Sun City Skins - Viejo Orgullo, Nueva Gloria (Vinyl 4 Bootboys Records - 2014)

Alright boys and girls, let's head back to the other side of the ocean. But this time (and for once) not to the USA. We'll go a little further south, to Mexico and the city of Hermosillo, and we'll go loco with the local band, Sun City Skins.
First I have to say that it's probably the only record of a band coming from Mexico that I own. I own and have listened to many other latin american bands (mainly from Argentina, Chile or Brazil), I had heard about the mexican scene before (especially when the italian band Asociale went there to play, in 2010 if I remember well ?), but this is, in the end, a pretty new scene to me.
Back to the band itself, Sun City Skins are a three-piece band coming from the city of Hermosillo, as I said before, and started to play in 2008, but that's actually their very first release. They play some kind of melodic up-tempo Oi!, with a lot of nice rock'n'roll-ish guitars, powerful vocals (in spanish, of course) and a lot of gang choirs. You could think that these guys would sound more "american" (by that I mean hardcore-influenced Oi!) given the geographic proximity with the USA, but to me they sound pretty European, you can clearly make a connection between their sound and bands like Decibelios, Zakarrak, Ultimo Asalto or in a greater extent, 80's/90's european Oi! influences.

Here you go with a sampler of what that record has to offer

On this EP the band offers us an intro plus three songs, "Tu Realidad", "La Vieja Escuela" and "Frente in Alto", dealing with the pride of being a skinhead, the way of life, etc... Nothing revolutionary but all in all in nicely written and really well played.
The artwork of this record is kind of... special in my opinion, I'm not a big fan of it. But never judge a book by its cover, as they say, and especially for this record you shouldn't, because you would be missing a great band. So, back to the thing, it's a gatefold cover, with, inside, the lyrics, band photos and a thanklist. 300 hundred copies were released (100 in black and 200 in gold, the golden version being particularly nice according to me).
If you don't want to miss a great band, then you should give Sun City Skins a try, I'm sure you will like it, I was very surprised by these three songs, really good ! I hope I will have the occasion to hear more things from them, and actually I will because I saw that the would be releasing a split EP with the great italian band F.A.V.L. soon. That's good news !

Reconquesta - S/T 7" (Disco Nightmare/See You - 2014)

The only european country which is not from Northern Europe present on this blog so far is Spain, and it's not gonna change. Well actually it might change, because Reconquesta (do yourself a favour if you look for the band on internet and write their name right, if you write it Reconquista you will only find a shitty spanish WP band, and by shitty I mean that this made me want to burn a paella plate, yep, it was that bad) are from Catalonia, and I know that catalonians are pretty touchy about their own national identity. So let's say it's not Spain.

These guys were, as a matter of fact, more or less uknown to me, I bought their 7" (which is also their first vinyl release, even though they seem to have started the band in 2012) pretty much randomly, given that I only had heard some demo songs on youtube before.

Well, that was a good random purchase if you want my point of view. Now those who know me (and those who have read the KnockOut review) know that spanish Oi! is not really my cup of tea, even if the catalonian scene is kind of an exception given that one of my favourite record of 2012 (and probably my favourite iberian band) is Secret Army's Crush the Remains. But anyway, I'm open to new bands, and giving a chance to Reconquesta was everything but a mistake. These guys are playing a melodic but still hard hitting Oi!, with great bass and solo guitar all the way, topped by  equaly melodic but still in your face vocals. Through and through it is really strong.  From what I can read on their Facebook page, they list their influences as english, french and american Oi! from the 80's/90's. Well, you can't go wrong with these (especially with the french one), but to me they sound actually much more modern than this, even if you can obviously hear these influences in the two songs on this single.

For some reason Blogspot decided to be a piece of shit and couldn't find the studio version of their song "Gloria". But look for it in Youtube. Believe me, it's worth it.

These two songs, to name them, are "Gloria" and "Reconquesta". I must admit that I am actually not familiar at all with the catalonian language, but reading the lyrics of "Gloria" on internet (they were clever enough to write them in the description of the song) helped a lot, since catalonian is pretty close to french (more than I thought actually). So basically, this song urges you to be proud and to never look down. The lyrics are not going to change your vision of the world, but is that what you expect Oi! to do ? Probably not. Instead they make you feel proud, strong and free (to quote Stars and Stripes), which is, to me, pretty much all I want to hear. Their second song, "Reconquesta", is not as melodical as the first one, maybe more straight forward, but is still great. It actually gives you a balanced single, with a melodical song and a more in-your-face one.

All that comes with a great artwork, which is the logo of the band (a feather and a sword) in a shield with a dragon in some kind of parchment style (it's the brown tone of it all that gives me this feeling I guess). The only thing I regret is that there's no insert but that's only a little disappointement given the quality of this release. Note that this record comes with a big central hole, which is kind of unusual nowaday I guess given that the only records I have like that are from the 70's to the 90's. 300 copies of that record were released, 100 in black, 100 n brown and 100 with a different cover. My advice is that you should buy this record, because by doing that you will not only get 2 great songs, but you will also support a young band which deserves it. So you know what you have to do !

Edit : you can now listen to both songs of the 7" on the band's bandcamp and download them (as a name your price download) ! 

Out of the Darkness on Facebook

Out of the Darkness in now also on Facebook, give the page a like here

Battle Ruins - S/T LP (Rock'n'Roll Discgrace - 2014)

Finally the waiting is over. It's here. I'm obviously talking about the record I've been the most looking forward to get this year, namely Battle Ruins' LP. And it does not disappointed me, even if there were no surprises listening to it, since it had leaked on the internet some times ago, but still, hearing these songs on vinyl is even better.
You might remember that I reviewed Battle Ruins' 7" some times ago so you should know them (in fact, if you don't know them that's kind of a problem because these guys just kick asses). They play that Boston Oi! I've been talking about in my Hammer and the Nails/Butcher Boys split 7" review, but they had to it a nice dose of heavy metal. And they do it even more on that 12", which makes it even more dark, powerful, violent, straight out of the dark times of the Middle Age, and, basically, awesome. You still have epic lyrics about battles, violence, vengeance and all these stuffs, they still use these going-up back vocals/doubled vocals/vocals in general, and it still makes you want to destroy everything and slay your enemies with a morgenstern while wearing a plate battle armor. Nothing more nothing less. I won't talk more about how they sound, because I already talked about it (and tried to define it) in my previous review about them.

That's how epic this record is.

I have to say that there's actualy one bad thing with that record. It's too short, mainly because the seven songs on it are all great. I mean, I can't think of any bad song on that record, I don't even think I've skipped a single one since the day I first downloaded it. If I had to choose my favourite songs on it, it would be pretty simple : every single fucking one, and probably twice. That's how good this album is (more seriously, "The Coming of the Beast", "Hate Wheel", and "Slaughtering the Wolves like Sheeps" are my absolute favourite ones on that record).
And not only the songs on it are good, but the whole artwork is awesome. I mean, that front cover fits perfectly to what the band is all about. Bloody fucking dark age violence. This come with an insert including the lyrics for "Regain and Conquer" and a picture of what is, I guess, a proper battle ruin. 413 copies came in a white/grey cover with black vinyl, and 111 came in a red cover with clear vinyl plus a poster (and are handnumbered). This record is obviously sold out since the day it was available, but Rock'n'Roll Disgrace said that they would do a second pressing. You don't want to miss that repress, believe me, because this record is nothing less than 2014's best record. Period.

Hammer and the Nails/Butcher Boys - Split 7" (Spirit of the Streets Records - 2013)

Remember last time when I said that you'll get some moer exotic stuffs than usual soon ? Well the time is now. As a matter of fact, I still had to go with an american band in that review. Again. And it's Hammer and the Nails. From Boston. Again. Yep, I definitely have something with that Boston Oi! thing (this is how it will be called here from now on. By that I mean bands like them, Revilers or Battle Ruins, that share some similarities, like HxC influences, but not sounding like that New York 90's Oi!, melodic, dark and absolutely fucking brilliant). But on the same time some Crocodile Dundee skinhead rock'n'roll will be involved as well, thanks to Sydney's Butcher Boys. So that's what you'll get with exoticism (if you were waiting for something like north korean RAC or pakistanese powerviolence, well no, that's not gonna happen, but that would be pretty exotic too).
Hammer and the Nails are, for those of you who don't know them (shame on you, you probably missed one of the best Oi! band from the U.S.A.) are playing powerful melodic and hardcore-influenced Oi!, with pretty agressive but not too tough vocals, always with great solo guitars. They actually have a sound and a style that is pretty easy to recognize (I don't think any band play like them), and you end up with a perfect cocktail of aggro and heavy Oi! with still an awesome melodical sound. Here they give us two new songs : "Kept Alive", which is probably one of their strongest song, and a cover of Straw Dogs' "Justice", played in the Hammer and the Nails style, which makes it even more powerful than the original one (and it's not easy, given how brillant Straw Dogs were). Good ones, as always in fact.

"Kept Alive" by Hammer and the Nails. As you can see, both of their songs are dealing with justice. And not a nice form of justice

On the other hand, the Butcher Boys are a two men band composed of two guys from The Corps, which is also a great band, playing what you could call Rose Tattoo-inspired Oi! (you can't go wrong with that). Spirit of the Streets described the band as a mix of Condemned 84 and Chiswick style. That's a pretty good description, and even if the singing is pretty close to The Corps, the music played is not the same. Much more '77 punk I guess (think early Skrewdriver, Slaughter and the Dogs and band in that vein), and even if I prefer The Corps, Butcher Boys give us two solid songs, and it's their first release (if I'm correct, they will do another split with the almighty Hard Evidence soon). I'd gladly listen to more things by these guys.
All that comes in a two-sided cover (one side per band, with their logos) and an insert (once again one side per band) that, unfortunatly, includes only the lyrics for "Kept Alive" by Hammer and the Nails. You'll also get a download code (I actually could only download the Hammer and the Nails songs with mine, no idea if it's the case for everybody or if I just had a fucked up code), which is always good. Oh yeah, 250 copies only, 125 in black splatter on clear vinyl and the other 125 in black splatter on clear red vinyl.
A pretty solid release, plus it's always nice to get some new songs by Hammer and the Nails (who have the best songs on that split EP), but you should also give a listen to the Butcher Boys, they're worth it. You can still find that record on the major european distros, so do yourself a favor and get it !

Arska & Hakkapeliitat - S/T 7" (This Means WAR/Hakkapeliitta Records - 2014)

And once again we're back in Scandinavia... Seems like I'm only reviewing bands from Northern Europe and America here (hopefully soon I will have some more "exotic" things for you), well, it must means that that's where the music is good (in my opinion at least). So, let's head once again to the cold but welcoming shores of Finland.
Today we'll be talking about the band Arska & Hakkapeliitat, which is the last of the many bands of Arska (who is/was involved in Skinboiss, Kalevalan Viikingit, Kareliaani, Ironbird and a bunch of metal bands -yep, the guy is pretty active). He (because I think that's actually a one-man band) described the music played by his band (and not only this one, but a bunch of his other groups) as "Hakkapeliitta rock" (the hakkapeliitta being a finnish light cavalry used by the swedish army during the 17th century, back when the two countries were one), a form of viking rock influenced-Oi!, which would be, I guess, the finnish equivalent of the swedish vikingarock, and when vikingarock is evoked, you know that it's gonna involve epic tunes, patriotic/historical/mythological-based lyrics and melodic music (and that you are going to offend pretty much any average swedish person). No exception with Arska & Hakkapeliitat, both songs on the present 7" are extremly melodical, in the music (even including keyboard I think) as in the way Arska sings, and actually sound pretty light compared to his other musical projects (which sound more Oi! and more "straight in your face", I'm especially thinking about Kareliaani and Kalevalan Viikingit, given that they are, in my opinion, the closest musicaly speaking to this band)., and it makes it even more epic if you want my point of view !

Epic as fuck is what you get with this record

So, two songs on that record, both are patriotic anthems. The first one, "White and Blue Thunder" is sung in english and is and ode to Finland, its beauty and its greatness. The second one, "Fenno Viikingit" is in finnish, deals also with Finland but in a darker perspective, begging the country to remember its roots and its past (note that you have an allusion to the swedish past of Finland and to Kalle Dussin, a.k.a. Karl XII a former king of Sweden extremly popular among the local skinheads - Agent Bulldogg, Midgårds Söner or Ultima Thule, to name a few, made songs about him - and his karoliner). To be honest, that second song is far better than the first one (even if the first one is still a pretty good song), the use of finnish language gives more power to it and makes it even more melodical and epic.
The artwork of the single fits pretty good to the music, because it's once again all about nordic and finnish mythology, with symbols, weapons and even an Ukonvasara, the finnish equivalent of Thor's hammer. The lyrics for both songs are on the backcover, so for once I'm not gonna complain about the lack of insert. 300 hand-numbered copies + 10 test pressings with a different cover.
Well, what can I say to end this review ? That's probably, alongside with Kareliaani, my favorite band featuring Arska, and if you liked his other bands, you won't be disappointed by this one. I will probably be reviewing more of thatt Hakkapeliitta rock in the near future, given that I have a few more records of that genre. Once again a good production by This Mean WAR, these guys seems to be releasing only brilliant stuffs !

Stone Dagger - The Siege of Jerusalem (Electric Assault Records - 2014)

Remember that time when I said that I would not be talking only about Oi! or punk here, but probably about a bunch of other stuff that I like ? Well, the time is now. With Stone Dagger. You'd better get that old leather jacket of your, the one covered with heavy metal band patches, from your closet (you're not fooling anyone here, you have one like this somewhere), 'cause these guys are gonna rock the shit out of you.
Even if musically, there's no Oi!/punk or whatever in this records, it is linked to it in a way, because it actually involves guys from Battle Ruins (yep, them again), who seem to have more or less a million different bands (I'm not gonna complain about it, they're all on a scale from very good to awesome), and that's not their first "heavy metal attempt" (because yes, Stone Dagger is pretty much as NWOBHM as you can get), if you consider bands like Magic Circle or even a song like "Cold Iron Death" from Battle Ruins (which had a strong Black Sabbath feeling, according to me).
Now I must say that I actually don't know much about heavy metal/hard rock (even if, don't get me wrong on that one, I can enjoy myself a nice Motorhead, AC/DC or Rose Tattoo from times to times), it's not even one of my so-called "guilty pleasure". I would probably not have given a fuck about that record if I didn't knew that the guys from Battle Ruins were involved in it. And I would have been wrong. Because that's actually a fucking awesome record.
The band members describe themselves this record as "for fans of Manilla Road, Dio, Cirith Ungol" (I actually don't know these bands, appart from Dio) and as "working class power metal". Once again, my knowledge about metal is poor, so I don't know if these references are accurate or not, but what I know is that you get, in that 7", two mid-paced to fast-tempo songs, with tons of awesome guitar riffs and over-the-top heavy metal solos, going-up vocals and all. It litteraly brings back that old school heavy metal (think early Black Sabbath or Iron Maiden I guess), when it was all about knights, witches and sorcery. That's just so fucking epic. I like that. And you should to. Because once again, this is just to good to be ignored (if you are open minded to that kind of music of course, 'cause if you're not you probably just think that I just spent too much time talking about a shitty 80's metal single).

Here you go with more than 10 minutes of studs and leather heavy metal

I would without a problem recommand anybody to buy that record, but I think it's tottaly sold out (it was first released in cassette and then in this format, got sold out and repressed but I guess that second press is gone as well). Anyway, if you have the occasion, buy that stuff. I definitely want to hear more of that. I will anyway get back to these guys soon with Battle Ruins and their first LP, which will be reviewed here as soon as the postman gives it to me.