the story behind the compilation

In the middle of the year 2004 I was thinking about good ways to celebrate the 15th birthday of HeartFirst records which was coming up in 2005. I think that compilations are the highlight in the life of a punk record label or a certain scene and very few of today's compilations have really solid quality, esp. if they are concentrating on a certain topic, area or country. In the year 1992 there had already been an international 7" compilation on HeartFirst Records called The World Is A Lonely Place. After all the work back then I promised to myself to never release a compilation again. These days noone buys vinyl 7"s anymore -- or so the people say. The 7" EP is still the only true hardcore punk format -- says I. The one thing that sells even worse than 7" vinyl in general, are 7" compilations -- or so the people say. Of course these people are right, but I thought: In a long time there have not so many great hardcore punk bands here in Germany as in recent years. So let's document what is going on in form of a little compilation. So I proceeded to ask some of those bands who were my friends, so they did not dare to decline the offer. They gave me seven wonderful and otherwise unreleased songs. I asked another old friend of mine, Philipp Superfan, to design the cover based on inspirations of another old German punk compilation from the early 80s. I am very happy with the results. To me this is the best German hardcore punk 7" compilation to date. But wait -- there have not been that many in the past, so it's no big deal really. The only other great one is the TRUST VINYL 7" compilation that came out in 1987, oh well. Also the packaging turned out really fine. Full colour sleeve in a screenprinted poly bag. Expensive, but well -- you only get 15 once in a lifetime.

I did not mean to exclude certain bands or pretend to be completist. There are many other great bands in Germany at the moment that could have been on this one, but hey -- seven bands on a 7" EP isn't too bad for a start.

This compilation does not contain any trendy "crust" or "d-beat", but fast and angry hardcore punk, the way it was meant to be. 7" vinyl is the appropriate format for that. The first pressing was 1000 copies, 500 on black vinyl and 500 on white wax. There now are also 500 on red (some people seem to care about those things).

song-infos

The titles of the songs on the compilation (all are otherwise unreleased on vinyl) are:

THE NOW-DENIAL (Bielefeld/Münster/Bremen)- Emetics Overdosed (recorded especially for this compilation)

BURIAL (Ruhrpott/Bielefeld) - Under The Badge (from the session for their "Never Give Up..."-LP/CD)

SOLID DECLINE (Berlin) - Rockstar (from the session for their upcoming 2x7" on HeartFirst)

BOMBENALARM (Mülheim/Ruhrpott) - 1st Class Sheep, 2nd Hand Dogs (from the "Buried Alive" LP session)

CHAINBREAKER (Potsdam) - Dorf Nazis Must Die (from the session for their 7" EP on Vendetta Mob)

DOOMTOWN (Bielefeld/Mülheim/Ruhrpott) - In The Jaws of Hell (from the session for the "Forever Fucked" LP)

AMEN 81 (Nürnberg) - Fast as a Shark im Goldfischglas (from the session of their 3rd LP "The Hit Pit")

band-infos

Most of the featured bands are touring constantly, also abroad. Please try to check them out live! A list of gigs you can find here and on the bands' websites.

THE NOW-DENIAL-website

BOMBENALARM-website

AMEN 81-website (achtung, ist evtl. nicht mehr ganz aktuell, E-Mail-Kontakt sollte aber noch gehen)

CHAINBREAKER -website

All other bands you can reach by writing to the e-mail address at the bottom of the page. I will forward the e-mails to the bands.

where can you buy the compilation?

If you want to mailorder the compilation directly from me, it will be 3 Euros plus postage. The usual distributors and mailorders in Germany should carry it: kink records, green hell, skuld releases, contamination, greed records, yellow dog, x-mist. Overseas Ebullition and Velted Regnub have copies. If you have trouble finding it, send an e-mail to the address at the bottom of the page and I can point you in the right direction.

the maximum rocknroll review

Most bands these days give their worst throwaway tracks to compilations for good reason – most labels do a horrible job with comps, through bad distribution, crap artwork, tons of filler bands, hack recordings, the list goes on. Heartfirst somehow managed to find seven worthy bands to give not only exclusive tracks, but downright scorchers. I really can’t remember the last time I thought that a whole compilation was worth listening to. The recordings are great, the artwork is awesome down to the screened plastic sleeves, the bands all have their own style, everything is here to warrant a good review. The standout tracks for me are BURIAL with “Under the Badge,” an over the top Japanese style hardcore anthem. DOOMTOWN’s track “In the Jaws of Hell” is straight-ahead no-nonsense hardcore with a small TRAGEDY vibe, but not at all a replica. I know I told Christoph that I would tear him a new asshole in this review (ha ha ha) but BOMBENALARM’s track, “First Class Sheep, Second Hand Dogs,” is my favorite, with awesome, unnerving chants and powerful, focused rhythems that cut and soar. Every other band is well worth checking out as well, but at risk of making this a novel I will leave it at that (WK, MRR #274)
 

what else did the bands release?

Most bands on the compilation are very active and have various other releases out. More infos you can find on the bands' websites (see above). Some bands who have no websites:

BURIAL

4 Song 7" (Autodafé Records) just re-released on HATE

Never Give Up.. Never Give In LP (co-released by HATE/LA VIDA ES UN MUS/INSTIGATE)

Never Give Up.. Never Give In CD (Deranged Records)

Hungry Wolves 7" (HeartFirst)

Hungry Wolves CD on HG FACT, Japan

Two songs on a compilation with CRUDE and NIGHTMARE on HG FACT, Japan

SOLID DECLINE

Back In Line 7" (HeartFirst)

Adorning the Void Double-7" EP (HeartFirst)

Split 7" with STRONG INTENTION (Vendetta Mob Records)

DOOMTOWN

Forever Fucked LP (Putrid Filth Conspiracy)