City Cop - August 2011 USA tour

I got a little lazy these days as far as posting goes, since I can't make myself listen to some new tunes simply because my room is being raped by "Cult Of Luna" for three straight days. Anyways, the good fellas from "City Cop" asked me to post their tour dates, thus keeping the blog alive.
On a bit more serious note, "City Cop" will hit the road in the first half of August throughout the Southern United States. They already have a set up plan and some dates, but they could still use some help. The dates are as follows:

August 5- South Bend, Indiana with "PESSOA"
August 6- Louisville, Kentucky
August 7- Knoxville, Tennessee
August 8- TBA, Mississippi with "Les Doux", "Shark Bait"
August 9- Tallahassee, Florida
August 10- Orlando, Florida with "City of Ifa"
August 11- need help (south carolina/georgia area)

August 12- Fletcher, North Carolina with "Issachar"
August 13- need help (baltimore area)

August 14- Pittsburgh, PA

If you have some info or can directly help the band out, contact them via their email address:
citycoptheband AT gmail DOT com

Also be sure to check out the bands that will be playing alongside "City Cop" since I posted their page links above, some amazing stuff going on I must say. 

City Cop - The Hope In Forgiving & Giving Up Hope (2011)

http://citycop.bandcamp.com/

Summer quietly crawled and is already here with it's heat for some time now, but it seems that it is getting more vicious with each passing day. I can barely think amidst this barely breathable air, but cold drinks and a great record just may succeed in providing a sanctuary from the outside.

"City Cop" is a four piece screamo act hailing from Ashtabula, Ohio. This little jewel of a release has been around from the beginning of January and once I took a listen to it I was really surprised that the band has a low number of listeners, according to Last.fm at least. A dear friend of mine told me that this is a strong contender for screamo album of the year, a definite top three material and I honestly have to completely agree with him.
The whole "City Cop" story begins at an unknown time, since either my investigation skills suck or the band didn't put that information online, when two friends started writing some acoustic tunes. Some time later they were joined by two more dudes, in the process adding more and more layers of different sounds and coming with this amazing final product. What we got in the end is screamo imbued with acoustics and sometimes indie, sometimes mathy melodies. Seeing as how screamo is obviously one of my favorite genres and additionally adding to that my profound love for acoustic tunes due to the work of my own band, this type of fusion really hit a certain soft spot for me. Aside of my vulnerability for these sounds, this release by itself is quite capable of entangling you into its grip in a very subtle manner. The album begins with "X", a chaotic and rending melody screeching toward you from the speakers accompanied by clean and somewhat gentle screaming. One could say a seemingly typical skramz opening, but masterfully done nevertheless and it is in fact what is coming after that which is even more grasping. The violent sounds drop and transform into an almost background like music, while the vocal also suffers mutation and turns into a mellow talking voice, bearing a likeness to that of "Koji", "La Dispute" and even "Thursday". Those few seconds of gentle sounds are again broken by the chaos from the beginning and this up and down shifts in pace and aggression continue throughout the song. Initially I thought that "X" could prove as a perfect example of what "City Cop" is able to perform, but I was grievously mistaken. In fact, the whole album provides you with various angles and maneuvers as you delve through it, as if you are reading a story and "X" was just an introduction. For instance, "Ode to Bula/Flight Lessons" gives you a more melancholic and bittersweet twist in tunes and words, as well as a bit more epicness, since it is the longest song. In contrast, the "Free Bird Part II" shines with a more driving and optimistic energy, ending in an extremely passionate way, while after that you are get to hear track four, "Humanity Is Sinking", a very pissed off and angry song showing some misanthropy in it's wake.
Once you listen to the whole record and the entire story unravels, you feel a strong need to take a listen to it again simply because the initial listen can't provide much understanding about it due to the fact that the album is quite vast in both length and detail. On first glance it does seem long because it features ten songs, but once you start listening the journey seems doubled. This is thanks to two things, one being the amount of different melodies and playing styles incorporated inside, the other being the vocal and lyrics which really provide a storytelling trait to "City Cop". The lyrics are quite amusing and written in a great fashion, but the audio manifestation of the words is just amazing. Be it screaming or talking or singing, whichever the form, the vocal performance flames up your interest as much as the instruments do. Many are instances when you completely focus on either the vocal or the instruments, since both parts of the band shine exceptionally well and it is a shame to give this band just a shallow listen. This is one of those projects to which you come back to time and time again, every time discovering something new.
As I said at the beginning of this review, I definitely agree with my friend that this is one of the best releases this year thus far. And once again, I am really surprised with the low listener count and honestly hope that this writeup will somehow aid the band and attract more people to it. In any case I highly recommend to all of you to give this band a try, you are bound to like it and all I can say in the end is that I really hope we see more of "City Cop" in the future. Enjoy!

[Fan the Flames] Records - YOUWRETCH & Lord Green

Today is promotion day and this time we have "Fan the Flames Records" on the platter. The label hails from Minnesota, Minneapolis and is of course an independent one. Born in 2011, "Fan the Flames" is still a very young record label, having only these two releases under their belt, but that fact is not to be underestimated simply because the records deliver a serious punch to the ears. Before I review the bands, I'd just like to point out a fact which I read on the label's facebook page, which you can find here, and that is that only recycled material is used for packaging, quite a cool and useful thing if you ask me. So without further ado, let me introduce you to "YOUWRETCH" and "Lord Green".

YOUWRETCH - YOUWRETCH (2011)

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Coming from "Fan The Flames" neighborhood, "YOUWRETCH" is a quintet formed in Winter 2009 and hitting the scene with shows in Summer 2010. The very beginning of 2011 saw the release of this debut EP through collaboration work between "Fan The Flames" and "Forward!" Records. 

In any case, the sound of "YOUWRETCH" has been described as "ambient hardcore punk" and upon listening to the EP I can definitely say that the genre tag is well justified. When I saw the list of tracks and the duration of the release, four songs with somewhere around nine minutes of music, I thought that this will be quite fast and chaotic. Believe me when I say that it is in fact like that, but there is also something unique here that doesn't dip this band into the plain hardcore punk bucket. First of all, despite the songs being rapid and short, they possess buildups of sorts which are highly diverse per track. For instance, there is a post rock/sludge-ish intro to the "The Rider", while "Failure and Worship" has a near "Electric Wizard" on speed like beginning. This was a really interesting composition maneuver by the band, since they throw at you fast and explosive outbursts of sound, but each with its own little twists, making you feel like you are listening to more songs than there actually are on this EP. Also, there are many interesting things happening in the songs apart from their intros, with many crescendo like moments, sudden tempo and volume drops, rushing and pounding hardcore riffs, all actually contributing in such a way that there is really an atmospheric trait to their music. Everything is molded very well into one whole, so despite all these various ups and downs in the tracks the flow is excellent, thus you listen to the EP in literally one breath. 

As for the very sound and the quality of this release, nothing to say but praise. This is just one of those records when every tone is where it should be and nothing is astray. The sound has some crunchiness and a buzzing, brooding trait, so sometimes you have to concentrate a bit to discern guitar and bass playing, but here it simply didn't bother me. This is probably due to the fact that the EP just grabs your attention instantly and takes you for a turbulent ride and there is no getting off the roller-coaster until the damned trip is over. I would, however, like to praise the vocal a bit, since at times it reminds me of the vocalist of "Fall of Efrafa" and I have "Efrafa" raping my speakers these last couple of days almost nonstop. Basically, Jordan, the vocalist of "YOUWRETCH" has a raw, coarse scream and it goes exceptionally well with the instrumental section.

Overall, I really enjoyed this EP and it came as a very nice surprise. Currently the band is writing songs for an upcoming full length and I am very eager to hear in which direction they will take their music. The EP definitely has an experimental notion to it and it was great to listen to what the band is capable of creating. So until their next release sees the light of day, you can check out "YOUWRETCH" on their bandcamp page here or get in touch via their facebook page here.

Lord Green - Last Demo (2011)

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Here is another band under the care of "Fan the Flames", though this one is rooted in Quad Cities, Illinois. There is not much information on the web about this trio, other than the fact that this is actually a re-release of their demo and it came out in February 2011. Ok without anything left for me to say in the introduction, let us get right to the point.

Wow, just wow! Much like to "YOUWRETCH", the amount of amazement came as a great surprise, so officially this day is an excellent one, two completely stunning bands discovered in less than an hour. In any case, "Last Demo" packs eight songs into thirty minutes of tunes, quite a long release as you can see. It comes natural actually, since they play a combination of stoner, hardcore and even some psychedelic rock on top of it all. The way you are introduced to this amalgam of genres is just superb, coming in the form of the song "Spitting Blood (Resuscitation)" which I first heard on their website found here, the song actually not featured on "Last Demo". It starts off with a stoner like tune, quite slow and dragging, the guitar playing with the distortion, the bass kicking the groove a bit and some background drumming to spice it all up. So you sit there and just chill out for the first minute of the song and then in the moment when you just completely relax everything picks up the pace, the screaming ensues, shit goes completely nuts and you are just shaken up with speedy, rending hardcore riffs. And once the hurricane of sound passes right by, you are left listening to some amazing instrumental parts, the band providing near improvised tunes and you feel like in the midst of a storm. This type of unexpectedness in their tunes is almost omnipresent and for the duration of this near half an hour trip you literally never know with what you will be faced next. The skill of the band when it comes to song composition is just excellent and it takes you quite a lot of listens to actually remember songs, simply because they have a very turbulent soundscape. 

The fact that we are dealing with a trio here really adds certain compliments to "Lord Green", since they manage to create quite a lot of chaos and energy coming from only the basic band instruments. Much like "YOUWRETCH", they also have a certain dose of buzzing sounds and distortion filled tones, so the sound gets splashed around you in all directions. A similar thing is happening to the vocal, which is extremely raspy and chaotic, so it fits with the rest of the band in a great way. The recording quality is perfect and that "splash" effect of the sound is superbly captured. 

Needless to say, I enjoyed "Lord Green" as much as the previous band and I can already sense that it will be spinning in my player a lot in the future. I am unaware what the band is up to recently, but as much as I see on their official page they have a show coming up which means they are still alive and kicking. Definitely looking forward to hearing more of their work, there is some heavy felt potential here. Until then you can also get in touch with them via their myspace page found here.

Raein - Sulla Linea D’orizzonte Rizzonte Tra Questa Mia Vita E Quella Di Tutti (2011)

http://www.raein.eu/

No need for any introductions, just head over to their official site and download. I didn't want to upload the album myself, simply because there is a little donate button on the "Raein" site and judging by my first impressions of the album, they definitely deserve something back for offering this amazing album for free. Enjoy Italy's finest!

I Have A Live Journal...

...well, not exactly, I just found the "Tunes For Bears To Dance To" song to be an appropriate title for this post. So in truth I was completely bored out of my skull today and instead of doing something useful I opened a tumblr page. Yeah. Guess it is time to see what all the hype is about. But seriously, myspace became completely useless and I don't check it out anymore, twitter also seems kinda pointless and there seems to be a growing trend that bands open up either blogspot or tumblr pages, so I guess I want to cover both platforms for band updates. In any case, that page won't be solely dedicated to "Natures With No Plagues", rather it will contain random shit I do/read/watch/listen/etc. Of course, I will write updates concerning the blog and all. It is scarce with content for the moment, but you are all welcome to check it out here.

I'll take this chance to also update you boys and girls regarding some future interviews Luka and me are going to work on. The questions have already been sent to Austin from "Panopticon" and we are eagerly expecting his reply. In preparation is an interview with the great new band "Homunculi", a post rock/black metal project containing members off "Motim", as well as an interview with the legendary crust/doom band "Agrimonia". In any case a lot of interesting stuff is coming up, so stay tuned.

Flags Raised - Now Or Never (2011)

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This review was written a few days ago during some heavy rainfall, so this cover above depicted the view from my window quite fairly. For some reason I forgot to actually post this and didn't check the blog to notice that a post is missing, so here it is now despite the fact that the weather outside is rather nice now.

"Flags Raised" is a quintet hailing from Glasgow which formed sometime in early 2010. Thus far this has been their only release, coming out on 15 January 2011. Although they have just a single album under their belt it is quite enough to make the listener fall in love with their tunes and see what these young lads are capable of. Personally speaking, I only truly enjoy a few handpicked hardcore bands and I have to say that "Flags Raised" are going to be a worthy addition to the group. Usually I need some time to digest bands like this, so to speak, since most of the times I find them kinda blank during the initial listen. Here however, I instantly liked their tunes ever since I took a listen on their bandcamp page (which you can find here by the way).
So, what is going on here making the band so special? First of all, the thing that grabbed my attention almost instantly is the vocal. Thinking about it now, the vocal performance is really hard to explain, since I really consider it a unique one. A coarse, raspy voice with an extremely deep tone, walking on the triple border between screaming, talking and reciting. Nick's performance is filled with tension, simply because of the fact that while you listen you don't know whether he is going to burst into a scream or will a sort of sing along ensue or will you just be left with that tense feeling of unexpectedness until the end. I consider this vocal variety quite an important merit, especially in hardcore, simply because it breaks the usual flat line copy/paste flaw which a lot of the bands in the genre possess.
The above mentioned variety in sound also extends on the instrument section and it is definitely worth a praise. Literally speaking, "Flags Raised" throw a sonic time bomb in your lap and every tick of the clock is maddening, in the most positive of ways. Much like the vocal, the song composition is quite complex with a lot of twists and changes in pace and melody, so once again you don't know what you will get to hear around the corner in a particular song. No matter the speed of the songs, each and every second on "Now Or Never" is extremely charged with passion and the sounds throw a formidable punch to the listener and simply urge you to listen with the volume turned up to its maximum. My absolute favorite is the final track of the release, "It's Not Getting Any Easier", the song being a perfect example of all the great things this band has to offer. "Flags Raised" have a very powerful sound which completely swallows you and you  have a feeling that you are listening to more people playing, rather than just five dudes. The instruments go well with the vocal in the sense that they also harbor a very deep tone and I had a feeling that the bass is much louder than usual, which was quite entertaining to hear. No wonder the cover of their album looks the way it does, since the music really has a darkish atmosphere hovering above it. At times hardcore bands which have that grim tone to their music also incorporate a sludge or crust edge to spice up and extend that brooding feeling, but here they stayed within the boundaries of their mother genre and it definitely sounds great. While we are at the subject of what it all sounds like, it is worth mentioning some possible influences of the band. Despite me considering that they have a lot of things that are unique solely to them, "Flags Raised" remind me at times of a crude and more raw version of "Touche Amore" and also bands like "Crime in Stereo" and "American Nightmare".
And what to say in the end, other than that I really hope that "Flags Raised" are a band that will stick around and provide the world with more music to enjoy. I look forward to hearing something more from them and will definitely keep an eye out for them. You can get in touch with them via their facebook page found here. So what are you waiting for, stop reading and start downloading!

The United Sons of Toil & Joe 4

By now most of you have probably checked out how great these two bands are, thanks to the post concerning their upcoming European tour. Seeing as how I never actually got to write something about their music, now seems to be the perfect time to correct that mistake, since the tour starts in a matter of days. So sit tight and brace yourselves, the second part of June and the beginning of July are going to be a blast.

The United Sons of Toil

http://music.unitedsonsoftoil.com/

"The United Sons of Toil" are a trio hailing from Madison, Wisconsin, "the epicenter of class struggle". The seeds of the band were sown back in 2006, while their initial release named "Hope Is Not A Strategy" saw the light of day in 2007. Thus far they released two more records, "Until Lions Have Their Historians, Tales Of The Hunt Shall Always Glorify The Hunter" from 2008 and their newest album from 2011 "When The Revolution Comes, Everything Will Be Beautiful". This five year lifespan provided the band enough time to solidify what is it they exactly want to accomplish with their music and the way they wish their message to be reflected onto the audience. The band found its place nested in the noisy math rock genre of the 90's splashed with some 80's hardcore, with words delving into social criticism and various political themes. 

Now I have to be completely honest and say that I really don't have a lot of overtly politically themed bands in my book. This is simply because of the fact that thus far I didn't find any such band to be musically pleasing as much as the very idea of what a certain band wants to achieve is interesting. Namely, the majority of politically inspired bands I came across are so dedicated to simply putting their message out in any way they can and in that process the music and the final product end up being extremely low quality, a strong message being transmitted via weak transistor. "The United Sons of Toil" managed to beat this fact, having an impulsive and powerful ideology entwined with superb melodies and an amazing playing style to back it up. First of all, their recordings are extremely clean and top notch, paving a solid road on which you can enjoy every aspect of both words and tunes. Second, despite the fact that they are rooted in math rock and hardcore, a lot of the times you can feel how much the band members actually like to play with the sound they create, not just being trapped in close quarters. Some of their songs are quite long, with epic buildups and shattering climaxes, taking on several traits from post metal/post rock genres. Other times however, their tracks can be shorter, more aggressive and rushing, the band manipulating with noise and spasm like start stop rhythms. Thanks to the fact that both Bill and Russell are contributing to the vocals, you also don't know whether you will get to hear just one of them or both their voices melded down into one or even a sort of call and response from both of them, be it through singing, screaming or talking.

I have to admit that I took a thorough listen to their newest record and only glimpsed on their past two releases, simply because I was eager to post something for the band as soon as possible. Needless to say that I will definitely take more time to study this project, since "When The Revolution Comes, Everything Will Be Beautiful" completely blew me away. There is just so much to be heard on this release and literally every song is enjoyable in its own right. My personal favorite is "Sword of Democles" which definitely stands out from the rest due to the fact that light is cast on everything this band is about, their message, their talent and their passion. So hopefully if someone from the band reads this they will remember to play that song in Belgrade!:) In any case, nothing but praise for this amazing trio, definitely don't miss out on their gig if they come to play in your town or somewhere near you.

Joe 4

http://joe4.bandcamp.com/

Next up we have good friends of "The United Sons of Toil", the band "Joe 4" coming from Croatia. Initially, the band was formed under the name "Gulag" as a quartet in Zagreb 2008. Eventually near the end of 2009 they became a trio and changed the name into the one under which they are known today. Also at the time, the band released their first ever EP which featured four tracks and is solely a digital release. This year will see their first physical release, a ten inch vinyl that will be promoted through concerts and of course this June Europe tour. 

Similarly to their tour pals, "Joe 4" dug their roots deep into the noise imbued math rock of the 90's, though with a different approach. The first thing that grasped my attention was the vocal performance. Upon hearing the first song on their "Enola Gay" EP, the track named "Pigman", you have a sense that the vocal is somehow quite distinct from the instrumental section. Where the instruments are constantly changing the melodies they produce, the vocal is stagnant, a flat-lined half-screamed coarse voice with haiku like lyrics which bare a strong sense of cynicism and rebellion. One would think that this sort of relationship between the vocal and the instruments doesn't really go well, but I found it extremely to my liking. Experiencing the aggressive and tormented voice holding its ground, not flinching for a second in a maelstrom of strings and drums is a simply superb feeling and this style of creativity is something I am really looking forward to seeing live. 

As I said, where the vocal is one sided, the rest of the band is in nonstop evolution through each and every song. "Joe 4" really has talent when it comes to creating and playing start stop rhythms, a second of silence quickly broken with a brutal outburst of sound. The drums form a sort of centerpiece to the instrumental section, since they are a true epitome of the start stop style and they provide a strong punch to the listener even in the course of slower songs. The bass and guitar are somehow floating around the drums and the vocal, an ever changing swirl of sound, ranging from mere background tones, punkish riffs and near atmospheric mood setters. 

"Johnny" is the song that perfectly reflects all of these contrasts and bonds within the band and I definitely consider it to be their masterpiece. If one would ask me which song represents "Joe 4" best, it would be this song, since it perfectly shows what the band is capable of. A perfect amalgam of choking tunes, which at times remind me of the much loved band "Wolves", and the almost relaxing dreamy melody which is building up toward stunning floating riffs near the end. "Joe 4" is definitely a band full of unexpected contrasts and internal clashes, but their ability to tame all of that into a coexistent whole is what makes them a great band. 

In the end, I would like to honestly recommend both of these bands to everyone and to once again remind you of their tour plan. Even if you don't grab time to take a listen prior to a show, go and see them live, I am certain that they will manage to entertain you to the fullest. See you there!

June 15    Wednesday    Zagreb    Tvornica Mala
June 16    Thursday    Rijeka    Place
June 17    Friday    Ljubljana    Menza Pri Koritu
June 18    Saturday    Verzuolo IT    Oxygen Studios
June 19    Sunday    Nice    Tapas La Movida
June 20    Monday    Paris    Le Café de Paris
June 21    Tuesday    Amsterdam    ADM Bar
June 22    Wednesday    Leiden    Sub071
June 23    Thursday    Hamburg    Hafenklang
June 24    Friday    Neu Tramm    Raum 2
June 25    Saturday    Berlin    Hausprojekt Scherer 8
June 26    Sunday    Ansbach    13Eins
June 27    Monday    Prague    Club 007 Strahov
June 28    Tuesday    Leipzig    Zoro
June 29    Wednesday    Vienna    Replugged
June 30    Thursday    Sarajevo    FIS Kultura
July 01    Friday    Donji Miholjac    Katakomba
July 02    Saturday    Belgrade    Bigz
July 03    Sunday    Novi Sad    Route 66

Juliet

http://juliet.bandcamp.com

Ah, finally the time has come to get my writersuit on, have a cup of coffee (yes, drinking extremely hot coffee in the midst of this sickening hot weather is great for inciting delirium) and sit back to take a listen to some new music with my cat. She is actually sitting next to the speakers at the moment and since we have similar taste in tunes I guess that it is enough to signal a writeup full of praise.

"Juliet" is a four piece noisy emo band coming from Arizona. I've been contacted by Keegan from the band about posting their "Christmas Island" EP back in February and due to my sloth-like speed of posting they also managed to pull out a split with "Blackwater" in the meantime. I'll be talking about the EP first and then later reflect a bit on the split, since at first listen it seemed that there was a slight change of sound going on.
In any case, "Christmas Islands" came out in February, featuring four amazing songs with around fourteen minutes of tunes. I have to be honest that at first I thought that I will have a hard time writing about this due to my somewhat strange music mood in which I find myself recently. My previous month was grasped with melodic or acoustic tunes and in a moment I thought that I kinda lost touch when it comes to chaotic or noise music. Lucky for me, "Juliet" managed to sweep me of my feet and cast me back into the neglected turbulent sea. The opener of the EP is a song called "Atlanta" and believe me when I say that it was instant love. As previously stated, they whip out some pretty sweet noisy emo tunes toward the listener, completely charged with passion and a certain mood which is dragged along with the music. What was personally very peculiar for me when it comes to this song is the thing that initially attracted me toward it and it is the lyrics. Usually, I first take a focus on the instruments or more likely the band as a whole, but this is probably the first time when I had a feeling like I am just listening to the words and nothing else. Maybe because I am in a touchy-feely sort of mood and the lyrics really remind me of a "certain someone", but in any case I consider this as a very important and big merit of the band, since they definitely succeeded in invoking something new in me. The vocal itself is great, walking the fine line between singing and plain talking, though it has an excellent tone like the voice is about to crack and the singer will just drop to the floor and start crying which is nothing short of perfect if you ask me.
Once I turned my attention to the instruments I realized how amazing they are and how great they are entwined with the vocal. The sound which they create has a stunning flow to it and no matter how much they change melodies in the course of a song or how much chaos they create it all seems so nicely packed into a great whole. "Aly Goola" is a perfect example of this. It has a fast paced rhythm at the beginning, a beautiful melody reminding me of some 90's emo tunes, but then everything takes a slower turn, becoming mellow and gentle, going so far to the point where we hear whistling from the band members. So basically, from fast to slow pace, but still it drives you so nicely that it just washes over you in a single wave. It is quite hard to explain, but I definitely have a great feeling while listening to their tunes, sort of like listening to one big song other than four.
The split with "Blackwater" came out in May and it brought two more songs from "Juliet" to see the light of day. I wanted to leave some space to talk about this split, because I think that there are some new layers to their sound present here. In contrast to the EP, it seems that the band went a tiny bit further into the noise area, since their sound became somewhat more crunchy while still keeping all their traits from the previous release. The guitar playing was also pushed to the front and now it is not completely melded down with the rest of the band. Now it is not just contributing to the background noise, but much rather it takes a great role in supplying some interesting melodic parts like in the song "Dead Teens". As you can see, these are just slight changes, but it is definitely cool to hear a band slowly evolve in this fashion...or maybe I just get into my music a bit too much.
It took me some time to think of possible references and influences the band might be associated with, but nothing seems to cut it. They remind me of a lot of other projects, but they still have an extremely strong sense of uniqueness, so you always ultimately fail when trying to tag them. The closes thing I came up with was "Die, Empreor, Die" and "Boats Against the Current"  mixed with "Japandroids" for a noisy garage edge. Sounds weird, huh? It probably does, but trust me when I say that this is definitely something you shouldn't miss.

I always get scared when I discover a band and then think that they may have broken up in the meantime, but luckily "Juliet" is still alive and kicking. They have a gig lined up for 9th July along with "Joyce Manor", "Rumspringer" and "Come On Die Young", so if any of you lucky boys and girls can go to their show, just rush over there and dance like crazy, no second thoughts allowed.
Oh and by the way, my cat is still hanging out here and she definitely gives a seal of approval on this fine quartet.

Utter silence is fragile...

...so it is time to break it!
I've been away from the blog and everything else for that matter due to a job I was completely consumed with. Luckily, it is done and although I'm very proud of myself for completing it, I simply couldn't wait for it to get done since it was a real killer. In any case, I'm free now and finally it is time to focus on the project I love the most, since I really neglected it in the past months.

So let me just give a little preview of what will be coming in the future. First of all, many thanks to all bands who have sent their submissions and continue to do so! It really means a lot to me that people are interested in seeing their projects here. I'm sorry for me delaying so many reviews and I will certainly get to every band that has sent me any piece of material. Most projects you already know by now, but they are all great and I really have a wish to share my thoughts about them on the blog.

Aside of regular band promotion, it seems that the blog will see a lot of gig reviews in the future. I have a lot of shows which I will try to attend and if all goes well there will be much to write about. First comes a two day trip to Croatia for a "The Black Dahlia Murder" show, followed by "Raein" the next day. I know that "TBDM" isn't really NWNP material, but they are quite loved by yours truly and I'm really expecting a great show so most likely I'll be writing some words for it. Similarly, I'll be seeing "Parkway Drive" on the "EXIT" festival, so you can expect that as well. And of course, most importantly I will try to visit "Fluff fest" which has a completely mind blowing program this year. I'd also like to do some live interviews there, but since I'm a shy little man don't get your hopes up too much.

Speaking of interviews, when I finish writing this pointless post, I'm going to write questions for an interview with the amazing "Panopticon". I always forget how great that project is and it is thanks to Luka's initiative that this interview will be done. We also sent an e-mail to "Deafheaven", but we are still waiting for a reply from the band. The "Thou" interview I really don't know what to think about...maybe it is best to forget it, so if it does come up it will be a real surprise. In any case, "Panopticon" is the only certain interview coming up, but I will probably think of some more along the way.

Those are some plans in a nutshell and hopefully I have tickled your interest a bit. I'll take a few days to get my shit straight (GET REST) and then I'm ready to kick this off as it should be done!