Against The Current

EARTH CRISIS - To The Death (Century Media)

Earth Crisis. Now there's a band. Like Integrity they have a solid back catalogue bar one or two records. They reformed a little while back now and this new record "To The Death" has been out for a while too. I did a cheeky download of it when it was released and never really gave it any attention. I blasted it in the van with the lads recently and it is a corker. Production wise (courtesy of Tue Madsen) it's very thick and overproduced, but this plays well to ExC's sound perfectly. You've got songs about the amount of casualties the drug dealers cause through gang shootings and the drugs they actually deal, songs about drunk drivers and vegan til death. Classic Crisis. Karl's vocals sound even better on this record, when I first heard them I thought he sounded like a barking dog, certainly one of the most recognisable voices in hardcore.

In related news, I hear the drummer from Fallout Boy is filling in on their current tour, fair play for still being vegain sXe mate.

Six Million Ways To Die But You Can't Choose One It Chooses You

COLD WORLD - Dedicated To Babies Who Came Feet First (Deathwish)

Last time I went to Belgium with the band we played Antwerp, yeah it was with xArmed For Battlex but that is inconsequential, because there was a sweet distro there where I spent over 60 euros on vinyl. I'll be putting those up if I ever catch up with the new shit I've been purchasing.

Anyway, we went to Belgium again this weekend and the second show was in Roselare (sp?) in the H8000 area. I walked into the venue, it was a matinee show with Worms Feed and Sundowning, and beside the stage was the ame distro from Antwerp. I instantly got both excited and scared, this is because I really wanted to pick up some new records, but I only have 50 euros that I swore was for emergencies like food etc as I've got enough records to listen to at home. Well as everyone knows, you can never have enough records and this is what I picked up.

I didn't get Cold World at first, back in 2003 I think it was, Sandwiches played the EP to me and I shrugged it off as rubbish. It didn't take long for me to realise I was totally wrong, they mis ?Hip Hop with Hardcore and are just spot on with their samples. Ice Grillz was a banger, it took a while for the follow up to come out on Deathwish and when it did I snapped the CD up in HMV, always meant to pick up the LP and sell on the CD version but never saw it on a distro and ordering direct from DW or even Reflections (works out dearer from the Netherlands, go figure) was expensive.

The artwork doesn't have all of the band on it like the CD, the pictures of them looking like a Gap ad, but I like the style of the art, just photos of random weird looking old men and kids, brilliant. Vinyl is solid white, always a good thing. Listened to this yesterday, forgot just how much I love it. Recommended.