All posts by Daybreaker

Hardcore Drum & Bass DJ/Producer from Salt Lake City, Utah. Contributor to the Hard Data Magazine. Raw Hardstyle genius.
Daybreaker, Digitracks, Reviews

Acid Enema – Misanthropic Visions – Album Review

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The Las Vegas based blackened speed metal duo is back at it after ten long years, this time in a stunning and massive 16 track digipack via Sawblade Records (limited cassette version as well)! This release features incredible sound design incorporating guitars and vocals along with drum machines and sequencers to blend hardcore techno elements with black/speed metal as well as featuring some noise pumping remixes from artists all across the world!

Acid Enema's Misanthropic Visions CD and Cassette releases!
Acid Enema’s Misanthropic Visions CD and Cassette releases (SOLD OUT). You can also buy the digital release on hardtunes.com

Most notable tracks on the release are the title track ‘Misanthropic Visions’, Hymn of the Godless (Novokain Remix) and Eviscerating God (Tragedies from Hell Remix). Each one of these tracks shows the listener in its clearest form the powerful blend of hardcore techno and black metal. Although this sound is not for everyone, the work done by members Abhorrent (vocals and programming) and Noth (guitars and bass) show the ingenuity and passion that these two have for music as a whole.

You can catch Acid Enema in Seattle, WA at the Highline Bar on June 9th, and at the American Gabberfest Jun 18th-19th at the Hard Hat Lounge in Las Vegas, NV!

Noth and Abhorrent, members of Las Vegas based speedcore/black metal act Acid Enema!
Abhorrent (vocals and programming) and Noth (guitars and bass) from the barren wastelands of Nevada!

Acid Enema on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aesangre/

Official Website: http://www.acidenema.com/

Articles, Daybreaker, Events, Reviews

Frontliner SELLS OUT Apocalypto in Las Vegas!

As if we needed any more evidence that hard dance music is taking over in 2016; Frontliner was set to headline Apocalypto this last Saturday at Vinyl in the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino and the event SOLD OUT! “I couldn’t be happier to see hard dance thriving in Las Vegas!” says Matthew Levin, who gave all of his ambition in making sure of this outcome. What was most exciting was showing up about an hour before the show, absorbed by the empty room, witnessing the amount of prep that it takes up to the very last minute to make sure an event like this goes off without a hitch, then suddenly: show time! And watching that once empty room fill to the brim in a matter of minutes like a pilsner beer glass.

Kung Pow at Apocalypto, Hard Rock Cafe, Las Vegas, NV. Photo courtesy of Set the Tone Photography.
Kung Pow at Apocalypto, Hard Rock Cafe, Las Vegas, NV. Photos courtesy of Tone Martinez. Set the Tone Photography.

The night started off with local Vegas vets Joji (who spins a hard dance monthly at the Phoenix Bar to 100+[people]), Jack Spaidz – who is to psytrance what System Malfunction is to hardcore [in Vegas], and Kung Pow – my second favorite act of the night – a multi-genre DJ who can make anything sound incredible, together or separate. Arriving early is very important, because believe it or not, you’re missing out on a lot of pure talent, and since I’ve been witness to this it makes me feel that Vegas DJs are vastly overlooked.

Frontliner took the stage to a thunderous roar and conducted an interactive set filled with popular antics to interact with the crowd. It was a fun, uplifting set, and if you know this artist well, even his euphoric tracks have a certain roughness to them. As he moves from ‘Shivers’, to the Defqon.1 anthem ‘No Guts, No Glory’, Frontliner never dampens the energy he creates. But there is still one question that remains… who were those guys in the masks?

The debut of RVLTN Black at Apocalypto, Hard Rock Cafe, Las Vegas, NV. Photo courtesy of Set the Tone Photography.
The debut of RVLTN Black at Apocalypto, Hard Rock Cafe, Las Vegas, NV. Photos courtesy of Tone Martinez. Set the Tone Photography

This night, we also witnessed the debut of a new Las Vegas tag team: RVLTN Black! Two insane, rowdy rough boys who unleashed rawstyle/uptempo hardcore to the crowd in a quickfire blitzkrieg. They even dropped American terrorcore producer Tim Shopp’s track “Terror Squad”, at which point the taller member of the duo grabbed the mic from the MC and yelled “when this track drops, someone fucking bleeds!” Of course, it was inevitable that a mosh pit was to ensue, and with an ear to ear grin, I couldn’t help but take part. What a show!

A huge thank you goes out to Matthew Levin and the entire Ravealation crew for making this event possible and for making the trip from Utah well worth it. Las Vegas has a seriously dedicated crowd to the harder styles so make sure that they stay well fed and nurtured.

Family photo with Mc Sik Wit It. Photo courtesy of Set the Tone Photography.
Family photo with Mc Sik Wit It. Photos courtesy of Tone Martinez. Set the Tone Photography.
Articles, Daybreaker, Events

Black Amalgam: An Excursion in Gabber, Speedcore, Death and Black Metal

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Last night, American hardcore/speedcore DJs and black/death metal bands joined forces in Las Vegas, NV to reinforce the powers of the underground in an outstanding way.  Since we were in the city of sin, bands Demesic and Dead Reckoning were certain to make an appearance and our headliner Acid Enema performed as their live duo (Noth on guitars, Abhorrent on the mic and programming), which is what I’ve been waiting for since Gabberfest 2015!

Demesic live at The Bradley. black Amalgam show. Las Vegas, NV.
Demesic live at The Bradley. black Amalgam show. Las Vegas, NV.

The night was held together by Los Angeles’s Speedcore Militia members Slyten and Arcid as well as Las Vegas’s own DJLD and HellNegative! The live acts were a lot of fun and refreshing to the standard line up/transitions that we are used to seeing at raves and also shows the support and cooperation we have across the spectrum of American music groups and collectives. “I want to keep pushing boundaries.” says Acid Enema’s front-man Abhorrent. “I want to continue expanding interest into more metal influenced hardcore and speedcore, also as a way to open new ears and generate interest in the hardcore sound; combining musical tastes may do just that!” HellNegative feels the same way about the combination, saying, “By booking hardcore alongside other genres, we have a chance to introduce our music to a completely different demographic. And thanks to last night’s show, we’ve converted a few metal heads into speedcore and breakcore fans.”

Slyten at the Black Amalgam show. Las Vegas, NV.
Slyten at the Black Amalgam show. Las Vegas, NV.

There seems to be a theme going on here, as Noth also mentions that unity is a key aspect for the growth and continuation the American hardcore scene. “There is a lot of dissonance between genres and shows like these bring fans of both styles together and could maybe even cultivate a love for something new.”

There’s still plenty of evidence that the American hardcore scene is alive and thriving, even in these dive-y little bars like the Bradley which dedicated members will flock to so that we can catch up on the latest happenings and events that are coming up in the near future. You are bound to meet the right people and to make the right connections in this underworld and for Las Vegas, there isn’t a better way to get your fix than its plethora of diversity in a city where you may never run into the same person twice.

Announcements, Articles, Daybreaker

Apocalypto featuring Frontliner: Pre-Game Analysis

It may seem like a one-off to many, but this weekend Las Vegas sees one of its biggest influxes in tourism that doesn’t take place within the “summer months” or the holidays; I didn’t know this until I began driving down into the dust bowl monolith itself and witnessed all of the trailers and vintage vehicles making the same trek as I; there is always plenty going on in this city as you know, but rarely do we get to say that we are going to Vegas for hard dance music. This Saturday, ‘Ravealation’ has given us the pleasure of enjoying Hardstyle much closer to home with another ‘Apocalypto’ event featuring the “melody man” himself FRONTLINER! Since I’ve driven 6 hours into town for this event, one of the front men (and mastermind behind ‘Apocalypto’ in this writer’s opinion) Matthew Levin has agreed to sit down with me and discuss how events like this are becoming ever more possible in the city that already has it all.

What is the Apocalypto concept and how is it becoming a pivotal point for hard dance music in Las Vegas?

It’s a concept that allows us to throw hard dance events for experienced and new fans alike. We plan on treating Apocalypto as its own brand… it exists as its own entity.  Apocalypto will act with the best interests of hard dance music fans in mind, and we plan on delivering incredible experiences to these great people. Our goal is to strengthen the current hard dance foundations while expanding our music to new demographics.

 What can people expect from Apocalypto this Saturday?

First and foremost: amazing sound. My number one concern is always having powerful sound. There are fewer things in life more disappointing than a Hard Dance party with weak sound. The venue itself has fantastic sound, but we have still elected to reinforce it with our own punch. On top of that, there will be plenty of lasers and other visual productions. As for the talent, I am 100% confident in all of their performance capabilities. I think every attendee is going to have an absolute blast.

 What do you think is Las Vegas biggest reason for the lack of support for hard dance music?

I think population density and overall population is the issue. If you look at shows in LA, they can pull attendees from all of their suburbs, even as far as the city of San Diego, which is a two hour drive away. A lot of people believe that Vegas is a large city, when in fact it’s not larger than a small town. Another aspect that makes throwing non-mainstream parties difficult is that Vegas focuses significantly on supporting the casino club industry, which is prevalent here. Overall, I would say we are seeing a steady increase in Hard Dance support in Las Vegas, which is always a good sign.

What more do you think can be done to strengthen the hard dance scene in your city? As a whole?

I believe that sharing the music with a variety of demographics will be the fastest way to grow the scene in Las Vegas. Electronic music as a whole has a huge following in this city, yet the majority of these people have never even heard of hard dance, hardstyle, or hardcore. To spread hard dance as a whole, I believe that a similar approach must be taken, in that we need to penetrate other electronic dance communities and share our music with them. On top of that, and I’ll receive flak for saying this, but I feel that most American Hard Dance DJ’s do not present the music well to neither the experienced fans nor especially the inexperienced/new fans. I could write an article on all the consistent mistakes I see/hear American hard dance DJs execute, and eventually I plan on writing that as an information piece.  Sidenote: to revisit the earlier statement regarding people in Las Vegas not having knowledge of “hard dance, hardstyle, or hardcore,” I would like to add psytrance to that list.  Here in Las Vegas, Jack Spaidz has proved time and time again that psytrance is cheerfully welcomed at Apocalypto, and I would like to see an expansion of knowledge regarding that genre, along with the rest of the more standard hard dance genres, both here in Vegas, and across the states.

What is in store for us and Apocalypto in the future?

We are looking to grow both as a company and with the rest of the hard dance scene. I don’t see a limit as to how far we can take Apocalypto, I’m just happy to be along for the ride and put on great shows for the fans.

You can witness American hard dance acts Jo Ji, Kung Pow, Jack Spaidz, the debut of RVLTN Black and of course FRONTLINER this Saturday, April, 16th at the Hard Rock Café (Paradise Road location) in Las Vegas, Nevada!

Daybreaker, Digitracks, Reviews

Malice – I’m a Beast – Track Review

Here is another name in the Rawstyle scene that you need to become familiar with. If you think Warface, Digital Punk, E-Force etc. is the hardest it gets, well, you have a lot of research to do, and you can start with Malice’s two-track release. ‘The Arrival’ certainly has its merits, but it’s the title track that really captures the power this guy has in his productions. Malice has always teetered close to the edge of hardstyle/hardcore so if you’re looking for a track to end/bridge your sets with, look no further than the works of Malice!