With discordant yet melodic guitars pushed forward buy a driving and stinging rhythm section, Halifax's North of America shows us that Canadians rock as hard, if not harder than their Southern compatriots. Taking rhythmic and vocal cues from bands like Fugazi and mixing them with textures familiar to fans of …And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead, Brothers, Sisters brings the bands sound into 2003 with a loud crash and a new kind of melody. Fans of competent and fashion-free rock and roll will be sure to embrace North of America with open arms and hail the dawn of a fresh Canadian sound.

While many have imitated and a select few have taken the complicatedcore sub-genre of hardcore to new heights, none have matched Coalesce's ferocity, density or unorthodox nature. From the stunning medical text-inspired packaging to the slower, groove-oriented undercurrent winding its way throughout Coalesce's trademarked sonic onslaught, "Functioning On Impatience" is completely without remorse, but thoughtful and methodical in its delivery. Opener "You Can't Kill Us All" begins with one of the most damaging condemnations/proclamations ever committed to disc, before the music of Coalesce lurches forward. Functioning On Impatience is littered with punishing metallic riffs, coupled with crazed technical runs that throw the proceedings into utter chaos, and is anchored by an utterly distorted bass, peculiar guitar noise and more time changes, tempo shifts and stop-start parts than one can possibly keep up with. Serving as a perfect compliment to the music's irresistible malevolence, Sean Ingram's challenging lyrics are delivered with such bile and power that their vehemence may never be replicated. While Coalesce's internal strife and divergent personalities eventually silenced this lumbering behemoth, ultimately the music remains as everything else fades to black, and "Functioning On Impatience" cements Coalesce's place in hardcore like few albums before it or since.

"The Hidden Hand" is the second EP from YEAR FUTURE and includes 3 tracks: "Nature Unveiled" (a commentary on prescription-drug dependency and the relative economics, not to mention a blatant CURRENT 93 reference poking fun at the bands so-called "goth" tendencies); "Police Yourself" (navigating middle-America's preoccupation with itself and its status-quo ignorance of the rest of the world); and the title track, a scathing summary of postmodern reality in an age when capitalism and media are replacing humanity and intellect at an accelerating pace.

MIIGHTY FLASHLIGHT (aka Mike Fellows, ex-Rites of Spring) sees things most people only wish they could dream about. Now he unloads this pancreatic pleasure in the form of a 10-song debut, a broken denture capped with ivory. Armed with acoustic guitar and Powerbook, Mike has recorded songs that are hard to describe, but evoke images of him hovering 9 feet in the air holding a copy of Neil Young's "On The Beach" in one hand and Chris+Cosey's "Trance" in the other.

Featuring ex-members of Dropnose, Astream and The Autumn Year, The Mercy Suite continue more or less where Dropnose left off but with a more urgent and refined style. The sound is still fast and melodic as hell, with Iz's vocals giving the band a trademark sound. Another solid production from Mark Sturgess and some amazing artwork finish the release off nicely.

The final recording. 5 songs of straight forward hardcore out of Los Angeles, California. This is the final statement from this great band, where you will find tons of heart and passion with a positive message. No gimmicks, no frills, just hardcore.

Patrick Phelan's third full-length recording is called "Cost". More so than on previous Phelan records, "Cost" places an emphasis on the guttural. His voice and words take center stage. He is much less guarded on Cost than on previous records. There is no lack of desperation in these new songs, yet a hopeful tone is maintained throughout. Balance is the key. Emotion is the lock. And simplicity is the door. Like a finely-tuned architect, Phelan places all of his songs in their proper space, not letting them get crowded with unnecessary words or sounds. He also steers "Cost" from tipping too far in the "minimalist" direction, thanks in part to a bevy of guitar solos and to the abundance of true rock moments that occur throughout the record. The record was recorded in several stages, creating an interesting challenge for Phelan who often had to work with "one takes" as the foundation of his pieces. A celebrated cast of players provided support and, bringing their influences to the table, made things a lot easier for Phelan.

This posthumous release contains songs culled from every compilation and split release, cover songs, the original six-song demo, a live radio appearance, and assorted demo versions of Kid Dynamite classics. The Cd also includes a booklet with extensive liner notes written by the band and a bonus Dvd of never before seen live footage and photos, as well as flyers.

After their split 7" with Poiting Finger, Pollution have released on this cd their best stuff. Melodic mid to late 80's styled hardcore with a positive message. Reminds of Dag Nasty, Minor Threat, Verbal Assault and In My Eyes. All the Damage Control and The First Step fans can't go wrong with Pollution!

A fine example of underground D.C.’s ability to recycle and reinvent for the next wave as familar faces display their modern-rock wares on this rockin' disc. MOST SECRET METHOD are composed of Ryan and Marc Nelson (Jury Rig, Fineday), and Johanna (Lincoln), so get on this new tip.

Two years after the release of the critically aclaimed album ?Never Fall Into Silence? is Endstand back with the new album for Day After. These wise guys from Finland became lately one of the favorite bands in present European punk and hardcore scene and gained many devoted fans all over the world, which is the natural result of their constant touring, releasing schedule and the strong reputation as an awesome live band. ?Burning Bridges? is the album which comes out of the band`s present sound - it`s a fast, hard hitting hardcore with intense vocal. In fact, its much harder than their previous album ?Never Fall Into Silence?. First seconds of the new album proved he didn`t lie. Can you imagine bands like Hope Conspiracy or Unbroken covering the Endstand songs from the ?Never Fall Into Silence? album? You are getting close then. Indeed, the new songs sound familiar, you can hear the typical Endstand explosive riffs with intense vocals, brilliant guitars and catchy slower parts but the sound as a whole is rough. While ?Never Fall? was an album you could sing along after the first listen, you will need more time to discover all the ?hooks`picks? of the new one - but then it really works! ?Burning Bridges? is the record which will make the old fans happy and will draw the attention of new crowd of fans who like their music hard. For fans of Strike Anywhere, Kid Dynamite, Give Up The Ghost or Hope Conspiracy!

ONE COPY LEFT!!!

Quite possibly one of our top releases. From the ashes of Junction, Donora, and Blowout Kit came an incinerating mass of unforgiving ferocity that drew images of injury to cold to breathe.

Starmarket stay true to theirselves with sounding different on every record! On Abandon Time you can find 12 smashers of most original IndieRock! Along with amazing lyrics and such a cool artwork this is an amazing document of true Rock'n'Roll!

Return To The Island Of No Return shows the Pavers expanding their horizons quite a bit. The album contains both the fast paced punky anthems, as well as songs based on acoustic guitar. Moreover, the songs themselves show a much stronger sense of arrangement with the band intermixing hardcore and softer, moodier segments. Moreover, Scott Reynold's vocals cover a wider territory than ever before, from the edgy terror of the title track to singalong parts to scat segments. Most importantly, half the time Scott sounds like he's losing his mind and on the brink of going utterly bonkers. Fans of musical mental breakdowns should take note. The thing that sticks out about this CD the most is that these songs are instantly memorable but in a way that suggests they will still be very catchy six months or a year down the line. Bubblegum, this ain't-( john Chedsey,SSMT)

The third album, produced by Pelle Gunnerfeldt (Fireside, Hives, etc...) and mixed by John Agnello (Bob Dylan, Dinosaur Jr, Son Volt, etc..). For fans of Teenage Fanclub, Big Star and The Posies!

These are DEVOID OF FAITH’S farewell recordings, and they will go out with a big bang. Fast and uncompromising hardcore in the vein of early eighties NYC and Boston bands with intelligent lyrics. VOORHEES released great records over the last few years. Their style is uncompromising and similar to bands like SIEGE, SSD, DEEP WOUND, JERRY’S KIDS. And these VOORHEES songs are no exception. Once again they released a record full of anger and hate. Both bands have split up and members went on to form bands such as DAS OATH, THE HORROR, JOHN BROWN’S ARMY, DEATHSQUAD. White vinyl!!

Inventive Post-Hardcore with female vocals from New Brunswick, NJ. For fans of Cave In, Quicksand and Coheed And Cambria.

Japanese Post Rock band. Think of Mice Parade, National Skyline or Isotope 217.

From Gavle (Sweden) this bands plays indy rock. A mix between Leiah and Starmarket!

Melodic indie-rock from this German band Rainer where names like Maria, Pohgoh, Velocity Girl, Jejune, Elektrolochmann.. come to mind!

Dissension | Skate Death | 7Seconds | Unit Pride |

Kremrin Korps | Pig Children | Negative Approach | Second Wind | Premature Babys |

War Zone | Target Of Demand | Doomsday Massacre | Bad Brains | Cause For Alarm |

Deadline | Radical Left | Maimed For Life | Gorilla Biscuits | Unity | Minor Threat | Deadline from Washigton DC demo from 82, with Brendan Canty (Fugazi) Radical Left from Ohio "B.G sucks" demo. Maimed For Life from Salt Lake City, Fast Hc with a metal touch. Their 7" and demo.Gorilla Biscuits songs from a rehearsal in 1989. Unity demo from 1985. Minor Threat rehearsal at Dischord house in 1983.