Issue 6

The Counterforce Issue #6 is here, featuring all the content published since the last issue... See it all collected online here, and download an imposed PDF to print and distro yourself: US Letter A4 PDFs for past issues, and many more zines are available on our Zines page....

NINES? TENS? DON’T TALK CRAZY! HOW MANY REALLY EXIST OUT THERE? HOW ABOUT WE CELEBRATE THE BEST OF OUR USELESS TOIL AND LEAVE THE HYPERBOLE FOR PITCHFORK DOT COM. 8/10 IS NOT BAD! IT’S PRETTY MUCH THE BEST! ...

What changed recently in Barcelona? A new breed of bands have appeared suddenly in the last three years creating an insane experiment of raw sounds. I will talk about the whole scene in the future, but one of the most extreme and interesting cases are DOMINACIÓN, a band created to satisfy the most intense feelings for the noisy music we all like. Blending members of another thousand bands (LUMPEN, IRREAL, ASPRE, SAYÓN... the list could be too long) their love for the Japanese bands like FRAMTID ...

I take punk album lyrics very seriously, and I enjoy reading an insert full of phrases that somehow make me think. In fact, with this obsession with lyrics, I tend to err on the side of writing overly convoluted lyrics. I'm always surprised when an album has lyrics that are just one line, and even more so when those lines aren't just boastful talk but also can be a direct and effective political shot. In Ckaos Total, the punks from TÀRREGA 91 have managed to synthesize concepts in their minimal ...

I lived in Victoria for 10 years in the late 90's/early 2000's and since then, understandably, a lot of things have changed, but a lot has stayed the same. Here's a few things I tapped into while I was there recently....

Malas Artes is already a classic in Barcelona. After so many years of the festival (previously called MDA), each edition seems more impressive than the previous one, and the imagination and energy behind this huge event has opened new spaces to punk in this city. The fest is organized by a nonprofit association with three punks behind it and lots of people who collaborate in many different ways. This year, all the proceeds were donated to the Palestinian Community of Catalonia, who also were the...

Intro Few things in punk bother me more than when Facebook or Instagram are the only ways to find out about shows. For the past decade I've tried many different online and offline projects to provide alternative ways for Montreal punks to promote and find out about shows. I started with a flyer blog (I think), and for many years I did an e-mail list with monthly show listings. For a while there was a monthly print version too. I helped with a telephone hotline. And I've printed and handed out t...

This is not a review of a split – it's a split review! Two records, one review! Contributed by D. Alexander Holmes DESTRUXION AMERIKA is originally the brainchild of “Eskorbeto” the nom de plume for the vocalist of everyone’s favorite warp-speed Texas hardcore punk contemporary legends NOSFERATU. This release pairs them with the three core members of local NYC heroes TOWER 7 (everyone’s fav [sic] thrashy crust outfit from NYC’s post-pandemic years) and KALEIDOSCOPE (review imminently pending) (...

The fuck you attitude of Boston seeps out of every seam of these 7 new hardcore punk tracks from PHAGOCYTE. Lot's of tasteful big riffs, a venomous vocal delivery and enough tempo changes to keep you on the tips of your boots. Standout tracks include "Manufactured Entropy," a frantic dive into the paranoia brought on by over stimulation caused by the relentless machine of the military industrial complex and a freshened up version of "Weaponized Incompetence" (originally released on the B.U.D.L....

"The world is being blinded. We are all forced to tune out the world's dramas. Some, on the other hand, are fighting back with every ounce of energy they have, defending every inch of land with hunger and prolonged suffering. Of course, they persevere out of love." The second release from the anonymous Indonesian raw punk band carries the torch of their first release, albeit with a much darker and sinister sound. Expect all the raw punk frantic energy, but with some black and death metal inspir...

I'm not the hugest fan of the THE SUBHUMANS' discography. Overall, they are bit too garage-y for me, the rock solos rub me the wrong way, and their style of satire doesn't grab my attention most of the time. People talk about the songwriting and favour one member's songs over the other, but aside from the real rippers none of them really grab me. The subject matter is great, but their sound just isn't my thing, this record in particular. So why am I writing a review of a classic that I don't rea...

Peru's VORÁGINE are back with seven more tracks of gut busting, fuzzed out raw d-beat punk that'll have you begging for more. All the classics are here, we got delayed vocals, blistering guitar solos, blasting snare rolls, more d-beats than a DISCHARGE 7inch, and even a tasteful ATAQUE FRONTAL cover that breathes frantic new life into an already iconic crusty Peruvian classic punk song. What else is there to say? If you like pogoing in the pit, pumping your fist to the eternal rhythm of the d-b...

FRANTIC SHIT!!! I've been a huge fan of the Earth Girl / Hattiesburg scene since BAGHEAD and BIG BLEACH flew up to Toronto for a freezing March fest a loooong time ago, absolutely blew the roof off the place. The label's never really stopped or slowed down even a little, building and expanding a catalog of hand-made tapes, and I highly recommend the Dog City live sessions they've been doing on the LICEHEAD Youtube channel. Everything they do is unified in celebration of quick 'n' dirty bands in ...

We recently took our powerviolence/hardcore band VERIFY on an 11 day tour of Atlantic Canada. What follows is both a traditional tour diary, but also a tour guide, hopefully something that will empower and encourage other bands to visit this frequently overlooked and underrated part of the world. ...

Montrealer DLA contributed this show review from their recent travels abroad. A show review and brief scene report from Prague! A punk show with hipster blazers and film photography? Let's go!!! If in Prague and if in need of a concert, do yourself a favor and hit up Eternia Smichov. I found myself there on a cold Tuesday night in March after some deep diving into the depths of internet forums sent me to the Berlin lefty/punk aggregator page StressFaktor (https://stressfaktor.squat.net/termine...

Ghas Attack: Tell us about Dajjeh. First off what does ضجة mean? What was the inspiration behind its conception? Dajjeh is a collective of seven people putting on punk and hardcore shows in Beirut for a little over a year. ‘Dajjeh’ means loud noise, and usually carries a negative connotation of something disturbing. It started in February 2024 in response to a feeling that there weren’t spaces for us to come together, scream along to the music we love, and release our frustration together. If t...

Here's a quick one from the gut, 'cause I can't get this one outta my head. Three crunchy, nasty tracks from LA's RATONERA HUMANA, recalling the best of the old Silenzio Statico scene, plus that first unhinged outing by INSERVIBLES. I feel like this short demonstration could, would, and should have everyone from the spiked-out pogoers to the pasty faced goths united in agreement: it fucks! Very much looking forward to more. Big thanks to dule.klc666 for bringing it to the "world's" attention. C...

My intention is to get a review in for each of my "Best of 2024" picks before the passage of time renders them all irrelevant (this space not safe for Greg the Builder, but how boring a world it would be to let a calendar dictate yer tastes! Eye digress: destroy time!). I arranged that list all alphabetical-like as to avoid some sorta hierarchy, but I'd be lying if I said this wasn't my #1. Word on the street is SHARP PINS carries a heavy GUIDED BY VOICES influence, a claim supported by their G...

New demo from four young Chicago go-hards who dropped a music video before a demo, but if that makes yer vision go red, you should take up a hobby. Knitting, kayaking, get the blood pumping for chrissakes! As for pumping blood, "violent by nature" is one of the more straightforward hardcore punk releases I've enjoyed in some time, but goddamn is it good. I snagged the tape at a somewhat ill-fated gig at the Orphanage back in January. Live, I felt like there was a little more d-beat influence th...