In 2011, four guys found love when they met each other in the Kempen and just a few months later Sounds Like Deceit was born. Imagine two singers sharing the stage with a -core orchest smashing the place with breakdowns. Slapping you in the face with drunk laughter and hard music.
Until now the band released a homerecorded demo and an mcd 'The Thruth' which was recorded by one of the bandmembers from Pushed Too Far.
Last February Belgian-German guy Brian joined the band to assist on the mic and also a second guitar player found his way to Sounds Like Deceit, to take care of the rhythm guitar.
The new members are pushing the band up to a higher level: In 2013 Sounds Like Deceit goes to the studio again to record some new stuff. For those who are curious, 'Scum' is already online.
The band plays another show this Saturday in Sint-Niklaas with Pushed Too Far, Earn Your Scars, Kill For Peace and Countdown. Go and check them out!
Let me start off with saying that it's been a long time since I got an album that I turned around so much to look at the cover. Props to Sly Masmeijer for his nice work on this.
Anyway, lets talk about the music now.
In 15 years NTB has released 7 full length albums and one 'best of' release. Is this the best album? To me yes, let me tell you why.
To be honest, I never listened to NTB much.
Well you can say the former albums never really spoke to me. But I'm sold on this one.
If you know NTB, you know this album brings nothing new but a refreshment of the same sound.
Not that i'm complaining, it sounds awesome.
Maybe it's because of the new members Michiel and Nik. Or as they say "good wine gets better with age".
This album brings more of a 90's punk/hardcore sound, fast short songs, singalongs and catchy riffs.
I'm not gonna say something about every song on this album, since they are all instant hardcore classics
BUT I just have to take my favorits out. The album starts off with "Stand & Fight" taking only 1min 15sec. This song kicks in like a carcrash. BANG!
After this song I was thinking that these guys put a lot more work in this album.
"Never understand" stands out thanks to Ricardo Dias' guest vocals from For The Glory. Ricardo and Martijn's voices are a perfect match and I would even say that this is NTB's "Keepers Of The Faith".
"Not Like You" is the shortest song on the album. It doesn't take more time and words to say, what I think every real hardcorekid feels...
'I DON'T WANT TO BE LIKE YOU!'
The last song I wanna say a few words about is "By my side". Again, here there are awesome guest vocals on this album this time from Gregor Lesky (Risk It) where nother great hardcore anthem is born.
So, it comes down to this:
If you know NTB then you already have this album.
If you where like me and were not convinced by their previous albums,
check it out on FB, youtube, whatever...I'm sure you will love it from the first song.
I can't wait for these guys to play here again.
See you at the show.
official website: http://www.noturningback.nl/
facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/NoTurningBackHC
label: http://www.takecontrolrecords.bigcartel.com/
This interview was done in Ghent and although it was already the middle of October, it actually felt like a late summer evening. When I asked Mike if he would be up to doing a small interview, he went to get Twig, the tourmanager and his Belgian mates. "Don't move, stay here!", he said. After two minutes of waiting, we were pulled into the closest bar and beer was served.
I must say that the answers to this interview are funny and sometimes completely absurd. Most important of all is that those guys are as honest as Jesus used to be back in the days. This is pretty much how it goes:
How is the tour going
until now? Twig: It was
fine, but unfortunately we had a few cancellations in germany.
Mike:
There have been a couple of technical difficulties, but… Fuck it. Next
question.
Could you maybe specify the diffulties for us?
Mike: There has not been enough weed, beer and he (points
at Twigg) lost cocaine. Yeah, nooooo.
Do you remember the very first moment this line came to your mind: “I want to
be in a band!”.
Mike: I was
listening to ‘Catch Scratch Fever’ from Ted Nugent and it was 1980. What year
were you born anyway? You wouldn’t even know.
Twig: I had friends that were in a band when I was in sixth grade, around 1986
and that was my motivation to be in a band.
Why
is the band called Hoods? Mike: Hoods
is Californian and means we are fucking weird. Actually ‘Hood’ is an American
hooligan. But I’m not such a hooligan.
But
you look like one.
(Mike looks mad at me and after a short
silence the table laughs)
It’s
just the footballshirt you are wearing…
Mike: Let me see your glasses.
(I hand over my glassed and Mike puts them on.)
Mike: Do I look sophisticated? I would vote for me. You look taller now by the
way.
Where does your inspiration come from? Mike: My cats. You think I am kidding? I can't explain my love for cats. (takes his phone) This is Romeo and this is Bella. I’ll
show you cats for one week, just a moment. This is Bella, my cat wife. Bella in
Italian means good looking chick or beautiful. You want to keep going? (doesn’t leave any time to answer). This
is Friendly Beast and here is Chum Chum.
Twig,
where does… (Mike starts pulling my arm to watch another thousand of
catpictures)
Why is your band about cats? Mike: Look at this! There is Chum Chum!
After a while…
So Twig, where does your inspiration come from? Twig: I must say I’m inspired by Mike’s phone. Haha no, actually early
80’s hardcore is an important influence. Also no politics are involved into our music and since we are not
straight edge there is alcohol involved.
Mike (Yelling from the background): Knuckledust
is the best band in Europe, fuck off!
What is your favourite song of Hoods? Twig: I don’t
have a favourite song… See, he took his fucking phone out and now you are not going
to get any answer anymore.
Mike: For me it’s that one song that goes like: "Don'tfuckingfightlet'spartytonightandifyou'restraightedgedon'tworryibuyyouaspriteLOOKATMYCATS".
What about your future plans? Mike: Never to
come back to Belgium.
Twig: We
have a new CD coming out in about 6 months containing like 10 songs. Until now
we still don't have a name for it.
Mike: The title
of the new album is Chum Chum Beast.
Say Mike, where do your cats sleep at night?
Mike: They
sleep in my bed. By the way, I went to my very first show was in 1987. What
year were you born?
Glenn
(Brutality’s promoguy): 1988!
Mike: you
weren't even born! I was at my first show when you were not even born. Seven
Seconds were playing.
(Twig whispers another question into my
ear.)
Can I…?
Twig (laughs): Of course, go ahead!
Mike, have you ever been diagonized with mental disorders?
Mike: Are you
asking Mike Hood of Mike Mraz?
Do you remember the very first Hoods show?
Mike: It
was in January 1995 with Earth Crisis and Will Haven.
How long do I have planned be in Hoods? I can't fucking quit it, I hate Hoods!
What was your first
show in Belgium like?
Mike: It was
Ieperfest in 2004… and I beat up the soundman.
Why??
Mike: he
called me an asshole. So I showed him what an asshole was and kicked his
fucking ass. After that we did not play the festival for five years because the
organisation did not book us. But after that we played almost every year
because the people love us.
So in the end, the
organisation punished you for it…?
Mike: Hey,
they did not punish me, they punished themselves. That is because any other
band that gets on stage and says bullshit like 'I believe in unity, I like you,
make friends with everyone'. I don't want to be fucking friend with everybody,
only with the people I love and care about. I'm not a big motherfucker, but
when I'm on stage and see things I don't like I'm going to say it. Wheather
it's politically correct or not, racist, love, hate. I'm going to tell you
exactly what I think, also if I don't like you. I just tell the truth.
Those other
bands are all pussies, nobody says the truth. If you got a problem, then speak
up. All the hardcorebands now want everybody to love everyone else, but fuck
that. It's never been like that. It started with people like us that were the
outcasts and now everyone is the popular kid, doing interviews in pubs and
wearing beautiful glasses and a having a nice skin. Cheers! (everyone raises
their glasses)
Nobody
speaks their fucking mind. I am always honest.
People say bad things about me, but what they never want to know is that
I love cats.
What is your opinion
on straight edge? Mike: I was
straight edge for almost nine years. Because I was a drug addict and an alcoholic.
I didn't do it because it was fucking popular. I did it because I needed it.
These kids now are straight edge because they think it's a crew because those
guys look though just because they are straight edge. Fuck those motherfuckers.
If you live in the street and have a hard time, you come up like a hardcore
punk like I did; that was a fucking struggle. We fought every fucking minute.
When we were in high school everybody was pointing at us because we were
different. Now everyone is the fucking same. I am not the same. I am not like
those kids at the show tonight. That would be nice, but I'm not a fucking
hardcore kid no more. I am not part of this shit. I am distant. I am the real
hardcore kid. Now it's popular and everybody thinks it's cool. You know when we
were young kids, when you were into hardcore punk or a skinhead, then you were
the weirdo. I love hardcore very much, but it's a lot different now.
When we were kids nobody liked us, nobody wanted to be us. But there were ten
of us, twenty of us, thirty of us. And then we had a crew, then we became
strong. Nobody would say something because we will kick your fucking face.
Now it's
like: 'hardcore, whiiiiii!'
Twig: In
the 80's hardcore was different. Back then you were the outcast and now it's a cool thing
to do. Same with being straight edge or vegan. People are so stupid, it became
too cool. Look at Bernie (Hoods' tourmanager), he is into hardcore because he
thinks it's cool.
It's not
the same as it used to be in the days. And it never will be. We can pretty much
give that up. You cannot make it what it was, but you can teach the people now
about the past. And make them respect the way it was and bringing some respect
into the future of the scene. It’s
important for the nowadays for the scene and the kids to know where bands like
Hoods get their input from (think about Agnostic Front for example), because
most of them don’t know.
Tell
us something about the European fans.
Twig: The German fans obviously need to smoke more weed. The Berlin crowd is
boring, it always has been boring there actually, no idea why. But our last
show in Germany was very good actually, it was in Aachen.
Belgium is the best fucking country ever. We will be moving here and live in
Bernie’s garage! Belgium is amazing, Poland is amazing, Austria is amazing,
Denmark is amazing, Switserland is amazing. Every country around Germany is
pretty amazing. It also depends from town to town. Germany is kind of weird for
hardcore. They are very political and take it too extreme. At some point they
are not having fun anymore. They are doing music for political reasons instead
of doing music to forget about political reasons. It’s a fine line in this. The
music and the message is great about their music, but the thin line in this... The Germans are getting there, it’s going better and better but they need some
more time.
Special
thanks to Twig.
Video from the night the interview was done.
Hoods on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/HOODS/397176290321?fref=ts Hoods merch: http://hoods916.bigcartel.com/ I Scream Records: http://www.iscreamrecords.com/
Wie, bitte? Hardcore im old
skool Einrichtungsverkehr, das ist One Step Beyond. Die West Flamen sind ausgerüstet
mit komischen Akzent und die Jungs sind alles außer Straight Edge. Dieses
Konzept merkt man sich weil Hauptthemen wie ‚Party machen mit hochgehebenen
Gläsern‘ werden ohne Scham rumgeschmissen in den Liedern.
So sieht das Album aus
Es geht los mit
'This Is Hardcore', ein Anfang mit‘m schönen Intro und einem Text die alle
sofort speichern können. Lang lebe Minimalismus!
Das interessanteste Lied aus der musikalische Ecke gesehen ist bestimmt
'Reclaiming The Bar', weil es eine faszinierende Wechsel bringt von den
schnellen old skool Riffs zusammen mit einem langsameren Gitarrenspiel.
Bei der Song 'Nothing To Lose' kann man die Gastvocals hören von Mad Joe
(bekannter Typ weil der bei Wisdom In Chains singt).
Eigentlich
händelt sich das größste Teil das Albums über Alkohol konsumieren. Aber aufgepasst, weil nicht das ganze Album steht im Saufthema. Songs so wie CCTV sind mehr ernst
gemeint.
Das schöne an One Step Beyond ist das sie einfach Spaß haben und das macht das Album ein sehr spontanes und
lustiges Ding.
Die Konklusion:
Könnte 'Our Way'
einen Geruch haben, es würde duften wie ein frisch geöffnetes Bierchen mit etwa Sahne oben drauf.
Wusstet ihr das:
- Die Jungs mal in
einem Interview gefragt wurden zu erklären was sie denn gegen die SxE Leute
haben? Die Band war komplett erstaunt und sagte dazu dass sie gerne was trinken,
aber nichts gegen die jenigen haben die das nicht machen.
Brutality Blog
nimmt Verantwortung auf für idiomatische Fehler im obenstehenden Review. Bitte
beachten Sie, dass wir nicht verantwortlich sind für banale und auch die eher
komplizierte Grammatikfehler.
PARTY HARDCORE! and I’m not talking about the
house/techno kind... One Step Beyond proves to everyone that hardcore
doesn't always have to be about being the tough guy.
But in the end, what’s more hardcore then
singalongs and having a good time with your hardcore family?
The CD kicks off with "This Is Hardcore".Immediately
after this song you get the point that this is what the bands about:
"RECLAIMING THE BAR".Some
bands sing about being king or making it big time; but that is just not what
One Step Beyond is trying to do.The
message they bring is the following: Fuck all that, you’re always welcome in
the bar and that’s what OSB is trying to pump in your head with this song. Sorry for all you straight edgers out there… BUT
having a beer with friends? Fuck yeah! That’s life.
When “NOTHING TO LOSE” starts you’re thinking ‘who's that singing? I know that voice!’ Yes you’re right, it’s frontman Mad Joe from
Wisdom In Chains.
Well all I can say about this song is: When like-minded people come together you get an
awesome result.
"Get down" and "Our Way" are
another pair of great party songs. There is no point in explaining the lyrics: GET
DOWN,HAVE A PARTY OUR WAY
CCTV and OSB are the more serious songs on the
album. Just to make sure you don't think this band is
all about drinking. - What? wait? They’re not? These songs deliver the message the hardcore
way, straight to the point.
Last but not least: What better way to end a CD
then with some outtakes. Quote: “HARDCOOOORRRrrrrRRRRRRREEEEEE”
Overall I love this CD. It’s different from
other bands and it has a positive vibe all the way true. If you’re looking for a party go to a OSB show! Buy some merch, visit one of their shows or drop
them a line on FB. DIY FTW! https://www.facebook.com/onestepbeyondhc
You guys started
out in 1996, which meansyou stand for
sixteen years now strong and you are on your way to become the next Sick Of It
All. There are so many bands that stop or replace members. What is the
Knuckledust secret of sticking together?
Nicky: We kind of grew up together. We know each other from school, from when
we were around eleven. We were friends before we started to play music. We grew
up together, we got into music together. We did everything together. We have
been a family ever since.
Ray: We were around the same age, into the same stuff. We just played hardcore
music, that simple fact was our goal. We never tried to become big, get a label
or do famous things. And that is what we still do, we just play music. A lot of
band set goals for themselves, they want a major label and if it doesn't
hapepen they break up, they reach too high.
Wema: When people that are not in a band look at people that are in band, they
think everything is glamourous. But in fact it is a lot of hard work and bullshit
you need to take care of. Without a stable base, the band simply falls apart.
Forget about getting big. If you love it, do it.
Ray: we wanted to split up for seven or eight times now, we just never did it
we really hate each other (laughs)
During all the years you have been involved in the hardcorecscene, have you
noticed any evolution or do you have any idea in which direction it is heading
right now? Ray: Here, in this time and age hardcore is more important than ever before
because it comes up with the problems that we are all having, it doesn't matter
in what part of the world you in. Hardcore has always made a point of speaking
about this, that it was hardcore is like in its roots. Over the last years lots
of rich people have been involved, with business elements coming into the
hardcore scene.
But for the kids that grew up suffering and struggeling of course the music
will mean a lot more.
I think it's the best time for hardcore, for the hardcore that says something.
Wema: Unfortunately now the image has become more important than the music.
Ray: The problem in the UK is that the kids' idea of hardcore is not what my
idea of hardcore is. If you are into hardcore and you know about hardcore, then
it's up to us to educate and tell the kids what hardcore is about. If you watch
Kerrang TV, the description of some videos says 'hardcore', but it's not. I'm
not going to name bands, but it is simply not hardcore. The kids now say they
go to hardcore shows, but they don't because the real hardcore shows remain
empty.
The new album ‘Bluff Lies & Alibis’ sounds amazing. What do you think
you did different from your previous albums?
Ray: About the last album we were a bit disappointed, because the songwriting
and recording all happened very quick. There was just a lot of shouting in
combination with a lot of music.
We can say 'Bluff, Lies & Alibis' is different:We put a lot more hooks in like choruses and
we demoted the songs. We wrote the lyrics down and took some parts out. We put
more singalongs in the album and parts of the songs that are recognizable. We
simply structured the songs in a better way this time.
Wema: We kind of got back to what goes into hardcore in the first place. Lots
of bands play what other people like to hear, but 'Bluff, Lies & Alibis' is
the outcome of what we wanted to hear.
Another thing that we wanted to come across with this album is that a bunch of
people have labeled us as a gangsta tough guy band. If you read our lyrics you
will see it has never been about beating someone up, or about how tough we are.
It is simply about the shit you see every day. Also, the lyrics are very honest. If you read
the lyrics, you will get to know the person.
Nicky: We also worked with another producer and studio, namely Igor from Born
From Pain. He did a really good job on this and this is the best album we ever
made. It's a hard album.
Ray: We are a pussy band.
Everybody yells: Whooooooooo (laughing)
Wema:No, look we are pussies, just in a
hard way.
Can
we expect Knuckledust brings us another visit this year to promote the album?
Yes, we are coming to Belgium, The Netherlands, Germany, France, Spain,
Rumania, Bulgaria and Turkey.
Turkey?
You have fans over there?
Wema: We don't know, we've never been there. We'll know when we get
there (laughs)
We also never knew we had so many fans in Belgium until we got here.
We really need to go on tour, because the band has been too quiet for the last
two years. Some of us had babies and got married. Now that we fixed things at
home, we are going on the road again. That is the plan.
‘Bluff, Lies & Alibis’ is your first music video. Did you have fun
recording it?
All together: Yeaaaah.
Ray: It was our first time doing it so
we didn't really know what to expect, but I enjoyed it. The thing is that
everybody in the clip is singing and shouting, but nobody heard the song. Those
people did really well with the recordings.
We also have some serious parts in the video with an actress called Maya
Thomas. She helped us out by acting in the video for free. She punched in the
wall, cried, threw paper around. We spent a day shooting those things. She is awesome,
man! If anybody needs a real good actress, book her!
The first time we played this song live was at Ieperfest actually. What we had
to practise is how to sing, what we did last week. With this 'we've all had
enough' part in the song 'Bluff, Lies & Alibis'.
Pierre: We respect everybody that joined us with the recordings, the crowd
really worked hard for us. A lot of my friends were there, completely acting
crazy. Everybody was acting stupid, like little children. Everybody was
laughing, we had a real good time.
Where was the video recorded? In the twelve bar, a small bar in London. For those who are
interested: Every first weekend of the month they have a hardcore gig going on.
The one day a London bands plays, the other day it can be a New York band.
What do you think of Ieperfest? Since you are already familiar with the
festival let's say it like this: How does it feel to have been invited to
Ieperfest again?
Wema: One word, amazing. In London, to organize something like this for
hardcore, that would not happen. And certainly not on this scale. Not even in
entire England. A lot of festivals have sponsorships and it all becomes
business; they just don't have the true spirit anymore. Ieperfest is coming to
a festival and you still have the feeling it's a hardcore show. And it's not only
about music: the readings and literature are also amazing. I don't think there
is a festival like this anywhere in the world.
Pierre: We have been coming to Belgium before Knuckledust even existed to see
festivals and Vort’n Vis shows and bands like Stand Your Ground.
bands play like Rise And Fall.
Ray: The whole Belgium scene has had a lot of influence on the England scene.
Congress, Liar and Blackbox did not come to the UK, so we took the ferry and
came to see them play here. I remember running in circlepits during Liar when I
was a kid.
Wema: when we came back from those shows we were still talking about them after
a week. We used to copy the band we saw here as well.
Facts:
- The band got sick of the drum part you can hear at the very beginning of the
song 'Bluff, Lies & Alibis' because the band had to face it 125669889 times
during the recordings of the video.
- Knuckledust will play a lot more new songs with the tour they are starting.
- The intro of ‘Bluff, Lies & Alibis’ was made by Wema. If you listen carefully,
you can hear his baby daughter crying in the background and someone whispering ‘bluff,
lies and alibis’.
