CTC
MELLO THA TRUTH
MARCUS BROWN
DAT BOY HOT
SLICK
WEDNESDAY 13
Wednesday 13 is a horror punk band, fronted by Wednesday 13 of Maniac Spider Trash, Murderdolls, Frankenstein Drag Queens From Planet 13, Bourbon Crow fame. The group formed in 2004 and continue to play. The genre of music is a mix of death rock and punk with lyrics heavily inspired by horror movies.
VAMPIRES EVERYWHERE
VAMPIRES EVERYWHERE has taken the alternative music scene over in the past year. From touring with the likes of Black Veil Brides, X-Japan, Alesana, Brokencyde and more to being featured in Alternative Press’ ‘100 Bands You Need to Know’, VAMPIRES EVERYWHERE have already made thousands of die hard fans and 2011 is set to be the year when they truly ignite the music world with their brand of rock that blends elements from electronic, metal, screamo and alternative rock.
The story of VAMPIRES EVERYWHERE! starts with fearless leader Michael, who formed the group influenced heavily by Joel Schumacher’s 1987 cult classic ‘The Lost Boys’. “Like the characters, I have also always considered myself lost and trapped within a world that only embraces its own. This movie embodies everything I stand for: anarchy, vampires, youth, love and revenge,” Michael reveals. This notion led Michael to search for those who he could relate to. This search brought forth the other lost souls who would form the brotherly coven Michael had hoped for: Aaron Graves, Philip Kross, Alex and David Hernandez. Together, sworn to a dark oath, they formed VAMPIRES EVERYWHERE! and created one of the most wildly exciting bands in recent memory.
Since forming, VAMPIRES EVERYWHERE! has spread their bloodline all across North America. Legions of fans showing their undying support for these twisted individuals have arisen across the country and made their presence known. Whether purchasing albums and merchandise, attending live ceremonies or forming their own hordes of supporters in their respective cities, this legion is quickly becoming larger and spreading the new gospel of VAMPIRES EVERYWHERE! far and wide. This was made evident by the incredible fan fare surrounding the release of their ‘Lost in the Shadows’ EP through Hot Topic last year.
Then, as the band began unveiling their live ceremonies, the fandom of VAMPIRES EVERYWHERE! truly exploded. Copies of their EP flew off the shelves, selling through more than 9,000 copies of this limited edition EP, available only through Hot Topic. VAMPIRES EVERYWHERE! then hit the road for their first full tour across the nation, in support of Black Veil Brides, giving covens their first chance to meet the gentlemen who have masterminded this movement. Since then, fan support grew more and more thanks to not only the band’s heavy touring schedule, but due to the genuine bond that has formed between VAMPIRES EVERYWHERE! and their fans – recognizing that you don’t have to conform to society and that being yourself will lead you to the people who will truly accept you.
9TH WONDER
PHIL G
DJ JEFF DA ILLEST
KOBRAKAI
PIG CHAMPION
KAUSTIK
Kaustik is a heavy metal band from Southern California generating exceedingly heavy, hook filled music influenced by numerous genres including: classical music, classic rock, jazz, punk, almost every metal sub-genre old to new, and even rap. This amalgamation of diverse ideas gives them a fresh, unique sound to be enjoyed by music fans from all walks of life.
Kaustik has released a self-titled album in 2011, and an EP, entitled “Forged in the Bones of Our Freedom”, in 2014. October 2016 will see a tour with thrash legends D.R.I., accompanied by the release of their politically fueled compilation EP, “Fuck Politics” on Black Voodoo Records, which will include music from both previous releases as well as two songs from their upcoming full length slated to be out in the spring of 2017.
Kaustik has played countless shows touring the country, most notably the southwest, performed at major music festivals such as Mayhem and Knotfest, and has shared the stage with some of music’s most legendary artists such as: Judas Priest, Rob Zombie, Korn, Nile, Twisted Sister, Gwar, and many more. Kaustik is now a prominent band who metal fans are talking about, are excited to see, and are anxious to hear what’s next.
-Kaustik BYFH-
KRADAKIS
Kradakis is a metal band from the South side of Chicago. Made up of Patrick Manthey, Ronnie DiCola, Fred Full, Mike Madrigal and Vanessa Victory, these guys bring a traditional sound of old school metal with a modern day style, sort of Maiden meets Mastodon. You ll enjoy for sure.
EASTERN BLOK
IAN J
IanJ is an 18-year-old Hip-POP artist from Louisville, KY. Ian first made noise in the music industry in April of 2011 with the release of his first mix-tape, Summer Lights. Since than he has released two mix-tapes, Pop Culture and Happy Birthday as well has toured all over the US. He looks forwards to releasing his first album in early 2012.
CRO-MAGS
The history of the Cro-Mags is integral to the history of Hardcore, its evolution from punk and the development of alternative music genres such as hardcore, cross-over, thrash metal, post punk and grunge to name a few. Numerous iconic bands from Metallica to Green Day, and individuals such as Dave Grohl have credited Cro-Mags with having had a primal influence on their development.
Born out of the violence and depravity of the Lower East Side of New York in the late 70s and early 80s, the Cro-Mags was the brainchild of a very young Harley Flanagan (at the time 14 years old) when still playing with the Stimulators. By 1982/83 he wrote and recorded the very first Cro-Mags demos consisting of 4 songs that would become the blueprint for the seminal 1986 “Age of Quarrel.” He wrote all of the music, played each instrument and sang. Before long he connected with Parris Mayhew and the two started writing music and auditioning band members.
After several line-ups, 5 studio albums (beyond the original demos) and 30 + years of tours around the world, Cro-Mags remains one of the most iconic hardcore bands with arguably the greatest reach beyond the genre.
Cro-Mags
“In the Beginning”
Why now? In Flanagan’s words: “Lemmy came to me in a dream and said, ‘Take it back mate, it’s yours, you started it.’ The fact is, I never legally lost the name Cro-Mags, others were using it without my permission, while I was raising my kids. An agreement was struck with the previous members and I regained full control over the name worldwide.Now with an amazing line up and 2 record deals I am moving forward. I have a great team of people behind me; I have never felt stronger, better or more creative.”
In 2019 Cro-Mags signed with Victory Records and Arising Empire and released the “From the Grave” single, consisting of the tracks: “Don’t Give In,” “Drag You Under,” and “No One’s Victim.”
Flanagan: “These lyrics are meant to inspire and kick you in the ass when you need it. Some might not take them that way, but that’s my intention. Sometimes you need someone to tell you to man-the-fuck-up, or woman-up, cause life ain’t easy and you will get crushed if you don’t. I wrote them more for myself than anyone else, cause sometimes I need to hear these things, as I think we all do.”
“Some of them were inspired by loss, the loss of friends, by suicide, cancer, struggling with depression, mortality and ultimately the beauty of life. You have to be able to recognize it, even when you’re suffering and struggling. Although we all fight our own personal battles, and they vary, none of us are alone in the fact that we have to fight our battles, and many of them we must fight alone. In that way, we all have something in common, besides needing basic things like food water and shelter. We also must learn how to cope with struggle and mortality. Some rise to the top while others crash and burn.”
“I feel like I crashed and burned enough times that I somehow managed to rise back to the top. I feel stronger, happier mentally, spiritually and physically than I have in years; and it did not come without a struggle or cost. But that is life; you have to fight for what you want, and you also have to know how temporary it all is.”
The Album: “In the Beginning”: The full length has 13 tracks including the 3 from the first single. The songs draw on the past and break new ground musically; the lyrics as always, are based on personal experiences, mixed with advice and reality-based themes and topics ranging from personal struggles, striving to succeed against the odds and issues that we are all challenged with in one way, shape or form.
The singles and album feature, along with Harley Flanagan, Gabby Abularach (Gil Evans Orchestra, amongst many other projects) who played on Cro-Mags’ “Alpha Omega” (1992) and “Near Death Experience” (1993); Rocky George (formerly of Suicidal Tendencies and Fishbone) who played on Cro-Mags’ “Revenge” (2000); and ” Gary “GMan” Sullivan (who has played with everyone from the B-52’s, Berny Worrel of Parliament Funkadelic, TM Stevens etc.), who joined Cro-Mags in the 90s.
“In the Beginning” will be released June 19th worldwide on LP, CD and all digital platforms. The band was set to support the album through release shows and festivals in both Europe and North America, but due to the Corona virus, all shows were postponed or cancelled. Harley was one of the first to put together a live stream event which aired online March 19th and has been viewed over 100,000 times and received coverage from CNN and all major press outlets. A free download of the track, “The Final Test,” was then given to fans shortly thereafter.
DISCOGRAPHY:
- The Age of Quarrel (1986)
- Best Wishes (1989)
- Alpha Omega (1992)
- Near Death Experience (1993)
- Revenge (2000)
- Don’t Give In (EP) (2019)
- From the Grave (EP) (2019)
- In The Beginning (2020)
EARLY GRAVES
NEW LOWS
HANOI ROCKS – MICHAEL MONROE
SPACE GIANT
RONNIE MONTROSE
ROB BLAINE’S BIG OTIS BLUES
RESTLESS DIESEL
MICHAEL LEE FIRKINS
BASSIXX
Bassixx is an exciting dynamic fusion group playing music by Jill Scott, Soulive and Chic Corea. The band features a horn section and a wonderful vocalist,Brittany Thompson.
BRIAR PATCH
Briar Patch is a pop rock band featuring 3 great vocalists and a superb rhythm section. The group performs tunes from 60’s British Pop to the contemporary sounds of Allison Krause and Rascal Flatts.
TRENCHTOWN
DEFEATER
Defeater is a punk rock band.
MILES AWAY
GENTLEMEN HALL
BALLROOM BOXER
TOUBAB KREWE
THE SADIES
ANDRE WILLIAMS
BISON B.C.
WHITE MYSTERY
White Mystery is brother-sister rock’n’roll duo Miss Alex White & Francis Scott Key White from Chicago. The siblings tour worldwide, earn rave reviews from MTV, VICE, Sound Opinions, Pitchfork – and currently represent the Levi’s #equipped campaign. Their fourth full-length DUBBLE DRAGON is available on double vinyl and iTunes now.
SERGEANT GARCIA
MAD PROFESSOR
Soon after Mad Professor launched the now legendary Dub Me Crazy series featuring “Beyond The Realms Of Dub” “Escape To The Asylum Of Dub” and “Dub Maniacs On The Rampage”, the series became on top with the variations of sounds and effects. Whilst all the music was flowing, Mad Professor was gradually developing the studio and by the mid Eighties a 24 track 2 inch state- of the art studio with its own unique sound, Sandra Cross and Pato Banton had No. l hits, Macka B. joined Ariwa and had hit album “Sign of the Times”. By the end of the Eighties, Macka B & Kofi scored No. l with “Dread A Who She Love” and Intense with “Mellow” & “On My Mind”. The Nineties kicked of with another hit from Macka B & Kofi “Proud of Mandela” and Intense – “You are the One”. In 1991, Professor met U-Roy and recorded the classic “True Born African” which topped the charts in August of that year. By 1992, Professor slowed down the output of the label and concentrated on the touring circuit resulting in successful tours of Germany, Holland, France, Sweden, Denmark, Poland, Ireland, Spain, Austria, Italy, Yugoslavia, USA, Canada. The tours are usually under the banner of the label. By Spring 1994, The Ariwa album catalogue increased to 104 LP’s recent productions being “Heritage” Sharifa, “Mr Government” – Peter Hunningale. “Black Liberation Dub” Mad Professor was the launch of a new dub series. Also the studio was updated to 48 track or 24 – 24 recording. The Professor has new acts waiting to break the surface under the banner ARIWA – the Yoruba word for communication, artistes such as Kofi, John Mclean, Vitality, Lorna G, Peter Hunningale, Danny Red, Lindy Layton, Tracy Spencer, The Boom, Massive Attack, Jah Shaka, Sade, Brilliant, Clementine and The Orb have benefited from the Mad Professor’s touch, the Nineties also have brought the Prof, into the realms of the remix market.
TWILIGHT CIRCUS
40 WATT SUN
40 Watt Sun is the musical project of singer, guitarist and songwriter Patrick Walker, founded in early 2009 following the dissolution of his previous band, Warning, one of the most important, highly regarded and influential bands to emerge from the ‘90s doom metal scene.
The music of 40 Watt Sun is characterised by spare and deliberate arrangements, down-tempo rhythms, and Patrick Walker’s poignant and idiosyncratic vocals and introspective, often darkly-confessional lyrics. Hank Shteamer of Rolling Stone magazine has described the band’s music as “a poetic, gradually unfolding dirge rock”.
ZO2
VIFOLLY
EVERGREY
Evergrey is a progressive metal band from Gothenburg, Sweden. The band was founded in 1995 and released its debut album, The Dark Discovery, in 1998. After a minor hiatus the band returns with its ninth album Hymns for the Broken on 26/30 September 2014.
SABATON
IMPERATIVE REACTION
In 2008, Imperative Reaction released Minus All and embarked on its most ambitious headlining tour to date. Shortly after the completion of the tour the band added guitarist/keyboardist Adam Vex (Seraphim Shock) and the live chemistry was solidified once and for all.
In 2009, the band took time off from writing to hit the road with fellow Metropolis Records artist, Psyclon Nine. The co-headlining tour, named “The Ruina Tour”, saw the bands playing to capacity crowds across the US.
2010 was spent holed up in the studio creating the band’s most ambitious album to date. Imperative Reaction is an electronic rock masterpiece that showcases a band in its prime; ready to blow any preconceived notions out of the water. There is no escape.
GOD MODULE
God Module combines elements of harsh Techno, Darkwave, Goth and Industrial. Pounding beats mix with hypnotic synth hooks, deranged film samples and psychotically-effected vocals to make up a sound that is as disturbing as it is danceable.
SYSTEM SYN
LUDOVICO TECHNIQUE
The name: The name itself stems from the drug-assisted aversion therapy found in the novel and film “A Clockwork Orange”, in which the patient is forced to view violent imagery while injected with experimental medication in an attempt to condition the subjects behavior.
The sound: It is harsh industrial music highlighting the dark aspects of the human experience as well as the depths to which the human mind can deteriorate.
ATARI TEENAGE RIOT
THE GOTHSICLES
THE GOTHSICLES are DANCE DESPERADOS WHAT HAIL FROM CHICAGO and are fronted by Brian Graupner. From dimensional rifts and the sea’s cold abyss emanates HYPERACTIVE INDUSTRIAL THAT’S FULLY COMBUSTIBLE. It’s mostly four on the floor EBM for nerds.
JYROSCOPE
THE NATURALS
DJ ITCH13
JEFF THE BROTHERHOOD
LICH KING
We’re not named after a World of Warcraft character and our 4th album cover has nothing to do with Adventure Time. Thanks so much for asking though.
The point was to create new old-school thrash metal in the vein of EXODUS, VIO-LENCE, S.O.D., SLAYER and others. Lots of bands in the new wave of thrash these days are doing just that, but where we stand out is that we admit it.
Tom Martin started Lich King as a one-man project around 2004, as a goof. People seemed to like the music. Our first two albums were released as a solo project posing as an actual band. In 2009 Tom cannibalized a local thrash act called AGES AGO and formed Lich King as a true band for the first time.
We think the sound of thrash was perfected in the 80’s and we’re not trying to add anything to the mix. We’re just coming up with riffs and songs that the old masters didn’t. Despite that fact and our best efforts, we seem to be developing a signature sound. Dammit.
We’ve had five full-length albums since 2007. Each features fast, headbangable riffs in modern stomp anthems, a sometimes comedic yet always violent songwriting sensibility, art and design from Tom Martin, a marked step up in quality from the previous release, and an awesome logo and a mascot.
…A mascot that is not affiliated with a video game.
VINDICATOR
Cleveland, Ohio… A town where sports come to die and metal comes to live. A city that has seen it’s share of metal titans by their own rights. Destructor, Nunslaughter, Purgatory, Midnight, Soulless, Black Death and many more. In two thousand five the city would give birth to another bastard of speed and aggression… Vindicator would tear down the walls and burn the scene to the ground. Quickly earning respect from the old guard and garnering new fans with every show, the band quickly propelled to the forefront of the thrash resurgence with acts like Warbringer, Merciless Death, and Bonded By Blood.
Vindicator continue to unleash their signature brand of thrash metal to die hard fans of the genre and the unsuspecting alike. Years of consistent touring has created a solid fan base amongst the truest of metal warriors. Following the release of 2008’s There Will Be Blood, 2009’s split Outbreak Of Metal (with tuetonic terrors, Metal Witch), and 2010’s The Antique Witcheries, Vindicator cemented their place in the U.S. thrash scene.
Some retooling of the band’s lineup has them poised to launch their next assault on the metal masses in the form of Vindicator’s upcoming third full-length release. Fans can expect a sound that is true to the roots of Thrash, yet fresh and exciting with a new level of energy and musicianship.
TERROR IN HIS PRESENCE
Terror In His Presence (TIHP) is a Metal band from Chicago IL. TIHP started in spring of 2010, and through many changes we have gotten to the point we are at now. Our main goal is to bring back the old school sounds while still keeping a new, fresh, and heavy sound.
GUTTERMOUTH
Huntington Beach, California-based punks Guttermouth formed in 1989, comprising vocalist Mark “Mercury” Adkins, guitarists Derek Davis and Scott Sheldon, bassist Stever Rapp (who replaced original bassist Clint Weinrich), and drummer Captain James T. Nunn. Debuting a year later with the single “Puke,” Guttermouth issued their debut LP, Full Length, in 1992, followed in 1994 by Friendly People, their first effort for new label Nitro Records. Guttermouth resurfaced in 1996 with Teri Yakimoto, followed a year later by Musical Monkey; their first concert LP, Live from the Pharmacy, appeared in 1998. Their sixth album, Gorgeous, was issued a year later, featuring new drummer Ty Smith; Covered with Ants followed in mid-2000, marking their first for Epitaph.
Guttermouth are studio hounds; they returned to the punk rock scene in fall 2002 when the ambitious Gusto was released, and came back for more in 2004 with the scathing Eat Your Face (with guitarist Don Horne and ex-Slick Shoes bassist Kevin Clark now on board). That same summer saw the departure of drummer Smith to concentrate on his side project Bullets and Octane; the outspoken band also reportedly got kicked off the Warped Tour in August. Adkins later clarified that they left the tour by choice, sickened by the ignorant political comments spouted during various bands’ sets. After departing Epitaph Records, the group was officially added to the Volcom Entertainment roster in late 2005. Guttermouth then contributed the track “April 29th, 1992” to the Sublime tribute album Forever Free, and released their installment of the Beyond Warped Live Music Series in January 2006. The band’s tenth album, Shave the Planet, appeared that August, with Adkins, Sheldon, and Horne joined by original bassist Weinrich and drummer Ryan Farrell. After promotion for Shave, the band didn’t issue new material for a full decade. When they re-formed, the new lineup consisted of Adkins, bassist Justin Van Westbroek, and guitarist Geoff Armstrong. The outfit released a pair of EPs in 2016: Got It Made arrived that summer, while New Car Smell was issued that winter. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi