COWARDSPRESSBOOK 2016/2017

Parisian quintet COWARDS have become an unrelenting force since their inception in 2012, imposing their ruthless blend of metallic hardcore and sludge over a couple of 12» releases and stages all across Europe. Only getting stronger and stronger as time passes by, the band now returns with their second album «Rise To Infamy». These ten tracks stand up as their most cohesive work, brutally combining the heritage of Holy Terror/H8000 inspired-hardcore with devastating sludge and black metal savagery.

Carrying a deep, oppressive urban coldness behind their spectacularly crushing wall of sound, the level of aggressivity spilled on «Rise To Infa-my» is hard to endure. Everything has been managed to inflict maximum aural damage; once again recorded by Francis Caste at Sainte Marthe Studio in fall 2014, the band’s monstrous tones sounds colder and more massive than ever. This is nothing but a monument of down-to-earth, unvarnished violence, punishing from start to finish.

Le quintet parisien COWARDS s’est imposé comme une force incessante depuis leur introduction en 2012, imposant leur mélange impitoyable de hardcore/metal et de sludge à coups de 12» et de concerts à travers l’Europe.

Le temps qui passe ne les rendant que plus forts, le groupe revient avec leur 2nd album «Rise To Infamy». Ces dix titres se révélants être leurs plus cohérents, combinant sans vergogne un héritage inspiré Holy Terror/H8000 avec la sauvagerie du black metal et du sludge.

Avec sa charge profondément urbaine, froide et oppressive, derrière un mur de son dévastateur, le niveau d’agressivité dégagé sur «Rise To Infamy» est difficilement supportable. Tout a été poussé au maximum pour infliger un maximum de dégât auditif; enregistré une fois de plus par Francis Caste au studio Sainte-Marthe à l’automne 2014, le son monstrueux du groupe est plus froid et massif que jamais. Ce n’est ni plus ni moins qu’un monument de pure violence, les pieds ancrés dans le bitume, sans concession du début à la fin.B

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Cowards «Still» EP 2016

«Far from resting on the laurels earned with their monumental second full-length, 2015’s «Rise To Infamy», Paris most nothing COWARDS keep it busy with «Still». This brand new EP gather all their abilities - the shar-pest riffing, the vilest grooves - on side A, with three tracks between thu-ggish sludge, unmoshable hardcore and knife-fighting black metal. Side B features two life-crushing covers (The Police «Every Breath You Take» and The Horrorist «One Night In NYC») in the grand COWARDS tradition, recorded during the Rise To Infamy sessions.

Once again produced by Francis Caste at Sainte Marthe Studios and illus-trated by Camille Blanchemain, «Still» crowns these full-time lonewolves as one of the most focused, major acts in today’s metallic hardcore realm. Played by and for people who have strictly zero concern about fitting in any scene, ever.»

Release Date December 2nd

COWARDS «HOARDER» - EP 2013Vynil version edited by Throatruiner Records (FR) & Ruins Records (P)Digipack version edited by Deadlight Entertainment (FR)

COWARDS «SHOOTING BLANKS & PILLS» - ALBUM 2012Vynil version (1st press) - Throatruiner Records (FR)Vynil version (2nd press) - Secret Handshake Records (Canada)Digipack version edited by Throatruiner Records (FR) & Hellbound (FR)DIS

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COWARDS «RISE TO INFAMY» ALBUM 2015Vynil version edited by Throatruiner Records (FR) & Ruins Records (P)Digipack version edited by Deadlight Entertainment (FR)

COWARDS «HOARDER» - EP 2013Vynil version edited by Throatruiner Records (FR) & Ruins Records (P)Digipack version edited by Deadlight Entertainment (FR)

COWARDS «SHOOTING BLANKS & PILLS» - ALBUM 2012Vynil version (1st press) - Throatruiner Records (FR)Vynil version (2nd press) - Secret Handshake Records (Canada)Digipack version edited by Throatruiner Records (FR) & Hellbound (FR)

U P C O M I N G S H O W S11.10.16 - TBA12.10.16 - Montpel l ier, the black sheep w/ stuntman 13.10.16 - TBA14.10.16 - Toulouse le saint des saints15.10.16 - Bordeaux, le f r idge

PA S T S H O W S17.06.16 – Hel l fest open air w/converge, black sabbath, v ict ims….11.06.16 – Tours, Winchester w/Pi lor i10.06.16 – Anger, T’es rock coco w/Pi lor i09.06.16 – Rouen, Hipster Café w/Nusible & Pi lor i23.09.15 - Par is, Le Pet i t bain w/Arkangel , Hangmans chair21.05.16 – Roissy En br ie, Pub ADK w/Cult of Occul t15.04.16 – Par is, Le Klub w/Al l for nothing28.11.15 – Rennes, Le jardin moderne, Superbowl of Hardcore Fest ival w/Leeway, Knuckle Dust, For The glory 12.09.15 - Bourges, Le Nadir (emmetrop) w/RVINES11.09.15 - Rochefort , Le Bi jou w/RVINES, Corrupt10.09.15 - Bordeaux, Le Fr idge w/RVINES05.06.15 - Toxoplasmose Fest. (CH)04.06.15 - Strasbourg, Kawat i Studios /w Haut&Court (FR)03.06.15 - Saint-Dié-des-Vosges /w Anunaki (FR)02.06.15 - Par is, Le Klub /w suburban scum, rude awakening (FR)16.05.15 - Geneva, L’Usine, Throatruiner Records Fest ival (CH)14.05.15 - Par is, Glazart , Throatruiner Ṙecords Fest ival (FR)08.05.15 - Troyes, Le Chapeau Rouge (FR)07.05.15 - Groningen, Simplon (NL)06.05.15 - Antwerp, Music Ci ty /w San Diablo (BE)05.05.15 - Saint-Et ienne, L’assommoir /w Plèvre (FR)04.05.15 - La chaux-de-fonds, Bik in i test (CH)03.05.15 - Mart igny, Sunset Bar /w Circ le Of Execut ion (CH)02.05.15 - Saint- Ingbert , Juz St. Ingbert /w Implore, Slowly We Rot (BE)01.05.15 - Giessen, AK44 /w Revok, Membrane (DE)30.04.15 - Minden, Papagei /w Soul Gr ip (DE)29.04.15 - Essen, Emokel ler /w Slowly We Rot (DE)28.04.15 - Krakow, Kawiarnia Naukowa - Wydarzenia (PL)27.04.15 - Ber l in , Tr ixxxter /w Sick Eater, Whorns (DE)26.04.15 - Münster , Cafe Lorenz /w dopethrone (DE)25.04.15 - Saint-Amandsberg , Jeugdhuis JOB, /w Soul Gr ip (BE)24.04.15 - Rotterdam, Soundcheck Schiedam (NL)07.03.15 - Caen, Le bocal w/Maussade, Def iance (FR)06.03.15 - Rouen, Les 3 Piéces (FR)05.03.15 - Nantes, La scéne Michelet w/Calvai i re (FR)04.03.15 - Poi t iers, Le Zinc (FR)08.02.15 - L isboa, RCA Club w/ Oathbreaker, Bolzer (P)14.11.14 - L i l le, El Diablo w/ General Lee (FR)07.11.14 - Montreui l , Les instants chavirés w/ Mur(FR)22.08.14 - Chambalon, Yel l fest (FR)07.05.14 - Par is, La mecanique ondulatoire (FR)21.04.14 - Montbél iard, Impetus fest ival (FR)22.04.14 - Brussels, DNA (BE)23.04.14 - Dresden, Lion’s Den (DE)24.04.14 - AC17, Chemnitz (DE)

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25.04.14 - Frankfurt (DE)26.04.14 - Wermelskirschen, AJZ Bahndamm (DE)18.02.14 - London - The Unicorn Camden Live (UK)19.02.14 - Preston - The Ferret (UK)20.02.14 - Huddersf ie ld - Par ish (UK)21.02.14 - Leicester - The Shed (UK)22.02.14 - Br istol - Red Lion (UK)23.02.14 - Br ighton - Cowley Club (UK)13.01.14 - Par is - La miroi ter ie w/ Direwolves & Calvai i re07.12.13 - Rouen - Brainscrushing Fest06.11.13 - Porto (P)07.11.13 - Braga (P)08.11.13 - bompar (P)09.11.13 - Barcelos (P)25.10.13 - Poi t iers - Le z inc (FR)26.10.13 - Or leans (FR)25.09.13 - Par is - La Flêche d’or w/ Ken Mode & Unkind (FR)17.08.13 - Santa Clara (Cuba)18.08.13 - Holguin (Cuba)19.08.13 - Bayamo (Cuba)20.08.13 - Camagüey (Cuba)21.08.13 - Sanct i Spir i tus (Cuba)22.08.13 - La habana, Maxim Rock (Cuba)23.08.13 - Pinar del Rio (Cuba)05.04.13 - Caen, Pandorfest , BBC (FR)23.03.13 - Par is, Le belushi ’s w/ Coubiac + Remote (FR)07.03.13 - Le Lezard - Le Mans w/ Vengeance Today (FR)06.03.13 - Par is, Café de Par is w/ The Lowest (FR)15.02.13 - Le Havre, Pied Nu w/ Revok (FR)05.02.13 - Par is, La scène w/ Hessian + Ki l l For Peace + Gazers (FR)03.11.12 - Par is, Cant ine de Bel levi l le w/ El izabeth (FR)02.11.12 - Rouen, Emporium Galor ium w/ El izabeth (FR)01.11.12 - L iege, SBGB w/El izabeth (B)31.10.12 - L i l le, La rumeur w/ El izabeth (FR)30.10.12 - Strasbourg, Molodoi - w/ El izabeth (FR)11.10.12 - Par is, Glazart w/ Every Reason To… + General Lee (FR)30.09.12 - Nantes, Le Ferrai l leur w/ Ful l Of Hel l + New Lows (FR)

RISE TO INFAMYREVIEWS

OSPREY MUSIC MAG«...Rise to Infamy retains the sonic dissonance heard on the band’s two previous records–a fu-rious foray into darkened and hardened Hardcore that’s also undeniably “cool.” And yet, the tracks on Rise to Infamy are infused with maturity, confidence, and a well-stocked cache of truant harmo-nies, which rattle the walls of Cowards’ signature Sludgecore sound....»http://ospreymusicmag.com/2014/12/cowards-rise-to-infamy/

OCCULT BLACK METAL ZINE«...Cowards continue the sound they have established on previous recordings taking raw and depressive black metal and mixing it with sludge and post hardcore to create the sound that is presented on the recording, the production sounds very dark, raw and heavy while the lyrics cover anger, misanthropy and sarcasm themes.”...»http://occultblackmetalzine.blogspot.fr/2014/12/cowardsrise-to-infamythroatruiner.html

SATAN OWES US MONEY«...Rise to Infamy n’a d’élégance que celle qu’on ne peut s’empêcher de trouver aux chats alors même qu’on sait pour certain quelle démence meurtrière ils couvent à tout instant ; avouons-le, on y vient en comptant un peu y trouver, très grossièrement et pour changer un peu de comparaison foireuse, un machin purificateur à la Trap Them, où se défouler et s’enivrer… et on en ressort tuméfié, déchiqueté, lacéré, étourdi, estourbi ; avoiné ; abusé ; et si ces Connards ont estampé la majeure partie du blues nocturne qu’il y avait à leur musique, au bout de quelques écoutes pourtant, compulsives, addictives, suppliciées, on sent monter peu à peu de nulle part comme une envie de chanter l’air de “House of the Rising Sun”...»http://satanowesusmoney.blogspot.fr/2014/12/cowards-rise-to-infamy.html

TZERTZELOS«...The first thing that caught my attention is the singer’s vocals. They ‘re pretty awesome i have to admit. It reminded me a bit of Stephen of Kickback. And of course the album’s production is great. I don’t think there’s any doubt about that. Once you press play a sonic storm breaks through your soundsystem. Sharp riffs combined with massive basslines and great beatdown parts is certainly what you’ll find here...»http://tzertzelos1.wordpress.com/

LOUD! MAGAZINE (PT) «...as guitarras de esgoto e os grunhos de rancor puxam o mais asqueroso vómito hardcore-sludge que a Europa já se lembrou de bolçar» 8/10

METAL HAMMER #267«...Cowards haven’t allowed the continual write, records, tour cucle they’ve been engaged in 2012 to sap their energetic anger. In fact if the oppresive guitar tone, layers of angry criss-crossed voices and stomping boot-rhythms here are any indication...» 7/10

RISE TO INFAMYREVIEWS

EKLEKTIK ROCK«...Cowards réalise là un album à la violence anxiogène marquante, laissant après écoute un goût de sang et de bitume dans la bouche, et des larsens résonnant encore dans les oreilles (ou du moins ce qu’il en reste). Une sale sensation mais alors quelle sensation ....»http://www.eklektik-rock.com/2015/02/cowards-rise-to-infamy/

AMERICAN AFTERMATH«...These French misanthropists offer up a blend of sludge metal, black metal and hardcore that is as menacing as it could be. The sound is colossal, often dissonant, dismal and monstrous. The album begins its torture with the six-minute hellacious hymn “Shame Along Shame”. The track opens with a lengthy collection of dissonant guitar chords that shape-shift into a wall of noisy, blackened tremolo picked riffs that’s the equivalent of being entangled in razor wire..»HTTP://AMERICANAFTERMATH.NET/2015/02/14/REVIEW-COWARDS-RISE-TO-INFAMY/ 9/10

HORNS UP«...Rise to Infamy se révèle donc être une excellente sortie en ce frileux mois de Février, qu’il me tarde de découvrir en live. Tant par la colère dégagée par le chanteur, que par les riffs crades à souhait, cet album saura réchauffer le coeur des adorateurs épleurés de Deathspell Omega ou de Kickback. Foncez tête baissée vers ce petit bijou de ce que la France a de plus nauséabond et sanguinolant, vos oreilles vous en remercieront....»HTTP://WWW.HORNSUP.FR/A-6211/CHRONIQUE/COWARDS-RISE-TO-INFAMY 9/10

INDIEROCKMAG«...Voilà enfin le très attendu second opus des Parisens de Cowards. Le hardcore pollué et déses-péré qui suintait de Shooting Blanks & Pills, sorti en 2012, nous avait fait forte impression et l’on était impatient de découvrir ce Rise To infamy. Sur ce nouvel opus Cowards a rajouté une nouvelle grosse dose d’anxiété à son hardcore sludge crasseux pour un résultat à glacer le sang....»http://www.indierockmag.com/article25739.html

METALORGIE (FR) «...De façon plus pragmatique, si l’on veut parler de mélange des genres : les tempos Black Metal (l’intro de Low Esteem) côtoient les mid tempos écrasants (l’intro de So Easy) ; le Post-Hardcore le plus torturé (Shame Along Shame) cède parfois le pas au Grind baigné de larsens (Bend The Knee)… Et la liste pourrait s’allonger. Plus audacieux dans ses choix artistiques (on parfois a le sentiment de passer de Celtic Frost période Monotheist à Alice In Chains sur le même morceau sur Beyond My Hands par exemple), plus mélodique (avec le refrain incroyable du morceau Any-thing But The Highroad), Cowards signe ici un sans-faute.» 17/20http://www.metalorgie.com/groupe/Cowards

SWNK«...There is an urban coldness around ‘Rise to Infamy’ and the record also is the perfect soun-dtrack for the state of the world today. There is no future; there is no hope in humanity. Society has grown apart and everyone hates each other. Step up to the level of violence with Cowards. The pleasure of listening to Rise to Infamy will grow and grow and this is finally a band who took over what Kickback has left behind....» http://www.swnk.org/reviews/cowards-rise-to-infamy/

HOARDERREVIEWS

ABSOLUTE HELL«...Hoarders, the five-track EP released on September 15th, 2013, performs the aural equivalent of grabbing the listener by the throat and dragging them furiously through a hundred acres of broken bottles and decaying barbed wire fences. Yet it does this brutal task so skillfully that the victim of this assault is left panting for more...»absolutehell.net/cowards-hoarder-review/

OSPREY MUSIC MAG«...Regardless of the rush, Hoarder proves Cowards is willing to dive deeper into their sound, ho-ning it and shaping it around more complex moments. “I think the biggest difference between now and the Shooting Blanks and Pills days lies within the guitar work...»http://ospreymusicmag.com/2014/09/cowards-shooting-blanks-pills-hoarder/

THIS NOISE IS OUR«...Smell Of An Addict proves to be an ecstatically unhinged piece of urgent grind. The faster sections of bookended and broken up by short slower passages of sludgy guitar and there isn’t a melodic lead in sight. Fork Out takes the unhinged emotion of Smell Of An Addict but builds on it further, with flourishes of metal and math...»http://thisnoiseisours.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/cowards-hoarder-ep.html

BLACK METAL ZINE«...In my opinion this is another great sounding recording from Cowards and if you are a fan of black metal, sludge, and hardcore, you should check out this ep...»http://occultblackmetalzine.blogspot.fr/2013/09/cowardshoarderruins-recordsthroatruiner.html

DAILY ROCK«...Une musique tantôt lourde qui vous ferait décrocher vos cervicales, tantôt très expéditive qui vous colle une tartine. Le tout toujours supplanté par un chant monumental très chaotique. Les mecs ne lésinent pas sur l’intensité de leur musique, la précision d’exécution est remarquable...»http://www.daily-rock.fr/

SWQM«...Comme on pouvait s’en douter, maintenant que Cowards a trouvé sa forme, plus rien ne cloche. Les constructions soniques de la formation sont en effet parfaitement maîtrisées, en constante os-cillation sur la fine corniche qui relie le rouleau compresseur et le bruitisme écervelé...»http://www.swqw.fr/chroniques/weird-rock-metal/cowards-hoarder.html

ALL THE RAGE TV«...l’ambiance pesante serait à la limite du supportable si je n’étais pas friand de ce qui est mal-sain...»http://www.alltheragetv.com/reviews/cowards/hoarder/

HOARDERREVIEWS

AMERICAN AFERMATH«... is vile and heavy in all the right places and kicks your teeth in. It’s nothing revolutionary by any means but it is pretty stellar for what it is. Cowards are definitely a band to look out for....»http://americanaftermath.net/2013/09/09/straight-to-the-point-quick-reviews-of-cowards-and-death-engine/

METAL SICKNESS«...Cowards confirme tout les espoirs placés en lui, prouve la justesse de sa vision composite du metal lourd et enregistre une des perles noires de l’année...»http://www.metalsickness.com/chronique-album-cd-dvd-metal/chronique-cowards-hoarder-throatruiner-2013.html

SPIRIT OF METAL«...la productivité du groupe n’aura pas nui à leur talent de composition et d’exécution : loin s’en faut ! Doté d’une grosse puissance de feu, montrant un sacré potentiel...»http://www.spirit-of-metal.com/album-groupe-Cowards-nom_album-Hoarder-l-fr.html

THRASHOCORE«...les Parisiens sont parvenus à attraper le malsain qu’ils aiment tant, non pas grâce à leur goût des morceaux directs (il y a pourtant quelques sacrés moments de castagne ici) mais par cette passion à se déglinguer la tronche lors de compositions où le jeu des devinettes n’est plus aussi limpide que durant Shooting Blanks And Pills et ses enchainements de passages « à la »...»http://www.thrashocore.com/chroniques/chronique/5192-cowards-hoarder-2013-chronique.html

EKLEKTIK-ROCK.COM«...signent un EP reprenant les éléments doom/sludge/noise (& more) entrevus l’an dernier. Peu de nouveauté mais un impact plus immédiat toutefois, grâce au format court de l’EP. Nos connards restent des connards qui semblent se complaire dans leur vomi et c’est avec le même plaisir qu’on partage leur nausée...»http://www.eklektik-rock.com/2013/08/cowards-hoarder/

BLACK INSECT SLAUGHTER«...Heavier and slower than “Shooting Blanks & Pills” from 2012,these tracks suffocate with the weight of despair and fury.There is a chaotic edge that threatens to collapse into a wallof noise but the strong arrangements manage to pull things back from the edge...»http://blackinsectlaughter.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/cowards-hoarder.html

SATANOWESUSMONEY«...Hoarder prouve avec le plus grand naturel qu’il n’est nul besoin de surjouer ou surligner la saleté, le vice, la rugosité, ni de faire mine de tout te péter ton salon et de vomir dans les coins – pour jouer du hardcore, et du hardcore-blues du désespoir encore, qu’on peut tout à fait en parfait gentilhomme et sans salir rien d’autre que ses propres pieds s’extirper les boyaux à la hachette...»http://satanowesusmoney.blogspot.fr/2013/07/cowards-hoarder.html

SHOOTING BLANKS & PILLSREVIEWS

9HZ MAGAZINE«...Channelling Cursed, this is hardcore with an encrusted soul and blackened heart, downtrod-den to the point of desperation that’ll also greatly appeal to the downbeat breathren of doom circles. Shooting Blanks… is another worthy oasis in the wastelands between genres; Cowards providing further building blocks to bridge the gap between Thou-esque doom and sludge and the darkest peripheries of metallic hardcore...»http://www.ninehertz.co.uk/viewitem/4473Metalorgie.com

WHAT CULTURE«...The thirty-eight minute release begins with the assault of Hoarse from the Get Go. It tells you what’s about to go down and shows you where the exit is if you don’t like it. Cowards clearly inhabit a horrific dystopia. It’s evident in the unrelenting percussion and the drilling gurgle of the opener’s guitars; they herd you towards a jarring descent through chords in the middle third that sounds like falling off a succession of cliffs and is bored into you by the oppressive malcontent of the melody which closes...»http://whatculture.com/music/cowards-shooting-blanks-and-pills-ep-review.php

METALORGIE.COM«...Ca craque et ça suiffe de partout dans un rendu presque grossier, avec une basse grondante qui éventre les amplis, une batterie étouffée et des dissonances nauséabondes...»www.metalorgie.com/groupe/Cowards

EKKLEKTIK.COM«...Comme l’atteste sa (superbe) pochette, ce premier album sans concession de Cowards transporte aux confins de la noirceur et du malsain. Une sacrée alchimie quand on pense que le groupe est allé en studio seulement quelques petits mois après sa création, autant dire qu’on a hâte d’entendre une suite lorsque cette fureur aura eu le temps de bien macérer...»http://www.eklektik-rock.com/2012/12/cowards-shooting-blanks-pills/

FOREVER CURSED«...that with those mighty riffs and harsh voice, pierces our brain leaving our whole body trem-bling under this unexpected assault on our ears. Along this release there is a great influence of the most visceral hardcore but at some points there are also some filthy sludge riffs thrown into the air...»http://forevercursed.blogspot.pt/2012/08/cowards-shooting-blanks-and-pills.html

VS WEBZINE«...Une diversité d’ambiances, de tempos et d’atmosphères prouvant que le groupe possède un arsenal varié capable de frapper fort dans la gueule et de balancer balayettes et prises de soumission vicelardes...»http://www.vs-webzine.com/chronique-COWARDS-Hoarse_From_The_Get_Go-13466.html

SHOOTING BLANKS & PILLSREVIEWS

SOME WILL NEVER KNOW«...This just feels like a bunch of guys that wanted to create dark pieces somewhere between hardcore, stoner and metal. They didn’t think too much about the outcome, if it sounds sick and unpleasant it’s okay. The guy on vocals pukes out his lyrics like he has to cope with all the misery on the streets of Paris...»http://www.swnk.org/reviews/cowards-shooting-blanks-and-pills/

LA FILLE DU ROCK«...Pleutre, rarement un nom de groupe n’aura été aussi inapproprié. Le groupe ne pratique pas la diplomatie mais l’attaque frontale armée de guitares équipés de fil barbelés aiguisés...»http://www.lafilledurock.com/2012/07/26/chronique-cowards-se-dissimuler-pour-mieux-attaquer/

THRASHOCORE.COM«...Difficile de se dire que la formation n’avait que six mois d’existence au moment de la mise en téléchargement libre du disque tant elle reprend habilement les codes du genre tout en sachant proposer une vision suffisamment personnelle pour ne pas devenir rébarbative...»http://www.thrashocore.com/chroniques/chronique/4540-cowards-shooting-blanks-and-pills-2012-chronique.html

SHARTNAK.COM«...Coup d’essai, coup de maître? La formulation est facile, cependant Cowards atteint ses objectifs avec aisance. D’une brutalité effroyable, que cinq secondes du titre “Vices & Hate” suffiront à illustrer, l’album n’est qu’un déversement poisseux de haine primitive...»http://skartnak.com/kronik-1853-cowards.html

TO ELEVEN«...indistinct general black metal overtones and the MP3s themselves are tagged in the ‘vio-lence’ genre. I think that kind of thing will either pique your interest or make you throw up in your mouth some – very little in between...»http://toeleven.net/2013/05/31/review-cowards-shooting-pills-and-blanks/

LE FENNEC«...Six balles dans le barillet, une demi-douzaine de titres aux ambiances moites et aux as-sauts instrumentaux barbares empreints d’une frénésie inhumaine (“Hoarse from the get go”), des riffs carnassiers sauvagement encastrés dans les enceintes et une grosse puissance de feu hardcore/sludge/noise blackisante, fatalement, le menu n’est pas à mettre entre n’importe quelles mains...»http://www.w-fenec.org/metal/cowards,7581,shooting-blanks-and-pills.html

BEARD ROCK«...Shooting Blanks And Pills’, the debut record by Cowards, has me believe that their parents have kept the receipt for a few trains sets over the years as this is an ear-shatteringly brutal collection of songs, delivered with an uninhibited yet carefully controlled intensity...»http://beardrock.com/reviews/cowards

Cowards’ brand of heavy, gnarled, misanthro-pic hardcore fair near knocked my socks off when I first heard their ‘Shooting Blanks & Pills’ record for Throatruiner. Sludgy without being in hock to sludge ‘tradition’, metallic in the most caustic way and possessed of that numinous sense of believability that’s so hard to come by.

I meant to knock a review and interview to-gether when the LP originally came out. Ty-pically, life got in the way and time passed. Handily, though, Canadian label Secret Handshake have since reissued it, thus ma-king my review and this interview a bit more timely.

Questions answered by the band as a hive mind.

Ok, let’s get the basics out the way first: tell us a bit about Cowards. How, when and why did the band get together?

Cowards: We all got together at the end of 2011 when some of us were completely out of the game and wanted to start something new. What started out initially as an instrumental doom/sludge project turned into what we are now.

There is a real sense of hostility and sickness running through the music. What kind of fee-lings are you channelling, and why is Cowar-ds’ music so mired in negativity?

Cowards: Channelling might not be the appro-priate word, it conveys too much of an esoteric weight. We just write and play the music that best reflects our feelings about the lives we have, what we see, hear and understand.

How does the music you make reflect the people who make it? If we hung out with you, would we find happy, well-adjusted young Frenchmen or are you as unhinged and hos-tile as your music?

Cowards: The best answer would be both. We’re all pretty much from a middle-class/upper middle-class background, we all have pretty de-cent education and manners, but in the end, it all

comes down to what we have and who we have in front of us. There’s a lot of judging going on on our part, we’ll admit to that, and some of us take great pride in being scary judges of character.

Most of the time it all goes very smoothly, as you might already know, most people invested (really invested that is) in this trade turn out to be honest, passionate and down to earth folks. Really quite a lovely crowd.

But then, then you have the others, who are louder, more visible, full of themselves and ulti-mately full of shit. Those, we have a hard time making it work with. It happened before, once or twice, but really, not that much. Although when it goes south, it usually goes all the way there.

We’ve stated this before and we’ll gladly state it again as much as needed, we’re no more violent or hostile than anybody else, but we definitely are on the top tier of blunt honesty and this will not make friends with just anybody so easily.

What can you tell us about the LP? What were the circumstances around its creation and what does the title mean to you?

Cowards: The ‘Shooting Blanks & Pills’ LP is an exact photograph of what we were at that time, musically and personally, it is a reflection of the music we had, both created for that purpose and lying around from previous bands as well as some very old ideas.

In retrospect, it does sound a bit odd at times; that collection of songs with different moods, al-though the vocals make it whole in the end. But if we had to do it again that way, we would.

As for the title, I’m not going to dwell on the mea-ning although I’m willing to say it is as much a self-depiction as it is a tongue-in-cheek, below-the-belt jab at people we know, their lifestyles and their loud-mouthed, half-assed opinions on everything.

How did things change for Cowards between ‘Shooting Blanks & Pills’ and the ‘Hoarder’ EP? Do you think the band has evolved at all?

Cowards: The one thing that changed is, in the most unglamorous way, we became a band, for real. Previous to recording ‘SB&P’ we had never played together, not even spend real quality time, the five of us, and apart from the one guy who set it up, most guys didn’t really know each other that well. It almost led to our demise after our very first show, some of us realising they couldn’t stand the others.

That quickly changed after our first mini tour alongside ELIZABETH when we quickly rose to becoming probably the funniest pack of hyenas ever to hit the road.

Musically, we tried to do things different with ‘Hoarder’, as far as process go, other than that, business as usual. The only thing we try to achieve is not to be too redundant with ourselves IN

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and play the music we’d like to listen to.

Was it a conscious decision to merge the va-rious sounds you have running through your music (hardcore, sludge, black metal etc.)?

Cowards: Others have said it before and as it turns out, it’s true, for us at least, we just wanted to play the music we like and would like to listen to. It just so happens that we like a whole lot of things including but not limited to those genres of heavy music and that’s just the way it all came down on us.

Of course it became obvious and conscious once we were done recording but we’re fine with that.

The defining bond being that it had to be very, very angry.

For some reason I think Cowards have a very urban sound: it’s very much ‘city music’. Can you tell us a bit about your relationship with Paris, what goes on there and how you think it influences you as people and musicians?

Cowards: For some reason nobody ever told us that before and for some reason it is a shame be-cause if we ever did something consciously as far as the music goes, it was, and still is, to try and keep it very urban, so thank you. We are from the city after all and have always found it funny/de-pressing those bands who try and sound from the swamp of Louisiana, as if their best friends were alligators when in fact their best friends are the concrete pavements they work day in day out…

Having said that, we don’t have a particular re-lationship with Paris, we just live there. Some of us love this city, others hate it but we all share a sense of belonging, whether we like it or not, to The City, not particularly Paris, it probably could be any city, it is the urban atmosphere that ap-peals to us.

Considering you’re our closest neighbours I find it weird that we over here in the UK don’t seem to have a clear picture as to what’s hap-pening in the underground scene over there in France. I’m aware of individual bands and labels (Throatruiner, Ratbone, Solar Flare

etc.) but have no idea how cohesive it all is. What’s your view, and how do you think Cowards fit in?

Cowards: First off, don’t feel bad, apart from the very handsome guys at Oblivionized and their friends we shared the stage with when they had us over, we had no idea of what was going on in the UK, except for a strange feeling, that proved to be true, that British bands have a very profes-sional feeling and extraordinary talent and skills, more so than most French bands, including us of course.

As far as cohesion, we couldn’t tell you. We do have some friends here and there, but we’re not feeling much love and/or interest for us, except for the indefectible support of Matthias (Throa-truiner Records) and Alex (Deadlight Entertain-ment). That’s fine because we do have good allies outside France, be it only Pedro and Vitor from RVINS records in Portugal.

Whatever the reason, we’re not part of the sce-ne so to speak. The funny thing is that we know people know us, because we hear them blabbing away, it most recently appeared that we are ra-cists, violent, arrogant and destructive posers, how would anyone want us to be part of their sce-ne? Haha. You’ve got to love when people talk, and who knows what we’ll be in a couple months, we’re anxious to hear it.

How – if at all – has France’s punk rock his-tory (be it Kickback, the Stonehenge Records stuff of the 90s or whatever…) affected your outlook and the way you do things as a band?

Cowards: Except for Kickback (who we ripped off everything good we have apparently), and French black metal (Deathspell Omega to name one) we don’t have much interest for it all.

What do you all do outside of Cowards?

Cowards: We try and make an honest living. One of us feeds people, another is a craftsman, the other teaches stuff…

What plans do you have for the band’s fu-ture? What’s happening next and how do you think Cowards will evolve over time?

Cowards: It just so happens that we’re going to hit the studio for five weeks beginning of October, to record the follow up to ‘SB&P’ and as soon as that’s done we’re going to set up a Euro tour with our friends in Oblivionized. We’ll try to go back to Portugal, maybe hit Spain, we wish we can come back in the UK sometime this year too.

‘SB&P’ has been reissued by Secret Handshake records up in Canada for North America and we also hope we can go all the way there and make new friends. Or foes.

As for us evolving, let’s pray we can get more and more people talking shit about us, because, let’s face it, there’s no such thing as bad press.

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