Impericon Never Say Die Tour: Northlane, Hundredth, Hand Of Mercy, Betraying The Martyrs, I Killed The Prom Queen, Carnifex and Emmure

Hey guys, in case you were wondering: I'm still alive, university is going good and I was at the Impericon Never Say Die tour last sunday! It was one of my best concert experiences so far, but let's start at the beginning. 

We arrived at the venue around 5pm, my interview with Northlane was scheduled for 5.30 so we walked around the venue for a while until somebody who looked like he belonged to one of the bands, sent us backstage to look for the guys. That's what we did and we ran into Nic from Northlane right away. He took us inside to look for Adrian and Alex who were up for the interview but we couldn't find Alex, so Nic jumped in:

Originally, the interview was longer but due to some technical issues, I had to cut out some parts. However, Northlane will hopefully be back in Germany next year, so we'll be able to catch up.

Thanks to Nic and Adrian for having us!

My interview with Hand Of Mercy was scheduled for 7.30pm, so we had almost 2 hours to kill and went inside again. HOM also opened the show and we didn't want to miss that, so we got a spot in the first row and waited until it started. 

The boys from Sydney kicked ass and were the perfect opening act. They had so much energy which they easily transferred to the crowd - they were exactly what you'd expect at a gig like that.

Northlane were up next and unfortunately we only managed to see half of their set because of the next interview. However, these guys exceeded my expectations. Adrian might not look like it, but he can sound very angry and combined with the rest of the band supporting him, Northlane showed why they belong in this genre.

As I said, we had to leave their set earlier for the interview with Hand Of Mercy. I had no idea how their tour manager looked like, so we decided to wait at their merch table until Dawson showed up and I asked him about the interview. A few minutes later Dawson, Josh, Saskia (who filmed) and I were on the way to the band's tourbus, what was the highlight of my career as a journalist so far. 

The quality is terrible because the only lighting we had were two little lights on the bus but the sound is alright so just concentrate on that. 

After interview #2, we went back to the venue because the interview with I Killed The Prom Queen was up next. Again we went to their merch table and when Jona wasn't surrounded by a gazillion of people anymore, I went to talk to him and that's the outcome of it: 

Huge shoutout to all the band members for being so easy-going and uncomplicated and thanks to all of them for having us!

Now that all the interviews were done, we went back inside to watch Betraying The Martyrs. It was my second time that I saw them and they tore the place apart just like I thought they would. It's a little sad that their drummer couldn't make it to this tour because he's stuck in Russia but nevertheless the band had the best show of the evening. Furthermore, Aaron reminds me so much of Mitch Lucker, I don't know why but I keep thinking about this. 

The last band we watched was I Killed The Prom Queen, of course. They absolutely convinced me with fantastic guitar solos and an amazing show. As Jona said, their album will be released next year, so keep an eye on that, it'll be worth it!

We couldn't stay for Carnifex and Emmure but nevertheless I had a terrific night! If you haven't already done it, I highly recommend you go and check out these bands, you won't regret it!

NEW RELEASE: A Day To Remember - Common Courtesy

It's here! The long awaited album of the five-piece hardcore/metalcore band from Florida was released almost a week ago and proved the whole music industry that A Day To Remember know how to make music and how to surprise people. First of all it's important to say that Common Courtesy is self-released because the band has some serious trouble with their (ex-) record label Victory Records (yes, this is a hint for all of you to go and buy this record in order to show your support).

Common Courtesy only hits a small part of my expectations and that's something I'm very happy about. I thought it would be just like What Separates Me From You but I couldn't have been wronger. In fact, it's fresh, it's energetic and it brings out all the great aspects of every band member, especially of Jeremy. It's really good to see (or hear) how there's a perfect mix of aggressive hardcore sounds (for example in Violence) and slower songs which even contain acoustic guitars (for example I'm Already Gone). It's also very good to hear how Jeremy performs the clean vocals, for example in I Surrender. It doesn't really sound like the A Day To Remember we all know but most changes are for good because they show how a band develops and improves and that's definitely something they did. 
My favourite song on the album is I Remember and I suggest every band to do a song like this one. Why? Because it's a great way for the band to share their craziest, best, most memorable experiences of their life in a band with us fans. We're all interested in these stories! There's this part at the end of the song where they talk about how they saw snow for the very first time and when I heard that I was a little confused until I realised that not everybody is used to snow like we Europeans are. It's just so great to hear these stories because band guys experience so much on their way around the world!

All in all, Common Courtesy turned out to be my favourite album of A Day To Remember ever and it's ranked very high on my list of albums released in 2013. All the hard work the band put into this record was definitely worth it.

New Discovery: Those Who Seek

Between all the preparation for university and writing for The Wellz Street Journal, I sometimes forget that I have a blog to run, too. In other news: Sorry for the lack of posts, it shall get better soon! 

Today I got some free music by a band from Manchester, UK called Those Who Seek. They released their debut EP Because Really, We're Just Animals on July 12th 2013 and will tour the UK this month (so, if you can go to see them, do it!)

Those Who Seek classify themselves as "progressive heavy pop punk" band what couldn't be more accurate. The record contains breakdowns and screaming (e.g. in Look To The Skies), acoustic guitars and clean vocals. It offers passion, emotions, stories and experiences we all have to make sooner or later, for example in Run From Me. It's a pity that there are only four songs on the record, I'd love to hear more! 

Now it's your turn: go listen to Because Really, We're Just Animals on bandcamp and give the band a like on facebook!

Thanks for the music, guys!

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