Winterview #2 by Γιώργος Χριστόπουλος

WINTERVIEW

ISSUE#2 • JANUARY 2015

Texts

Contents

Layout

Ruined Familes / This Routine Is Hell Tour Report

Λήθη / Conspiracy Of Denial Tour Report

Gig Reports

The Estranged

Αρχή Του Τέλους / Mass Culture

Lifewreck

Review Section

Giorgos and Dinos

Giorgos Mike (http://putrefurnaced.tumblr.com)

Cover Art

Si, ma però (http://si-ma-pero.tumblr.com)

Thanks

to Mike for Λήθη/COD report layout, AτΤ/MC cover and all his help, Fenia for cover’s artwork, Andreas and Christina for Λήθη/COD report cover sketch, Thanos and Katerina, EuZine for ΠΡΟΚΑΤ35 photos, all the bands featured and everybody who helped us in any other way

Things are flowing fast in the Greek south west shithole... by Dinos

ell, well, it’s been a while since last time, right? interview Fanzine is back in style with a brand new issue, and, of course, a huge delay of a year and a half or so... I really do not know if I want to apologize for that, ‘cause, on one hand, I am free to work and release this shit whenever I feel the need to do so, but on the other hand, life, reality, the socio-political situation, and facts in the music we love and in the scene we are involved, are all dynamic. They change, they evolve, they collapse, and they stabilize every single day passing by, and, as a result, it’s sometimes really hard to follow in hindsight all this development. Two months after the first issue (June 2013), Parartima Squat, the heart of our local scene and political activity, got cowardly evicted by the state in a summer morning, along with two other squats of the town, which was a fatal blow for the local anarchist movement. People split and broke away to several smaller teams and collectives, rent some spaces, and started to organize their speech and fight with new terms and points of reference, in a more “detached” way -in my opinion-, but, indeed, with not so many alternatives to proceed to anything different. The days had been dark for a whole year, until December 2014, when the struggle of the imprisoned anarchist, Nikos Romanos, his request for an educational leave, the hunger strike he put himself through, and, finally, his victory against the most oppressive and violent system we have faced the last years in Greece, brought the light, inspired us, made our way to the streets, and turned on our clear thinking, so that we could, at last, wisely decide to act collectively. In Patras, as a climax of our fight, we decided to re-occupy the historic place of Parartima, make it again a fighting center, and, of course, keep it,

as an essential space of anarchist / radical left activity in the town and a daily threat to the normality of the city’s routine. This was a good example of how unpredictably and quickly things are flowing, wasn’t it? Among all these changes, fortunately, my home squat Prokat35 had been safe for all that time, staying active and strong, still hosting bands from all over the globe, booking shows, and bringing the anti-commercial air of self-organizing in the city, while the guys from Diskollectiv continued to organize weekly DIY events at “Επί Τα Πρόσω” (Epi Ta Proso) social center, some of them for the support of a new compact-disc printing machine for the Greek DIY scene. There has also been a new collective, called Studio Τέχνασμα (Technasma – Artifice) for a year or so, which usually organizes some cool events in the anarchist space Ανατόπια (Anatopia), like screenings, music bars, musical conversations under the DIY perspective, and, less often, some jams and live shows with local acts in several corners of Patras. Lastly, Alexis from Les SkartOi!s’ fame -probably one of the best ska / rock-steady Greek bands of all time- reactivated Burn This Town bookings and began to organize punk rock shows once in two months in several clubs of the city. Bands-wise, our local heroes Fields Of Locust released a great 12” split LP with Mass Culture from Athens, offering two sides of heavy, sludgy and trippy music, while Ραδιένεργα Κατάλοιπα (Radienerga Katalipa – Radioactive Waste) released a split CD with Burn The Boredom from Mytiline, including ten tracks of classic Greek hc punk with thrash elements. Sardanapalm Death released a brand new full-length called “Κονομικός Κύκλος” (‘Conomical Circle) in vi2

nyl format and toured Europe with thrashers Terror Detonator from the capital. Λήθη (Lethe – Oblivion) released their debut 12” LP in a dark blackened crust background and toured Europe last April along with Conspiracy Of Denial from Athens. Dirty Wombs returned with a new 12” full-length LP, “Opposite Flow”, and a European tour with Lifewreck from Athens, and whoa! Dala Sun, our sludge buddies are back on the map for shows and probably more. Last but not least, Σάρκα Στο Ζώο (Sarka Sto Zoo – Flesh In Animal) have done several shows all over Greece and I hope to be listening to some recordings by them, soon. Unfortunately, Μαύρα Πρόβατα (Mavra Provata – Black Sheep) disbanded during 2014 with a few tracks having been recorded, as rumors say.

shows in the university, whose line-ups were Fields Of Locust / Mass Culture / Αρχή Του Τέλους, and Ruined Families / Jungbluth / Lentic Waters, respectively, were serially killer, plus the show with post-punks Era Of Fear from Xanthi and some cool youngsters CFS from Amaliada city at Prokat35, which was also worth remembering. Τα Στούκας / Αχαϊρευτοι / Λόξα / Μαύρα Χάλια -all in Greek here- was the last insane show of 2014 in our squat.

At this point, I’m really happy to announce that from now on, Winterview Fanzine will have two daddies. Giorgos & Dinos, Dinos & Giorgos team up in order to give this paper the best possible treatment. Expect more things in the future; love for music and shows, great foreign and Greek interviews, tour reports, and So, I guess this column got to be the sequel of “Pa- other really cool stuff. Take care, enjoy reading! tras Scene Report” as published in the previous issue, which was featured in the legendary US zine Maximum Rock ‘N’ Roll, in issue #376, September 2014, Winterview Fanzine, December 2014. as well. To conclude, some really memorable shows the local punks had the opportunity to attend lately in Patras, are definitely two ultimately crazy and dirty P.S.: If you are a DIY band and want a show in Patras, shows at Prokat35 Squat, one with Lifewreck / Con- too, contact here: prokat35@gmail.com. spiracy Of Denial / Gutter / Ήλιος Θανάτου & Dirty P.S.2: If you want - for any reason - to contact WinWombs, and a second with Zvarna / Skomma / Jager- terview, visit https://winterviewpunk.wordpress.com anut / Terror Detonator and Lethe. Two more outdoor or mail us right away at winterviewpunk@gmail.com. 3

Narration by Dinos, March 2014 Photos by Dinos, Nocturne Mag, Zero Nebula Artwork by Takis Zontiros Day 1, 27/2/2014, Thessaloniki, Greece First big tour ever. First attempt at something I always wanted to do. Mixed feelings. Especially because of all those important things I should leave behind, at that moment. However, there was only one way. I had to live every single moment of that upcoming experience. I had to fully concentrate on that tour, so here we go...

but for fuck’s sake we just wanted to play a show! Anyway, the warriors of Biologica Squad, and very good friends of mine, swooped down on the entrance, as if there were coming right from the “Braveheart” filmings, and settled the issue immediately.

Indeed, it’s so stirring to play such shows in Greece ...in places so familiar for the local hardcore / punk scene, run by amazing people who dedicate themselves to the worldwide DIY network. It’s just a great big pleasure! For the time being, this gig collective is probably Early in the morning, the guys from the most active all over the country. Ruined Families (RF) received the They greeted us with smiles and van, loaded with all of our stuff hugs, we had a small chat, and they -heads, cabins, merch etc.-, picked served us some really tasty vegan me up in the center of Athens, and food including a delicious potato then we left together, heading north, salad with pleurotous mushrooms. towards the beautiful city of ThesYummy! saloniki. The trip was easy and comfortable since we were just the five of us and it was later that evening when we met This Routine Is Hell (TRIH) at the airport of Thessaloniki. Biologica Squad, a collective of punks who run a squat in the university area of the city, was setting our show. The first unexpected incident came soon in our way, as two unfriendly guards in the entrance of the university were completely unwilling to let us in. Well, I don’t know whether following orders or choosing to be on the state’s side in the war it has started against squats and occupied places can be considered as a “job”, 5

We set our merchandise next to the bar, and some time after the soundcheck, the first band got up on stage and the show started with youngsters Backyard’s Finest from Tyrnavos, a small town in central Greece. They were good. Their set was solid and contained a mix of hardcore (more into NYHC and NU metal), punk rock -vocals wise-, and crust punk elements. The sound was satisfying and people enjoyed their appearance.

back in the bar, but when I went in front of the stage I really felt some strong vibes. They were energetic, they were dirty, they were catchy and they just proved why they have become a big name during these last years. Nice set! We played last. It was my first show with the guys and I was absolutely thrilled. We quickly checked our sound and eagerly started playing. We had tons of energy and I do believe we played quite well. At least, I lived it up! Ruined Families’ tracks are electrifying and their new record “Blank Language” is totally a killer one. You should definitely check this. Shortly after the end of the show, we disconnected our backline, loaded the van -using the classic “tetris” mode- and farewelled all the great guys of the squat. Unfortunately, we didn’t hang out ‘cause we decided we ‘d better stay in the same place for the night. Alexis, a friend of RF, hosted the team, and I fell for a sweet sleep on the floor... Perfect day! (thanx: Natalia, Dimitris, Dimitra, Martina, Lazaros, Thanos, Grigoris, Andreas, the sound guys, and of course Alex!)

The alcohol was flowing, we all had Day 2, 28/2/2014, Sofia, Bulgaria a huddle, and the fan mode reached the maximum level. TRIH were Alexis’ hospitality was way beyond next. In the beginning, I was sitting compare. We woke up at around

two or even three times, and then staged our backline. The show began early. The first band was a local one, called Lapsus Linguae. They were okay, but, un10.30-11 am. We washed up, picked fortunately, the sound did not help. our backpacks and sleeping bags, They played something between listened to some ‘60s & ‘70s vinyl d-beat hardcore and crust / grind records and took a breakfast in in a normal set of 25-30 minutes. Navarinou street where our good SDX (from Bulgaria, too) followed friend Giannis from Greek zombie in the line-up, and they were top thrashers, Faithreat, met us for a class! They had elements of melodic couple of minutes. hardcore just like Comeback Kid or the Serbians, The Bridge, and We faced no difficulties in passing I utterly loved their songs. There the boarders to Bulgaria. However, were about 40 people in the venue, the view was a far cry from attracwho also seemed to be entertained tive. Grey skies, unplastered walls by the whole show, and during our and houses, poor people using sets a small team consisted of the horses and donkeys instead of cars promoters, whipped things into and a corresponding lack of natural frenzy, turning their high spirits beauty, compose the scenery of the and passion into crowd-surfing and Bulgarian province, as we saw it on moshing. the second day of our Balkan tour. We were all in a high mood after After a difficult trip, we finally arthe show and I had some interestrived in Sofia and went straight to ing discussions with 2-3 people that the venue, Grindhouse Skateclub. It were still in the venue. Besides, takis about a cool bar with a big halfing the bad economics of Bulgaria pipe for the local skaters in its one today into account, I appreciated side. The smiling guys who welthat people supported RF and TRIH comed us, book this place whenever by buying stuff from the merchanthey want to host a gig, and this is dise. The next trip was big, so we how the underground DIY scene made for our sleeping places. moves in Sofia, in general. They offered us food that contained two We split in two teams / two houses sorts of chick peas and it was good, (I didn’t go to the promoters’ place) in the center of Sofia and slept indeed. Each of us filled his plate

well, only to embrace the wonderful morning of the next day... Floor again, but it was okay. We were a bit drunk. Some last laughs, some awkward situations (…) and a wi-fi key that was never given, were the last moments of our second day. (thanx: Mitko, Georgie and Teodora!) Day 3, 1/3/2014, Novi Sad, Serbia The morning in Sofia was simply AMAZING! We met up in Mitko & Georgie’s house. Those two, along with Teodora, had in store the best of hospitalities for us. They treated us to tea and some tasty vegan pancakes with cherry filling. We sat in the small living room, listened to records (Birds In Row and lots of more), and had conversations of many different subjects, such as Greek punk, upcoming gigs, the products of BIOMET (a Greek self-organized collective / industry) which they had procured from a local social center, fanzines, as well as the funny fact that Greek men are short, whereas Dutch women are tall(!). I also found the first issue of the fanzine that you’re now reading in these people’s library. What a surprise! We left these lovely people, bought some food for the trip, and took the road to Serbia and Novi Sad. We almost crossed the whole country that day. After 5 hours of easy

Ruined Families are Takis (vocals), Giorgos & Thanos (guitars), Nikos (bass), Antonis (drums) They have released Four Wall Freedom 12” LP (2010), Ruined Families 7” EP (2012), Blank Language 12” LP(2013) 6

tour. He was the one setting our show, so we were soon found in his cosy kitchen cutting together tons of vegetables, so that Vuk could cook a scrumptious soup with tomato sauce in a huge kettle. We swelled up and our stomaches began weird games... We had a nice afternoon, relaxing on the couch, making fun with each other, using the toilet one by one(!) and having some fine cold booze, just before the beginning of the concert.

driving in a dreamscape of rivers and bridges, and some minutes of driving with terror drawn on our faces, since we left with the hatchback of the van wide open, after a short stop we did because of a big hitch that blocked our way, we finally arrived at Drustveni Centar, the only occupied space in the city, at this moment. The place is awesome. There was an impressive piece of street art and graffiti in its inside, as well as many rooms for various functions, lounge, guestroom, bar, dining hall, gig space, even a free / donating wardrobe where the guys from TRIH decided to have an extreme makeover(!!). Vuk The Incredible was our man for the third day of the 7

First band were four cool fellows coming from a village at the boarders between Serbia & Hungary. They were called Spark, and were brilliant. They delivered some excellent music influenced by the 80’s US-HC scene, with technique, like a modern version of RKL. Each one was infallible, yet energetic, and I really wished they had some records with them. I promised at once that I was going to look for their music as soon as I got back home. The guys from the Netherlands followed. Their sound was perfect and the people seemed enthusiastic. It was really remarkable that some girls and guys knew the lyrics of TRIH’s tracks. I was so happy to see them singing along. Their track “Howl” makes me wanna smash my head against the wall and their cover of Nirvana’s “Territorial Pissings” is the absolute party song. We were the last to hit the floor. I think that such places, with the feeling and the vibe they radiate, are by any means hand in glove with each one of us. It’s kind of a second nature for us, so we acted pretty well. After the show, I had some time alone.

You know some random thoughts, probably a dose of melancholy, which fortunately disappeared due to the great atmosphere that followed the concert. It actually reminded me of the shows in Greece, and Prokat35 Squat, my squat -this guy, Jolle, from Drustveni, had been there. Hail dude!-, where, after the concerts, we party ‘till early in the morning. The soundtrack of that night was the Ramones’ discography along with more music and many laughs. The highlight was this epic dildo / strap-on and the story behind it - regarding old men and astro-physics - which made a fine impression. Noam loved it and took many pictures of it. (thanx: Vuk, Jeff, Jolle and the Romanian couple!) Day 4, 2/3/2014, Zagreb, Croatia Novi Sad was magnificent. After we left the squat, we had a walk in the center with Vuk and Niek, a neat guy from the Netherlands and friend of No Turning Back (NTB), who decided to make a new beginning in Serbia. The city is wonderful. After some tasty vegan sandwiches, we visited a cosy cafe called “Culture Exchange”, where we could have a hot drink in a friendly environment. The climate between us was really warm. We had a lot of fun. Vuk was making jokes. I was discussing with Niek ‘cause a couple of years ago we had attended the same NTB show in

our utmost energy, and the positive feedback was the best reward. Athens. He loves Greek people, and Ruined Families’ I can say we hit it off very well. We tracks are epic, checked our mails, Vuk “stole our it’s fantastic to hearts” by paying all of our drinks, tour. He plays in Dispro(a Converge play them live. During TRIH’s he made the sign of cross -like a influenced crust/hardcore act), and set, which was the last one for the priest- upon ourselves(!), we took a new female-fronted sXe-fastcore night, the 70 people of the venue some photos outside the cafe, got / pv band, called Intrigue - probwere all warm, and finally danced, into the van, and left our friends be- ably in other bands, too -, he books moved, raised fists and lifted bodhind with the biggest of our smiles... shows, he has bought a van and ies in the air! I was surprised ‘cause Zagreb was next. rents it for 50euros per day - conat that moment I realized that tact him, if need be -, and he’s fully TRIH’s name is quite big in the EuThe drive was not that much of a active in his local scene. I liked him. ropean hardcore scene, with many job and due to There was a fanzine exhibition up- people from the Balkans listenthe holy GPS, stairs, and we went to have a quick ing to their music, knowing their we coped with look just before we had some soup. lyrics, buying their merch, and the heavy rain, Things were just fine. waiting to catch their shows. I’m so we had nothhonestly glad about this! These feling to care about The place we played was Klub Atlas deserve all this reputation, since apart from how tack of Medika squat, a great space, they are extremely hard-working dirty our bodwith decent PA and the appropriate and impassioned musicians. Touries where, which lighting for hardcore shows. We all ing with them was a plain delight. soon became preferred the floor. The locals Black Sails kicked the show off. I had alThe show ended and we had some the main subready heard all the best about them outdoor beers and chats with the ject. We arrived and seeing them play was surely local punks. Black Sails’ singer at AKC Medika exciting. Their performance was introduced me to the guys who run squat at around 6.30, where a tall sensational. Their singer was doing Doomtown Records record label, we met Luca, the Italian guy who straight-edge guy, like crazy. The drummer was furiwith a distinctive, ous and they delivered a solid set of used to play in a band called The dark hardcore tunes drenched with Break - they had visited Patras, my slow speech pathometown, for a show-, and I had tern, called Miso, a mystic feeling. an interesting conversation with was waiting for us. Jere -Dispro, Bastinados- about the This guy was one We were next. Our show was the whole political / economical situaof the funniest we best one ‘till that moment. The sound was perfect, we displayed tions, our local scenes, squats etc. met during the 8

After a while, some guys from the squat came to show us the places of Medika where we were going to crash. Medika is huge and incredible. Its residents are numerous and it includes three venues for concerts and parties, rooms for several activities and functions, fantastic samples of street art in its walls, and in spite of being legal in some terms -something unusual, as far as Greek standards are concerned, at least- it’s undeniably intriguing and noteworthy for the occupying world. We had the first shower of the tour in a not so clean bathroom, and fell asleep in the guestroom of the squat. Day 5, 3/3/2014, Banja Luka, Bosnia We woke up, washed ourselves up, met Luka -our tour guide for the day- and started a big walk in the center of one of the most charming cities of the Balkans. We ate delicious vegan burgers, drunk huge banana-soy milkshakes, and had some coffee at a cafe next to Miso’s job place. We took some photos, switched contacts and said goodbye, ‘till our next meeting.

scene, written by the girl -Milicasinging in Deer In The headlights, in a cool fanzine, and had some fun with Arenato and the rest of the members of the third band of the show, Gloves Off, a NYHC local band,who played first in front of approximately 60 people. The locals seemed to support not only their counterparts, but also TRIH who played well in the second place, but some technical problems spoilt their set a bit. We were last, and I certainly enjoyed our show. We had finally got in a strong shape, our sound was alright, and every song was a big moment for us. -the second biggest after the capital, It was kind of silly ‘cause this show Sarajevo-. The place was awesome. was something like a big event for It used to be the restaurant for the Banja Luka. There were reporters industry workers. The guys now pay and media outside the venue -TRIH the rent, and the space includes a gave a short interview-, plus two big wall with a huge graffiti, a bar, a stupid buff security guys. I couldn’t nice stage, some back-stage rooms, simply understand why the hell bathrooms, an office, and a small this was going on, so I tried not to bother and just make the most of it. studio/rehearsal room.

The show was organized by one of the Balkans’ best guys, the big kid, called Zule, also known as the dark prince of the Balkans. He plays in an outstanding screamo/crust band, Deer In The Headlights, he runs Banja Luka is like one hour and half the famous DIY skateboard brand, Grave Skateboards, and he was -maximum two hours- far from there, waiting for us with risotto Zagreb, so our drive wasn’t that long. We got a bit late at the venue, a and a big chocolate cake! We spent social center called DKC INCEL, in two dead hours in the venue, I read a huge old industrial area of the city an article about the tiny Bosnian

We had a gas time after the show! We drunk a lot, laughed even more, and had several discussions with many people who had stayed in DKC INCEL until late that night. At three or four o’ clock, we arrived at Zule’s place. It was our most drunken night by far. I was lying on the bed, thinking about what one guy told me in the toilet. He had come to stay in Greece, at the sweet age of five, only to avoid the war in the Balkan area. These places lived a nightmare in the ‘90s, while Greece was living its “golden” era, two decades before a total political and financial devastation... I thought of it and closed my eyes to get some sleep. Day 6, 4/3/2014, Belgrade Serbia We slept a lot in Banja Luka. We left Zule’s place at 12.30pm and headed to the center of the city. We ate a few things in a bakery and visited a pretty cool cafe where many people

that had shown up at our last show were having their coffee, tea, or breakfast. We also met Milica and Arenato and stayed there with them for hours.

Their music reminded me of Jawbreaker and Title Fight and their members were all properly skilled and communicating very well during their show. We all, both Greeks and Dutch, bought their demo Next stop was Belgrade. The venue tape and welcomed the next band, we would be playing at, on the 6th Dearest, up on the stage. The guys day of the tour was a club, was Klub were okay, a bit more hardcore than Fest, and, indeed, as most people 52 Hertz, but nothing particularly had already told us, it was a decent impressive. place to play, providing quality sound in a beautifully designed and We were fourth in the line-up, and laid-out interior. We parked the van, our small fight with the sound enand found my beloved Deki, a guy I gineer who, despite the fact that the now consider as a close friend, who locals kept on saying he’s a kind guy, first met us in Novi Sad. Deki is a was derisive and steadily insulting big part of the local scene with years us, armed us with of booking shows in his back. He an iron will to go loves Greece and is the biggest fan out there and set the of the Greek melodic/skate punk place on fire. People rock scene. We also met our proliked our set, Takis moter, Steffan, who greeted us with found himself lots of a big smile, offered us some food times in the air and and showed us the whole club. so did many other hardcore kids in the The gig included five bands, so the club. show started soon with Steffan’s group, Eaglehaslanded, Belgrade’s The pulse was the proud screamo, with killer outsame during TRIH’s bursts, perfect vocals and nice stage set, a girl and one presence. Two German bands, who guy knew all the lyrwere also on tour, were next, with ics off by heart and 52 Hertz being the big surprise. were yelling at the

microphone, everyone danced with Nirvana’s cover, and all the approximately thirty attendedants seemed to be pleased with the show. Four bloody fingers from both bands is the proof of a tough show, isn’t it? After the show we were all chatting, our Dutch mates became friends with the German lads, and I was grumbling all the time about the sound guy, but fortunately got informed that, at least, he does not ask for money when he’s giving the club. Truly upright. We ate some giant gyros sandwiches, and followed Steffan to his flat. This poor man had to host twenty people that night. The German lads were on their first tour and living it in a different way by feeling kind of crazy, I had a quick shower, took Antonakis and slept in the van for the first day, while Thanos, Takis, and George passed hard times in the four 10

wall prison... (thanx: Steffan, Eaglehaslanded, Deki, the old squatter from Belgrade, and Vuk!) Day 7, 5/3/2014, Skopje, Macedonia We really slept like logs, woke up and left the van to enter that enormous bleak communist building of the 16 floors and 160 flats, where Steffan and his mates live. We had some breakfast and I had some words with Steffan about Belgrade’s scene. He said it is a bit divided, he also gave me a tape of his band and we made sure we could contact each other in the future. Then, we all got back to the van and left for Macedonia, without seeing many things in Belgrade, which is a fabulous city, though, with gorgeous places at Danube’s shores, beautiful houses, bridges and views on the hills of the town.

that, but fate ultimately had different plans for us at the end of that long and difficult day... We early arrived in Skopje, and saw the city in the daytime -this was the first sunny day of the tour-... I liked the shores of the river which crosses the center, I was impressed with all the Muslim mosques we came across in every corner, but felt sad with the way the locals were looking at our license plates. The national hatred that states foster in people’s consciousness is disgusting (and obviously this also goes to the way Greeks see Macedonians, Israelis see Palestinians etc.). We would be playing at something like an event hall in a big commercial mall. Places like this one aren’t exactly my cup of tea, but the way Tejka -the sweet girl who was organizing the show- hosted us and the fact that I met again my dear old friends from Europe’s finest band Bernays Propaganda, made me forget about all the insignificant details.

Macedonian borders were our biggest fear. Everything had been perfect during the whole tour, and we truly wished things would The food was the best thus far, made continue this way. We easily passed by Tjika and Djano, Bernay Propain Macedonia and felt excited about ganda’s drummer, and Nenad -their 11

THIS ROUTINE IS HELL are: Bram - Guitar Noam - Vocals Boris - Drums Boy - Bass Releases: This Routine Is Hell / Sandbox Rebellion Split CD (2009) The Verve Crusade 12” LP (2010) Repent. Repeat 10” EP (2012) Howl 12” LP (2013

bassist- took care of all the sound engineering duties. After a while, my mate Vasko, the Balkan encyclopedia, came to join us and gave me a big jar of Ivar, a local tasteful paprika paste, as a gift. The climate was warm and super-friendly and all of us were thrilled.

Greece, would be way too long. Even though Tejka, Djano, and Vasko insisted we should stay for the night, it was impossible. We promised to come back, waved goodbye and left for the last station of the tour …by doing a mistake and taking the old national road, in the first place. Two hours later, The show got under way at around we finally reached the Macedonian 10:30 with some local youngsters borders, and stumbled upon the called Нова Генерација (means worst incident of those ten won“New Generation”) who did pretty derful days. A bastard in border well playing a mix of thrash/crosso- controlling became furious because ver with d-beat elements and cool of a cigarette Thanos dropped, while vocals by a tiny, weird frontman. we were showing our identities. He picked him in the office, started We were the guests that day and showing off his skills in verbal abuse all of us, in both bands, tried to and other bullshit, and left him after give everything we had deep in 45 minutes with guess what ...a 50 ourselves, as this show would have euros illegal fine. Splendid! We all been the last one in foreign terrigot pissed off, but finally arrived in tory, before we would return for Thessaloniki, where Alexis and my good friend Natalia from Biologica some more shows in Greece. The thirty people of the venue seemed Squad gave a last minute help by ofto enjoy themselves and were deeply fering their floors and couches. We involved in the show, which ended fell asleep. It was 5.30am. with sweet injuries and pain, smiley faces and stage dives. (thanx: Tjeka, Dzano, Vasko, Nenad, Slobodan, Natalia, Alexis) We had decided to leave shortly after the gig and travel straight to Day 8, 6/3/2014, Karditsa, Greece Thessaloniki -again-, ‘cause otherwise the drive to Karditsa, back in The last destination of the tour was 12

Karditsa town in central Greece. We desperately needed a marvelous morning like that of our 8th day. The weather was fantastic and made everyone smile. We had a big walk in the center of Thessaloniki -one of my favorite Greek cities-, met lots of friends, and ended up lying in the sun, relaxing, and enjoying the pleasant company at the sight of the White Tower. We were late when we left Thessaloniki. We pulled over at Tempi, a place of breathtaking natural beauty on the national road between Thessaloniki and Athens. This Routine Is Hell went crazy with this astonishing landscape where a monastery lies on the banks of a river that cuts through a canyon, just a few metres under a big bridge, so we did a short break in order to breathe some fresh

air .

The first band of the night was a new and fully active local band, Procrastinate, playing crust in the veins of Tragedy, Sarabante, and From Ashes Rise. Although they didn’t have the best possible sound, these guys worth your attention, and all of their other shows I had the chance to attend after this one were undoubtedly better.

After TRIH’s set, we loaded the van, hugged our friends, wore our “Kamikazi” outfits and left the place at around 2:30am. The trip to Athens was hard with near-zero visibility because of the fog. However, the experiences we gained, the people we met, the places we saw, all this energy that sprang from the bottom Up next, were the local cult heroes of our hearts, and all those wonΑνία(Ania; means boredom), the derful moments, unquestionably oldest band of the town, who gave overcame every difficult distance a recital of kacapunk tunes -the we crossed and every hostile border way we describe filthy Greek street we passed. The days we spent in the punk-, with tons of humor between Balkans are something I will never the tracks, funny moments, but also forget and will always accompany with a big set we all got tired of, me as the first big tour of my life. I after a while. would conclusively like to write my heartfelt thanks to Ruined Families for their proposal to follow them, and to This Routine Is Hell for all

We played third... This show was my last with Ruined Families and At 8:00pm, we finally entered the this made it special for me. We gave town, and arrived at the small squat the place a big hit making people in the area of technical universities, stare at our show. Well, I wouldn’t where we bumped into the place we say that Balkans are exactly made would be playing... a greenhousefor this sound. Notwithstanding barn! It was like playing in a big that punk rock, melodic hardcore, farm, in the middle of nowhere. The straight-edge hardcore, or screamo whole thing was definitely bizarre stuff seem to fit better, and despite and extraordinary. We met up with the fact that we didn’t come across our good friends Nikos, Evelin and moshing, chaos, and big crowds Nafsika, saw familiar faces, and ate during our sets, I can obviously delicious dishes that included noo- claim that both bands -This Roudles, pasta, bins, and lots of more. tines Is Hell and Ruined FamiliesWe set the backline and relaxed in stayed passionate and managed the barn, avoiding the heavy rain to move people, make them sing, that had been pouring for hours. dance and pay attention and eventu13

ally make the difference, in overall.

the great fellowship. (thanx: Evelyn, Nafsika, Nikos, Procrastinate) (For the record: On Friday 7th of March, This Routine Is Hell and Ruined Families shared the floor, at VCA urban bike shop in the center of Athens, with the first playing a Minor Threat cover set and the second, with Nick, their original bassist, performing some songs of the several side projects they run. On Sunday 9th the two bands gave their farewell show of the tour with Minerva Superduty -post-metal / Kalamata, Greece- at Zero club.)

GIG REPORTS narration by Giorgos, February 2014 photos by Andrea Shettler (www.shetsy.photo) and Faby Reichenbach (www .fabyphotography.de)

Late in 2013, Sabotage Records announced that both The Estranged and Autistic Youth would tour Europe at the end of the forthcoming winter. Autistic Youth had already released that dynamite called “Nonage” LP in November and you deep inside knew that the upcoming LP by The Estranged would obviously be the best release of 2014 before actually listening to it. Having a friend studying abroad, your head is immediately full of questions; “How often do you have the opportunity to catch the hottest bands (among others) of this post-punk revival Mecca (aka Portland, Oregon) on tour?” or “Would it be worth giving up winter term exams for visiting a friend, seeing another country and catching some really cool shows?”. By the moment you recall ingenious David Byrne singing “Once in a lifetime…” in bizarre fashion, you remember that “water is flowing (in the) underground”, so you make up your mind at once and go for this before you end up like him, hitting your head, while admitting it’ll always be the “same as it ever was”. The result of all this would be two killer shows abroad and a nice interview with your beloved unsung heroes. Not that bad, eh? So, on the 12th of February, I landed to Germany. And, of course, this was more than two months before that “rock star”, Dinos, did so. Who’s the man, sucker? Leipzig, Zoro and a great time, as well, seemed to be waiting for us. Zoro is an amazing (and filthy enough as any selfmanaged place should be) three-floor place which is particularly infamous for hosting incredible DIY shows and other parties or events. This was clear if you just walked around in Connewitz (that’s where Zoro is located in Leipzig), where you would see dozens of posters about its events and as I was told there, its annual festival in September is, indeed, a highlighted event for the city, and not only.

Well, that night’s dishes were Born/Dead, Autistic Youth and The Estranged. Before the show we came across the bands’ full merch as well as a record store that can be found in Zoro on a weekly basis and almost in every show. All this stuff that was laid in front of me reminded that I sometimes end up being a consumer when it comes to music, but frankly speaking, I don’t regret it at all. The show kicked off with Born/Dead from Oakland, CA, who gave a very solid performance delivering a crust punk of typical British anarcho-punk aesthetics. To tell the truth, I was not that familiar with their music, since I’m not that much into crust sound, but they are a very strong band and definitely rise to their high reputation in the crust-punk community. I had a hell of a time with this 3-piece. Their show was intense and there was a constant rage outburst through ferocious vocals and killer riffs. Pretty fine, after all. Autistic Youth were up next and the populous crowd seemed to be much warmer and impatient. It was the same for me, as Autistic Youth are, in fact, a band I appreciate and follow and, to be honest, I wouldn’t ever expect to watch them playing live. Mainly focused on their latest stuff, Autistic Youth were a real blast of energy with their catchy melodies and their must-sing-along choruses. “Nonage” LP’s favorites “Not For Me” and “Stones” certainly made a difference and so did “Graves” from the sametitled 7” that they released this January and was available for the first time in this EU tour. A bunch of other new songs (I’m kind of sure I remember hearing “Everyday Once More”, “Ghosts In The Past”, “Courier Of Kings” and “Moral Uniform”) and some older songs from the band’s best album (as known as the “Idle Minds” LP) I clearly consider as classics, such as “Soldiers”, “Disciple” and the album same-titled song, formed this huge party (If you hit “AUTISTIC YOUTH @ ZORO IN LEIPZIG, DE” on YouTube, you‘ll take a pretty good taste from that night by watching Autistic Youth’s excellent performance of “Soldiers”- video by Andrea Shettler). After that, it was finally time for The Estranged. With their best and selftitled album on their luggage, they came just to ensure that they unquestionably are one of the best bands of our days. Playing songs from all of their releases, they just left us wanting more and more. Songs from their “Static Thoughts” LP sounded even better with the band having six more years in its back, “The Subliminal Man” and “Faces Stare” are absolute hits and the new songs did prove my opinion about the new album’s quantity 24

right. “Languid Sky” was for sure a unique moment for me as a personal favorite and the dance and moshing in final track “Lunacy” was something I will be able to recall for a long time. (I’m not sure that there is a single thing left to be told about such a show, but for the history this night’s setlist was: “Statue In A Room”, “The Subliminal Man”, “Hide”, “The Exhibition”, “Languid Sky”, “Faces Stare”, “Fast Train”, “Don’t They Know”, “Another Stab”, “Nervous Blood”, “Lunacy”). Hamburg and Rote Flora would be the next stop for another show of The Estranged just a week later. Apart from the show itself, it was very nice to find myself in such a historical squat, one of the few places in Germany that is still actually occupied. That feeling was even stronger at this particular time, for it’s not that much time since the people supporting this place resisted effectively the government’s plans for its eviction through long fights with the police. And this is because those people really showed the way that it’s not our fate always to be defeated by the system. In addition, it’s clear why such a thing would affect me, considering that my hometown suffered three squat evictions by the police last summer, as part of the general policy of this authoritarian state against squats all over Greece. Rote Flora’s doors were open at 8 o’clock for another fascinating show. Unfortunately, I can talk only about this, because the place looked as if it was only open for the show and politics or recent events that concerned it were nowhere to be found for a visitor like me. Anyway, the show started with Display, a 3-piece punk/pop-punk outfit from Berlin. They have recorded only one demo tape, but I would happily listen to more from them. Cool band. Female vocals and nice melodies reminding us of Scandinavian pop-punk bands blended with some more typical punk rock forms, and, this was more than enough to warm things up for The Estranged. Once again, there’s not much to say about them. This time they played in front of much less people, but this band, this prolific guitarist accompanied by the rhythm machine of Hellshock, didn’t settle for anything less. Another excellent performance and this time some more new songs for me, as long as “Languid Sky” and “Another Stab” were substituted in their set by the album’s opener “Forever Been Erased”, the touching “Fatalist Flaw” and “Mark Of Sin” with that great ‘70s feeling. So, Hamburg left me with a bunch of memories from beautiful places such as Rote Flora or Gängeviertel - a block of twelve squatted buildings where arts and culture are promoted in its events and places under principles that are clearly opposed to commercialism, which is something that, unfortunately, is not a standard for many social centres or self-organized spaces in central Europe - and a copy of the Greek classic “Heatwave” LP of our garage gods “The Last Drive”. It was kind of funny that I just went into a record store opposite to Flora in order to kill my time before the show and I finally came across an original pressing of my favorite Greek record by a German label (Music Maniac Records) in 1988. No need to mention that it was impossible to find copies of this record in reasonable prices in Greece, until it was finally rereleased last December. I was astonished. After all, discovering how DIY shows are set up away from home and also seeing such terrific bands was an unforgettable experience. However, I have to admit that I somehow missed the atmosphere of a Greek show, which are free and available to everyone and things there seem to be a bit friendlier and cosier. On the other hand, we surely lack the organization and consistency that people there have, as far as setting a DIY show is concerned. And I genuinely admired them for these things, since they usually are the Achilles heel of our domestic DIY shows. So, I guess that, in some terms, they set a good example for all of us that are involved in making DIY shows possible, so that we can face our weaknesses and improve our scene even more. 27

THE ESTRANGED

a r k star te d the Estranged show at Zoro with the phrase “We are The Estranged. Do you have any questions for us?”. At that moment, without thinking at all, I found myself answering “Damn, yes”. So after their show, we got to talk a bit and agreed that next time we see ourselves in Hamburg, I would do some kind of interview with those “Subliminal Men”. Interview by Giorgos, February 2014 Photos by The Estranged Hey, guys. How are you? I’m really happy to be able to catch two of your shows and have this conversation with you. To know us better, I am Giorgos, but who are these estranged guys? Mark: Well, nice to meet you, Giorgos. I’m Mark playing guitar and doing vocals. Keith: Hi, I’m Keith and play the drums and Derek is our bass player. So, guys, it’s been nearly 4 years gone since the release of the excellent “The Subliminal Man” LP and now you’re back with your 3rd and s/t LP, which is your best work so far, in my opinion. What was different this time? What has changed in the band or the way it works in all these years? M: I think that this time we just took more time for creating this album. We wanted to give our songs a little more room to breathe. You know,

we wanted each song to have its own space in the album, so that nothing sounds the same in there. We tried to experiment with our sound in order to achieve a more intriguing result. K: Yes, that’s right. This time we spent much more time in every aspect of making an album, so that everything was and sounded exactly the way we wanted it. This attempt to experiment with your sound is obvious if you actually listen to the album. It’s easy to distinguish the use of more instruments and it seems that you had a bit more complicated writing and recording sessions. You describe it better than me in the album’s bandcamp page ‘Musically, they experiment with even more instruments/ sounds, e.g., the use of a bow on guitar, feedback loops, piano, farfisa, backwards guitar, female back-up vocals, etc.’ with Damaris Peterson being on the additional piano, farfisa and synthesizers (as read from the album’s sleeve). How was it working and recording with more instruments? What are the differences and how did you respond it? Would you ever consider adding such stuff in your live performances (apart from studio sessions) with a 4th Estranged member maybe? M: I enjoy incorporating other instruments other than just the usual bass/drums/guitar thing but you have to be careful to know when to add the right kind of instrument where. There are some really cool rich/organic

sounds you can get from lower notes on pianos that we used that farfisas/ synths cannot do. I’d really like to hear us use some cellos/violins on our next record. We are definitely open to the idea of a fourth member and lately we’ve been thinking more and more about it and I think that it’s almost inevitable at this point. Its just a matter of when. Broadening your sound in this album took me a little back comparing to where I was found in your older releases. I was found in the 80s, but this time I end up being in the 70s with all that jamming and this more widely dimensioned sound you tried for (as you said in the first question) and finally achieved in this release. Is that because of your desire to experiment with your sound? Is it because of music that you were into while making this album? Is it something else (if it has to be something specific, in fact)? M: We just wanted to make a record that had a little more space and dimension to it, as I told you before. I hear a lot of recordings of bands doing the same thing over and over. They take up the same frequencies/ waveforms as everybody else and the guitar players are too busy showing off their arpeggio sweeps than to care about the balance of their song as a whole. Personally, I am over the whole “playing down strokes on gui-

tar for every song” kind of thing. We’ve already done that on our older records. There are so many ways to make sound from a guitar other than strumming chords as fast as you can and I’m always trying to explore those sounds. One of our agreed rules for our band is to never make the same record twice and I think it definitely shows on this record. In this album, I can find a streak of some happier “must-dance-to” songs. But this time, it’s not those catchy post-punk tunes of the older releases, but there’s somehow more “rock’n’roll” approach. There’s that taste of garage/psych or of some pop melodies in a way that reminds me of Terrible Feelings or that Scandinavian rock ‘n’ roll, in general. I don’t know if I describe it that well or if you agree, either. At the same time, here we can find some of your most melancholic moments. How did we come to this? Was it on purpose to give us both that bitter and sweet taste in the same album? M: We waited about four years to record since we recorded “The Subliminal Man” and I think over the years there were a few disparities as far as musical influences go. Always listening to something new and being influenced by it consciously or subconsciously. There was no grandiose purpose of having some songs sound the way they do. Actually, we almost

released two different albums, one with the more rock ‘n’ roll feel and one with a more new wave feel, but when we heard all of the songs together we decided to release them all on one album. I think there is a better juxtaposition of moods that way than to have a conceptual/ homogeneous sound for every song. If I was forced to choose my favorite track from your s/t LP, I would strive incredibly to finally choose “Languid Sky”. Well, “I never find two ways that could never be one”. Is it that history is written not only by things that actually happen, but from those that never happened, as well? If not, what would this phrase be about? M: Well, I wasn’t exactly thinking about it that way, but I suppose that works as well. I like that everyone can interpret our lyrics differently. In this album, lyrics are more personal, so I would say that this thing occurs more often. Anyway, that line has more of a literal meaning to me. The song itself is about giving up any hope in the cosmos to find any sort of connection with people, but being okay about it. It’s like a sad song without being overly depressing. So, in this album lyrics are more personal, as you said. Last time, however, things were slightly different. If I’m not mistaken, there was a specific inspiration for “The Subliminal Man” LP’s lyrics, the work of author JG Ballard. Tell me about that. M: That’s true. I think that, back then, we got interested in the concept of adapting literature to another piece of art. We all know, for example, the movie “1984”, based upon George Orwell’s novel. So, we took this Ballard’s story, “The Subliminal Man”, and tried to narrate it in our lyrics of this sametitled track. It’s only this track that has to do with this, though. Meanwhile, “Wicker Man” drew inspiration from the so called 1973 film, starring Christopher Lee, whereas the rest of

the songs of this LP are about just the normal paranoid and self deprecating moods that I’ve always written about. Well, talking about lyrics, who’s writing them? All of you? And who’s that “Mark Of Sin” anyway? Is that you? If yes, did you write this song or the others did it talking about you? (e.n. to be precise, the song says “Oh God, erase this mark of sin”) M: Well, I’m writing all the lyrics. And I could be “Mark Of Sin” as well, haha. So, guys you ‘re not professional musicians, are you? Is this what you do for a living? You know, I’m asking because I really regard The Estranged as one of the best post-punk bands of our days. As a result, even though I don’t know if you ever had such proposals, I believe that your releases so far would easily attract the interest of what we call a “major label”. However, until now, you don’t seem to be so interested to follow a “professional” path with your music, but you prefer being partners with some smaller labels (in popularity of course, no mention about their quality, which is extremely high). Why? K: First of all, thanks for your nice words. Well, we ‘re really happy with the collaboration with our labels. Both Dirtnap and Sabotage Records (as well as others that we worked in the past) are great labels and Sabotage does a really good job distributing records in Europe. But, most of all, these labels really give us what we want from our partners in the first place; the ability to have complete control of every single thing in our music. That’s the problem sometimes with those major labels. You are not able to create music with you own rhythm and way and I believe that when you depend on others for your work, most of the times, you will be let down by

the result. It’s not that we have problem with working with anyone. If in a hypothetical proposal from such a major label, there was a term that we will continue having full control of our music, we might consider it. But for the time being, we ‘re really happy with our partners. M: It’s true that we ‘re not professional musicians. In fact, I work for constructions, Derek owns a bar-restaurant, Keith has his own bar as well and also runs his own label, Black Water Records. The fact is - as Keith said that although it has always been difficult for us to find time and money for the band because of our jobs or personal lives and activities, we wouldn’t change that freedom of being able to express ourselves in our own way for any possible convenience. Well, you are a band from Portland, Oregon. The spirit seems to be always alive and burning there. What is your connection with your city’s legendary underground music“tradition” (the Wipers, Dead Moon, Poison Idea and that list could never end)? Has it affected you in anyway? In addition, talking about Portland, how does it feel to share this new golden Portland scene with so many great bands that cover a big range of music genres? M: Actually, no one of us was born in Portland. But I really enjoyed listening to the Wipers. In fact, this made

me wanna move to Portland, haha. Seriously speaking, they were a great band. Dead Moon were also a good band and, of course, there was another bunch of good bands there in the 80s. It makes sense that such bands are a motivation for people like us to play and make music, but that was all. We just wanted to play music and didn’t have in mind to be or sound like anybody. K: In the other part of your question, it’s true that right now there are a lot of great and also different bands in Portland. The good thing is that there are friendly relationships between the most of us, so we co-exist in a good spirit helping each other and setting up nice things that have to do with our music. All of you were - or still are - into much harder stuff than the Estranged, in bands like Remains Of The Day, Hellshock, From Ashes Rise and other stuff that I’d lie if I said I have listened to (e.n. to be accurate, we ‘re talking about bands like Warcry, Lebenden Toten or Coldbringer and others). Can you be expressed in the same way or have the same feelings by playing hardcore/ crust music and by being in a more melodic outfit like The Estranged? How can a musician end up doing something so much different than his past or parallel activities? K: Playing different kinds of music

just gives you a different outlet. This range can help you express different feelings. But, in general, it’s the same. It’s just like hanging out with friends playing some music you like. Genre is not that important in this situation. M: For me, the only thing that always mattered, was to find the kind of music that I’m playing or listening to, challenging. It’s very important to be able to get ideas from your music. In this way, you develop and can be more creative as a musician. Maybe that’s why I quit this harder stuff a long time ago; it’s just not for me anymore. Tomorrow you ‘re finishing your second European tour. Tell me your impressions. Was there a show that you could highlight?Did something happen that you really didn’t expect? You are free to say whatever you want about these 20 days that you spent in Europe. What’s the difference between a US and a European show? M: Well, if you ask for something unexpected, this would be that I had to play two shows being sick, which was not that funny. But being for second time in Europe was awesome and everything was fine. K: Indeed, things went great. Things can be so different from town to town in Europe as well as in the

US. So, I don’t think I would highlight any of our shows here or be able to say something specific about shows here in comparison with those in the US. Every city and show is different, so it depends on where you are every night. M: The only difference might be that shows in the US aren’t that smokey, haha. I would also say that our shows here were usually attended by more people. Last question .Well, apart from your s/t LP, “Type Foundry Sessions” LP was also released now and you’re just finishing a long tour. Should we expect anything from The Estranged in the near future? K: Indeed, there was also another release bringing the songs from the “Singles Compilation” in Europe for the first time, since they were only out in the US and in Japan long ago. In the near future, you could expect from us a couple of 7”s or maybe another new album even later. M: Yes, we would like to do the same with what we once had done with “Singles Compilation”. In the meantime, we would like to continue playing shows and the next time we will make it to Europe, we would like to play in places we haven’t been until now like the UK, or countries like Poland, Greece and others.

Well, guys, we ‘re over (and over, maybe). Thank you and I hope you have a nice way back home after your next show and that we meet again some time. M: Yes, that would be nice. Thank you. K: Again, thanks for this interview. Goodbye. * Keith is one of the people running Black Water Records. This is is much more than a Portland based record label. It’s also a long running store/venue, collection of artist/practice spaces, recording studio and community gathering space. Unfortunately, the city and fire marshal shut the shows down and may still shut the studios and record store down as well. It’s the second time they’re forced to look for a place that will host their activities, so, this time, they want to establish a permitted venue, that will last for years. They have a new place, but need money to construct it and overcome the fines they have been given for the old venue. You can see for yourself searching “Black Water Fund” in the net and decide if you want to support them! ** The Estranged did actually appoint a second guitarist in the meanwhile. *** Last, but not least, the band will be touring Australia this February for the first time, and you can check “Frozen Fingers” from their upcoming 7” which will also feature a Q65 cover.

ΡΧΗ ΤΟΥ ΤΕΛΟΥΣ and MASS CULTURE are a post-punk and a post-metal band from Athens, respectively. At a first glance, they don’t seem to have much in common, apart from their homecity. Nevertheless, music is not only notes, riffs or hooks. Foremost, it’s a passion and feelings play the most significant part. Well, these guys are friends more than anything else, so I couldn’t want more than having them together, talking about music. Apart from this, they (with lots of other lovely people) used to run the same gig collective. Unfortunately, I’m using a past tense, because those few months between the interview and the printing of this issue, proved to be enough for seeing this place shut down. The landlord of this place forced these people out due to pressure from their neighbours, who, apparently, haven’t had enough of big clubs, bosses and bouncers and were clearly annoyed by free shows, self-organised bars, open conversations or by values such as solidarity, equality or dignity that proudly stood up in there. I also guess that these people are satisfied with the extensive drug-dealing in their area, considering that their main problem was a place that (along with Vox squat and residents of Exarchia) was clearly opposed to this situation itself or anybody who gained profit from exploiting people in this fatal way. Well, for those unaware, that’s how typical Greek people before

the crisis were and still are; recreant and greedy, acting tough against the weak or people that treat them as equals, while begging people in power or authorities for a piece of shit. Right now, it might be a little sad reading these people’s plans for their beloved basement, but I honestly think they don’t need any kind of compassion. They‘re strong enough and they’ll soon be back with shows in the most unexpected spots (keep your eyes and ears open) and a new place that will fit their demands. Interview by Giorgos, May 2014 Photos by Nick Paleologos, Mass Culture and Αρχή Του Τέλους Hey, guys, I’m Giorgos. Who are you, in the first place? Make a small introduction to your bands. Who formed MASS CULTURE and ΑΡΧΗ ΤΟΥ ΤΕΛΟΥΣ – ARHI TOU TELOUS – (means: The Beginning Of The End)? When, where or even how? Do you or did you have any other bands or side projects? Please do not mention all the bands the drummer of ΑΡΧΗ ΤΟΥ ΤΕΛΟΥΣ has played in …we do not have that much money for printing, haha. Michalis: Well, hi Giorgos! I’m Michalis, the bass player and also vocalist of MASS CULTURE. The legend says that this band’s beginning was a long long time ago. If I’m not mistaken, we ‘re talking about the spring of 2011. Things got started in Athens with Argyris and Nikos (both

guitar players), Giannis (ooga-booga drums) and Vasilis (vocals). A little after, they broke into my house and kidnapped me saying that they would never set me free, unless I played bass in this band. Oh, god! That was one of the best kidnappings I’ve ever had. My third best. Or maybe, even second. However, what happened in the following summer was something that changed the history of humanity. Vasilis decided to leave the band in order to follow a career as a dubstep/house DJ. No, I’m not kidding. At the same time, we were about to play a show in Arm Your Desires #5 (e.n. an annual DIY music fest that is hold in Tyrnavos, Greece) just five days after this. So, I was auditioned in Argyris’ house and it was immediately decided that there was no doubt that I was the man for that job. After a while, Argyris, probably jealous of me because of those thousands of people that were closing the centre of Athens and chanting my name all the time, decided to also do some vocals. No one felt that good saying no to that poor guy and we ended up having two vocalists. That meant that we had to change our plans about the music we wanted to play and create. Οur first steps were made in 2012 with the release of “Amoralism” EP in digital form and it was not until April of 2013 when we released our 12” split with FIELDS OF LOCUST, coming even closer to worldwide success. All of us had bands in the past – others were good, others not that much– , so

I don’t think there’s any need to name them. Αnyway, at the moment, Argyris and I are eating small kids and playing in black metal band, WAEDRE, too, and Giannis also plays in crust punk/metal band ΕΡΕΙΠΙΑ – ΕRIPIA – (means: Ruins) Kostas: It must be my turn now, right? Well, I’m Kostas. ΑΡΧΗ ΤΟΥ ΤΕΛΟΥΣ were formed about 14 years ago in a high school of western Athens by three schoolmates. Giannis (vocals) and I (guitar) and our drummer back then, Giorgos, decided to tried our luck in playing punk rock in order to face the fact that no one in school wanted to hang out with us, haha. None of us was really able of playing a musical instrument and that never changed as years passed by. So, we started writing songs. We tried keyboards, female vocals and whatever else you may think, even witchcraft. Nothing seemed to work in this band. We released a bunch of demos until, I think in 2007, Vangelis (drums) and Panos (bass) got in the band. That was a restart for us. With this line-up, we had our two full-length releases, with “Πτώση” – “Ptosi” – (means: The Fall) being our latest one in 2013. As for other bands we might have (or have had), well, I really can’t remember many Greek DIY bands that Vangelis hasn’t played drums for. So, just naming a few, he’s been in member of TIMETRAP, GUTTER, LIFEWRECK, BLACKLISTED etc. I was playing also in MOTHER DISOBEDIENCE and KILL DISNEYLAND,

Panos used to play in deathdoomsters SHATTERED HOPE before joining us and Giannis along with our first drummer, Giorgos, has started a trip-hop project, named ΛΟΓΙΚΟ ΜΗΔΕΝ – LOGIKO MIDEN – (means: Logical Zero). How would you describe your music? Well, on the one side, I must admit my complete lack of awareness in genres like post-metal, so I’m kind of curious about Michalis’ answer. On the other side, the last release of ΑΡΧΗ ΤΟΥ ΤΕΛΟΥΣ is somehow screaming “post-punk revival”. At the same time, I know you covered the legendary ‘80s Greek post-punk band, CLOWN, in your shows, as well as that you were part of the “Dark Punks Arise” compilation, which featured bands like RUDIMENTARY PENI or SPECTRES. So, I don’t think there’s enough room for Kostas giving me a different answer than the one I expect, but I suppose you should be the ones talking here. M: People used to call our music through the years as “perfection”. Plato used the word “ideal” for this, whereas Buddha named it “nirvana”, but I don’t think we should stick to words or genres that much. I could say, though, that when we began we were a post-metal band, but having two voices in the band made us want to approach even a post-hardcore sound, but that’s not as evident as we wanted it to be, when we consider our recordings and releases until now.

Our new songs seem to be closer to this and to the sound we want, in general. So, if you have a little patience, or maybe more – since we don’t know when that moment will come –, you ‘ll find this out yourselves in our first full-length album. K: Well, it’s not that much of a secret that post-punk defined our sound, while all the other stuff that we listen to in all these years finishes the deal, when it comes to writing music or lyrics. We always admired the way bands of this particular genre created music and we really enjoy writing over a simple bassline, not looking for anything difficult or pretentious. That’s what post-punk taught us and that’s why we so often choose to play in an “one riff-one song” way. However, it’s not only post-punk. I am deeply in love with black metal and there are so many of its elements that I’m trying to add in our sound. What is really impressive is that these genres are not that far when it comes to playing the guitar parts; it’s almost the same, with the difference that black metal is played a lot faster. That explains why so many bands blended post-punk and black metal with such success. Τhe best example I can think of is FORGOTTEN WOODS’ distinctive sound in “As The Wolves Gather” LP or in their other early releases. Talking more generally, this post-punk revival came as a surprise to us with so many excellent bands and releases. There were always good bands, however. Think of the Canadian female

band, THE ORGAN, in the beginning of the ‘00s. It’s just that, now, it seems that there a lot more bands. I usually don’t want to be that miserable, so I’m leaving that hipster trend aside, but I do really think that bands such as THE MEN, HOLOGRAMS, THE HUNT, SOVIET SOVIET and, above all, THE ESTRANGED have so much to give in this sound. As far as that compilation you mentioned is concerned, we didn’t really expect to be part of a compilation that features such bands, so we didn’t think at all before accepting that proposal. However, we shouldn’t forget that this compilation features and some more great bands like DAZD, FILTH OF MANKIND or mighty ISKRA as well as another Greek band, BLACK TRINITY, who are a really tremendous band. Well, Michalis, what you said about your posthardcore approach got me burning with curiosity. Which particular sound of that genre are you talking about? I would find it possible to relate you with the chaos and sensitivity of post-hardcore/ screamo outfits of the last decade, for example bands like PG.99 or ORCHID. Well, more of a slow-motioned version of this, actually. Or bands like BREACH seem to fit you. How-

ever, I can’t imagine you playing like MODERN LIFE IS WAR or in a TOUCHÉ AMORÉ/LA DISPUTE style (just to keep pace with our era), as this focuses too much on lyrics. Could MASS CULTURE approach even a Dischord kind of sound? What do you mean, after all? Kostas, I usually am that miserable person, so I’m not OK with that hipster trend invading in my post-punk.

I’m not talking that much about commercial or financial success of bands, because this was the same in the ‘80s for so many bands. But it’s weird when a genre that mainly belonged to the underground, becomes an alternative commodity, controlled by “cool” media. It’s weird that bands need to be in-style, cool or just lucky to reach some listeners, when they may play, in fact, the same music. In addition, it becomes a little predictable for me, in the end, even though incredible bands will never stop existing. What’s your opinion? M: If I wanted to become a bit more descriptive, we would talk about bands like TIME TO BURN or CELESTE and not about a punkdriven sound like MODERN LIFE IS WAR, for example. We couldn’t have the chaotic sound of bands like PG.99 or ORCHID either; we want to keep our slow tempos and the black atmosphere. Some melodic parts could fit us, but, anyway, the most important thing in this, for us, is vocals. In the end, they sound too crusty, but I think they fit in our music, for the time being. In addition, this could be very challenging, since I haven’t heard such vocals in this sound I’m describing. At least, in the way this thing is

in my mind. If we see that the result is not satisfying, I might change my vocals or I might get kicked out of the band. K: In fact, I agree with you, but as you said, real and incredible bands will always exist. So, I don’t think that it should affect us that much. There’s not much we can do, anyway. Quoting Woody Allen, there are only two things that you can’t stop; time and trend. 2013 seemed to be really nice with you and your bands, guys. MASS CULTURE had their first release in physical form and ΑΡΧΗ ΤΟΥ ΤΕΛΟΥΣ released “Πτώση” in cassette. Michalis, how did we come to this collaboration with my fellow citizens FIELDS OF LOCUST? As a listener, I would say that these bands fitted perfectly in aesthetics and music, but your opinion counts more. Is there anything that you think that has changed in comparison with “Amoralism”, so that you really believe that MASS CULTURE actually developed anyhow in this release? How does it feel to hold a release of your own for the first time? Kostas, because of the music I prefer listening to (no offense to MASS CULTURE or any other Greek band), your album was (along with the latest releases of BAZOOKA and RUINED FAMILIES) the Greek DIY or underground release I listened to more than any other last year. If I’m not mistaken, this album contains some older stuff. Were they songs that you couldn’t release earlier and you found the opportunity to do so now, along with some new stuff ? Is it difficult to release such a cohesive album when not all of the songs are written or recorded at the same time? M: We met FIELDS OF LOCUST in our very beginnings in a show in your town at Prokat35 squat. When a band of the same sound and views releases “Subtopia” and you‘re a new band, it’s just shocking. You’re just out of words. We tried to get in touch, but they were way ahead of us. We tried more and more, sending flowers and

playing love songs just for them, but it was no use. At a point, we decided we should stop this and care a bit for ourselves. We were so young, after all. At some point, we had some songs and we were thinking a lot about finding a band for a split release. But they weren’t all of them complete and we were far away from having the money for recording and releasing stuff. Most of the bands we got in touch had their stuff absolutely ready and simply could not wait for us. FIELDS OF LOCUST happened to be in exactly the same situation. In addition, our sounds match each other, so it worked. They asked for our bodies for exchange, but, to be honest, there wasn’t any other possibility that those giants could have a split release with us. This split is a big step to what we really want to do. The bad thing with “Amoralism” is its cohesion. There are four songs and it’s like four different bands. In the split release, I don’t think that there is anything like this at all. K: Thanks for everything you said, in the first place. In fact, there was only one old song. That was “Ξυπνάω στο Σκοτάδι” – “Ksypnao Sto Skotadi” (means: “I wake up in darkness”), which was also in an old demo back in 2004. Everything else in this release was the result of our continuous work until we had something we regarded as satisfying and cohesive. We wanted this release to have a beginning, a middle and an end. This wouldn’t have happened without the help and guidance of some friends who we really want to thank at this point. What are your lyrics about? I don’t know if I can argue something like this, but I feel that lyrics are an undoubtedly essential part in a song by ΑΡΧΗ ΤΟΥ ΤΕΛΟΥΣ. That’s why I thought it was weird that there weren’t any lyrics in your cassette. On the other hand, I don’t feel the same way with MASS CULTURE. Do you believe that this has to do with the kind of music each of you play or could it be also the way each one finds easier to express themselves? Others need to say a lot,

others do not. You know I’m asking because both of you are bands with clear political choices. Can a band be deeply into politics (as a band, not its members) without expressing its statements in its lyrics or aesthetics? M: Well, our lyrics so far are more internal, individual and personal. Not that much politics in them. Because of the poetic way I’m writing, people to tend to call me “post-metal’s Bogdanos” (e.n. if you do not know who Bogdanos is, you do not lose that much). Our few lyrics have to do with the way we write a song. Vocals are there to give something more to a riff, just like a cherry on a pie. In ΑΡXH TOY TEΛΟΥΣ, I would say lyrics are something like an instrument, which isn’t the same in us. We may change this thing in near future, as well as the content of our lyrics, which could become, if not political, more social, for sure, with our own mixed-up way, of course. K: I suppose that lyrics always were a basic part in our creating process. There are so many times that we begin from lyrics to finally reach a melody. Lyrics enable us to create an image, which will be seen by us and those who will listen to our music. The subjects we usually talk about are little things that we experience in the city we live. Thoughts that spin in your head while being in the (stopped in the traffic jam) bus, people’s mood in such a living place. It’s difficult to live and breathe where almost no one really knows you. That’s where we focus on; modern citizens. Maybe this is the reason that ΣΤΕΡΕΟ ΝΟΒΑ – STEREO NOVA – has been such an influence for our lyrics. Their lyrics are neither dramatic nor symbolical, but realistic and descriptive. There’s not a better way to describe a modern city. Lyrics were not in the cassette, because of their quantity. We needed much more money in order to have them all in this release. However, “Πτωση” will soon be released in vinyl, as well, and there will be lyrics in this LP. As for the last part of your question, a band can be deeply politi-

cal without showing it, for example, in lyrics. Think of ambient-noise or instrumental bands that their members are very conscious of political affairs. People should talk when they feel that they can or have to act so. We shouldn’t stick to that rock kind philosophy, where expression must have a specific pattern. Κοstas, you just said that you’re rereleasing “Πτώση” …in vinyl this time. Are there any other plans for any of you? Shows, recordings, releases, whatever. K: This year we did several shows in Athens and in the rest of Greece, as well. Right now, we have some new material and we ‘re working on these new ideas. When they reach a final form, we want to start recordings for a new album. Our goal is to have a sound that combines the raw post-punk of early KILLING JOKE or WARSAW with the melancholy of THE CHAMELEONS. After summer, though, we intent to play some more shows or it would be nice if we could play abroad and we’re kind of working on this. M: Look, at this point we ‘re writing songs, so we don’t have playing shows that much in mind. We want to be fully concentrated on the creating process. You wouldn’t call this effort successful, though, if I told you that there’s been over a month since the last time we rehearsed, haha. But we really want to finish the creating part until September in order to start recording. We also want to set up a 2-day fest at Kronos camping in Gythio, Peloponnese, in July. It will be a MASS CULTURE and “Kallidromiou 94” organisation, somehow. There will be music, and plenty of wine and pork. You know how things work in a typical Greek summer. After this, we‘re having some shows and hope we could also play abroad. I guess the only problem with this is whether ΑΡΧΗ ΤΟΥ ΤΕΛΟΥΣ want us in their tour, haha. Well, “Πτώση” will be the first release by ΑΡΧΗ ΤΟΥ ΤΕΛΟΥΣ in vinyl after a bunch of releases, whereas

MASS CULTURE’s first ever release was in vinyl, with another cassette following, bringing “Amoralism” EP in physical format this year. In general, what kind of format do you prefer for your releases? M: Nowadays, people listen to music from their PCs and don’t really bother buying LPs or CDs in order to listen to a band. So, right now, I would go for vinyl records for personal reasons. I think, it’s wonderful to have a collection of vinyl records. Cassette is a nice format for people who want to support bands, but without giving that much money. CD is something like an intermediate solution. But since you can release a vinyl record by spending just a little more money, I certainly do not a find a point releasing music in CD format. K: The format we choose for our releases usually has to do with the band’s budget at that moment. Every time we wanted to release something, we tried to make the ideal choice about the sound quality with the money that was available. You should remember that we growed up in the ‘90s, so cassettes and mixtapes were a (great) part of our childhood, inevitably. That’s why we still like and release this format. We had another couple of tape releases in the past. As for the vinyl release of “Πτώση”, it wasn’t something we had planned. The tapes were soon sold out and some local distros suggested to become our partners for another release of this album. We talked about it and accepted without much thought. How do you deal with your live appearances? Is there any kind of rituals or charms? Are there things that you do the same way every single time? What about communication between your members or with the crowd during your show? M: Well, I think there is a couple of rituals in our shows that are really well established, in my opinion. Those would be Nikos having a problem with his guitar or most of us screaming to Giannis to finally start our next song. These things are always a part of

attending our show. I don’t think that we are that good at communicating with people in the crowd until now. We just play music and stop when we feel that people are starting to get bored. K: We‘re usually calm, when it comes to playing live. Our first goal is to enjoy ourselves, even when we don’t play that good. We’re friends more than anything else and the band follows, so what we really want is to have a good time when playing. We don’t have any specific ritual, but we usually hug each other before starting our set … or maybe we slap each other’s ass, just like volleyball players do, haha. We also don’t want long pauses between our songs in our set, firstly, because of respect to other bands playing, but also because we want our set to sound like a really long song which is full of changes. Finally, we usually have a different setlist in every show. One of the reasons why I wanted these two bands in the same interview is that you’re also good friends. You very often share the “stage”, a few months ago you did a little Greek tour together and you’re both involved in the same gig collective. How nice is it that your friendship expands in your other activities? Can your differences ever become a problem? For example, you play different kinds of music. Can it make it difficult when you co-exist in a show or even when you hit the road? Or are such things the ones that give you a fine experience of what diversity is? M: It’s really great when you can set up and play a show with your friends, especially when it’s out of town, which means travelling together and hanging around after the show, as no one has anywhere to stay. At least until 11p.m., when Kostas usually leaves, haha. These bands have also a deep respect for each other and the fact that despite seeing them playing so many times, I still enjoy their shows means very much to me. In addition, it’s very easy to enjoy each other’s music and ignore our sound differences. The point is that they are a great band.

Honestly, I must have listened to “Πτώση” more than a hundred times. We all have a great range in music we like and our conversations can start from BURZUM and OFFSPRING and end up to BANANARAMA and MELVINS. It never gets boring and I can’t see it ever becoming a problem. In fact, you can ask Kostas for his five most favourite albums and you ‘ll have at least 30. So, I guess, we will never run out of talking subjects, haha. K: Well, MASS CULTURE are longtime partners and friends and spending your years with people you know and trust is a unique experience. Our friendship with some of those guys started in 2009 and doesn’t only have to do with music or places in which we are active. It can start from getting out for just a coffee or beer and end up to setting up a show or screening a movie for people. In addition, it’s really cool partying with these guys; they’re unstoppable. Now, mentioning our differences, I really don’t think it was ever a problem. In fact, I don’t even think it’s important. If two bands share the same views or ethics, everything else will come along. However, there’s no point analysing such things when we talk about us and MASS CULTURE. Personally, I’m one of their biggest fans. They have worked so hard in these last years and they quickly evolved in one of most upright and consistent bands of the Greek DIY scene. I hope they continue this way or they could just just stop, so that we can play on our own, haha. You know, I insisted on this thing about music genres, because I really feel that nowadays there are so many good Greek DIY (or underground) bands in every genre. People, especially in Athens, can set up shows with bands of a specific sound. That proves how many great bands exist out there. Thinking of other artists that work with these ethics, as well as this great number of distros, I really regard our days as a new rising era for the Greek DIY scene. Do you feel the same way? How does it feel

to be part of all this? M: Yes, there’s an undoubted development in the Greek DIY scene. Not only in punk, but in lots of sounds. This was caused, to a major extent, by all those squats or self-reserved places that made themselves available for bands and listeners of all kinds of music. Being a part of this thing can be compared with being Spiderman; “great power brings also great responsibility”. K: The Greek DIY scene has been a significant part of our daily routine for so many years. So, I can say for sure that ten years ago we were not even close to what’s happening today. There’s an enormous improvement in bands and their releases. Not only in the musical, but in their artistic part, as well. People seem to take their involvement in a band a lot more seriously. Well, I’m afraid that this is caused by the individual attempts of people or groups and that things are not that organized, in general. Time will tell, of course, but what happens in these last years is really awesome. Excellent releases, new bands and events on a very regular basis set the scene. It’s like a non-stopping orgasm, haha. I hope this will go on forever. However, it’s high time people stopped recalling that much great bands or years that have gone by. This scene is at its best

and people focus so much on what happened in the past, which will never come back. Maybe these people are the same who will be whining in the next ten years for the fact that people are not that aware of bands of our days. Talking about you, why did you, guys, choose this way? Which are the things that you love and which are the ones that annoy you in this scene? Is there a possibility that your bands may change their approach and play in a club, even if we ‘re talking for shows abroad, where things are completely different? M: Actually, we have played a couple of club shows in our beginning. Of course, shows were either free or had a very low ticket. It’s not easy for a new band to enter the DIY scene without knowing anyone involved in such things. It’s not that this thing is something unapproachable. It’s just that when you’re young or begin to spend your time playing music, you simply don’t know how things work in the DIY scene. For us, it was little things that led us in this way. We couldn’t understand that friends or other people really had to pay money to see us playing. We can’t accept that clubs or music industry make profit from the

musicians’ effort. Of course, on the other hand, there are things that we find disturbing. Those would be the lack of understanding in things that should be taken for granted by everyone. For example, giving money to bands that are driving from another town to play in your place or supporting a DIY place by buying your drink there in a show instead of buying it from the closest supermarket. I don’t think we would ever play again in a club. Well, it may be a little safe to say so, because it has never been difficult for us to play in shows. I agree that things away from Greece are a lot different, but we haven’t really thought of our behavior in such a situation. If playing abroad comes in our way, we will think about this. K: Look, when we started as a band, we actually played in DIY shows and in some clubs, as well. Well, I don’t really think that any of us is born holding a DIY flag in their hands or anything like this. Some years after, we finally understood that our culture or political beliefs were very close to such places, bands and people. So, we decided that we’d better set up shows ourselves, so that they are done exactly how we want them. Definitely, doing everything by yourself means spending a lot of time and not allowing yourself to be always involved in some other creative activities, but I really believe that when the right people are next to you, everything can work perfectly. Well, going abroad to play some shows is totally different, but I want to believe that we’d keep the same approach. As part as of believing in the principle of self-organisation and being active in this DIY scene, you are involved in running “Λέσχη Υπογείως στην Καλλιδρομίου 94” – “Leschi Ypogios @ 94 Kallidromiou, Str” – which we call “Kallidromiou 94” from now on or just “basement”, as you guys tend to do. For people that might not know, this is a gig and other events collective, but you can describe things better than me. Well, tell me about this place and its history. What other events, besides

DIY shows, do take place there? When can anybody interested in contributing to your project find you? K: Well, you made a correct introduction about what this place actually is. However, right now, things are slightly different in comparison with recent years. This place was in emergency last June. It was the first time that its existence was under real threat, since it was run by just 2 or 3 people. Things couldn’t go on this way. So, we decided to make a new effort. I really want to congratulate the people from “Deathrock Greece” for keeping this place alive, at this point. There are a lot of people involved in this project and not only members from ΑΡΧΗ ΤΟΥ ΤΕΛΟΥΣ or MASS CULTURE, of course, but a whole bunch of wonderful people that reacted positively when we announced that we were in need of help. There are also many other people that are not fully active, but help us a lot and we hope they will be even more into this project next year. There’s a really nice climate in this basement – even if it’s a bit damp, sometimes, haha – and all of us hit it off real well from the very start. This is something that has an impact on the place’s routine, of course. Nice atmosphere brings nice results. As you already know, our activities are not restricted to just music. We often interrupt this rotten society’s flow with many activities, host open conversations or screen movies and, finally, martial arts or yoga lessons often take place here. This basement is usually open about five times a week, or even the whole week sometimes. People who might be interested can find us every Friday between 6 and 8p.m., when we gather in order to talk about the place’s affairs. It seems that last June was definitely crucial for you. Apart from you telling me right now, this was also written in an announcement you issued back then (e.n. you can easily find it if you check the blogspot of “Kallidromiou 94”). You also often remind us of it, since other announcements for shows or other events have been ac-

companied many times by this earlier one. What was this announcement about? What is really different now in comparison with last year? Why do you insist on repeating this announcement? K: We wanted this announcement to work as a blow for everyone, especially for us. It is repeated to remind us that if we rest assured and take things we own for granted, we might end up losing them. When I first visited this place, I was really impressed by its appearance and decoration. Actually, this basement has its own logo! It’s everywhere …in the walls, posters, blogspots and even t-shirts. Tell me about it. Besides that, there are many nice wall paintings. For example, I can definitely recall that wall where the last scene from Bergmann’s masterpiece “The Seventh Seal” is painted. Who’s responsible for all this? K: People that first took care of this place came up with the idea of having a specific logo and chose this one. As years passed by, each collective, which became active in this place, respected and maintained it. Of course, it’s Felix the Cat, the radical, subsersive and anarchist cartoon of the 1920s. Last year, the place’s arrangement and decoration really concerned us. It has changed a lot since then. We removed some benches and bookcases and other things, so that the place is useful for more people and activities. We even made a second bar. We really spent hours of working there taking care of everything. Plumbing, electrical installations or whatever else you may think of. But, still, there’s a lot of work to be done. We want to create a special place for distros and maybe even a foldable stage. We want to take care of the yard in the back of the building to make a little open air cinema. We never run out of ideas about our basement. It just needs patience and insistence, and it will be exactly the way we want it. Moreover, the interior decoration and appearance of the basement is the result of many different people that volunteered to car-

Giannis is trying to sell a carpet during a home show @ K94

ry out this mission last summer. This was nothing else than filling the inside of this basement with exceptional taste. As for the scene from “The Seventh Seal” on that wall, people from “Deathrock Greece” have actually done it in the past. Unfortunately, they are not active in “Kallidromiou 94” right now, due to some problems they face, but hopefully they will return when they’re done with them. What does really matter for you, when it comes to setting up a show? For example, I have noticed that you prefer (if I’m not mistaken) that all bands in a show have a similar sound, which is not that usual in a typical Greek DIY show. However, as this scene grows, it seems more and more possible with all these great bands. Which other concerns are there, when you’re responsible for the organization of an event? K: Yes, the musical relation between the bands playing in a show really concerned us. Even when we just attend shows, we don’t like it, when bands that are so different, share the stage. That’s how we ended up having post-metal, black metal, crust, postpunk, garage rock or indie nights in our basement. There was even a night dedicated to rebetika (e.n. this is a kind of urban Greek folk music). What also concerns us is that the bands fit to our politics. That doesn’t mean that we have never made wrong choices

bringing bands that didn’t have idea of what this place stands up for, but only thought how cool playing in a damp basement was. We are the ones that judge ourselves more than anyone else. So, after resting in the summer, we might consider some new standards about which bands are suitable for our shows, apart from continuing our efforts to upgrade this place, by any means. “Kallidromiou 94” is a place whose political statements are pretty much clear. This doesn’t seem to affect its relationship with the social media. What’s your opinion about sharing events that take place in that basement? Because there’s also that opinion that events and ideas like those hosted in places like “Kallidromiou 94” don’t have a position in the pages of such media. K: I’ll answer mostly as an individual at this part, and not as a member of “Kallidromiou 94” collective. I really consider the disapproval of using the social media, when this is made by places like ours with the excuse that they lose their political identity this way, as something totally hypocritical, when people, at the same time, spend their whole day posting how cool, happy or worried about the society they are, or showing off how many songs they have listened to, via facebook or twitter. In addition, I don’t have such a deep respect

to people that have never made any real-life effort, but spend their days in forums or other sites and just criticise projects of such political background behind their computer screens. Personally, I don’t like these media. That said, I must admit that it’s an easy way to inform people about anything. It also means saving time and money, which is very important when running a place like “Kallidromiou 94”. The place itself, though, doesn’t have a page in these media, in fact. We just agreed that if anyone wants to share an event that will take place in the basement, that’s not a problem. But, in general, everything depends on what we decide in our talks. We might as well stop any use of these media in the future …who knows? During the last years, we suffered so many evictions of squats in many cities of Greece. A lot of them still exist and go on, but only some of them set up DIY shows or such events on a regular basis. Are places like “Kallidromiou 94” the successors of squats, as far as cultural or subcultural events are concerned? Extending this thing, can places that people rent in order to accomodate their political ideas and activities be equivalent to squats in the political part? What’s your opinion? Was it a defeat in the struggle against normalization? Or is that we just adapt ourselves to the current situation finding other ways to remain opposed to the existing system? M: These places are definitely the closest you can’t get to a squat. However, I’m really unsure that they are the same thing. They definitely stand up for the same things, though. Ιn addition, they‘re less vulnerable to any kind of attacks (by the police, for instance), which may make them a bit more accessible. Well, if we really want to be honest, this is a defeat. It’s not that people that confront with the system are reduced. These are only attempts to grow dread in people’s hearts. So, yes it is a defeat, but not a decisive one. K: If you think of the way it works, this basement isn’t that far from a

squat. It’s not the same for sure, but its existence is a political statement itself. If you go through the 12 years of its history, you will find out that it has been attacked (violently or not) many times by those who are disturbed by its operation. There were times that this place was in real danger. So, I wish there were many places like this. It’s true, though, that eviction of squats increased our responsibilities. That’s why we should maintain and develop such places more and more. We really have to keep them alive and everyone’s help is important. We need people to contribute in every way they can. That could be participating in our conversations or supporting us financially (for example by buying their drink in an event) or in different ways. I really don’t think we ‘re talking about a defeat or an adaptation. This is our attitude and it never really changed or gonna change. Tell me about your most incredible experience in this basement. It doesn’t really concern me if you were playing with your band or if you were involved in running this place at the time. I just want to know about your best memory from this place until now. Besides, which would be the line-up of the ideal 2-day fest that would take place at “Kallidromiou 94”? No restriction in the bands’ choice, but I also won’t admit any hesitations for clear choices instead. K: Oh, I can’t give an answer to this question. I have spent so many great nights in this place. If I only recall this year’s events, I will bump into ΧΕΙΜΕΡΙΑ ΝΑΡΚΗ – CHIMERIA NARKI – (means: Hibernation), the first ever ΛΗΘΗ – LETHE – (means: Oblivion) show in this basement, STEVE LAKE playing a ZOUNDS’ set, bringing tears in our eyes and shivers up our spines, and the 2-day fest in the start of season. It’s impossible to pick just one. Well, going from the real to the imaginary great nights in our basement, I might leave out many favorite bands in favor of a solid line-up. The first day would be mostly based on post-punk, with

bands like THE SOUND, JOY DIVISION, ECHO AND THE BUNNYMEN, THE CURE (playing stuff from their post-punk/goth days) and COCTEAU TWINS, whereas the second day would be dedicated to black metal and BATHORY (of “Blood Fire Death” era), FORGOTTEN WOODS, DARKTHRONE, KATATONIA (playing their first album in its entirety), IN THE WOODS and ULVER would share the stage. Well, please give me just one more day! Lists are my passion! I would also want a day of more alternative sounds, where people would see FOLK IMPLOSION, SLINT, HELMET, SWANS, SUICIDE and NEU! performing. Well, I’d better stop right now, because otherwise I might set up a festival that would last for a couple of months! M: Being a lot younger than elderly ΑΡΧΗ ΤΟΥ ΤΕΛΟΥΣ, we have not so many experiences in this place as they have, but I would go for the night of panic that SLAUGHTERED PRIEST delivered us. Or maybe the ΛΗΘΗ show and the 2-day fest last September. Well, talking about bands I would like to see in the basement, I will keep my feet in the ground, just unlike Kostas, haha. ANTIMOB would definitely play and the day would be completed with, eh, ΧΑΟΤΙΚΟ ΤΕΛΟΣ – CHAOTIKO TELOS – (means: Chaotic End), ΑΝΑΤΕΛΛΩΝ ΤΡΟΜΟΣ – ANATATELON TROMOS – (means: Rising Terror), ΛΗΘΗ and CONSPIRACY OF DENIAL. I’m not sure if we would survive for the second day of a festival with this lineup, though. If we made it, we would ensure our demolition in the next day with DEPHOSPHORUS, SARABANTE, RUINED FAMILIES, DALA SUN and WAXING GIBBOUS. These were the first bands I came up with. Otherwise, it would take some weeks to decide. Ah, and I forgot CELESTE. Well, I would be happy to see them performing anywhere, in fact, but in this basement, it would be an outer space experience. Ι would say the same for AMENRA. Such places are perfect for their shows. Which are the records that you can’t

stop listening to lately? Again no restrictions. M: Well, I think that both of us would say MODERN LIFE IS WAR’s latest LP. There’s no need to say anything about this release. What else? The self-titled album of ΛΗΘΗ and the latest releases from CELESTE and BREACH, TERRA TENEBROSA and OLD WIND, as well. Both Argyris and I just loved the new DEPHOSPHORUS LP. A couple of more would be “Commuters” LP by COILGUNS, those bastard children of BREACH, and “Coma” LP by NVRVD. Really fresh and solid releases.

K: Lately, I listen mostly to music that will lead me to new ideas. As a result, I listen to a lot to THE ESTRANGED focusing on their guitar parts, and, inevitably to the WIPERS. I once again listen to JOHN CARPENTER’s (“The Fog”, “Escape From New York”, “Christine”, etc.) soundtrack discography. Generally, I don’t like sticking to only one music genre. And, indeed, “Fever Hunting” LP by MODERN LIFE IS WAR was superb. Well, guys. You can close this interview in any way you want. That will happen, just after Kostas tells us which sports club is the best in the universe, haha. K: That would be Aris Thessaloniki, undoubtedly, haha. Seriously talking, I don’t have that much to add. I hope that each of us will gain strength from ourselves and people that surround us, so that we change the situation

we’re in. The dark art of revolution can only be found in basements. M: Well, nothing else from me and MASS CULTURE. Thank you for this interview. Pure love to ΑΡΧΗ ΤΟΥ ΤΕΛΟΥΣ. * The vinyl version of “Πτώση” is currently out by Scarecrow Records, Sabrota DIY and We Don’t Fight It Records. ** ΑΡΧΗ ΤΟΥ ΤΕΛΟΥΣ have announced that their new album will be entitled “Κάθαρση” – “Catharsis” – (means: Putrification). What is more, Vasiliki, the ex-Blacklisted bassist, is now a member of ΑΡΧΗ ΤΟΥ ΤΕΛΟΥΣ, replacing Panos in their line-up. Lastly, the band are supposed to be touring Europe some time in 2015. Stay tuned. *** In the end, Kronos Fest was actually cancelled , since this place is the home for many tortoises and the fest coincided with their incubation period and people responsible for the organization of this fest happen to be environmentally conscious, so they decided to give up the idea for this year’s fest … but they promised to return with something really big next year. Beware!

What’s the relation between Greek dead politicians and 90’s cult NBA players? Between cheap tattoos, ridiculous animals and anti-fascism? Between US comedy movie samples and powerviolence / fastcore music? Sometimes, making an interview with good friends of mine can result in something this surreal and amusing! Interview by Dinos, Spring 2014 Photos by Lifewreck • Hello ‘Wrecks! At first, I would like to ask you how it feels to make stickers before releasing or even recording a single sample of music. Okay, let me also know about your members, what their duty in the band is, who designs the stickers, and definitely who the one, taking over the hard task of sticking them on the walls, is. 45

Hello, my friend! Before making the stickers, we had already uploaded a rehearsal via bandcamp -it seems you’re not informed enough- featuring two of our tracks, plus a Limp Wrist cover. Stickers were next as a marketing trick, in order to make people aware of us before our first show. Band consists of:

stickers and when we agree, Vasilis does the photoshop thing. We print the stuff and quickly begin the hard work in toilets and walls, always following Elias’ orders, while he is usually drinking his coffee. For the record, we had a small argument about the last “Evert Youth” sticker.

• However, you finally released a record! Your first demo had a big success, it -Vaggelis (drums sold out, and I can easily – he played almost admit it’s a personal favorite. naked in the first The package was innovative rehearsal) and the content a killer. Are -Vasilis (throat – you pleased with this first atpterodactyl) tempt? Is there any “repress” -Elias (bass – he in your plans? always wears a Blank Stare t-shirt) Thank you for your kind -Iasonas (guitars words! Indeed, we had a good – he always breaks feedback, and many people still a string, sometimes at the first ask for a copy, so, yes, we’re chord of the show) certainly pleased with it. Of Dimitris has also recorded with course, as we keep on listening us in the first demo and played to these tracks, we find many the drums ‘till February 2014, things we would probably when he moved to another like to be a bit different in the city. Right now, we only accept recording, and there are even punks from Athens. a few tracks we’re not in the mood to play now. We have We all bring ideas for the already excluded two or three

songs from our set. Just saying. sound are the mirror of our We’re discussing about a retopics and are easy to conceive, press, but still nothing specific. after all. In the upcoming releases, we’re gonna include • I believe that sometimes lyrics. Promise. voice is the fourth instrument of the whole, and just by the • If I’m not mistaken, there’s aesthetics and the titles of the this super cool chorus “Love songs you can have a good Dogs / Hate People” …is look of the topics, the attithis valid? What else can be tude, the politics of the band. the driving force for Do you agree? Lyrics, though, Lifewreck, in order are not to be found in the to find demo tape. Why is this? themselves once Yes, many people have also asked about the lyrics, some of them wonder if there’s actually any written word, others ask to send them a message with them, and there are people, as well, who just don’t give a fuck ‘cause in the music we’re playing, the voice -also- adds extra fuzz ‘n’ distortion in the whole. The truth is that we could not fit them in the weird package we used, and, to be honest, it again was just a demo! If we manage in sweaty to clean all the mess of these basements, playing lyrics, we can possibly upload fast and aggressive them in the future. Then again, music and spitting violently maybe not. The titles, the dirty -and even more catchyartwork, and the fuzz of our refrains?

Yes, this is exactly what we’re saying! It is a track about all the subhumans who poison these lovable creatures, ‘cause such incidents are too many lately. And it’s not because of the crisis or something, it’s just because humans are stupid and assholes. The lyrics are written by our good friend Nikos (e.n. ex My Turn / Αληκτώ, see previous issue) who loves animals and got excited with the whole idea. We would also like to add that it’s not necessary to be vegan or something to speak about such issues. What pushes ourselves to write and play this music is the boring daily routine, the eight and ten hours at work, the limited time to sleep, have fun, and do the things we like, the life in Athens, the city we love and hate at the same time. As Lifewreck, there’s nothing 46

positive we wanna talk about. • The limited time to sleep... I liked this. I had recently a small discuss with your tiny guitarist about the general ultimate high-level of some European bands, and about the fact that, in Greece, it’s really difficult for a local band to reach this point, due to the hard financial times we’re all going through, which force you to work all day, decreasing a big part -as you mentioned, too- of your free time. There’s no reason, of course, for us, the G(r)eeks, to feel disadvantaged, but I sometimes wonder whether things would be better under different circumstances. In that case, what more would Lifewreck do for themselves and the

band? Actually, we can’t predict if there would be better bands in Hellas(s), assuming a different social and financial situation. What we can claim for sure is that the days we now live, are the best period of our local hc / punk scene since years. In the years of crisis, there have been amazing bands, not only for the Greek standards, but for the worldwide ones, too. All the “Memorandum” bands here are clearly better than those who played in the golden “Pasok” era and the so called “Evert” years. So, undoubtedly, we support “International Monetary Fund” and Samaras’ government for a better DIY scene. Seriously speaking, if there’s a lot of will and a good mood, then it’s easy to achieve many things, concerning your skills, but also your “gig mobility” in Greece and abroad. I

would only like to mention a big problem here; despite the fact that there are many bands around, the structures are still missing ‘cause everyone wanna rock, but he/she’s not capable of offering real help with a show. • I think you manage to cope with it. You’re active, you record your stuff, you’re playing music, you’re performing, and there’s a good frequency between these things. As far as I am aware, you have also released some tracks for a couple of compilations. Could you give me some details and info about these releases? Title, format, label, release date, or anything else worth mentioning?

Unfortunately, we passed a “low” period with the drummer change and the tour Iasonas made along with Conspiracy Of Denial and your damn fuckin’ band. That compilations’ thing, though, is true. We’ve recorded two tracks for two German compilations. The first is called “Fast // Violence” including hc, fast hc, and grind bands from all around the globe -and our local kids Cut Off, too-. The tape consists only of one minute tracks and it’s released by Knocken Tapes. The second one is called “The Soundtrack To Change The World”, and it contains hc / punk bands from all around, as well. Besides, it’s released in tape format by the fanzine XCLUSIVX. • Lifewreck are a hot name, not only for the extreme

music they write in order to give even more extreme performances, but for the hostile fronts they share with some great rivals, in this Greek scene, too. You’re the winner so far. After My Turn (RIP) -share a few comments about this rival- who’s your next opponent? The rivalry with My Turn began as a joke. We started uploading some edited photos with their name, or others in which we threatened them with hammers and chainsaws, and finally ended up playing -actually trolling- a song of theirs. They presented it as a cover song but the pressure was big, My Turn couldn’t handle with all this, and just disbanded. We won’t give names or addresses, but our next opponents play slow music, they are from Sparti

city, and are also featured in this issue. Beware! • Would you like to tell -for those who didn’t manage to attend- a few things about your epic performance at Prokat35 Squat (Patras City) last November? I must ask. This show was the definition of hardcore punk. Violent, dirty, aggressive, extreme. Something else in Greek territory in the near future? This show was probably the best ever done in Greece. Lots of people attended, all the bands were amazing, the audience gave its 100%, many smiles, the perfect hardcore vibe. We would like to thank again everyone who made the gig possible, and we’ll

never forget that people were moshing from the beginning of the soundcheck ‘till the end of our set. And, yes, Iasonas broke his string in the first chord of the first track in soundcheck. We have already booked two shows in Thessaloniki at Squat in Biologica at Tattoo Circus Fest for the financial aid of political prisoners and a show at Kronos Camping, Gythio, in July. That’s it for now. • Now that we talked about live shows, let’s discuss about the hottest issue of the Greek scene... DIY, entrance, clubs. Lifewreck chose to activate in squats, occupied spaces, social centers, and gigs of DIY collectives who function under the anti-commercial, anti-hierarchical and self-organized perspective. What is your opinion, though, about those who have a different perspective and act in a different way? Everyone involved in our local scene knows about the strictness which exists in such issues and sometimes cause arguments or even a split between the punks. What do you think? Well, we’re four different persons who consciously chose to activate in self-organized

spaces, squats etc., because we put ourselves in such places due to our personal perspective and action in the DIY things, standing for such principles, and not because in these venues there’s that lot, which is cool or anything like this. We support and fight for this to the point that we’ve never disagreed, it was a standard for us, and, after all, in such places we met each other. However, it’s false to sort bands and people, because they choose to play in clubs. There are good guys involved in club gigs -for some reason-, and people I hate and cannot relate to, involved in squats.

offer a shitty equipment and if you put the whole function of the venue in danger, only to avoid an entrance fee, then you have to see there’s something wrong in here and face all the consequences. But, first of all, everyone who attends a gig must understand the way this event is organized. There are people getting exhausted every Saturday night paying all the expenses on their own. If you aren’t able to understand this, and your only concern is to find a way to drink cheap beers, get the fuck out of here. Go to the next market and serve yourself ten or even a hundred beers. Each one costs a euro.

Personally speaking –as Iasonas–, things are simple, when it comes to whether entrance fees are acceptable or not. If you are able to preserve a place, with a decent backline and PA, always offering the bands the basics -food, a floor to crash, and gas money- by optionally collecting money from the “box”, then it’s super cool. However, if you’re not, if there’s a discount in everything you provide, if you

• Do you sometimes feel that there’s too much attention paid to what we’d call hot topics of the worldwide hardcore/ punk scene, whose we are also a part of, often making punks blind in other definitely more important problems? I speak about veganism, DIY or clubs, and the likes, and, of course, not about anti-fascism, anti-homophobia etc. You are the first to know that

people abroad have a different perception of what’s really a big problem. A Dutch guy does not come across the 65% of unemployment the young Greeks are supposed to confront with, and a German girl does not receive a wage of 300 euros for 8 hours. So everyone rate themselves the things they see as important. It would be funny,

though, if Lifewreck would call themselves as 100% antifascist, no 350 euros minimum wage, DIY, gay rights supporters and Bolognese eaters from Athens. • Okay, let’s get over with this now. Time to melt the ice, ‘cause it’s already been broken since hours. Two back to back questions for the fans. What’s the relation between

Lifewreck and tattoos, if Lifewreck would be an animal, what this would be, and in which position of the food chain would it be placed? As for tattoos, the thing is that Vasilis has been hitting skins for the last years as Jerboa Illustrations. Every member owns a Jerboa tattoo, except from the new drummer who’s

gonna yield soon. If we were an animal, we would be an hyena who‘d like the easy prey and ready-to-eat meals. • Which is the next hot sample you’re gonna use? Elias is well experienced in keyboards, he recently bought an impressive Casio one, so we’re gonna probably use one

of his creations. .• Is there anything else to add? Any big plan for the next future? Well, we’re planning to release a 7” in October. • That’s it guys! I’ m definitely satisfied with all this! Thank you very much! Cheers! We also liked it! We like you, do you undestand it? Thanx

a lot! *My Turn reunited shortly after this interview. **Lifewreck released their first 7” EP, entitled “Aggravation”, in November 2014. ***At the same time, Lifewreck toured Europe along with Dirty Wombs from Patras city. 50

SECTION

SIDE D BISHOPS GREEN Pressure 12” LP

(Longshot Music, Pirates Press, Rebellion)

do not simply give a fuck for that. Their songs remind me a lot of our local -Greek- heroes DESPITE EVERYTHING and the anti-christian punk melodies of CRUSADES, with crazy multiple male / female vocals, great feeling, and a few TURBONEGRO elements which really rock! All in all, this is definitely more than just a cool release.

BISHOPS GREEN are definitely the hottest Oi! band right now, and guess what, they deserve it. Their songs are simple, but have a strong feeling, reminding of old good British 80’s stuff, their leads are beautiful, some sing-along parts stick immediately to your mind, and guess NIGHT FEVER what, again, their vocalist is superb. His voice is Vendetta 12” LP unique and he really knows how to use it. Vote (Adult Crash) for the Canadians! This record probably includes the best hardHANK WOOD & THE HAMMER- core punk you’ve heard since months played by four insane -yet talented- freaks hailing from HEADS Denmark’s cold capital, Copenhagen. If you Stay Home 12” LP still claim that all the punk bands sound the (Toxic State, La Vida Es Un Mus) same, then go to your fucking doctor and take Under different circumstances, I would never care of your sick ears, -or, at least, cultivate the have had a look for this band, especially be- minimum aesthetics needed- ‘cause this album cause of its strange name. Wrong alarm, ‘cause is incredible. It’s rock ‘n’ roll in fast forward these New York City freaks fuckin’ rule. Blend- mode, with HUGE riffs, aggressive outbursts, ing influences by the legendary DEAD KEN- great refrains, and unbelievable vocal skills that NEDYS, the early “Ass Cobra” TURBONEGRO make the difference and vary between angry era and the prince of pure sickness, GG ALLIN, screams and heavy metal picks. You can’t find HANK WOOD & THE HAMMERHEADS a better record to dig, if you’re still listening to come to give a big surf / garage punch straight hardcore. up to your ugly face. This crazy farfisa / organ instrument adds an extraordinary vibe in the STONE DAGGER mix, and the whole idea of having different The Siege Of Jerusalem tape / 7” guys playing drums and percussion is brilliant. (self-released / Electric Assault) This is pure punk dirt. This is party music. Okay, this one is a bit different. First of all, it’s a heavy metal record. Brendan Radigan, is a HYSTERESE well known frontman / vocalist from Boston, Hysterese 12” LP having played in amazing acts like MINDSET, (Sabotage) XFILESX, THE RIVAL MOB(hc punk / powHYSTERESE play melodic and melancholic erviolence), BATTLE RUINS (Oi! / epic rock punk rock under modernly nihilistic topics. ‘n’ roll), and MAGIC CIRCLE (70’s doom rock The honest -and romantic- way they describe /metal) and this is his first attempt on composour youth’s dead end is 100% to the point, and ing tracks in this genre. And, damn, he is so when listening to their music I completely iden- fucking good. These releases make me wanna tify to their words; I’m feeling “Nothing” and I kneel down, raise my fists and shed some tears. 52

This is epic music. These are epic vocals. Let us FANZINES speak about an epic punk-ish edition of MANILLA ROAD-influenced heavy metal mad- The two most interesting fanzines I’ve read reness. Aaargh!!! cently are “Living In The City”, a K-town Hardcore Fanzine, and “Ευ Ζήν” (Eu Zine) from PaWE CAME OUT LIKE TIGERS tras, my hometown. In the first, I really liked the fact that the guy behind this creation writes Ever-Crushed At Pecket’s Well 12” EP almost only about his local scene, in Copenha(Dog Knights Productions) gen, with a really cool way that shows he’s really Going a bit darker, WE CAME LIKE TIGERS active in the Danish DIY network. Opinions, from Liverpool, UK, was a big surprise for me interviews, reviews, reports are all included, this year. It’s lately unusual to hear a blackened and the article about contacts for shows in hardcore band without a superb production K-town is more than helpful. “Ευ Ζήν” is a huge and all these excellent played blast-beats and surprise. I know one of the guys who made this super heavy riffs. WE CAME LIKE TIGERS print, but really did not expect it to be so good. are different. They stay natural and passionate. It’s a high quality A4 paper print, with a great They are angry and desperate, but at the same lay-out, covering several issues of urban art, time emotional and honest. They are chaotic, thought and experience, like comics and combut in their own way, the drummer has great ic reviews, graffiti artists interviews, punk and ideas, and along with the violin and some slow non-punk record reviews, reports from shows guitar parts, the whole feeling is really mystic. and gallery exhibitions, and lots more. It’s also All the members play like there’s no tomorrow the first ever zine including a Greek “fixed gear bike scene report”. You should really check this. and there isn’t any other better recipe to produce good music.

BEST SHOW

GREEK CORNER “North By Northeast” album, by BANDAGE, Athens’ punk rockers, is by far the best Greek record of the year. Fast, melodic, well played, with wonderful vocals and lyrics, it can definitely be compared with all the good stuff ever released by the Californian punk rock scene and get a draw as a final score. GUTTER, Athens city again, delivered top notch US hardcore punk in their first 7”, as LIFEWRECK did the same, playing excellent powerviolence / fastcore in their “Aggravation” 7” EP. ΚATAXNIA (Katachnia – Haze) from Thessaloniki, north Greece, are the crust local champions of 2014, with their debut 12” LP, being catchy as hell and offering ten hymns of dark hardcore poetry. Last, but not least, ERA OF FEAR, came out of nowhere (or from Xanthi city) to put themselves so deep in our hearts with the dark, synthy punk of their “Mizeria b/w Πίσω απ’ τους Τοίχους” 7” and their split cassette with DYSTOPIAN SOCIETY from Italy. 53

Okay, I am completely in love with BELGRADO since the beginning of the band. Needless to say, that I own all of their records, that I know many things about its members’ involvement in the DIY scene, that I know to sing all the lyrics even if I cannot speak Spanish and Polish. So, when I heard that these guys would be playing a show three hours from my town, in Ioannina city, I definitely went crazy, and almost insane when the promoters booked my band to also play in the gig. BELGRADO were amazing. They were only carrying some pedalboards with them -couldn’t take more in their flight-, they used foreign instruments, and when they connected the cables they simply sounded as in their records. This was fucking astonishing. The feeling was pure, dark and cold, Pat, the singer, gave a great performance, the beats were strong, and everyone seemed to have his own trip. All the members are wonderful people, they were kind to meet and talk with the locals. Extra thanx to our local dark post-punk heroes, ERA OF FEAR, for bringing them in Greece. Cheers!

SIDE G ACID BABY JESUS

Selected Recordings 12” LP (Slovenly)

The self-titled LP of ACID BABY JESUS was ideal to dance to in any basement or filthy spot in the urban area of Athens. However, in case of any celebration or ritual in an isolated Mediterranean island – maybe like the one where these Greek garage rockers are allegedly supposed to have recorded their latest album –, you will need some “Selected Recordings” that will stretch tensity out and convert it into a lush voluptuous haziness. As it seems, the ABJs woke up from their hibernation of the last two years, just in time to deliver them. The album is structured through enhanced percussion and multiple layers of guitars, hammond, mellotron and other organs, saxophone or even Jew’s harp, ultimately creating a broad sound spectrum; from covering the Zambian rock’s master, CHRISSY ZEMBY TEMBO, to country or MEAT PUPPETS-wise westerns and Greek folk music influences, and from pure and, at times, unconventional psychedelia to fuzzy dynamites. This album slips away from just converting your ideas into music, and turns out to be more of an internal restless search that justifies maturity and progression, and leads to a rare result – let’s call it vegetable.

AUSMUTEANTS

Order Of Operation (Aarght!, Goner)

Life nowadays is a grotesque parody in a virtual reality. The times we’re going through, are definitely crucial and people all over the world face growing difficulties. Nevertheless, facts and problems are valid only when posted on some social media. You have to admit that things are serious, and, yet, ridiculous. Well, so are AUSMUTEANTS, they’re most likely proud of it, and being themselves is more than

enough to make their point clear and describe the situation above, and, probably, even more precise than the well-aimed lyrics of their Order Of Operation LP. Musically, although you ‘ll also bump into noisy guitars or typical punk aggressiveness, the simple, but catchy, synth melodies are the ones that dominate and set the pace in this album, driving things nuts or even creating a DEVO-style cult feeing, on the other hand. At the same time, disjointed yells from the very bottom of this guy’s breast are making all this more paranoid than you could imagine. The point, though, is that AUSMUTEANTS are not just fooling around anymore. These weirdos’ naivety and sloppiness is actually a statement; denying conforming to any rotten or out of date standard and disregarding any form of ordinariness. And, as far as I’m concerned, this is PUNK.

BELGRADO

Siglo XXI 12” LP

( La Vida Es Un Mus) SIGLO XX was a coldwave band from Belgium in the 80s. Yes, in the 20th century. I really don’t know if Siglo XXI by Belgrado is coldwave. But it’s cold as ice. That’s for sure. And it’s also postpunk at its finest in the 21st century. Keeping an eye on this scene world-widely and having listened to their debut, I can definitely claim that this one rises up above all expectations. Their sound is no more that raw, but has somehow become sharper and more delicate. Ruthless drums and bass lay the goth foundations of this stable product, defining groove and inviting us to a non-stop dance, but also creating enough space for this seminal post-punk guitar work. These incredible lead parts and melodies really make the difference here. Last, but not least is this front-woman, whose yells will definitely lead you in absolute despair, no matter if she’s singing in Spanish, English or Polish. Well, after all, this gem shows that the combination of the 54

darkest aesthetics with strong anarcho-punk/ TION, THE UV RACE, TOTAL CONTROL, DIY ethos is and will always be a winner. No LAKES and REPAIRS can easily prove, EASTdoubt about it. LINK formed in 2011 (having released a cassette album and a 7inch, besides this LP) and, CRUSADES since then, decompose everything and divide it Perhaps You Deliver This Judgement into four, in order to finally deliver an accurate With Greater Fear Than I Receive It 12” mess. That’s the spirit either we‘re talking about LP the pure electricity of their addictive, noisy, (No Idea) psyched-out punk tunes or about the mesmerism of droning instrumentals of Eastern origin, I really have this impression that those punk that are also to be found in this album. This dirockers that want to go off the beaten path, are versity gives a broader dimension to the final starting to get closer to rock forms. That’s not result, which is an anguished, yet trippy, pernecessarily bad. There’s no particular reason petual voyage. Minimalism is still there, when or need for all new releases to sound identical. it comes to lyrics. They’re concise, political and Things must always evolve. However, if you take really spot on. After all, in 2014, it isn’t that that risk, the final result will be one of worth, compulsory to be over-hyped or settle for a flatonly when the band has a great taste. CRU- ly soft sound to release a proper psych(and not SADES are one of those cases that match these only, of course) record, is it? criteria. Even though, the strongest moments of the “The Sun Is Down And The Night Rising In” FLESH WORLD LP are nowhere to be found here, this even lon- Flesh World 12” MLP / A Line In Wet ger-entitled release, “Perhaps You Deliver This Grass 7” Judgement With Greater Fear Than I Receive (La Vida Es Un Mus / Iron Lung) It” is their most solid one so far. It seems that people grow up and so do titles. Anyway, these Hailing from San Fransisco, CA, and having an occult punks really know how to come up with all-star line-up with members of LIMP WRIST, melodies and choruses that immediately occupy NEEDLES and BRILLIANT COLORS, FLESH your brain. Yes, this is a rock album. Yes, there’s WORLD released their debut mini-LP via La such a range that you can find yourself recall- Vida Es Un Mus, just before 2013 farewelled us ing IRON MAIDEN and post-hardcore bands as well as a 7” via Iron Lung in 2014. Their basis like HOT WATER MUSIC in the same album. is a plain punk rock, which, due to production, But at the same time, you can’t find anything ends up being an ideal, sweet surface noise – catchier than this. No changes, though, in this just like shoegazing – and, obviously, matches band’s lyrics. They will always be occult, atheists perfectly with the cold, charming female whisand anti-Christian and this time they choose to per as well as the icy guitar leads and hooks for meditate Giordano Bruno’s life in their lyrics. a hopeless post-punk outcome that balances between pop sensitivity, noir aesthetics and EASTLINK rawness. Everybody dotes on female-fronted Mullum Mullum 12” LP dark punk and I haven’t heard something that (In The Red) good, since the very early of ARCTIC FLOWERS. And there’s also a surprise in this mini A four-guitar orgasm. No, dudes, put your jewel-LP. In all this primitivism, you might leather jackets back. You‘re not gonna find epic even find something that should be an outtake solos or any kind of guitar skills show-off here, from JESUS & MARY CHAIN’s “Psychocandy” as someone might expect. Teamwork is the one with some heavenly dream-pop vocals. that is building things up. Emerging from Australia’s cream of the crop, as sharing members HURULA with TEARGAS, STRAIGHTJACKET NA- Vi Är Människorna Våra Föräldrar Var 55

nade Oss För 12” LP (Deranged, No Good)

We all miss MASSHYSTERI. It’s bitter to know that you’ll have no more of their huge poppunk anthems. Fortunately, it’s not the same with this guy’s unique voice and distinct guitaring. HURULA is the new band of Robert Patterson, also featuring TERRIBLE FEELINGS’ front-woman on the bass. The old dance tunes aren’t here anymore and this won’t be the soundtrack in any sweaty basement. Things are more laid back, but the melodies and the Swedish rock ‘n’ roll spirit are also here, and along with buzzing, but usually clean, guitars and even some keys, give us ten edgy feel-good tracks. Of course, they stick immediately to your head, and, especially, this voice, which makes you want to sing along in Swedish once more. But you can’t. Shame.

LOW LIFE

Dogging 12” LP (Disinfect, R.I.P. Society) Just observing these days of modern decay can cause you both pessimism or misery and rage. Maybe that’s why LOW LIFE’s “Dogging” is not only dismal, but absurd and nasty. It seems there’s a reasonable load of negativity that waited patiently to blow off steam. The recording itself contributes to this. There’s so much energy and aggressiveness in it, as if the band plays live in your sound-system. Their singer sounds so inspirational and passionate that you can almost imagine he’s a wiggler, dancing awkwardly, almost biting his mic and sighing almost anything else, but lyrics. Musically, you’ll encounter an early WIRE build-up, harsh and distorted riffs and a loose noise that sometimes reminds me of DISAPPEARS. I have read that this record has been long anticipated in Australia and listening to it clearly shows you why.

considering their next moves. THE SISTERS OF MERCY are rumoured to have signed Dave Gahan from DEPECHE MODE. Oh wait! Maybe, it’s just a NIGHT SINS record. Well, there ‘s no way to explain that chronic and permanent lust to dance to default goth rock driven by ominous synth or guitar melodies, which at moments can become as catchy as these gracious vocals, and built upon faceless mechanic rhythms. I guess it is that some things never get old, or that it’s almost always a good time to feel nostalgic about them. The turning point is that this has been done so many times before, so you must do it more than properly to reach top shelf. NIGHT SINS are on the right path for something like this. Right now, they‘re more of a full band rather than a personal project and the pink and blue of the album’s cover turn out to be grimmer than whatever used to be black. This should do more than enough for you to feel the heart of the winter, either you find yourself in London or near a lake.

RAKTA

Rakta 12” LP

(Dama Da Noite, Nada Nada, 540)

RAKTA must be the first Brazilian band I’m into (no, I don’t give a fuck about SEPULTURA or RATOS DE PORAO, sorry). Well, I couldn’t imagine a better start. Because there’s something really special about this all-female band. They beg to differ. While the rest of the world keeps making that same soup which seems to be enough to satisfy everybody, they prefer to use some other ingredients for a fresh and spicy new dish. It’s based on a clean-cut and steady, mid-tempo rhythm section, and, adding downtuned – or even crusty, at moments – guitars and a heavy dose of psychedelia as well, due to the creepy organ sound and those drenched in echo vocals, proves that post-punk/death rock can be not only delicious, but extraordinary, too. A risky move, but re-invention is always NIGHT SINS big. At the end of the day, what we have is a To The London Or The Lake 12” LP unique and chaotic dark punk record of un(AVANT!) earthly atmosphere, which might make you reThe transfer window is open. Football clubs are consider your views on witchcraft. To conclude, 56

the same labels plus La Vida Es Un Mus Dis- This way, he closely lives the – once used to cos have issued a much like freaky RAKTA 7”, spitting out hardcore anthems – vocalist’s own which is a must-check. soul-searching, where every single word seems to be of unquestionable significance and, on SULTAN BATHERY the other hand, feels this explosive and unprecSultan Bathery 12” LP edented musical mix of post-punk guitaring, (Slovenly) new-wavey or even pop synths, garage-punk rawness and repetitive kraut-like jams, which Eventually, what ACID BABY JESUS gave us in strays from usual genre validation. In the end, these last years is not only their excellent releas- the reason why this album is so exceptional is es, but the introduction to Slovenly Recordings, some kind of personal experience. as well. Specializing in thrilling garage punk, this label keeps delivering genuine releases of UNWOUND great quality. SULTAN BATHERY’s self-titled Rat Conspiracy 3xLP & No Energy 3xLP album is one of the latest blows by the Reno (Numero Group) based label. If you take the raw and catchy moments of the Greek garage heroes mentioned Numero Group have made the wisest decision before, the trippy and repetitive structures of possible; to reissue the entire discography of the NIGHT BEATS and some vocal lines or the legendary post-hardcore trio, UNWOUND. sounds that the mighty BLACK ANGELS ex- So, after last year’s “Kid Is Gone” boxset , it was plored in their latest releases, you ‘re quite time to explore the period that lead them to there. No matter whether SULTAN BATHERY distinction, no matter whether this came with a come from the so called city of India or from It- delay or not. “Rat Conspiracy” compiles “Fake aly instead, their debut LP is extremely promis- Train” and “New Plastic Ideas” LPs, whereas ing, providing a more punkish and intense view “No Energy” does the same with “Repetition” on this psychedelic revival. and “The Future Of What”. Normally, I would only talk about new releases here, but letting TOTAL CONTROL people know about them or this band is kind of Typical System 12”LP a moral duty. These really are the reissues of the (Inertia, Iron Lung, La Vida Es Un Mus) year. And if it wasn’t for the imminent Numero release, where UNWOUND’s magnus opus Well, some people just make you feel embar- and one of the best albums ever recorded (aka rassed. It might be not your fault, but when you “Leaves Turn Inside You”) will be found, they actually deal with them, you end up in misery, would be the reissues of the decade. Exaggeratdisappointed with yourself whispering “What ing? I might be. However, these releases come am I doing in my life? Where ‘s my creativity?” with an excellent packaging that contains books ...Well, damn you guys! I wrote about some of of 10,000 word essays and archival photos, unthem in the EASTLINK review and now it’s in- released or remastered material, rarities, singles, evitable not to do it again about the new TO- compilation appearances, live performances or TAL CONTROL LP. No, I’m not gonna write radio sessions and, more importantly, this mudown the numerous bands these punks are sic, which speaks up for itself. No need to say also in once more. OK, I could only add EDDY that much about it. It’s written history. People CURRENT SUPPRESSION RING to those cit- can find out, or just enjoy, the splendour and ed before. As far as the album is concerned, on purity of UNWOUND’s music on their own. its closing track, Dan Stewart sings “You don’t What I might need to say is that SURVIVAL need a safety net” and that’s why the band makes KNIFE, the band of Justin Trosper and Brandt sure that it is removed carefully, so that the lis- Sandeno (once member and long-time partner tener is completely unprotected and has no of UNWOUND) have also released a great alother choice, but to become a part of this thing. bum entitled “Loose Power” in 2014. 57