LAMENTATION

I didn't attend a single show in months. Too busy taking care of the label, or re-organizing my LPs and EPs and watching animal documentaries. 2012 will be an autistic year for sure.

Still, i need to spread some infos about the new FLOWER OF CARNAGE releases, so here we go. First of all, the GASMASK TERROR Like Daggers 7" has been repressed on clear gold vinyl just on time for the band's French tour last March. This time, our good friend from SOLAR FUNERAL joined us for the 2nd press, which is über cool. If you live in the US, please contact him, if you live in Europe contact RATBONE RECORDS. Only 300 copies have been repressed, so act fast!

Talking about repress, the ネメシス : 慟哭 7" (NEMESIS : Dou Koku)  has been repressed too, on opaque blue vinyl, just on time for their mini Japan tour this May. If you live in the US, please contact SOLAR FUNERAL, if you live in Europe contact RATBONE RECORDS. Only 300 copies have been repressed so, again, act fast!
Here are the tour dates :

05/02 Hiroshima - w/ Origin Of M, Nightmare, Asphalt, Heaven's Gates, Rapes

05/12 Nagoya - w/ Acrostix, Reality Crisis, System Fucker, D-Clone

05/13 Tokyo (Burning Spirits) - w/ Forward, Warhead, Zone, Akutare, The Slowmotions

05/15 TBA

05/16 Yokohama - w/ Think Again, Rydeen, Anarchy Condoms

05/17 Shizuoka - w/ 902, The Scooterz, Dildos, Texas Holydays

05/19 Osaka - w/ Nightmare, Organism, マサカリ, Anti Spectacle

05/20 Fukuoka - w/ TBA 

In other news for FLOWER OF CARNAGE, the VEUVE SS Visceres 1 sided 12" has just been released. And the LAST CHAOS Kill Dick Control 7" is ready to be shipped and should be available in May. Just check all the informations below.

VEUVE SS : Visceres 1 sided 12"

VEUVE SS is a new hardcore punk band from Lyon, France, with member of 12XU, MOMS ON METH and ex-OVERMARS, ex-THE FLYING WORKERS. They play ugly and nasty hardcore in the vein of bands like SEX/VID, CULT RITUAL, NAZI DUST, but they are also paying tribute to 80's hardcore like DIE KREUZEN, NEGATIVE FX, SS DECONTROL and other weird shit. 6 songs of brutal and creepy hardcore punk with disgusted vocals, heavy and powerful recording, with minimalist artwork and silkscreen on B side. Only 350 copies have been made and it's a split release with my good friends from ECHO CANYON. Please contact them if you live in Europe.

LAST CHAOS : Kill Dick Control 7"

LAST CHAOS is a new raw punk hardcore band from Australia with members of TEARGAS. Raging and intense, they take influences from Finnish punk, like TERVEET KADET, VARAUS, etc... but also from some japanese punk sound, like early CROW. Total killer and powerful bass and drums, vocals are very memorable and has huge reverb effect, that brings modern influences to mind, such as DESTINO FINAL or KRIEGSHOG. Mastering has been done by Jack Control (WORLD BURNS TO DEATH), and here you are with 4 songs of raw punk attack from Australia!!
This is a split release with HARDCORE VICTIM (Yeap's label, ex-PISSCHRIST, KROMOSOM vocalist) and NUCLEAR BLOOD (Murdoch's label, LAST CHAOS bass player and awesome punk artist).

FLOWER OF CARNAGE website is dead, as well as the email address that went with it. No plans to come back on the internet. As i said, autistic year.
Oldschool rules, you suck!

TRAGIC END

First show of the year, and this is already one of my favourite! Totally killer! We were very excited as our friends from END OF POLLUTION did things very well. Distro space, after party with handmade curry and rice, and of course great bands all night!

I admit i didn't like so much GEEIGNORANT. Very noisy crust punk whatever. That was so sloppy that i didn't understand what they were doing.

TOLIVE from Kumamoto were good. It was good d-beat noisy crust as fuck punk that was very well executed.

But i think the local bands did a good job that night. I felt END OF POLLUTION were great. I was very impressed because for the first time i felt that they were really doing songs. I mean with some structures, not just noise. It worked well and i really enjoyed their show. But for me the good surprise was DISOBLIGE. I heard this band on several local compilations or split, but never had the opportunity to see them live, shame on me. That was just great! Probably not the most popular style these days, but i liked it. Super fast hardcore in the vein of LOS CRUDOS, E-150, and even some moments that reminded me MK ULTRA or CHARLES BRONSON...intense, fast and really catchy! They became one of my favourite new local band!

I seriously didn't know what to expect from PERSEVERE. I don't think i have ever really listened properly to their record before this show. But i was blown away by their live performance!! That was straight and in your face hardcore punk! Super tight and angry. I love the fact that you can feel tons of influences from the 80's Finnish punk to the UK 82 punk too, but they don't try to sound like them. They have their own sound, pure primitive punk. Songs are simple as fuck, full of energy, and the guys are just too nice to be true!

PERSEVERE VIDEO

When i saw LAST SENTENCE last year in May, that was a brutal ear punishment! This time of course, that was still ultra noisy but i could hear the songs well. I think this place is great and that the guys taking care of the sound are doing a great job too. However, the show was terrific! Super catchy and powerful raw noise attack that reminds of course GLOOM. People enjoyed a lot and it seems the band too. A better show than last time i saw them. Really curious to see them again and to hear new recording with their new line up.

LAST SENTENCE VIDEO

All in all that was a great night. That was cool to see Jessee again even if that was short. We could also got some good money for the Fukushima victims from the second hand record boxes. I know there weren't many killer records but people were curious and they helped a lot, buying some of them. We have to do that again! Thanks to everyone. That was one of the best show of 2012 for sure!

RESIST OR COMPLAIN? vol.4

The end of the year...probably the most depressing moment of the year. Always make me want to kill myself. I try not to think about it and focus on few good things. Few days away in the mountains with my beloved wife, some time with our niece and nefew, some records and some shows...

Talking about shows, there is one that will probably put me out of my misery. Well technically it will be next year but who cares? Our friends from END OF POLLUTION organise a nice show with LAST SENTENCE from Osaka and PERSEVERE from Hiroshima.

Here are all the informations in japanese only, sorry. For all of you, non japanese who live near Fukuoka, or are travelling at this time, please come say hi!

The show will happen January 8th, at Fukuoka Public Space Yojigen.

▲▲1月8日(日)▲▲

「RESIST OR COMPLAIN?vol.4」
@public space四次元
http://id5.fm-p.jp/340/psyojigen/
(福岡市中央区天神4-4-30新郷ビル2F/092-741-0552)

-BAND-
LAST SENTENCE(大阪)
PERSEVERE(広島)
TOLIVE(熊本)
GEEIGNORANT(長崎)
NERD
DISOBLIGE
END OF POLLUTION

-DJ-
NORI
JON

-DIY BRAND-
88DRANKERS

-DISTRO-
MISSING YOU IS KILLING ME DISTRO&
中古レコードfor東日本大震災ベネフィット


OPEN17:00/START17:30
ADV\1800/DAY\2000
(+1DRINK)
*十代無料!ドリンク代のみ!!(要身分証)

*チケット取扱店:四次元、70'sRECORD、STS STUDIO(ex.YABAN)

★AFTER PARTY★
箱にて「カレー屋しをり」 出店

It will be a nice opportunity to damage our ears and see some friends. I can't wait to see some good friends, meet Jesse again. But to be honest I am really excited about the after party with curry and rice. There i said it...

But it will also be the good time for us to bring the MISSING YOU IS KILLING ME distro boxes...well, we haven't been very active recently so i am not sure the distro will look tremendous. But we will also have a huge box of second hand records that we'll sell as a benefit for Fukushima's victims (the money will go directly to HUMAN RECOVERY PROJECT). I don't think you will find a lot of killers records, sorry, but i do think there are some decent records for cheap, and for a good cause!

By the way MISSING YOU IS KILLING ME got a first release! The SHYBOY/BEERWULF split 7" is out since september. SHYBOY are from Fukuoka and has member of PEAR OF THE WEST and also ex-BUTCH, ex-SCREAMING FAT RAT. They play excellent melodic punk rock, 70's UK punk style. Think THE CLASH, NEWTOWN NEUROTICS, STIFF LITTLE FINGERS, or more recently, in the vein of bands like RINGERS, SMALLTOWN, THE TONE, etc...

BEERWULF are rom Kyoto and has ex-I EXCUSE members. They also play melodic punk rock, but are more powerful and has female vocals. In the vein of bands like FIFTH HOUR HERO, THIS IS MY FIST... I even hear a little bit of HUSKER DU or LIFE...BUT HOW TO LIVE IT sometimes.

Each bands bring two songs, and this is a split release with FLOWER OF CARNAGE and IMOMUSHI RECORDS. Seriously this is a killer split 7", with great artwork, goos tunes. A true friends story, as most of the people involved in this record are friends for over a decade now.

Of course we'll have some copies at the show as well as the latest FLOWER OF CARNAGE releases (12XU LP, WARNING//WARNING LP...) and some good stuffs we distribute, mainly from our friends at PUREPAINSUGAR and SOLAR FUNERAL.

GARLIC FOR VICTORY!

Shameless promotion for the new FLOWER OF CARNAGE releases. Two LPs of two French bands. That is also an opportunity to give some details on some tours those two bands will do in a near future.

12XU : Les Grandes Marrees LP

If you don't know them yet, 12XU is a 3-piece band from Lyon, with ex-DAITRO, ex-THE FLYING WORKERS. Some of them also play in BATON ROUGE. They play great emo post punk with large influences. To me it goes from bands like HOT SNAKES, DRIVE LIKE JEHU to bands like WIPERS, HUSKER DU, etc...They also have a more typical melodic approach, that reminds me LEATHERFACE or JAWBREAKER or sometimes early Snuffy Smile bands too. On this record, they went a step further in my opinion. I really liked what they did before but now this is just awesome. The songwritting is impressive, the recording is great. I love how all the instruments sound, especially the bass. I didn't enjoy a bass sound and some bass lines so much since SHOTMAKER. No kidding! Add to that some bittersweet lyrics on several social issues, sang in french by all the bands, and you have 11 new tracks of emo post punk from France, with a lot of urgency and melodies.

This is a split release with PUREPAINSUGAR for Europe and BAKERY OUTLET for the USA.

The LP is out now and the band has them on the European tour they are doing with OLD GROWTH. Here are the tour dates :

22.10 - CZ, PRAGUE @ SOCIAL CENTER

23.10 - H, BUDAPEST @ SZABAD AZ A W/ MARIONETTE ID

24.10 - RO, TIMISOARA @ ATELIER DIY

25.10 - SRB, NOVI SAD @ PRACTICE PLACE

26.10 - HR, ZAGREB @ TVORNICA KULTURE W/ LOLITA, ANORAK, ESCARRES

27.10 - DE, MUNICH @ KAFE KULT

28.10 - F, METZ @ LA LUCARNE W/ TWIN PRICKS & DEATH TO PIGS

29.10 - F, LYON @ LE TROKSON W/ RAEIN

WARNING//WARNING : There's Nothing Left 12"

For those who missed it, WARNING//WARNING is from Bordeaux and share some members with GASMASK TERROR, CHAMBRE FROIDE. They play raw noisy punk in the vein of 80's Kyushu noisecore bands, like GAI, CONFUSE, etc...There is also a more modern approach to their sound, similar to ATROCIOUS MADNESS, LEBENDEN TOTEN. Really noisy guitars, lot of reverb on the vocals with highly political lyrics. On this record, the band is exploring some new directions. They have some mid-tempo songs with huge noise experimentations, a little bit like on their Nuclear Cult tape. 11 new songs of noise and distortion for a total ear devastation.

This is a split release with KICK ROCK for Europe and SOLAR FUNERAL for the USA.

The band should have this LP on time for their upcomimg US tour that will start in November. Their 7" My World has been repressed. The band should have some copies on red. Check the tourdates here :

11/11 Fri - Baltimore, MD w/Religious War, Lotus Fucker, Sacrifidelis, Face The Rail, Nukkehammer

11/12 Sat - Washington DC w/Nukkehammer, Face The Rail, Coke Bust, Major Damage, Big Mouth

11/13 Sun - Columbus, OH w/Silo, Dog Fight

11/14 Mon - Cincinnati, OH w/Silo

11/15 Tues - Pittsburgh, PA

11/16 Wed - Buffalo, NY

11/17 Thurs - Albany, NY

11/18 Fri - Boston, MA

11/19 Sat - Providence, RI

11/20 Sun - Philadelphia, PA

11/21 Mon - NYC, NY

On a side note, here are the next FLOWER OF CARNAGE records planned for 2012 :

VEUVE SS : Visceres 1 sided 12"

LAST CHAOS 7"

BLACK DOVE 7"

DO THE RIGHT THING

Last summer, my external hard disk crashed and i lost everything. When i say everything, i mean every fucking thing!! All my movies, my videos, my photos...so i thought i should clean all this mess i have on my desktop and try to archive it.

Then i found some videos i did during the GASMASK TERROR Japan tour. The sound quality is not amazing as it was a different camera, but those videos are worth it in my opinion.

First is the amazing CONTRAST ATTITUDE from Mie. We saw tons of amazing band during this tour, but seriously they blew everyone away! Massive and noisy sound, incredible presence on stage...they are so intense. One of the best band in japan for sure, and god knows there are a bunch of good bands here.

CONTRAST ATTITUDE VIDEO

Then here is one of my favourite band! I love Tokyo's UNARM for years now, so i was so excited to finally see them live and also be able to spend some time with them, as we saw them two times during the tour. Fuck that was incredible! Really noisy, in the GLOOM vein for me, more into the ELECTRO HIPPIES style according to my friend Luc. Well you can get the picture right? Nanae's voice is so powerful, all the members are so into what they're doing, it is great to see live.

And honestly, it is so rare to see japanese band with real political concerne and involvement. That is also why i love them so much! System Boycott!!

UNARM VIDEO

Finally here is the only GASMASK TERROR video i took during the tour. That was in Yokohama for the international hardcore festival. That day, Kobayashi (SYSTEMATIC DEATH, ex-BASTARD) told me that the singer of BASTARD, Tokurow, wanted to sing with the band when they do the Misery cover.

They took me by surprise, so i couldn't get the intro, but i don't care. That was an incredible moment. This is total non sense and chaos, but that was so good. There are no words to explain that kind of moments.

GASMASK TERROR VIDEO

Sooner or later, in my attempt to make my friend Chiyori's work known by more people, I will try to upload some photos she did when STATE POISON and GASMASK TERROR came. There are a lot of photos, so it will probably take a little while...

HARDCORE POLLUTION

KROMOSOM/ISTERISMO/END OF POLLUTION/惡AI意/ネメシス (NEMESIS) in Fukuoka, 2011/09/20

One day after our friends THIS TIME WE WILL NOT PROMISE AND FORGIVE left our house, there was another show in Fukuoka i was really excited about. Tons of reason why i was so excited. I was able to see some bands i didn't see for a long time, like 惡AI意 , END OF POLLUTION and some Fukuoka punks. Also KROMOSOM from Australia was touring Japan with ISTERISMO, that was really cool to see Yeap again. Further more i heard few days before the show that my friend Shin (FRAMTID/PUNK AND DESTROY) was drumming for KROMOSOM during this tour. There was also my good friend So from HARDCORE SURVIVES! How cool is that? And last but not least, even if it was not official, it was kind of a release party for the ネメシス (NEMESIS) 7".

I took the train after my job and arrived on time. Lot of hugs and talk with so many people i can't even remember everything. I was a little bit nervous about NEMESIS as they seemed a little bit stressed. But good Lord it was a punch in the face! Their show was amazing. Fast, tight, full of anger, and people were so into it! Seriously, when i saw Yeap, Shin, So and many other people, the fist in the air and a big smile on their faces just in front of the band, i knew everything was ok. I heard many good things about NEMESIS from a lot of people after their show. I was so happy that people finally notice this band!

ネメシス (NEMESIS)

惡AI意 did a hell of a show too! Well it is still very chaotic, but their temporary bass player is not so temporary anymore and that brings more cohesion. I know they are not as devastating as they were few years ago, but it is still damn powerful! It is great to see they still have this energy, this passion and this anger after so many years. They are surely one of the most important band is the Kyushu history.

惡AI意

I didn't know what to expect from KROMOSOM as they changed line up between the demo tape and the LP. Now Yeap is singing and i think i like it more this way. The show was fucking loud, noisy and chaotic, that was great! Well there were some major problems with the bass amp, so the bass player won't agree with me, but i really enjoyed the show and most of the people there too. Yeap is an incredible frontman we all knew that but all the members were great too, so full of passion. And come on, with one of the best drummer in Japan you can't go wrong. Shin is still incredible and so beautiful to watch when he plays. That brings so much! There was a huge effect on Yeap's voice, which made everything sound more noisy. Honestly, i am not sure i was able to recognize many songs, but it was so cool and intense! Fuck that was a great show!

KROMOSOM

I watched the beginning of END OF POLLUTION but i had some serious talk with Yeap and Shin and other people too, so i enjoy some fresh air. Unfortunatly i had to take the last highway bus to go back home and couldn't see ISTERISMO. But i had the chance to see them during the GASMASK TERROR tour so it is not a big regret. After listening their side of the split 7" with KROMOSOM i wish i could have seen a little bit more of the show. I think their songs on this record (and the tape with songs from the same session) are their best so far. You can hear the structures and vocals well, and still have this noisy chaos all around. Also that night, Ushiroda (SKIZOPHRENIA/MASSGRAVE) was playing drums for them and i wish i could have seen that too!

END OF POLLUTION

ISTERISMO

Well i didn't stay a long time for that show but i did enjoy it! I was especially happy to get a tour edition of the KROMOSOM LP. It looks beautiful, Shin did an amazing job on the silkscreen and yes, i do like this LP a lot! That was kind of a birthday present for me! That was a great night, short, intense, noisy, with many friends and good bands. What more could i ask?

All the live photos were done by our friend Chiyori. Seriously she's fucking talented and always does gorgeous photos. She's at almost every shows and does so much to document the local scene and, by extent, the international scene as well. I wanted to use her pictures to pay my respect. And also because i want more people to see her magnificent and breathtaking work!　

Chiyori, thank you! チヨリちゃん、ありがとう！

HARDCORE SS

The plan was simple. We had a 3 days week end, and our local heroes, NEMESIS, had a show in Kagoshima, in the south of Kyushu. I've never been there, i had free time, a driver's license and i was dying to see some bands from south Kyushu. I could get a place in the van,but the fact i just released their debut 7" made me feel like i am a manager checking on my band ! ha ha !!

So here i was, 7:30 am, taking the highway bus for Fukuoka, where i had meet the band. Of course half of the band was late and instead of leaving at 9:00 am, we left at 11:00 am. What did expect, seriously ?

The driving was cool, and although we made stops every hours, we still had plenty of time, so we decided to stop in the drummer's parents house. His parents didn't see him for a year or two so they were very happy. They prepared some food for us, cold tea and welcomed us like kings. It was a very good moment. Then we hit the road again for Kagoshima. When we arrived it was very cloudy but it didn't stop me to have a walk in town. I kind of liked it. Made me think of cities like Hiroshima, or Kouchi (maybe because of the tramway). Anyway it was great to have some time like that alone. I didn't realise at first how close we were from the Sakurajima, the most active volcano in Japan. I didn't feel scared or anything, but i was amazed to see dust/ashes everywhere (even some special bags to throw away those ashes). People don't seem to live in fear, but i can't judge in one day. I'd like to go back for sure, but the more i think about it, the more this shit looks scary as hell !

However, back to the venue. I didn't know what to expect for this show. Some people showed up, were very friendly, even some friends from Kitakyushu came by train. And bands were cool. Lots of different stuffs. The first band was black metal to the bone ! That was nice to watch a little bit, but only a little bit.

CRUDIA, from Miyazaki, played next. I heard a lot about this band from my friends and always wanted to see them, always missed them. People were telling me they sound like 80's swedish raw punk...so i was really curious. Well, the show was good, but i mean really good. But maybe i was expecting too much, so i felt a little bit disapointed. Of course the 80's swedish punk influences were there, from DISARM, to ANTI CIMEX and of course CRUDE SS (where do you think their name come from ?). But they also have this noisy, fuzzy guitar sound, super agressive, which is cool, but it's a little bit like if ISTERISMO were making DISARM covers. Cool idea isn't it ? Yeah, but i was really expecting for something simple as fuck. Just pure raw punk. Don't get me wrong, that was really cool, and i definetly want to see them again, and hear more of them, on tape or anything. It was just a tiny let down...

CRUDIA VIDEO

There was another band playing after, kind of screaming emo hardcore. Not bad but not really my cup of tea. After that NEMESIS played. What can i say ? Love this band. I feel they are more and more confortable and confident on stage. Their WARHEAD/KURO influences punk hardcore is totally devastating and i am so happy to see that more and more people are into this band. Nothing to add, they are just awesome. Jesus Christ they're only 22 years old ! At their age i was far from listening/making such good music...

NEMESIS VIDEO

Last band was X-CLUSIVE. Heard about this band too, but didn't know at all. I was surprised by their sound, as i heard some crust de salon influences. Nothing raw fucking distortion aaaarrggghhhh shit here. Just modern punk hardcore, in the vein of EKKAIA, NO PARADE, etc...very good, but i started to walk like a rat in a cage with all the smoke. So i spent some time outside, re-discovering how to breathe.

Now NEMESIS should definetly hit the road for few days and kick people in the teeth. I will be glad to drive of course.

It is a good time to say that their debut 7" is out now. If you're into traditional japanese hardcore, heavily influenced by WARHEAD, NIGHTMARE, KURO, and some 80's UK crust influences too (EXTREME NOISE TERROR, etc) then you should love this band ! 4 songs of pure anger and energy. For Asia/Oceania, please contact FLOWER OF CARNAGE. For Europe contact RATBONE RECORDS and for the US contact SOLAR FUNERAL.