“Everything Is A-OK” Takes On A Whole New Meaning During These Dark Times

How fucking ironic is it that Violent Soho decided to drop a record called Everything Is A-OK during a global pandemic? It’s as if they did that on purpose. Wait, did they?

While the world is currently going to shit (plus the fact that their native country of Australia was set ablaze earlier this year,) the four mates in Violent Soho are, well, A-OK. The sense of irony doesn’t escape the band on their fifth album, and first with Pure Noise Records (Bearings, Less Than Jake, The Warriors,) Everything Is A-OK. Originally the name was supposed to be about how social media is ruining us, but the COVID-19 outbreak just gives the name a whole new meaning. Everything’s not ok, and that’s ok for Violent Soho.

So to put it in simple terms: everything sucks, but you can try and find the positivity in anything if you face it head-on. That’s the moral for Everything Is A-OK.

The album has the band searching for a light in these dark times, and with that light they create some of the most polished, wonderful material in their discography. And don’t take my word for it, vocalist Luke Boerdam said, “We spent an entire day getting the guitar sounds right, so it’s probably the first time I’ve ever been completely happy with the guitar sounds.” Violent Soho kick it up to 11, pushing themselves to their limits and going beyond that.

Violent Soho’s grungy alt-rock vibes shine bright on the whole record, but they shine the brightest on songs like “Lying On The Floor,” which has a “Smells Like Teen Spirit”-esque intro, “Easy” with its heavy beginning riffs, the song that felt like it was taken from the 90s “Vacation Forever,” and “Slow Down Sonic, beginning with sludgy guitars before heading into acoustic strings and quiet distortion.

Overall, Everything Is A-OK became the soundtrack to our quarantine by mistake. While the anti-social media meanings are scattered throughout the ten tracks, it became rewritten due to the virus. Even though things are A-OK right now, it will be soon. Dark times are ahead, but this too shall pass.

Four Year Strong’s New Album Might Be Coming Out Next Month

Fucking finally.

Easycore legends Four Year Strong are apparently dropping their new album sometime next month, according to a post from Wall Of Sound.

The Australian publication revealed a photo taken by Carmin Edwards which shows the name of the record and an alleged release date. In the photo we can see the name for the album being Brain Pain and is scheduled to come out February 28 on Pure Noise Records (Belmont, Reggie And The Full Effect, The Warriors.)  Wall Of Sound says that the photo came from the UNIFY Gathering Festival in South Gippsland, Victoria, but Edwards claims the photo came from California.

Brain Pain marks the band’s first studio album since their self-titled record in 2015. They released the compilation Some of You Will Like This, Some Of You Won’t in 2017. Brain Pain is also one of the most anticipated albums of the year along with releases from Dance Gavin Dance, The 1975, Less Than Jake, and Kesha.

FYS also posted in their Twitter bio that something might be coming tomorrow, January 14. Let’s see what tomorrow has in store for these Worcester heavyweights.

The Warriors Take Us On A Bizarre Adventure Through “Monomyth”

If The Warriors are afraid that people forgot about them, then Monomyth, their first album in nearly a decade, will answer that question. And simply put, the answer is no, they’re not forgotten.

Frontman Marshall Lichtenwaldt said in a press release, “I don’t know if people still remember us. It’s been a long time.” Which is true. The Tehachapi, Calif., hardcore legends haven’t released a record since 2011 when they were with Victory Records. Now with Pure Noise Records, home of heavy hitters like UnityTX, Stick To Your Guns, and Knocked Loose, who were influenced by The Warriors, they are back to show that they aren’t dead and are ready to reclaim what’s theirs.

Monomyth was inspired by the hero’s journey concept that was popularized by Joseph Campbell in his book The Hero With A Thousand Faces. This album features 12 songs that follow the stages the hero takes, much like the 12 stages in the hero’s journey, starting with the Ordinary World (“All Life Is One”) and ending with the Return With The Elixir (“Last S.O.S.”) The Warriors take the listener on this journey, and it’s up to you to figure out if we learn something from this. Fueled by Eastern philosophies and meditative teachings, Monomyth is the most bizarre record from these guys to date. Hell, it might be the weirdest hardcore album to date.

The album begins with “All Life Is One,” a track fueled by militaristic drums and electronic elements that hype you up for the upcoming journey. It sets you up for what you’ll hear throughout Monomyth: hard hitting mid-2000s hardcore mixed with electronic elements. Sometimes it works (“The Painful Truth”) and other times it bombs horribly (“Fountain Of Euth.”) And unlike the concept of ying and yang, it never really seems to find the perfect balance to make both work.

Monomyth has some pretty heavy hitters on the record like “The Painful Truth” which features Parkway Drive’s Winston McCall, “Death Ritual” featuring Xibalba’s Nate Rebolledo, and “Iron Mind.” But it falls flat the most with “Fountain Of Euth,” having The Movielife’s Vinnie Caruana’s vocals pitched over this trap beat for some godawful reason. It doesn’t flow well with the rest of the album and feels like you hit a brick wall. Not everyone can make trap beats work well with hardcore, unless you’re UnityTX, which The Warriors clearly aren’t.

Throughout the 12 tracks on Monomyth, we go through this weird journey which makes you wonder if you ever want to go on it another time. You do get a feel for the emotion and energy the band pump into each song. The messages the band try to push on this record do hit hard, but some of the songs don’t hit as hard as their past material. While I’m glad The Warriors are back, Monomyth feels like a weird misstep. Maybe the next journey won’t be so bumpy.

The Warriors Sign With Pure Noise Records, Announce First Album In Eight Years

Bruh.

Hardcore heavyweights The Warriors are now on Pure Noise Records (Belmont, Meg & Dia, Take Offense.) They also announced their first album in eight years, Monomyth.

Pure Noise wrote in a press release, “In the time since The Warriors released their last album, a lot has changed – not just in music, but in the world at large. But, true to their tenacious past, The Warriors’ fifth full-length album, Monomyth confronts these sea changes head-on – all the while not losing an ounce of the intensity that made them one of the underground’s most captivating heavy acts in the mid-2000s. The result is their most complete work to date: an album that demands your attention from its first note to its final strains, all along the way challenging listeners both musically and in message. It’s an album built for modern times, written by those who’ve carefully lived it from afar.”

The Warriors dropped the first song off of Monomyth called “Death Ritual” featuring Nate Rebolledo of Xibalba.

Monomyth comes out December 12. Their last album See How You Are came out in 2011 on Victory Records (Colours, Feed Her To The Sharks, Like Torches.)