Order a free copy of Killing Years' EP online

If you're interested in getting a DIY, pressed by us, copy of our 5 song self titled EP (released this year), let me know or message Killing Years on MySpace and we will send you one after you pay for shipping.



As you guys can probably tell, I've been pretty busy with Killing Years stuff. Getting this EP pressed and dealing with finding someone to do vocals for us now, so I have been slacking a bit on posting music.

Want to do vocals for Killing Years?

My band Killing Years is now in search of a new vocalist. If anyone is interested, email me at joshxNATIONS@gmail.com. Check out the music on the MySpace page. We will most likely have whoever learn the 5 songs from our self released ep (which is online) and when we choose someone; that person will learn the vocals for the 3 songs on our new demo that do not have vocals recorded yet and will make their first appearance with us on the demo. Let me know.

Within

This band is from Texas. The singer, Sean, went on to sing for Embodyment. They weren't around all that long. They had this record, and a song from it on the Blessed Be This Killing comp on Deadself Records. What sticks out the most to me is that the artwork for the album was done by the same guy that did Zao's All Else Failed, Splinter Shards, Blood and Fire, and Further Seems Forever's How To Start A Fire.
- Ryan

Yeah...all of the artwork on all those records is amazing. I have always loved that painted artwork created solely for the artist's record, rather than just pictures of paintings, comics, movies, and all the Bible imagery that bands from that era used to use. Don't get me wrong, I love the DIY look of all that stuff just as much, but this artwork is so great. Same kind of stuff that was done for One King Down's Blood Lust Revenge record, Focal Point's Suffering of the Masses record, and Strongarm's Division, Atonement, and The Advent of a Miracle records.

Out of the Shadows of Desperation (1995 - Red Crown Record Empire)



Maybe my next post will feature all that sort of artwork from that era of hardcore...

A Steadfast Records compilation

This is an amazing comp! Released in 1997 by Steadfast Records, Matt Traxler compiled lots of unreleased material for this album. Songs from Training For Utopia, Chalice, Innermeans, Through and Through, Subsist , and Sleeping By The Riverside were all unused songs from recording sessions, or songs that would be rewritten for later records. If your a fan of any of those bands, it is exciting to hear songs from them that you had no idea ever existed. The album also has songs from bands that would go on to have much more output in the years to come. Spitifre, Brandtson, Feci Dal Signore, Pensive and xDisciplex submitted songs from demo's and 7"s that were already in press. These songs were at the time a great introduction for someone who had never heard them, and presently they are a reflection of their earlier recorded material after releasing several more, widely heard records. In my opinion, it is extremely rare to find a compilation album of this era and like half the songs or more, and I enjoy that I can hardly skip any of the tracks. It also contains pictures by Myk Porter and a design / layout by Caleb from Boot To Head Records. If you can find this album in a distro somewhere, or online, do not hesitate to add it to your collection!
- Ryan

Radiowaves and Gibberish: Steadfast Records compilation (1997 - Steadfast Records)
Part One
Part Two

more Subsist

This is Subsist's independently released The Rhythm Method record from 2000. Be sure to check out the previous post on Subsist for their Lessons in Brokenness record.

The Rhythm Method (2000)



I apologize for the tiny album artwork.

Some more NIV!

Here is No Innocent Victim's The Crazy Engler Brothers record. This was released on Victory Records in 1999. Thanks Ryan or the rip. Be sure to check out my other posts on No Innocent Victim.

The Crazy Engler Brothers (1999 - Victory Records)

Fable

Thanks to Ryan, I got a rip of Fable's Give Us the Night record. Check out the A Testament to Broken Walls compilation that I posted before in the Compilations section of the blog; Fable has a track on there titled "Hank's Return." This band was from Michigan and was around kind of a while for being so young, but they only put out a handful of songs.

It is fairly widely known that for the most part hardcore is a 'young mans game.' Michigan's Fable proved that axiom to be more true than most realize. Started in 1997, the members were an average age of 15. Some kids think it is kind of embarrassing for their parents to drop them off at a show, but these guys were having their parents drive them to PLAY shows instead. I remember a guy I once knew was booking a show and booked Fable. He saw their small website and knew they were young, but if they wanted to play, he wanted them to. In all honesty he was doing it in the same attitude as letting your little brother do something with you and your friends. The show came, and Fable played, and I will never forget the shamed look he had after realizing that Fable was SO MUCH better than over half the bands he usually books! This was more than common for a band that would record only a handful of songs and then leave everyone wanting more.
In 1998 they recorded their Give Us The Night 7" (1-4) for Takehold Records and a song for the Testament To Broken Walls Compilation that would sit on the shelf for over 3 years. There was also a song taken from the 7", remixed a little and put on the Fools Rush In... Compilation on Takehold Records. The lineup for these songs was: Derek James, David Vandervelde, Andrew Peerbolt and Jonathan Kleyn. With the lineup thinned to a 3 piece, minus Andrew Peerbolt, the remeaing members recorded their last material for a split 7" with Mara'Akate on Happy Couples Never Last Records.
- Ryan

Shit, I was in many hardcore bands throughout my pre-teen/teenage years and definitely remember doing stuff like that.

Give Us the Night (1999 - Takehold Records)



Thanks again Ryan for the rip.

Bloodshed's record released as a limited edition

Thanks to Ryan, we now have a rip of Bloodshed's Soft Spoken Words of Fallbrook vinyl. My best friend Steve (plays bass in Killing Years with me) bought this vinyl when we were like 12 years old, but doesn't have the means of getting a rip of it. This is a big deal to me because we have always loved this record, but I have never had a digital copy of it. Pretty stoked. This record was released in '96 by Tooth & Nail Records as a limited edition vinyl. A great followup to their perfect Self Titled record.

Soft Spoken Words of Fallbrook (1996 - Tooth & Nail Records)

more Ceasefire!

Thanks to Ryan, we've actually got a rip of Ceasefire's Statement record. So, so, so crucial.

Statement (1999 - Boot to Head Records)



Look out for a lot more rare and hard to find Christian hardcore records, thanks to Ryan who is going to become quite the contributor to this blog.

Officer Down split with Puritan

Puritan & Officer Down split (1997)

Officer Down

A pretty decent late 90's hardcore band from Canada. I only have their split with Puritan and their Subversive Paradigm full length record, still looking for earlier demos and a self titled. Let me know if you've got any of these.

Subversive Paradigm (1998 - Goodfellow Records)
Part One
Part Two

Nations

Here is the link for the Nations EP, a band that majority of the dudes that are in my band now were in before Killing Years. Stuff was melodic, more influenced by Shai Hulud in the early 2000's. We got a very good response to this record, as well as caught many labels' eyes and were a list-of-show-dates away from getting an offer from Jamey at Stillborn Records, but of course member changes, my discontent with the music, and inability to get on mass shows led to the end of that project. Actually, on Killing Years' new three-song demo coming out in a few weeks, we transformed a Nations song, "Unconditional Love" (track 4), into two separate songs that will be featured as two of the three songs. I originally posted this link on MySpace because of the frequency of requests for a copy of this EP, but of course, because of internet assholes who like to phish, fill the world with spam, spyware, and viruses, MySpace has to make it difficult to link from their site to another. So, here's the Nations EP.

Weight loss is key to wearing old band shirts!

Definitely excited that after dropping 15lbs and two waist sizes, I can now wear my Embodyment (Embrace the Eternal era) tshirt, my Strongarm Furnace Fest 2000 shirt, as well as (even though they're the exact opposite of Christian) my Morning Again tshirt! Super stoked. Here's the old ass Embodyment shirt:



Remember this shirt? I've been wearing it like crazy lately.

Fed by Ravens

Fed by Ravens was from Minnesota. I heard these dudes on that Blessed Be This Killing comp (1, 2) wayyyy back, and never got to hear them again. After some hard work, and a contribution from Nathan with a rip of Fed by Ravens' 1998 self titled 7", I can now not only listen to them, but share them with everyone. I will say this now, these dudes' music definitely evolved over the years. Their shit on their self titled, which was recorded at the same time as their song featured on the Blessed Be This Killing (1, 2) comp, is WAY BETTER than the stuff on the other two records from 1999 and 2000. Eventually, as you can pretty much hear from the sound on their Second Guessing Second Chances record, they went on to become the band, Tora Tora Torrence. But, ignoring that, their early shit rules.

Self Titled 7" (1998)



This Service of Love (1999 - Deadself Recordings)



Second Guessing Second Chances (2000 - The Raven Republic)

Subsist

Also, check out the Testament to Broken Walls comp on which Subsist's song, "Glasseye", is featured. That comp was also put out by Akeldama Records.

Lessons in Brokenness (1998 - Akeldama Records)

Two more Stretch Arm Strong splits!

Here are two more splits featuring Stretch Arm Strong, thanks to Nathan for the rips! Pretty excited to be able to share these splits. Not a fan of Bedlam Hour, but always been a fan of Stretch Arm Strong, therefore, this split of course is necessary to at least have listened to. Apparently, it is before vocalist, Chris, joined Stretch Arm Strong, therefore the bassist, Matt, is doing the vocals on this. Pretty cool to listen to, pretty old as well. This was released under now defunct Koogle Records. This other split is a 7" featured in an issue of the old I Stand Alone zine. I'm pretty much obsessing over this particular vinyl because not only is it Stretch Arm Strong and xDisciplex, but it is the split where Stretch Arm Strong covered a Counting Crows song, leading to a lawsuit. Also what is pretty rad about this particular split, is Mike from Brother's Keeper does guest vocals on both xDisciplex songs. Pretty awesome. Being so awesome, Nathan scanned all the pages for this zine's split release. Thanks again dude.

Stretch Arm Strong & Bedlam Hour split (1993 - Koogle Records)



I Stand Alone: Stretch Arm Strong & xDisciplex split (2000 - I Stand Alone zine)



(For those who never saw this zine, here's some scans below that Nathan included with the rip/artwork)

Request for Ten 33

I typically wouldn't post something like this on this blog, but as requested by Caleb, here are Ten 33's two records that were both released on Blood & Ink Records. Good dudes. Met them when an old band of mine played with them and Seventh Star up north of Cincinnati. Fun show. Get 'em!

Emergency, Emergency! (2003 - Blood & Ink Records)
Part One
Part Two



Nightmare on Grace Street (2005 - Blood & Ink Records)
Part One
Part Two