Kontaminat are one of the best bands out now, and their demo proves it. Hailing straight out of Chicago, the group is composed of past members of Chronic Seizure, Los Crudos, Sin Orden, and Rat Bastards. Kontaminat play in the vein of fast, paced hardcore, mixing their previous resumes and creating an entire new take on hardcore. "Team player" opens up the demo with a surf-inspired guitar riff that goes into their own brand of Midwestern hardcore. I'm also seriously digging the track "Timeless", from it's hypnotic mind bending guitar chords, the harsh menacing vocals, and a bass line that just screams trouble from far away. "Costume" is another favorite of mine; encompassing the blitzkrieg attack that would definitely bring Chronic Seizure to mind. A must have for those really into this type of hardcore.
Below is the band's bandcamp where you can download the album in it's entirety. For physical copies, contact anyone from the band or via their facebook.
Damn, what a night! From recalling this particular event two weeks later, I can't believe I almost missed out on what's been hailed as the best show of the year, by far. I've been to some pretty killer shows this year, as the Omegas show back in May, but this is another contender that's impossible to leave out.
The show took place at an unnamed venue on W Huron street, what I'm assuming is to be a new place, just an assumption so no hassling on my end. Anyway, once I stepped in and observed around, the venue had a sick appeal to it; small and compact, but big enough to still provide room for those getting physical, in length and width. After waiting around for a good 45 minutes or so, the first band was up.
Other Women is one band I hadn't come across before, but I was pretty impressed with their overall set. Composed of members of local Chicago band Regrets, Other Women played a great set of hard-hitting hardcore, as the crowd grew a bit excited from hearing their songs. Haven't seen a vocalist that pissed on stage in quite some time, so he definitely had that energy going off that night. I anticipate hearing more from this band in the next year, and wouldn't be surprised if they got attention nationwide.
Skrapyard played right after Other Women and had the crowd moving, no joke. For those unaware, Skrapyard is another local hardcore band mixed in with meshes of oi, much like 86 Mentality or Urban Blight. Like I said earlier about the venue being compact and small, it was hard not to be affected i.e, moved to the other side within a few seconds and heavily cramped but it didn't ruin seeing Skrapyard's set. The crowd kept chanting to every single song played, and the moshing/crowd surfing didn't cease a bit during their breaks. Hell, I was even in on the chanting during "9 to 5". Prior to their set, I wasn't really sure of what to think of their next release on Youth Attack, or their set, but was convinced they're another band to keep an eye for, so maybe it gets better from here.
Culo was one of main reasons why I headed out, aside from Crazy Spirit. I haven't seen them at their worst, but that's coming from a huge fan of theirs. Much like Skrapyard, the chanting and moshing grew pretty intense, compared than before. Culo nailed out hit after hit, from "Wasted on Wine" to "Military Trend". I was even in on the action, joining the rest of the mutants that night for some chaos. Jokingly, the band took their time, going on with their long breaks and making fun of the audience, especially those whining about not playing. Even more humorous, the guys in charge of sound even played "Culo" from Pitbull and drew a bad response from the vocalist, comically of course. The band ended up closing with a classic in the making "Toxic Vision". Overall, Culo didn't disappoint. Not too sure of any upcoming releases of new material, but for those that missed out on past releases, Derranged is putting a compilation of early Culo material. A must have for anyone wanting to take a gander at true american hardcore.
After about another thirty minutes, Hoax came up afterwards. If they were planing to leave a mark that night, they truly succeeded with their mission. From opening with "Fagget", the crowd were instantly on the prowl, beginning to ensure madness from all directions. With stage dives coming from in front and the sides (one dude climbed up this locker on the side of the room, and jumped off despite being crammed from the little area in between the locker and ceiling), everyone seemed to be in awe of Hoax. The band didn't seem to lose their edge at all, especially the vocalist, whom was throwing punches and beating himself with the microphone. I dig how the band played "Stuck", a growing favorite of mine from the group. Everyone ape up their set, even those unaware of the group. They definitely killed it. For those that are huge Hoax fans, a new EP should be out sometime soon on Youth Attack.
Crazy Spirit was last to play, and they made it worthwhile. They culled just about every song one would expect them to play and some surprise songs too ( A lot more songs from their demo, than their new EP that really surprised me). Once they played "Cool Death", I honestly said to myself "I can finally die with peace of mind". Just from the intro, the crowd fit in line with the groove, putting more force once the song got more quicker. They were instances where the mic went off and you couldn't really hear the words, but it made little difference to me and probably those present during their set. The band closed with "I'm dead", probably the one song played that night from their I'm dead EP released earlier this year. I would have loved for the band to play "This world is not my own", but even then, they still put on one hell of a show.
Like I said earlier, this show definitely ranks at the top. I'm not alone, but that's just the opinions of others. If still unimpressed, they're some videos of this show on YouTube. I'm posting videos of Culo and Crazy Spirit's sets, which are down below. I can't help but still laugh at the stage banter from that night. Till then, I'll probably put up another post of my top tens of this year. Cheers!
