Mind Equals Blown

MEB staffer Ridge Briel recently caught up with Josh Sparks and Matt Schmitz, drummer and vocalist of punk/blues act Former Thieves. They discuss tour stories, vegan cooking, road fuel and much more! MEB: For starters, what bands were you guys a part of prior to Former Thieves? How long has the band been around? Josh

After being all but gone from the hardcore/punk scene for the last seven years, Biohazard finally released their highly anticipated new album entitled Reborn In Defiance. I am a little disappointed that they haven’t completely ditched the nu-metal style, but they definitely bring back the old school hardcore and punk crossover music that was relevant

Having formed less than a year ago, Secrets has already got the production quality and grasp of the genre under its belt. Their first full-length The Ascent is chock full of typically energetic harmonized choruses, breakdowns, and hardcore fury. The thing is about this record is that it isn’t totally on par with other scene-core

There is literally nothing to dislike about Birds In Row. For a relatively unknown aggressive hardcore band from Laval, France, they have an amazing amount of power to give to listeners that is also incredibly professional-sounding. Collected is, well, collected. It’s a combination of the band’s previous releases – the Cottbus EP and Rise of

Lately we’ve seen a lot of bands trying to break into the United States’ sanctum of hardcore/metal, and few have the chops to garner the respect that is necessary to survive in such a crowded genre. Now, Voyager is a group of five guys from the depths of Brussels, Belgium, and they’re a force to

Voices, a relatively new outfit from Birmingham, Alabama, are taking charge of their local scene with their spin on melodic hardcore. These guys are bustling to get their shot, and this EP entitled Anchors is their battle cry to enter that world. The EP is relatively short, only spanning about ten minutes with three songs.

Brand New’s The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me stands as one of the best albums of the last decade, receiving praise from long-term fans and turning heads from those unaware. However, many were disappointed by its follow-up Daisy, for reasons I’ll never quite understand.  In the time since Daisy’s release, a handful of

25 years. When we think of an event being 25 years, it’s usually a huge life event like a wedding or a birthday. It’s a quarter of a century, you know? But with Sick Of It All’s Nonstop, it’s kind of like a reunion with their oldest material, some of which dates back to 1987.