POTENCE is our latest "hot new band to check out", please do it...

by marcs77

It could be there is a “new” scene or something of the sort going and growing faster among the today's multifaceted hardcore punk. It's been a while now anyway. Currently there are lot of these bands in Italy and a few good locals from my area as well, and I'd like to think the label «blackened screamo post-hardcore» to fit just fine for describing this genre that blends the raw primal heaviness of black metal, unconventional angular song structures, obscure atmospheres and crusty hardcore punk urgency.
France's POTENCE, our “hot new band to check out”, ideally embodies all of above though for sure there's more served on the plate.
The foursome hails from Besançon-Strasbourg and has an untitled 4-track demo out you can download for a name-your-price-deal off their bandcamp page.
When I first heard their music I really liked the songs that make up the very first recording of these Frenchmen so we've decided to email them a few questions to give the guys the chance to introduce this new band to our readers.

gan: First off, can you please offer a lowdown on POTENCE? Who plays what, where you from, when you started out...

SAFE interview

di marcs77 / foto Safe

Negli anni '90 all'interno dello straight edge punk hardcore vede la luce del sole un nuovo “sottogenere” che abbraccia la fede, filosofie, consapevolezze e pratiche spirituali legate alle tradizioni della cultura religiosa Induista ed alla devozione a Krishna. Questo stile musicale e di vita, è battezzato Krishna-core, ed ha come iniziatori e principali portabandiera, due combo con base a New York city, gli Shelter (band fondata da Ray Cappo dei seminali Youth Of Today) e i 108 (ci suona Vic DiCara ex Inside Out e la moglie di Steve Reddy). Nell'arco di breve periodo di tempo il genere inizia a raccogliere un numero maggiore di adepti e followers e dalla scena, sia a livello locale che internazionale, emergono nuove bands alcune delle quali pubblicheranno i propri dischi su Equal Vision, etichetta di Albany, NY, fondata nel '91 da Ray e Steve reddy (roadie degli YOT) per produrre gli albums della sua band e di altri gruppi, affini al messaggio e impegnati promotori del cammino spirituale ispirato da Krishna.
Qualche tempo fa, tramite un post su facebook, ho scoperto che anche a Milano, intorno alla metà degli anni '90, hanno fatto parlare di se due gruppi del filone, formati da frequentatori del centro culturale Govinda, che si chiamavano, GHCP (Govinda hardcore project, presenti nella band membri dei Sottopressione) autori di un apprezzato demo e un EP “Il Meglio Dei Due Mondi” e Shaa, che fanno uscire un'interessante demo e un vinile 7” intitolato “Meditazione” -registrazioni di entrambe i gruppi sono ascoltabili su youtube.
I SAFE, la band che abbiamo appena intervistato, nasce negli anni duemila,

Brazil's QUESTIONS announces release of new record "Pushed Out...Of Society"

Last March we posted an item about their now forthcoming Euro tour; here you are with some freshly backed news from São Paulo's hardcore punk ever rising force QUESTIONS.

We are proud to announce our new record, "Pushed Out... of Society".

Produced by Fernando Sanches at El Rocha Studio and mastered by Paul Miner at Buzzbomb Sound Labs in the US, the album is part of the series "Out of Society" and brings five new songs added to the four released in the 2013 EP.

ABATON & VISCERA///: "Diade(ms)" - Crushing Collaborative 7" out on June 23 2015

San Francisco Bay Area darkness-obsessed DIY indie label Sentient Ruin Laboratories is extremely proud and honored to announce the release of the collaborative work of two of Italy's finest, most forward-thinking and heaviest sludge/doom/post-metal bands around these days, ABADON from Forlì, central Italy, and VISCERA/// from Cremona, northern Italy. This 7" vinyl EP is the culmination of a long lasting friendship between the two bands and of a shared vision that has been nurtured and obsessed upon by the bands in the last couple of years.
Titled "Diade(ms)", this collaborative EP is the manifestation of the wills of both bands to materialize a synergistic, interwoven, and multi-layered work, in which the two bands become fused into one multi-headed hideous sonic monstrosity to materialize and represent their own vision of complete aural annihilation.

Abaton and Viscera/// are among the heaviest bands to ever see the light on Italian soil, and Diade(ms) is to be considered the collision between the two darkness-fueled and angst-ridden worlds of these two bands, and the implosion of both bands' aesthetics into a single, soul-crushing, and pulverizing void of aural devastation. All lovers of the most dismal and crushing sludge/doom and fans of bands like Thou, Year of No Light, The Atlas Moth, Amenra, Unearthly Trance and the such, should not miss out on this crushing, two-movement slab of suffocating heaviness.

Listen to the track Special Needs being streamed on CVLT Nation https://soundcloud.com/cvltnation/abaton-and-viscera-special

FOR ALL ETERNITY "Metanoia" out JULY 10th 2015

Sydney-based melodic metalcore band For All Eternity are bringing their signature beauty-laced brutality to the Facedown roster. Intertwining classic hardcore vocals with hints of polished singing over impressive musicianship has catapulted the band to the top of the Australian independent scene where they have toured nationally with some of the best live acts in music - Emery, The Devil Wears Prada, Parkway Drive, Impending Doom, Hatebreed, Texas in July, For Today, Oh Sleeper and Demon Hunter to name a few. Now they’re preparing to build upon their international fan-base and take the US by storm with their supreme live show and their Facedown debut album Metanoia.

Facedown want you to join them in welcoming For All Eternity to their Family, and look for "Metanoia" to be released on July 10.

You can watch the official clip for song "Break Of Down" here https://youtu.be/MAXbL5izFkc

NO REASON records 2015 FREE Sampler now available

NO REASON records as just released a digital compilation up from free download for all who know what some of the bands on NRR roster are and who has never heard this DIY punk label founded by a bunch of friends in 2006 in a small town named Secugnago, which is located a few kilometers away from Lodi, Not California, North Italy.
The 17-track compilation features both Italian and international acts and about some of these we had the chance to review and talk even recently.  I'm referring to bands like Torino's Malemute Kid, Milano's Low Derive and Roma's Dear Dust, but there are some staple names our loyal readers should definitely also know of and these are Roma's Jet Market (rip) and Bedtime For Charlie.

You can listen to and download the sampler here http://www.noreasonbooking.com/rec/NRR_SAMPLER2015/NRR_sampler2015.zip

GAB DE LA VEGA: UK Tour dates announced

The italian acoustic punk folk singer-songwriter GAB DE LA VEGA has announced the dates of his
upcoming first UK Tour:

June 4th – UK – Brighton – The Lord Nelson Inn
June 5th – UK – London – L.A.R.C.
June 6th – UK – Bristol – The Chelsea
June 7th – UK – Cardiff – The Wells Hotel
June 8th – UK – Bradford – The 1 In 12 Club
June 9th – UK – Manchester – Ducie Bridge
June 10th – UK – Glasgow – The 13th Note
June 11th – UK – Edinburgh – The Banshee Labyrinth
June 12th – UK – Dundee – Cerberus Bar
June 13th – UK – Ashton-Under-Lyne – The Station Hotel

This tour promotes his new album "Never Look Back" that you can stream in full here: https://gabdelavega.bandcamp.com/album/never-look-back 

BOHICA's 'Keep Me Awake' cassette tape released 20th May via Get Into It records

Cheshire based emo quartet BOHICA have announced that they will release their new single 'Keep Me Awake' via Newcastle based independent label 'Get Into It Records'(Claw the Thin Ice, Fractions, Manuals) on 20th May 2015 as #4 of their cassette tape Singles Series.

Drawing inspiration from the recent resurgence of 90s emo and combining it with the more visceral sounds of the early 90s grunge scene, the single will be accompanied by B-Side 'Spun Out' which the band are also streaming in full ahead of the release.

You stream both tracks from the release here: https://bohica.bandcamp.com/