Devil's Horns Zine

PHANTASM-CONFLICT REALITY 7" (HARDCORE VICTIM) Phantasm's debut EP is one of my fave releases of the year, from Melbourne's glorious Hardcore Victim label, in fact featuring one of the CEOs (Crust Enforcement Officers, lol) Bernie who screams with vitriol and this is the best Australian punk/hardcore 7" EP in years. The four tracks slice your head off as expected in a cunning way. Musically it is a distorted mix of Japanese and Swedish old-school crust mixed with really acerbic vocals that definitely give equal head nods to greats like Vice Squad, Witch Hunt, Appalachian Terror Unit and also local legends Outright and more recent bands like Krimewatch. The production is dynamic and instantly forceful in the best way. The S/T track is the opener and the maddened tempo is perfectly balanced by some almost slower breakdown brilliance. The players are sharp as hell and the songwriting is spot on. Hence every track is an absolute anthem, Bernie's vocals often push agai...

  Interview with Ricky from Suffocation. Killer chat about the new album and all things Suffocation. Suffocation is one of those classic bands that set the tone and the standard for quality death metal. Finally Ricky despite touring with the band for ages, gets to be on record(literally ) for the recent classic album Hymns from the Apocrypha that dropped recently. It's absolute quality and testament to both the band's strong back catalogue and moving forward as a current band. We chatted about: -the abrasive level of the new album -the new elements on it -how he is pleased to be on an album after touring with the band for ages -how he joined the band, stepping into the role -the importance of the band -his skillset, vocal training and transition from drummer to singer -the massive skills evident in this band and the depth of the songwriting -the highlights and fave tracks from the new album -the opening video for this release -the creative process behind this album and some ban...

  Interview with Wattie from punk hardcore legends The Exploited. The influence this band had on bands is massive and personally, it was life-changing; it all started when a mate dubbed me their debut album, Punk's Not Dead and there was my transition from basic punk to the more extreme side of punk/hardcore. This would lead me into not only anarcho-punk bands but also crust and NY Hardcore. A genre-defining band who never rested on their foundations and you'll fucking love this ripper of an interview Wattie is funny as hell, inspiring and an all round top bloke. We chatted about: -the excitement to come back to our shores after various delays over the last few years -the hatred for politicians never eases off -how the lies and corruption of the government is an endless source of lyrics -a new album in the pipeworks -how the band were hated in the past for being extreme   -how the fans keep the band going and for the right reasons -the working-class authenticity of the ba...

An outstanding Interview with Paul from Vicious Circle By Mark Jenkins on the eve of their album launch for Split This Open.  Vicious Circle are one of the most legendary Australian hardcore bands to exist and a band that for many (along with Depression and Arm the Insane) was the gateway to punk/hardcore. For this writer, their 1985 outstanding album The Price of Progress changed my life as much as hearing international street-punk, anarcho-punk and New York hardcore bands. Multiple albums and tours have passed, but this band is still as important and as necessary as ever, the energy level of the music and its message remain strong. And the last few albums, particularly the latest album Split This Open is some of their best material ever. This is also an ingenious band that is sensational live and is future-focused, not a pastiche of past glories. So on the eve of the album launch, I had a comprehensive chat with their singer, Paul and it was lively, informative, insightful and g...

  Realize-Two Human Minutes album as reviewed by Mark Jenkins. FFO: Energetic, grim industrial metal. Realize is a sick band that truly delivers Industrial Metal how it should be, free of bullshit and an unrelenting wall of crushing vox/bass and abrasive riffs. Two Human Minutes is their third release and it is staggeringly incredible. You certainly will adore this if you worship Godflesh, Fudge Tunnel etc. This is a terrific genre and the superlatives cannot run hard enough for this release. Realize's first demo/first Mini-album was intensely sick, and Machine Violence was wild but this sets everything on fire with napalm. Moody, dynamic and a gritty, yet antagonistic production aesthetic few get right. This crushing release is brooding, energetic and grim. And fuck me they get everything so right. And as a fellow industrial musician, I am well aware that is not easy to do. The 14 tracks don't overstay their welcome and everything fits well in a gnarly horroric soundtrack mann...

  VICIOUS INSTINCT-Demo review by Mark J. FFO: Violent, metallic hardcore beatdown, no mess, no fuss. Fuck yes, about fucking time that an Aussie band did beatdown hardcore proper, by that I mean the younger bands are energetic and full of beans; but it in Australia falls flat and generally sounds lame. And these bands come and go so quick, just a lovely trend for the fake arse lads to jump on. Xile from across the water in NZ get the vibe and has always done things perfectly. Now we have experienced heads joining the mighty 1054 Record family and this is seriously the best demo I have heard in years. At its very core is a metallic hardcore vibe stemming from Merauder, No Zodiac, Irate, God's Hate etc vibes, but very much in the Laid 2 Rest style pocket, also Moment of Truth, Bulldoze and Cold Hard Truth. So we are talking abrasive, acid-in-your-face vocals and riffs, aggressive song structure and all about hardcore brutal, face-kicking shit. This is so epic and hard AF.   (PI...

TVISB & Robbie Coburn-Womb EP review. FFO: intense Atmospheric Drone that goes deep. This writer first came across TVISB as an artist who offered to do a remix for my band, KNIFE. His work was amazing, and absolutely what a creative should do with a remix, redesign and twist it into the weird places we never envisioned. This new release is a collaboration and here is the dramatically accurate outline: Womb is a collaborative work of music and words by TVISB and Robbie Coburn. Robbie’s text, a poem in dramatic form, challenges the idea of self-identity and masculinity, while also exploring trauma, sex, violence, death and isolation. Dark, claustrophobic ambience surrounds the listener completely and provides an appropriate soundscape to the bleak and at times disturbing text. This is beautifully spot on and whilst drone is often hard work for the new listener, its beauty lies in the persistence and is far removed from the quick fix world we live in, and consume and listen/watch etc....

  Svalbard-The Weight of the Mask album review and interview By Mark J. FFO: Brilliant emotive, crushing and intense blackgaze/post-hardcore. Svalbard is a supreme force of a band and this fourth album and first on Nuclear Blast Records is a dark, atmospheric, haunting and cohesive extreme music masterpiece. Since 2011, this band from Bristol hasn't taken a step wrong and is a robust mix of the grim and the light; a mix of post-hardcore/metal, neo-crust and black metal. The dual vocals are very much in your face, sharp-as-hell songwriting combined with intelligent and super reflective lyrics that touch on personal and sociopolitical topics.  The mature band is obviously a super tight unit based on the never-ending vigorous riff assaults, a seismic rhythm section and a definitive sense of emotive balance across this album. The contrasts contained across the nine tracks are sublime and The Weight of the Mask succeeds where so many bands fail. Often bands that dip in or mix genre...