers had played an insane show a few weeks ago. How cool. Set up and merch and chilled inside while we waited for Spoiler The Legend to show up. It was awesome seeing him again, he hadn't changed much, a new camo jacket maybe, but his Side By Side sweater was still there! I kinda forgot about the bands that played this show, I remember a band that kinda sounded like Think I Care and the singer was wearing a sleeveless Celtic Frost shirt. Friday got there too in the meantime and a dude from Inepsy was selling some second hand CDs. My Revenge from Vermont played too and started with a Slayer cover. Don't know what else to say except that my mom told me to keep my mouth shut if I didn't have anything nice to say. Set To Explode's set started with the best intro ever: Dave Byrd walking up the stage and saying "What's up, we're Striking Distance". Maybe he drank a little too much? Didn't matter though, the old man was as angry as ever and even though only Gert Dead Stop was singing along to the Government Issue cover, this still was a really good set. Tension started building by now and you could kinda feel that people were excited to see Dead Stop (again). Starting off with the infamous Justice intro "for The Spoiler" the place went nuts from start to finish. I remember a bunch of Bad Brains covers getting thrown in the mix ("The Regulator", "Right Brigade", "We Will Not") and a Void cover as well. Anyway, this was a blistering set with an awesome response, definitely one of the best shows on the tour. Larry, Dave Byrd and Spoiler getting in that moshpit...what more could one ask for? After the show and after chilling with the club's owner and discussing Leeway we head out for a sightseeing trip through Montreal, in our van of course and then ate with Mr. and Mrs. Spoiler before crashing at their place. I love hardcore.

FRIDAY 11/11/2005: REGENERATION, BOSTON, MA: Left Montreal early so we'd get to Boston at a decent hour. No borders problems this time, Coorde even made friends with the officer on duty. "How's that video game working out for you son?" "Oh well, you win some, you lose some." We got to the venue easily and found out it was punk hardcore record store and tattoo parlor, then we head into town for some shopping and food cause the show was gonna start pretty late anyway. The store was turned into an awesome venue with a small, but cool stage and gradually more and more people came in... The show ended up being sold out (I think over 150 paid to get in) and some people wound up not getting in at all. The place was packed by the time Killer Fiction played, a new band featuring Mike from Striking Distance on guitar. They were actually quite good, reminding me of Integrity at times and Entombed at others. Say Goodbye played too and was well received. Set To Explode's show highlight was seeing Al Quint lose it to the Government Issue cover. Actually, the whole set was really fucking good, again. Can't wait to see this band again when they hit Europe. While Dead Stop was setting up and getting ready to play I could feel there was a certain vibe in the air that reminded me of Belgian shows... People were stoked to see Dead Stop and they were about to witness an absolutely blinding set, with tons of energy, stagedives, moshing and mayhem. It didn't even matter that the vocal amplifier sounded like absolute shit. This show was insane and a perfect end for an awesome tour.Thank you Dead Stop, Larry, Set To Explode and everyone else who made these two weeks as awesome as they were.

Bjorn Dossche