Hardcore Humpday 3 (Guest Special) : Counterparts, Architects and Dead & Divine

     Today we have something a little different, a friend of mine hit a crazy show in Hamilton and had the urge to write about it, and well its as easy as that to get your words posted here. So read on for his review of the concert, the bands and over amazingness!

     Normally I'm not a big ‘blogger’ but sometimes I experience serious craziness and I just feel the need to ramble on about it. Last night I loaded me, my girlfriend and a buddy in the car and made the trek to Hamilton for what turned out to be one of the craziest, sweatiest, most amazing shows of my life.

     The first band, Fall City Fall was actually featured in last weeks ‘Hardcore Humpday’, so I’m not going to get into too much detail other than saying they have one crazy live set, and being front row I got to take It all in first hand. From the singer doing some crazy seizure dance on the floor to the bassist stage diving to the drummer exploding his kick drum, of which I caught a piece. All I can say was their set was amazing. If they ever play anywhere near you run there and get the hell up front.

     Second up were Hamilton’s hometown heroes Counterparts, a 5 piece hardcore band formed way back in 2007. These young guns have been taking the local scene by storm and everyone in that room last night knew them. Their first release in February 2010, Prophets, is a heavy salute to the origins of hardcore, and then when most bands would sit on the album for a year, half a year later they hit the studio again to make a split EP with another Ontario hardcore band, Exalt. The kids were throwing fists and circle pitting hard and I was regretting not leaving the stage front when I had the chance, and I’m not a small guy. There were people standing on my shoulders and pulling my hair. I couldn’t stand my ground for more than 3 songs so sadly, I bailed and took in the rest of their set from the side. On top of all this they recently signed to Victory Records, props to a local band making it. They are intense, and I have a feeling were all going to be seeing more of these young guns.
Counterparts do not have a music video yet, but here is a decent quality live song, it’s their song Sturdy Wings, get crazy!

Counterparts - Prophets(Album)

     Third was someone I’ve seen before back with the late The Holly Springs Disaster, Architects who completely destroyed. They are a 5 piece hardcore band all the way from the rainy UK, signed to Century Media Records worldwide, and Distort Entertainment here in Canada. Formed in 2004, architects have released 4 albums to date and one split ep, Nightmares (2006), Ruin (2007), Architects/ Dead Swans split EP (2008), Hollow Crown (2009) and finally, The Here And Now (2011). They fuse heavy breakdowns and punk elements together with a front man with an amazing vocal range and make you move, no matter what. For their set I was standing on the edge of the pit witnessing how serious Hamilton’s scene is, those kids went crazy, I haven’t seen that much devotion to a band in a long time. Everyone in that room knew every word and everyone was moving.

Architects-Hollow Crown(Album)

     This video is off their Hollow Crown album, it’s called Follow The Water, try not to sing along at the end, I dare you.

     And finally, up came Dead And Divine, the headliners, and one of my absolute favorite bands in the entire world. I’ve seen them a countless number of times and I am blown away every single time. D&D are a 5 piece hardcore band out of Burlington, Ontario, who have made a huge name for them selves since forming in way back in 2003. Their first EP, Her Name Was Tragedy, back in 2004 wasn’t taken on very well and it wasn’t until they released their first full length in 2005, What Really Happened At Lovers Lane. People quickly realized these boys are a force to be reckoned with and they since have released 2 albums (The Fanciful, 2008 and The Machines We Are, 2009) that push the envelope of the hardcore genre, and seriously get under your skin. D&D have a new album coming out in August called Antimacy and from the songs I heard last night, it wont disappoint. Their set was heavy, addictive, and had the whole room shaking. Even when the mic shitted out and it was just the band playing without vocals everyone in the room was singing and giving their all. I was still holding my spot at the corner of the pit taking in the craziness that is the Hamilton hardcore scene. There were more fists flying than a Jackie Chan flick, it was serious business. Dead and divine destroyed the tiny venue and got an encore, because we could never get enough.

D & D-The Machines We Are(Album)

     This video is off my favorite album of theirs, The Fanciful, it’s called Like Wolves

     Last night was one of the best nights of my life; I will not soon forget it. I met up with old friends and met some new faces and it was all in all amazing. Please check out these bands, you will not be disappointed, keeps this scene thriving.

     Well thats it for another brain bashing Hardcore Humpday, mad props to my buddy Ian for getting that crazy feeling and writing this all out and doing every last bit of searching. Ian has also provided the bands and links for the last edition and hopefully will do so again. Keep hitting the shows and layin it down.