Belgium’s indefinably brutal practitioners of punk-laced metal, Oathbreaker, recently embarked on a spat of US shows surrounding the band’s feature performance at Philadelphia’s 6th-annual This Is Hardcore Fest. We first caught up with Oathbreaker during their Sunday performance at TIH for an exclusive photo gallery by BTS Staff Photographer, Anne Spina.
Oathbreaker’s final US performance on their first ever US tour happened in a New Brunswick, NJ basement, known to the locals as Ray Cappo’s Cantina. This rare house show featured a solid cast of rising regional bands including 2-piece, d-beat distortion fiends, Bible Thumper, Philadelphia’s grindy, melodic d-beat shredders, Cop Problem, and NJ’s own insidious riff mongrels, Old Wounds. On this fine evening in New Brunswick, BTS Senior Staff Photographer, Dante Torrieri was on hand to deliver a killer set of photos of these intimate performances.
Cop Problem had the honors of kicking off the evening with a blistering set of venom-laced political anthems led by singer and front woman, Deb Cohen who delivers hair-raising screams on top of the band’s eclectic blend of fast d-beat, punk, hardcore, grind, and melodic frameworks. Cop Problem will be embarking on a an East Coast tour in October before playing Fest 11 in Gainesville, FL on Oct 26 with 300 other bands including Baroness, From Ashes Rise, Negative Approach, and many more.
Old Wounds followed up with a menacing set that also sees a wide range of influence creep into the mix. Irate vocals over a brooding concoction of blackened hardcore and ambient drone should not be unexpected here. Old Wounds are also preparing an East Coast Tour to kick off at the end of September, as the band makes their way to Southeast Hardcore Fest II in Columbia, SC.
Hometown decimators, Bible Thumper, have garnered quite a bit of underground buzz over the last year and not undeservedly. This duo, consisting of only bass and drums with dueling vocals, manage to produce a more frenzied sound than the vast majority of their higher occupancy peers. With a series of demos, splits, an LP, and another full-length on the way, these NJ newcomers are quickly rising the ranks as one of the most intense punk bands in NJ.
Last and certainly not least, Belgium’s Oathbreaker ripped into a set that just overflowed with emotion and precise sonic brutality. Singer Caro Tanghe‘s screams pierced over a meaty framework of dissonant metal riffs and hearty hardcore backbones that meandered across a wide array of precise executions. Oathbreaker cultivate one of the best sounds in modern hardcore with a live show to match. The band had copies of their renowned Deathwish Inc debut LP, Mælstrøm, for an enthusiastic gathering of supporters. If you missed our recent interviews with the band, be sure to catch up on them. Oathbreaker has just announced a UK tour with Rolo Tomassi and Goodtime Boys, get the dates here.
All photos by Blow The Scene Senior Staff Photographer, Dante Torrieri (Useless Rebel Imaging)
Bible Thumper
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