WE've only gone & interviewed

LIVE SHOW REVIEWS FROM:

YOUNG GUNS NEVER SAY DIE TOUR ENTER SHIKARI

INTRODUCING: BURGUNDAY & MORE! | INTERVIEWS | REVIEWS | PAPI WANG | EVENTS

SUICIDE SILENCE | DEEZ NUTS | LET LIVE | YOUR DEMISE | EMMURE | BURY THE HATCHET

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© Wasted! Magazine All Rights Reserved.Whilst every effort has been made to ensure that details in this publication are accurate, we cannot accept responsibility for such. Readers are advised to check listings information to avoid disappointment. Views expressed by contributors and advertisers do not necessarily reflect those of the editor and publisher.

Want to advertise in WASTED?Want us to feature your band?Are you an aspiring Alt model?

writeinto@wastedmagazine.co.uk

EditorZoe Blush

Creative DirectorVicky Webb

DesignersZoe Blush

Vicky WebbChad Powell

ImageryJake Owens

WritersIan Gregory

Metal GremlinHarry English

Zoe BlushCallum LillieJake Owens

Event OrganiseDan LawsZoe Blush

3

CONTENTS:THIS MONTH:02 INTRODUCING: BURGUNDY & MORE05 INTERVIEW: THE FURIOUS HORDE08 COMPETITION TIME WITH BURY THE HATCHET09 INTERVIEW: OF MICE & MEN12 INTERVIEW: CLIP STAMP FOLD 14 REVIEW: NEVER SAY DIE TOUR!

23 WASTED! LOCAL REVIEWS26 PAPI WANG: ANTI DRUGS VS DRUGS ARE COOL27 EVENTS

18 REVIEW: ENTER SHIKARI20 REVIEW: YOUNG GUNS

Want to advertise in WASTED?Want us to feature your band?Are you an aspiring Alt model?

writeinto@wastedmagazine.co.uk

05 INTERVIEW: THE FURIOUS HORDE OUR SCARY LOOKING FRIENDS TELL US WHAT THEY’VE BEEN UP TO

09 INTERVIEW: OF MICE & MEN! WE MANAGED TO CATCH UP WITH VALENTINO & SEE WHAT HE HAD TO SAY

08 COMPETITION TIME! WIN SOME SEXY GOODIES

14 REVIEW: NEVER SAY DIE TOUR!JAKE GOT UP CLOSE WITH MITCH

02 WE INTRODUCE THE FUN LOVINGINDIANNA

03 & ALSO INTRODUCE YOU TOCRASH OF RHINOS

[W! #12]

Hey everyone!

It’s been a while, we’ve been having lots of ‘personal issues’ this month as we all know ‘shit happens’ in life & sometimes that can’t be helped, but we’re back!

We’re going introducing crazy this month, showing you the likes of ‘BURGUNDY’, ‘INDIANNA’, ‘GHOST OF GABRIEL’ & ‘CRASH OF RHINOS’ all starting over on page 2.

We have got some wonderful goodies for you this month such as a three page spread interview with the one & only ‘OF MICE & MEN’, which starts over on page 9.

We’ve got our first ever competition with the ‘BURY THE HATCHET’ boys, head over to page 8 to find out how you can get involved & win lots of sexy merch including EPs, stickers, t-shirts & more!

Page 14 kicks off with our live reviews, starting with the 2011 NEVER SAY DIE TOUR, then on to ENTER SHIKARI, followed by YOUNG GUNS.

Hope you all had/have a wonderful Halloween, scare the shit out of each other, & most importantly, GET WASTED!

Lots of love, Zoe Blush xo

Members: Gary Ptaszek and brothers Gary and Daniel Tinsely.

“I (GP) had been playing around in a couple of bands aswell as playing solo acoustic sets for a while when I met the Tinsleys who were also gigging locally for quite some time.”“I (GP) actually bumped into Dan in a pub toilet while out on the piss and we started talking about bands etc. He told me that his current band had broken up and that he and his bassist brother Gary were

looking for a 3 piece band... which is pretty much what I was looking for as my band at the time were pretty much on the rocks.”“We started gigging in mid ’08 and have evolved from full band versions of my older acoustic songs to really writing songs together and challenging each other to play as creatively and energetically as possible. Since then we’ve played at countless high profile venues such as BArfly, Camden Underworld, Purple Turtle, Borderline aswell as playing the main stage at

Sellindge Festival.”

“We’re currently trying to promote our recent CD ‘Endeavour’ aswell as working on songs for an upcoming CD we’re aiming to finish late ’11/early ’12.

We’re also trying to gig to as many new people in different venues as we can, just trying to build up our fan base and play with new bands.”

“Well I don’t think we actively try to be different, we just try

and be ourselves. We all have different tastes in music and try and put a piece of each of us into every song. Our drummer is a bit of a jazz freak and brings complicated rhythms to our songs aswell as allowing us to experiment with some odd time signature changes. Gary Tinsley however is just a power house bassist who just pounds along with the drums... brothers may fight but they’re the best thing to have in a rhythm section. You’ll kind of have to see us/hear us to make your own mind up about whether or not we’re different or not... though most people seem to struggle to pigeon-hole our sound.”

NTRODUCING: BURGUNDY

WHO ARE YOU?We started off in the dreary dirt of the one and only Diggerland in Kent. After a few member changes Indianna became what it is today with Lewis on vocals, Gav on Guitar, Callum on Bass and Rob playing the drums. We are all from Medway in Kent and this is where we jam and get most of our inspiration to write music.

where are you going?Our intentions as always are to inspire the un inspired with our heavy funk music and to break through the “norm” which has engulfed the music scene. All bands want to play in front of thousands and have the lifestyle which goes with being in a

band! But for now we are focusing on playing bigger gigs, making a video, gaining new fans and most improtantly having a laugh along the way! At the moment we are in the middle of writing a lot more funktastic material for our fans and other people to hear and also getting the cogs moving on the making of a video.

what makes you different?The fact that all the other bands are crappy... Na we are joking there are some awsome bands around Kent and thats why it can be really hard to stand out sometimes. However what makes us different is our funky flow and stage presence. We always try

to mix it up whether that means making up songs on the spot on stage or dressing up in our girlfriends pj’s! By doing this we try to show people that there is something else out there to listen to ,of which we hope they can relate to their everyday lives.

We believe that if the readers of this magazine like orgasmic, face melting and soul driving music then that should be a good enough reason to listen to ours!

ALSO INTRODUCING: INDIANNA

who are you?We are Ghost Of Gabrielle, a 5 piece band from bedfordshire.Steve Freeman – Lead VocalsTom Burt – DrumsChris Pratten – Guitar / VocalsHarry Bowers – Bass / VocalsJack Gill – Synth / Keyboard / Samplertom chris and harry met at school, we all found that we listened to the same music and became close friends through that, we also used to play football a lot together to. Me (tom) played drums and chris played the guitar so we started jamming together and harry picked up the place to jam along and picked it up quickly, we then started a band together along

with toms brother josh playing guitar, that band got fairly big in our local area playing shows in and out of bedfordshire, that band then dispersed, due to different aspirations and music taste.We then decided to have a break but we kept writing music together, and I (tom) found out that a good mate of mine who I work with could scream, I found out just through him screaming along to ‘Fiver Finger Deathpunch’ so I asked him to come to a practice, and ever since then we have been a band. About a month into practicing and playing shows we wanted something else in our sound, and we thought a synth would be perfect, so we asked our friend jack to play synth and keyboard and are currently in the

middle of writing a whole bigger and better set with synth, piano and backing tracks.give us a rough introduction, who the members are, where you’re from, how you met, etc.where are you going?We just love to have fun and play shows, every show we make new mates and have a laugh with them. Our intentions are to make an EP of the songs we enjoyed to write and enjoy to play, its always brilliant to meet and chat with new fans and see what they have to say about our music, playing different places to new people. Everywhere we play we meet lovely people, and all of those people are keeping the local unsigned music scene alive, and we couldn’t thank them enough for that.Plans for the future are to just keep doing what were doing now, playing shows, recording our music and having the time of our lives.At the moment we are just focusing on writing our new set.

what are you’re intentions, plans for the future, what are you doing with yourselves at the moment?what makes you different?What makes us different is our live act, we try and be as energetic and fun as we can be to watch

on stage. Always try and get the audience involved, just to ensure that they get the best they can get for the money they paid. Even if people don’t like the music we hope that they enjoy watching our performance. What also makes us different is we are working on some songs at the minute that have a whole mix of genres into one, something that we havent really heard before but are working on to ensure our sound is as different as it can be.The readers should listen to us

this is vital. what makes you stand out from all the other crappy bands on the local scene? what are you doing that makes you a bit different? why should our readers listen to you?

future gigsplease list any gigs you may have around the date of release of the issue, if you are unsure, please state and we will get back to you closer to the time of publication.

contact info - ghostofgabrielle@hotmail.co.uk

GHOST OF GABRIEL

CRASH OF RHINOSwho are you?Jim, Biff, Oli, Draper & Beal. Two guitars, two basses, a drum kit and five voices. We are Crash of Rhinos. We met over 10 years ago and bonded over a mutual love of fried foods, punk rock and mid 90’s emo. We’ve all been playing in bands together ever since and have yet to grow tired of each other’s company.

where are you going?All over the place. We released out debut LP ‘Distal’ on double 12” and CD a few months back. It was written in Derby, recorded in Turin and mastered in Berlin. We’ve been playing as many shows as possible with some seriously great bands like Algernon Cadwallader, 1994!, Lemuria, Cheap Girls and way too many others to mention. We’re off to Europe for a couple of weeks in November and we’re currently getting our heads around touring America in

April 2012.

what makes you different?Not a lot. Were just five friends who happen to love making music together. We want our music to be available to everyone so we also decided to release it digitally as a ‘name-your-price’ download (no minimum amount required) from http://crashofrhinos.bandcamp.com. We encourage you to torrent it, chuck it on mediafire, post it on your blog or charge your friends a quid each for a CD of it. Oh, we have two bass players and Oli has a brass bell on his drum kit, I guess you could say that’s different?

future gigsNOVEMBER (EUROPEAN TOUR):Sat Nov 12th - BE, Antwerp, Envers-SwaSun Nov 13th - DE, Mannheim, JuzMon Nov 14th - DE, Berlin,

About:Blank Tue Nov 15th - CZ, Prague, Chapeau RougeWed Nov 16th - AU, Dornbirn, Kulturcafé SchlachthausThu Nov 17th - IT, Milano, Cox 18 Fri Nov 18th - IT, Rome, Traffic Sat Nov 19th - IT, Forli, Circolo Valverde Sun Nov 20th - IT, Torino, Blah Blah Mon Nov 21st - FR, Toulouse, Venue TBC

Wed Nov 23rd - ES, Getaria, GaztetxeThu Nov 24th - FR, Paris, L’InternationalSun Nov 27th - UK, Derby, The Victoria Inn

contact info - acrashofrhinos@gmail.comcrashofrhinos.co.ukcrashofrhinos.bigcartel.com

disrupt the skies

WASTED! PRESENTS THE MITCHELL HUTH APPEAL CHARITY GIG , FEATURING:

MAVERICKS | BURY THE HATCHET | VIVID NATION WRITING VERONA | THOUSAND PHOTOS OF YOU | NEAR RUIN | AFRAID TO TELL | INTANSIENT | FIVE DAYS TIME & MORE!

Leos, Red Lion, Crete Hall Road Gravesend DA11 9AA

ENTRY: £5 | 16+ (ID REquired) | Doors 1pm, FIRST BAND 1:30pm

WITHIN THE SILENCEDOOMED FROM DAY ONE

Originally forming around October 2003, with a sound that is as brutal as it is beautiful, they create a “Dark Majesty” of music, taking influence from all forms of Metal from Black to Symphonic.

Having released numerous demos since their birth, 2006 saw one of their tracks get featured on a Terrorizer covermount CD! In 2007 their Album ‘World Aghast’ was self-recorded and released with all limited copies quickly selling out.

After seven years of honing in our sound and a couple of member replacements along the way, a confident new band emerged, with the drive and songmanship to finally stand up and be noticed.

Three New EPs are being recorded and are planned for staggered releases over 2011.

The first ‘Instigation’ shows the bands first exploration into new territory,

experimenting musically whilst lyrics holding true to their older material. As with previous Furious Horde releases, physical copies will be self produced, and limited in quantity. “We’ve always had a DIY attitude, as this gives all of our releases a special, personal touch.”

2011 is set to be a ground-breaking year for “The ‘Horde” as well as the 3 EP releases they have also made up a new compilation “Best of” CD titled ‘Assemblage’, This had been

We are The Horde...disrupt the skies

WASTED! PRESENTS THE MITCHELL HUTH APPEAL CHARITY GIG , FEATURING:

MAVERICKS | BURY THE HATCHET | VIVID NATION WRITING VERONA | THOUSAND PHOTOS OF YOU | NEAR RUIN | AFRAID TO TELL | INTANSIENT | FIVE DAYS TIME & MORE!

Leos, Red Lion, Crete Hall Road Gravesend DA11 9AA

ENTRY: £5 | 16+ (ID REquired) | Doors 1pm, FIRST BAND 1:30pm

WITHIN THE SILENCEDOOMED FROM DAY ONE

Originally forming around October 2003, with a sound that is as brutal as it is beautiful, they create a “Dark Majesty” of music, taking influence from all forms of Metal from Black to Symphonic.

Having released numerous demos since their birth, 2006 saw one of their tracks get featured on a Terrorizer covermount CD! In 2007 their Album ‘World Aghast’ was self-recorded and released with all limited copies quickly selling out.

After seven years of honing in our sound and a couple of member replacements

along the way, a confident new band emerged, with the drive and songmanship to finally stand up and be noticed.

Three New EPs are being recorded and are planned for staggered releases over 2011.

The first ‘Instigation’ shows the bands first exploration into new territory, experimenting musically whilst lyrics holding true to their older material. As with previous Furious Horde releases, physical copies will be self produced,

A ragtag

bunch of

renegades “ ”

and limited in quantity. “We’ve always had a DIY attitude, as this gives all of our releases a special, personal touch.”

2011 is set to be a ground-breaking year for “The ‘Horde” as well as the 3 EP releases they have also made up a new compilation “Best of” CD titled ‘Assemblage’, This had been put together in preparation for their appearance at the Bloodstock Open Air Festival!

The Furious Horde won the Metal 2 the Masses competition for Essex and were

IT'S COMPETITION TIME!IT'S COMPETITION TIME!

Bury The Hatchet have decided to put a tasty little competition on for all you musically talented boys & girls.

They’ve got a wonderful video which features front man Ray getting punched in the nuts & keeling over, so it’s definitely worth a watch, even if you’ve never picked up a musical instrument in your life! But if you have & you’re

wondering how to get involved, here’s what you got to do:

Make a video response to their video announcement (click the YouTube logo at the end of this article to be taken there) covering one of their tracks. Can be any single element (scream along, drums, guitar etc) or all together, the choice is yours! (No air guitaring along does not count!)

The competition closes on the

30th of November, & whoever the boys feel did the best will win a series of Bury The Hatchet goodies ranging from both old & new EPs, t-shirts, badges, stickers, the lot!

If you’ve never even heard of the boys before then you should stop reading right now & click the Facebook logo just over there ---> which will take you directly to their page.

Listen to their tracks, learn them, do a video response, win some sexy shit. It’s that simple! Don’t forget - competition closes 30th November. The winner shall be announced mid-December.

Good luck!

SOMEHOW INBETWEEN WARPED TOUR & COUNTLESS OTHER THINGS, WE MANAGED TO CATCH UP WITH ONE OF THE BOYS FROM OM&M! CHECK OUT WHAT THEY HAD TO SAY FOR THEMSELVES. FIRST OFF, WHO ARE WE TALKING TO?This is Valentino aka Ur Boi aka @YoungFuego aka the Drummer and 1/5 of OM&M. ALSO, THANKS FOR TAKING THE TIME TO CHAT TO US TODAY!No problem at all! Sorry we couldn’t get to it sooner, we’ve been swamped with everything going on with the band, I’m glad we were able to catch up with you guys! SO THE NEW ALBUM “THE FLOOD” HAS BEEN OUT FOR A WHILE NOW, HOW

PROUD ARE YOU GUYS OF IT AS A RECORD?We love it! We were feeling kind of pigeon holed with the first album, while we loved it, we feel like we grew out of the songs and wanted to write something that reflected more of who we are now. We still jam the album all the time even after we’ve released it...so even if nobody liked it, WE still like it! hahaha HOW DO YOU FEEL YOU HAVE DEVELOPED AS A BAND SINCE THE 1ST ALBUM?We feel like we’ve taken a big leap forward in showcasing our writing abilities. With this album, we were able to find the sound that we wanted and really commit and write around it, whereas the first record, we had all just met and were

trying to find a

style we could all agree on. More time has passed and we have been able to hone in on a writing style we are all happy with and feel like is depicted well in The Flood. WHAT HAS INFLUENCED THE WRITING OF THE MUSIC ON THE NEW RECORD? ARE THERE ANY THEMES YOU TACKLE IN THE LYRICS?Life influenced the album. The trials and tribulations of the band, of each individual’s lives, we all went through a lot in the last year and we wanted to let it all out in The Flood. You can hear it for sure. I guess you could say our theme was being real. Keepin’ it real! HOW HAVE THE FANS REACTED TO NEW MATERIAL?

It’s been an overall positive response, which was surprising, we did a lot of things different on this album that we didn’t do on our self titled, so it was a little nerve racking but the fans have spoken, they like it, the critics and reviewers seem to like it, were just happy that people enjoy it as much as we do. HOW DID AUSTIN’S RETURN TO THE BAND AFFECT THE WRITING/RECORDING PROCESS?It definitely brought us back together, stronger than before. He also brought guitarist Alan Ashby with him who he was working on material with, so he brought some fresh ideas which was awesome...we all just clicked, I can’t put it any other way ha! WHO DID YOU RECORD WITH, HOW WERE THEY

TO WORK WITH?We decided to record with Joey Sturgis again, he did our first album; we enjoy working with him, we like the sound we get in our final product and it’s a very secluded spot so were able to really focus on the album.

WHAT ARE YOUR FAVOURITE SONGS FROM THE ALBUM?I personally really like O.G. Loko, named after the American party beverage of choice Four Loko, similar to the beverage Buckfast (which I was introduced to while being over there, loved it!) I really like the flow of the album too, not just certain songs in particular. ARE THERE ANY IDEAS FOR A NEW MUSIC VIDEO OR SINGLE RELEASE?Yes! We’ve been talking about a couple music video ideas, all are pretty sweet...actually it made me think about one right now and i

got chills. ARE THERE PLANS LAID DOWN REGARDING TOURING AT THE MOMENT?Lots of touring, we are relentless when it comes to that. We are booked up in North America until the end of the year and talking international plans for next year WE MANAGED TO CATCH YOU GUYS IN LONDON WHEN YOU WERE TOURING WITH ASKING ALEXANDRIA, DO YOU HAVE PLANS TO COME BACK TO THE UK ANY TIME SOON?We most certainly do! We’re working to put together a really awesome tour! BEING ON THE ROAD, YOU MUST SEE SOME CRAZY STUFF. WHAT WOULD YOU SAY WAS THE CRAZIEST THING YOU’VE SEEN THIS YEAR?

When we were in Paris, FR we played at a venue that was a boat...so we had to make that boat rock...and we did just that, you don’t find those kind of venues in America, it was INSANE! Austin was crawling along the ceiling, getting everyone to run back and forth to make the ship rock, it was so much fun, I was playing drums practically sideways at one point! YOU’VE JUST FINISHED WARPED TOUR, HOW WAS THAT?Absolutely mental! Our fans are amazing, we packed our stage every day, the response to the new songs was amazing...it was truly an amazing experience. We were very thankful to be a part of it. WHAT CAN FANS WHO HAVE NOT SEEN THE OM&M SHOW BEFORE EXPECT FROM YOU THIS TIME ROUND?

Crazier than the last time you saw us, more passio-nate than the last time, we’re hungry for you. WE MUST FEED ON YOUR ENERGY!!! We love one upping ourselves and pushing ourselves to raise the bar. AUSTIN IN PARTICULAR SEEMS TO MAKE A HABIT OF CLIMBING THE LIGHTING RIGS AND JUMPING INTO THE CROWD, HAS STUFF LIKE THIS EVER GOT YOU INTO TROUBLE?It gets us in trouble ALL OF THE TIME! But we don’t care, kids are paying for a rock n roll show, this isn’t a concert you’re going to with

"we break

rules and break

ourselves for your

entertainment

because we love

to do it!"

candle lit dinners. We are a rock band, we break rules and break ourselves for your entertainment because we love to do it! DOES ANYONE IN THE BAND HAVE ANY WEIRD RITUALS BEFORE A SHOW?We always chant something before we go on, Austin and Shay make a lot of noise, i try and hit as many things as possible with my drumsticks before I go on...we pump each other up.

WHERE DO YOU SEE THIS BAND NEXT YEAR?

Doing exactly what we’re doing right now, TOURING. We love it and won’t stop! Hopefully this time next year we will be in the UK taking it over! DO YOU THINK THIS NEW ALBUM WILL TAKE YOU TO NEW HEIGHTS AS A BAND? GET YOU MORE RECOGNITION IN THE SCENE?

Definitely! And if it doesn’t...we’ll write another one! And if it does, we’ll write another album! We’re a machine, you can’t stop us from making music and performing. WHAT ARE THE PERSONAL GOALS OF THE BAND? WHAT DO YOU GUYS WANT TO ACHIEVE?We want to tour the world more, hit different countries, spread our passion for music and our dedication to every city, suburb, country, state, continent that will have us! OK FINALLY, DO YOU HAVE A MESSAGE FOR ALL OF YOUR UK BASED FANS?Thank you all for picking up our album and coming to our shows, we are making it a point to get over there more often next year, we hope you all are ready for us! And if you’re not...ah well, we’re still gunna be in your face whether you like it or not!

JUBILATION LEE MANAGED TO CATCH UP WITH JOEL OF CLIP STAMP FOLD FOR A NICE LITTLE CHAT. THIS IS WHAT HE HAD TO SAY ABOUT THEIR ADVENTURES SO FAR.

HOW DID YOU GUYS FORM CLIP STAMP FOLD? “We met and uni in 2005 studying graphic design but didn’t really start the band ‘proper’ until we graduated in 2007. We replaced the original drummer Ben with Sean whom we found after advertising on the Drowned In Sound forum.”

WERE ANY OF YOU IN PREVIOUS BANDS? “I have been in many over the years that have barely even gigged then had relative success with Love That Kills. Sean was in a band called ‘Holiday

Romance’ and James had been in a couple of garage type outfits. Mark had never played live before.”

DO YOU SEE EACH OTHER AS FAMILY, FRIENDS OR DO YOU SECRETLY NOT LIKE EACH OTHER MUCH?

Definitely friends- I think you have to be otherwise it doesn’t work!

WHO ARE YOUR GREATEST INFLUENCES MUSICALLY?

“Talking Heads, Lush, Pixies,

Nirvana, Interpol, Foals, Fugazi etc.”

WHAT INFLUENCES YOU LYRICALLY? “You’d have to ask James

that as he writes them/ sings them.”

OH JAMES! TALKING

OF

CLIP

STAM

P

INSPIRING, YOU RECENTLY DID A BIKE RIDE OF AN AMAZING 72 MILES FOR THE ALZHEIMERS SOCIETY, WAS THERE ANY PARTICULARLY REASON FOR THIS? “Yes, my Uncle has the early stages of the dis-ea-se and my Dad’s Aunt was also a sufferer, so it’s so-methi-ng very close to

home for me.

HAVE YOU EVER GOT TO A POINT WHERE THE BAND HAS NEARLY SPLIT?“Not yet!!”

WHO WOULD YOU SAY ARE YOUR PERSONAL CHOICE OF HEROS AND HERIONES?? “Chris Walken, Kim Deal, Debbie Harry, Carlos D, John Carpenter, Stan Lee, Nova.”

AGREED ON ALL OF THOSE! WHERE WOULD YOU LIKE CLIP STAMP FOLD TO BE IN FIVE

YEARS TIME? “Playing Glasto,

Reading (main stages) and appearing on Jools Holland!”

AND WHY

DO YOU

GUYS GET UP

TO FOR FUN?

“Cycle, design

graphics, play golf, drink & play music.”

WHO IS YOUR IDEAL WOMAN TO MUSICALLY COLLABORATE WITH?“Rihanna.”

AND WHAT ABOUT YOUR IDEAL WOMAN TO HAVE ON YOUR ARM? “I LOVE Christina Hendricks, Winona Ryder and Heather Graham.”

WHAT WORD OR WORDS SUM UP YOUR MUSIC BEST IN YOUR

OPINION? “Post-punk.”

WHAT IS MOST PRECIOUS TO YOU IN THE WORLD? “Health, family & my iPhone.”

WHERE IS YOUR DREAM VENUE TO PLAY A GIG? “Glastonbury Festival!”

ARE YOU NICE BOYS OR ROCKSTARS?! “Nice boys for sure!”

HAHA WE’LL BELIEVE YOU, MILLIONS WOULDN’T!

LISTEN TO CLIP STAMP FOLD AT WWW.MYSPACE.COM/CLIPSTAMPFOLD AND

IF YOU WANT TO CHECK THEM OUT

LIVE INSTEAD, THEY’RE PLAYING

THE WORKSHOP IN OLD STREET ON 22ND JULY. THANKS TO JOEL FOSTER, BASSIST

OF CLIP STAMP FOLD AND A VERY COOL GUY.

Never Say Die! @ Camden Electric Ballroom.

7 bands, one small venue, lots of very sweaty kids and

a few fights thrown in for good measure… Can only mean one thing: The Never Say Die! Tour has rolled into town. And what a tour it is this year! Featuring an all American line up for the 1ast time in years, the bill boasts some of the heaviest bands around, all for the bargain cost of a ticket!

1st up are Vanna, who are unfortunately not well known on these shores.

As such, they struggle to make the impact they deserve, but that doesn’t stop them trying. From a technical

view, the bands sound is very easy on the ear, the traditional shouty verse/singalong chorus be-ing used to great effect here. Throw in the fistful of head bopping break downs and overall energy of the band, and we’re on to some kind of winner right here. Great way to start the evening, and a

promising band, who should go far. (6.5/10)

Next to take to the stage

are another fairly obscure band over here; The Hu-man Abstract. While they certainly put their all into tonight’s short but sweet set (vocalist Ryan Devlin even busts out a backflip at one point *cheers*) their sound may be a shade too progressive for the more hardcore/death-core ensemble tonight. A shame, as what’s on offer is certainly strong stuff! Think Born Of Osiris with clean

vocals and not as much of a headfuck and you’re on the right track! Despite the somewhat lacklus-tre crowd the band are clearly having a whale of a time, and this shows in a technically solid perfor-mance! (7/10)

As Blood Runs Black then… Well well well. Let’s sum

them up in 3 words; Heavy. As. Fuck. Seriously, these guys are so mind boggling angry it actually hurts a

little bit… That’s not to say there isn’t melody here; there certainly is, and the band is all the better for it! Drummer Leche is a standout feature here, if he wasn’t visible you’d believe they used a drum programme. Honestly. That good. Powerhouse vocalist Sonik is also a true performer, and clear-ly loves being on stage. When the band play the horrendously

tech track Hestor Prynne, the Ballroom goes mental, which certainly pleases the guys on the stage. With the release of their sec-ond album Instinct, this band are set to become huge, miss them at your peril! (8.5/10)

The last of the 4 smaller bands to play

tonight are The Word Alive. Firm favourites in their native U.S of A, the boys are on their 2nd European venture this

Time for everyone’s favourite Australian hardcore band that isn’t Parkway Drive (Don’t start a genre debate!) DEEZ NUTS! Other than being the band with the best name ever, Deez Nuts are also adored by their fans, the crowd sing al-most as loud as vocalist J.J. Peters. The highlight of the set has to be when they rip into Your Mother Should Have Swallowed you, which gets the venue pump-ing. It’s impossible to watch these boys with-out a grin plastered on your face (unless of course, you ARE devoid of a soul and a sense of humour) and that is the vibe for their set; a bit of a laugh, with some bloody good music

to boot. By the time Deez Nuts are done, the assembled mass are a lot sweatier than they were 25 minutes ago, and a fair bit hap-pier too, and that right there is the sign of a good band. (8/10)

Emmure are possibly the loudest band in the entire world. Their whole set is belted out at decibel levels I didn’t even know were possi-ble. Honestly. Opening with Solar Flare Homi-cide, off of new album Speaker Of The Dead, Emmure set the tone for their set; Scream,

Bass drop, Break-down, crowd fight… Rinse and repeat as needed. That being said, it’s a right old giggle (except you, man in the pit covered in your own blood!) and not once does it get repetitive or dull. In fact, Demons With Ryu may well be the best spectacle I’ve seen in a good ol’ while. Practically the entire crowd (even the TR00 Kids who came for Suicide Silence) are attempt-ing to kill each other during the breakdown (This is a metaphor, no

year. Their sound is easily accessible, as for a American band, they have grasped melody and aggression in bril-liant balance, and have some very European extreme influences in their sound. Tidy. Telle Smith is on top form tonight, jump-ing around the stage and screaming like an absolute animal! The crowd lap these guys up, launching pit after pit, and even a pretty big wall of death at one point. New track Apologician is a favour-ite, and gets everybody bouncing around and bopping those heads. OH! And their bass drops are TASTY! Great set, great band. Result. (8/10)

human life was lost during Emmure’s set). By the end of proceedings, the Ball-room sort of resembles a post war refugee camp; groups of beaten looking people huddled together, drenched in their own dis-gusting body fluids. Yum. (9/10)

Finally it’s time for to-night’s headliners Suicide Silence! After their brief UK stint earlier this year, the boys are back, and ready to break some necks with their legendary deathcore tunes. Open-

ing with fan favourite Wake Up, they launch ferociously into their set, causing some huge mosh pits, and even huger sing-alongs. Mitch Lucker may well be one of, if not THE best front man in metal today. The way he hurls his body around the stage, stomping away on his huge riser, and whipping out that trademark ptero-dactyl headbang, all while screaming like a wounded animal, is truly impressive. To say the crowd lap it up is an understatement, they worship this guy.

They worship the band. As the crowd howl along to Fuck Everything, and assemble for an enor-mous wall of death, it is clear to see that Suicide Silence are on top form, and maintain their legend-ary live reputation. If the deathcore scene is really on it’s way out (we don’t think so personally) then the world of metal will have lost some big hitters. Until then, it’s clear that Suicide Silence remain the world’s very best death-core band, hands down. (No arguing now keyboard

warriors, nobody cares about your opinion.) (10/10)

All in all then, a great night for the heavier side of music then, and it’s safe to say that everyone has had a blast tonight. Frankie of Emmure makes a nice point “Tonight, we are one big fucking fam-ily”. What a nice senti-ment, and that is how this review is ending. Ciao.

Words & photos by: Jake Owens

Tonight is round 2 of Shikari taking over the Ballroom, and the second sold out show here to boot. After facing the huge queue round the block, and

LIVE @ ELECTRIC BALLROOMSupported by letlive & Your Demise

the usual tricky business of actually getting in to the ballroom (please, get a wider entrance and lose the stairs guys) we are faced by quite the sight. The stage is literally draped in lighting gear,

speakers and huge upside triangles. It looks good. Let’s get to it.

LetLive are up 1st, and are definitely interesting to say the least. They describe themselves as “A pop-punk band, with a lot of soul”, which is actually pretty much spot on, there are some old style grooves and rhythms here tonight, quite refreshing really. The crowd are suitable impressed, yelling along the words, and generally getting a bit sweaty. Where these

guys are flawed though is in the essence of the performance. They are billed as “The most exciting live band in the world”. They aren’t. Sorry. But the way that vocalist Jason Butler keeps falling over, and singing into the mirrors is just tedious, and really detracts from an otherwise solid performance. If these guys can focus their energy a little bit better, they could be great, but for now they’re just good. (6.5/10)

Your Demise are main

Come on guys, quit monkeying around!

To the window... To the wall!

Supported by letlive & Your Demisesupport tonight, a position where you’d think they would really shine. Unfortunately, they never quite rise to the occasion. It’s hard to place, but something is definitely missing here. The band just don’t seem that into it. Sure they jump around a lot (this IS hardcore after all), but they don’t seem to have the passion tonight. That’s not to say it’s all bad, they play a selection of perfectly acceptable tunes from their back catalogue, and do so well, sounding really tight. However, the over reliance on jumping around, shouting at the crowd to “Step up” and an over reliance on bass drops make the set lacking, maybe even a tad boring? There’s a lot that needs to be done before these boys really take it to the next level. (5/10)

On the subject of the next level, Enter Shikari

have bypassed that, and then some. The way that they totally own the stage, and all the crowd as well is a testament to the hard work these boys have been putting into their music since they began 8 years ago. Their sound is now truly their own, nobody else who you could compare their sound to can even come close to these guys now, with new songs such as Sssnakepit and Quelle Surprise! Showing how they have refined themselves into the band that they really want to be. Shikari also embody a true sense of fun and showmanship which hasn’t been seen in the rock scene for years (I can’t name a frontman as good as Rou right now – Jake), and this shows in how the band can stop between songs for a chat and some crowd banter before carrying on. Any time you see a man dressed as a monkey

run on stage and feed the band bananas, before hurling more into the crowd, you know you’re having fun, and tonight is no exception (this is NOT an obscure metaphor, this actually happened!), and fun is how this night

should be remembered. All the best Shikari songs are in the set as well, from Destabilise all the way back to Sorry, You’re Not A Winner, with some Ok, Time for Plan B thrown in for good measure too. For a band that is still so young to be able to come out and play over an hour of solid tunes which everyone knows all the words to is a real testament to how the music scene in the UK is far from dead. In fact, we’re just getting going. One final word to sum up tonight’s show: AMAZING. (10/10)

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Young Guns and Every Avenue The Xcerts and Dangerous

HMV Forum

The Xcerts are an odd choice for sure… They’re just a bit odd. Not to say that they’re a bad band (they aren’t) but they don’t really seem to fit this bill of jump around, shout along to the words music… They describe themselves as distorted pop, and that’s actually quite an accurate way to sum them up. So while they don’t quite live up to the other bands tonight from a performance aspect, their musicianship is spot on, and their sound is really rather pleasant. Think more relaxing at home on your sofa than in this big venue full of over excitable teenage fans. Still, they sound good, and that’s the point isn’t it? (6/10)

It’s certainly impressive that Young Guns can actually fill the Forum, to say that they’ve come a long way in a short time is an understatement. Amidst the apparent horde of, let’s be honest here, teenage girls, there is a definite undercurrent of musical expectation. Let’s get straight into it then.

Dangerous! In a word are AWESOME! The new boys from Australia may not be well known on

these glorious shores but they don’t let that bother them one bit. Their infectious sound is a real treat, and the energy the boys have is simply incredible; the way they bound around the stage is a great thing to behold. The catchy tunes they have written for their debut LP “Teenage Rampage” definitely win over some new fans tonight, and with the amount of hype surrounding these boys at the minute, I expect them to go far. (7.5/10)

Young Guns and Every Avenue The Xcerts and Dangerous

HMV Forum

The Xcerts are an odd choice for sure… They’re just a bit odd. Not to say that they’re a bad band (they aren’t) but they don’t really seem to fit this bill of jump around, shout along to the words music… They describe themselves as distorted pop, and that’s actually quite an accurate way to sum them up. So while they don’t quite live up to the other bands tonight from a performance aspect, their musicianship is spot on, and their sound is really rather pleasant. Think more relaxing at home on your sofa than in this big venue full of over excitable teenage fans. Still, they sound good, and that’s the point isn’t it? (6/10)

It’s certainly impressive that Young Guns can actually fill the Forum, to say that they’ve come a long way in a short time is an understatement. Amidst the apparent horde of, let’s be honest here, teenage girls, there is a definite undercurrent of musical expectation. Let’s get straight into it then.

Dangerous! In a word are AWESOME! The new boys from Australia may not be well known on

these glorious shores but they don’t let that bother them one bit. Their infectious sound is a real treat, and the energy the boys have is simply incredible; the way they bound around the stage is a great thing to behold. The catchy tunes they have written for their debut LP “Teenage Rampage” definitely win over some new fans tonight, and with the amount of hype surrounding these boys at the minute, I expect them to go far. (7.5/10)

Words & photos by: Jake Owens

Dirty Vibes – Hit the Bottle

What a nice little old school influenced number we have here. “Hit the Bottle” is clearly inspired by acts such as Guns and Roses, but contains some of “Dirty Vibes” own little twists on things. Front Woman “Kt-Jo” leads the song perfectly with her great voice, axl rose like snarls and rock and roll lyrical content, and the rest of the band members back her up with instrumental performances that are all worthy. The only gripes are the quality of the recording and that some of the transitions between the different sections feel sloppy or awkward. If you’re a fan of all things old school, then you should check this song out.3/5

Concealing Fate– Dimensions

Dimensions instantly kicks off with a rather adept and complex attacks of guitar, bass and drums before leading into a groove orientated verse. Vocalist Sonja Harman feels like a cross between a female Matt Tuck (Bullet For My Valentine) and Amy Lee (Evanescence) and she carries the verses with great vocal prowess. When the chorus comes around the band pull out all the stops to capture a hooky chorus and succeed, but whilst Sonja’s vocal delivery remains high standard, the way she ends

her notes comes off feeling whiney and grinds down an otherwise brilliant section. The bridge and solo sections struggle with pacing, and although a good effort is put out to remain interesting, with guitarist Joe Bartholomew blistering his way through scale runs and precision attacks, They never quite come into their own. Dimensions is overall a great first track for the band to release and it really shows off their musical talents and that they have carved they own style; I look forward to hearing more from them.3/5

Perisher – No Saving Me

Previously “Confessions” the band have come back with new focus, expanding on the previous style that they had, but removing the weaker aspects and expanding the stronger ones. The sludgy drop A tremolo picking rhythms ooze with chunky grooves, and vocalist Joe Wigg delivers his vocals with aggression whilst his technique sounds more focused and less stressed. The gang vocals add well to the mix and the absence of the clean vocals only works in the bands favour. The only downside is that the song never really reaches a peak and seems to finish just before you expect a finale’ of some sort. Still an absolute stride in terms of band development, Keep your eyes on Perisher.4/5

Dethrone Exodus – Fakes Have No Regrets

The first thing you notice when you listen to the new Dethrone Exodus track is the huge shift in style from the previous work of “For the Fallen” (Their Previous and first release). The clean vocals of guitarist Ben Slight are a lot more prominent here and while for the most part he delivers, some of his delivery feels overly exerted and the tell tale signs of pitch correction stand out. Lead vocalist Liam Barker however shines, as he delivers well aimed screams which lacerate the listener into submission, but finds himself taking a back seat for half the track leaving one wishing he had more showtime. The Guitars and bass are catchy and the fact they have a totally different feel from previous work, shows that Dethrone Exodus are not a 1-trick pony. The drums continue with the trend of some nice little fills and effective bass pedal patterns that drummer Matt Mead Utilized on the previous release. Fakes Have No Regrets is a great track and while it lacks the iconic shines of “I Am Wolf” or “For The Fallen” it is by no means a bad track. It’s up for streaming on their face book player so go listen right away!4/5

Near Ruin (Featuring Logan Wolfe of Five Days Time) – Read Between The Lines

Near Ruin drop their classical piano feel in exchange for some saw tooth synths and it adds a whole new dimension to their sound. The guitar and bass chug away power chord rhythms’ while keys player Simon Beck, sweeps and dances all over his keyboard delivering catchy hook after catchy hook. Cue in the chorus and Five Days Time vocalist/front man Logan Wolfe joins the party with his raspy vocal style throwing lyrics back and forth between him and the Near Ruin vocalist, which only adds another layer to the song. The recording quality is the only real draw back here as at points the vocals seem to cut abruptly into each other, the sampled drums whilst featuring some blistering fills, could have done with mixing improvements or been recorded properly and for half the song the bass guitar feels barley existent. Read Between The Lines is an unexpected collaboration but defiantly a welcome one. It’s nice to see what happens when bands of different genres collide and this is proof that it can defiantly work. The songs free to stream on YouTube. Check it out.4/5

AV+N latest full length begins with an instrumental that is probably the easiest thing to listen to on the album, simple down-tuned guitar strokes with some well-produced, mid-tempo drums, yet as soon as you get to “Maximum Purity” you begin to see flashes of where we’re going on this album. Every Time I Die style vocal yelps with Ghost Of A Thousand screams thrown in for good measure litter every song but if you’re relying on the vocals to tell you where you are in the song, you’re not going to get far. AV+N are so far away from the mainstream it’s hard to see where they are, yet their technical ability and left-field song structure is so enduring after the blistering “Wound Licker” you’ll realise how simplistic contemporary music has become and search for more bands like AV+N; the problem is there aren’t any. “Ear Of The Horse” rocks like a motherfucker with sludge and groove seeping out of every riff and time signature change and considering this band used to be a run-of-the-mill heavy metal band, the change in style over the last few years is astounding. “Horse” opens with a riff so simple yet so apocalyptic that it sound like the end of the world as orchestrated by Jeffrey Dahmer; it’s like a dark, fucked-up version of a fairground song, stick it on, close your eyes and picture the most disturbing things possible, perfect fit right? Although many would argue that 8 tracks with the first song

instrumental would merit the title mini-album, yet this is an album so lacking in filler and waste that it’s closer to a distorted, down-turned work of art and is perfect the way it is; why add in 4 more songs to add the false appearance of value? Listened to from start to finish, this album challenges everything you think you know about music as this album as more integrity in its little finger than Frank Carter has in his whole pointless body. If criticism has to be made, it’s that this album is so brilliantly messed-up, layered and repeat playability that they could actually become huge off the back of it, which obviously isn’t a bad thing but it’s hard to see how AV+N can work outside of their current gig circuit of small venues that they tear a new arsehole every night. With any luck they’ll get huge and keep producing music this good, especially on the strangely beautiful “Episode One, Part Two” where the guitar lightly dances over the chaos underneath before falling into an incredibly passionate and aggressive conclusion with some pretty great backing vocals, providing an incredible end to an incredible album. Go get it and go see them, yet remember after you do, no band you see will ever be as good. Fucking brilliant.

9/10 - Sam Craddock

The EP starts with “Diminished Responsibility” which with distorted ambience, sets a dark tone which remains for the rest of the EP. A guitar opens the track and shortly joined with drum crashes. You can tell from this moment that you are in for a ride. Sure enough when everything kicks in the song is an explosion of dark energy. The vocals produce a low throaty menacing growl while the two guitars seem to be constantly battling each other. The drummer seemed content on just pounding the shit out of the kit while the bass is more likely to be felt rather than heard.

There is a small pause before “Laid to Waste” kicks in, which sounds quite similar to part of “Diminished Responsibility” as the two songs just merge so seamlessly together, however it still manages to retain it’s own identity. This track feels a lot more aggressive than the previous, and there is a real feeling of raw energy that seems to radiate from it. This song is definitely the one that makes you want to get up and start

moshing!

“Cincinatti Bow Tie” is a song that you might expect to find on an early Bring Me The Horizon album. There is certainly a lot of feeling behind this track, particularly on the vocalist’s part. The guitars switch between full out aggressive to clever technical playing, which works very well. As usual the bass and drums seem content on powering through everything but downplaying when needed.

The last song “Innocence” shows a more emotional side to Death Remains. The vocals in particular carry a lot of emotion, especially with the harmonies and could even be compared to the likes of Killswitch Engage.

From my description you are probably expecting this EP to fit snugly into the ‘metalcore’ genre and you would be quite right in assuming so, but that’s never a bad thing is it? “A Thousand Lives” is an impressive first release and definitely one to check out.

- Callum Lillie

Ascend To Glory’s self titled EP is their first proper release, and having attended their EP launch and buying myself a copy for the small fee of £4, I decided I would review it.

The first thing you are greeted by when you pop in the Ascend To Glory EP is the mid-tempo metalcore attack of “Judgment Day” It’s a great way to capture the listener with its simple but hooky riff and while it doesn’t push the boat out, it’s a safe start. The riff repeats (with a harmony), and we are drawn straight into the verse where vocalist Sam Moore starts to deliver some hit and miss clean vocals, at points he sounds great but the quality varies and suffers throughout. The band all play with dexterity hitting power chords for a memorable chorus and riffing through out the verses, but the solo sections lack polish and seem to last forever, and verge on becoming boring to the listener. Judgment Day is by no means a bad song, just feels like a par effort from a band which

could deliver more.The next track up is Waking The Stars, which is personally my least favorite track, again it would be unfair to say it is a bad song, but the sections seem uninspired and while great opportunities shine throughout, Ascend To Glory never seem to capitalize on these parts, and therefore Waking The Stars becomes a bit bland, and even this time a rather

forgettable affair.

Having personally thought the EP up until this point had been rather mediocre; Redemption was the track which instantly captured my attention. The clean intro, the drum work perfectly building up, the haunting feel of the chord progression into a faced paced attacking verse, I was instantly immersed. The vocals switch to a low scream technique, then just as you get comfortable Sam Moore switches up to some higher screams, but the contrast works perfectly. The chorus utilizes clean vocals, but they are much tighter here than the previous songs and meld perfectly into a catchy hook. The high standard keeps up with a bass bridge into a breakdown section a solo and a welcomed 3rd verse. Redemption had successfully kept me pinned to my chair and pumped ready for more.

Distant Memories, followed and

while feeling out of place after the mayhem of Redemption, I soon eased into the acoustic chords and electric leads scattered throughout. The vocals are sung with passion; yet the performance doesn’t feel strong enough to carry such a softer song, and while many moments capture the emotion the band try are getting across, it just doesn’t reach the peaks that the listener is waiting for.

Fight Onwards, launches straight away with a metalcore riff written and played with tenacity and speed, Vocalist Sam Moore is back with his screaming and nails some rather adept rap-like multi-syllable deliveries. The song breaks away into a slower refrain which does great to split up and vary the sections. The solo sections wrap the song up nicely and only enforce the Bullet for my valentine vibe it has about it.

The final song, titled “The Showdown” starts with a chugging riff, and filters into metalcore assault with clean vocals, but it’s the refrain where vocalist Sam Moore screams “HERE COMES THE SHOWDOWN” at the top of his lungs before the band break into a bridging section where it really comes into it own. What follows is a rollercoaster ride with quite possibly the best chorus section on the CD.

Ascend To Glory’s first effort is a good one, as such a young group of musicians, they should defiantly be proud of what they have achieved, There is a some good quality material on show here, Redemption, Fight Onwards and The Showdown all show the band really coming into their own, but as a whole the CD is held back by a selection of negative points. Be it songs that feel like an after thought or didn’t reach their full potential, below average recording quality, or individual member’s performances that vary throughout.

Overall Ascend To Glory is defiantly worth a listen, especially if you’re tastes lie anywhere between Asking Alexandria and BFMV. 6/10 – Metal Gremlin

I’m going to rant about drugs again. Drugs obviously can have positive effects on people, whether this be having an empathetic conversation with someone on ecstasy, keeping alert with some caffeine on dark and sleepy roads, having your moods stabilized if you have bipolar disorder, antipsychotics for schizophrenics, a mind expanding subjective acid trip into the depths of the most complicated thing known in the universe (the human brain), or justw generally having a piss up and a laugh with your mates.

Of course, we all know drugs in general can be dangerous to anyone, that’s everything from coffee to heroin. But this very over-simplification of “drugs are good” or “drugs are bad” amounts to black and white thinking, and obscures the truth: that it is far more complicated. Different drugs work in different ways, and they also depend on the person. A normal person taking antipsychotics, for example, would probably experience negative effects, whereas a schizophrenic is completely reliant on the brain balancing properties that this drug has on them.I think anti-drugs campaigns and attitudes are more often than not hypocritical or they perpetuate rather than alleviate any problems caused by drugs. This is because the people who hold the most extreme views have an air of superiority or higher intelligence, when really they are just reflecting and regurgitating a widely accepted dogma which is untrue and contrary to scientific fact. The issue is that some people have the propensity for addiction and destructive behaviour and others do not. Some people take certain drugs and it destroys them, others have a great time and nothing bad comes of it. The best example of this is alcohol (which is one of the most dangerous drugs around, statistically more so than Ketamine and MDMA). Not everybody ends up an alcoholic though. Just as not everyone who takes Ketamine becomes a fish out of water helplessly sprawled out

in a K-hole maze. Cocaine for example is a dangerous drug, but again, depending on the individuals propensity for destruction, can be something that a person takes twice and never takes again. This is the risk that people take (whilst we know little of the intricacies of how the brain works) and until we can pinpoint those at high risk before destructive behaviour starts to happen, you can only guess how one person will react in comparison to another.Something to remember is that it cannot be anything but hypocritical to take up a sententious attitude if you are yourself somebody who drinks because you are putting yourself in harm’s way just as much, in fact, more than some illegal drugs (alcohol would be considered class A if revaluated according to drug experts). Whether you think drugs are cool or whether you think that hanging round with the wrong people is going to make you any more or less likely to become an addict are both redundant in that they make no difference to the overall picture. Until you can pre-empt and treat the propensity for destructive behaviour, you cannot do very much, except offer love and understanding to change a bad situation (unless you resort to totalitarian means, which will corrupt the progression of mankind).

These people do need to be pitied and offered help, BUT, if the help is rejected, depending on the drug and the person, sometimes there is nothing you can do (the way things stand). As somebody with an alcoholic in my family, I understand how this works and have been told that taking the “high ground” or getting angry at the person etc, never solves the problem and is completely futile. It is always down to the individuals brain wiring; some people are far more likely to have destructive behaviour and have drugs destroy their lives and contrary to popular belief this IS NOT THEIR FAULT and should not be treated as if it is through some malevolent whim of theirs (modern neuroscience suggests that we have very little, if any, free will). Sometimes tough love is appropriate when a person’s behaviour starts to have direct and devastating effects on the people surrounding them. For example, if an alcoholic is getting aggressive, you have your own health to think about as well, and although it may be hard, removing yourself from the situation may be the

only option until the person is willing to cooperate.

However, although it is true, that for some people drugs or destructive traits may unequivocally ruin their lives (and in the process the lives of others), for a lot of people, love and understanding of the situation and basic altruistic support helps them through it and they can live a life with a better understanding of themselves, their vices, and how to protect themselves essentially from a brain that they do not have complete control over. I have a friend I often worry about, who has obvious destructive traits; he always says “drugs are cool”. I think the “Pro-drugs” camp is similarly misguided as the anti. To say that drugs are cool (again, in a black and white fashion), is to categorize a myriad of stars as “bright” without looking closer at the distinct nature of each and every one to know their uniqueness. To say that drugs are cool is to also act as a propagandist for yourself. For example: if it’s cool for everyone else, then it’s cool for me. This works in the same way that an alcoholic will offer others drink, if it’s okay for them, its okay for me. But it is important to understand why people have to make excuses for destructive behaviour, for things that they feel they need to do to escape some inner or outer reality, some past or present trauma, to discover something more than the banalities of life, or because their brains simply encourage them to stand closer to the fire, just to see what happens. If you find out why, then you are half way there to knowing how, and if, you can change it.

The truth is that it’s far more complicated than “drugs are good” or “drugs are cool” or “drugs are bad”. It depends on a whole bunch of things with each and every individual, and depending on how much free will we have, it is up to us how many risks we want to take. With Alcohol, Cocaine, Ketamine, Coffee shops, Soap operas, Proximal abandonment, I-phones, Magazines, News channels, Waterboarding, Social networking sites, Porn, designer clothes, Imperialism, new shoes, sex, Hollywood movies, books, the atmosphere, the planet… loneliness. All of these can be damaging in some way and all of these things change our brains.

Anti Drugs VS Drugs Are Cool

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