We didn’t have a Pit Romney column up last week, a critical error since HOLY CRAPS SO MUCH HAPPENED! So without further ado, here’s your latest round-up of the goings on in the wonderful world of hardcore festivals!

The bilingual bunch behind Quebec’s sixth Heart Fest recently revealed the full lineup for this three-day event, conveniently sorted by date and set order. How efficient! Two venues in Gatineau, Qc will accommodate the festivities: The Odysée (Friday May 4th – Saturday May 5th) and A.R.G. (Sunday May 6th). The headliners include Defeater, Reign Supreme, Stray From The Path, and 100 Demons, backed by a stupefying list of support acts, including Daylight, Daytrader, Wrong Answer, Soul Control, Expire, Warhound, Perfo, Born Low, Agitator, The Beautiful Ones, Revenge, Enforcers, Your Demise, and Obey The Brave. After you catch your breath, check out the full details here.

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Expire first came to my attention this year with the Suffer The Cycle 7″ for 6131 Records. Clearly, I wasn’t the only one to notice this solid effort, as Bridge Nine has just announced that the Midwest hardcore band will release their debut full-length for the label in 2012. While we wait, B9 isn’t wasting time in merchandising the moment, and already have an Expire t-shirt for sale. I presume it will be available when they hit Europe with labelmates Foundation later this month. (Dates below.)

Still, if I may be permitted to abuse a tired phrase, when one door closes, another opens. 6131 has just announced a new signing of its own: The Beautiful Ones. No word whether or not these guys are big Prince fans, but their 2011 demo–which you can listen to for free, fool–contains no trace of Paisley Park funk. Fans of Cruel Hand and Trapped Under Ice should take notice, because this is definitely in that wheelhouse. Expect their debut EP in “early 2012″ according to the 6131 blog.

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Back in late April, we were thrilled to provide the exclusive pre-release album stream of When The Smoke Clears, the latest album from Atlanta’s straight-edge up-and-comers Foundation. This exceptional and oh-so-metallic record has garnered a great deal of attention from the hardcore community and seems to have already served to raise their profile in an otherwise crowded scene. (Album cut “Devotion II” might have single-handedly accomplished this task.)

As such, Foundation are doing the logical thing and hitting the road for shows throughout North America, culminating in their appearance opening for Underdog at the first night of this year’s highly anticipated This Is Hardcore festival in Philly. Tour dates are below, though I have it on good authority that there are more to be announced. Oh no, I’ve said too much!

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In a scene where yearly festivals are as abundant as they are sweaty, This Is Hardcore has emerged as the leader of the pack, unequivocally the most anticipated of all hardcore music events in America. Combining coveted reunions with plentiful appearances by modern acts big and small, the event brings revelers and pit beasts to Philadelphia for a humid August weekend. Part of the fest’s success stems from its notorious secrecy, and 2011′s is no exception. The lineup was embargoed until noon EST on Monday May 30, at which point tickets immediately went on sale online and at AKA in Philly. Extended from three to four days of music, the fest boasts performances from metallic acts like Madball, Maximum Penalty, Mother of Mercy, Nails, Reign Supreme, Ringworm, Suburban Scum, Terror, and Victims.

If you’re reading this now and you haven’t bought your ticket yet, you’re not attending This Is Hardcore 2011. Four-day as well as weekend passes sold out in less than 24 hours, and at the time of this writing, extremely limited numbers of single-day tickets were available. The full lineup, organized in order by day, can be found below.

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Bridge Nine started out 2011 with Mother Of Mercy’s IV: Symptoms Of Existence, a nasty thrashy LP (which we premiered) that set a high bar for both the label and the genre. Fortunately, the imprint shows no signs of shying away from the challenge set for itself. The latest B9 offering for the heavy music community comes from Foundation, an Atlanta-based straight edge combo with a taste for (non-narcotic) speed and weight. When The Smoke Clears is the band’s first full-length for B9, following the essential Hang Your Head on Six Feet Under, which I scored at one of their shows at a community center on Long Island last year. Having lost none of their bite, Foundation virtually foam at the mouth over the course of these ten rabid cuts. But seriously, don’t just take my word for it; listen to the record exclusively below!

Like what you hear? I’ll bet you do! Thankfully, you wont have to wait very long to own this one. When The Smoke Clears drops Tuesday May 3, and you can still pre-order the CD and vinyl (with bonus goodies like posters and stickers) directly from the label.

-GS

This week sees new releases by Graveyard, Periphery, Blut Aus Nord, Septicflesh, Winds of Plague, and tons more. MS new release expert Vic Vaughn takes a looksee at each after the jump!

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Though the year has only just begun, it’s never too early to start speculating about and dissecting this year’s hardcore festivals. The organizers behind the Black N Blue Bowl have already announced a date–May 28th–and are boasting of a lineup worthy of pants-shitting. Given last year’s Supertouch and Yuppicide reunions as well as co-headliners Cro-Mags and Madball, that’s a mighty boast. (Agnostic Front has a new album coming out this year–just saying!)

United Blood, the two-day Richmond Virginia fest, has not only revealed its 2011 dates and location, but a chunk of the roster of artists scheduled to play. And while the initial band list is certainly representative of hardcore today, as it lacks the punch of a cult reunion or surprise headliner. By contrast, last summer’s This Is Hardcore fest included sets from the rebooted Kid Dynamite, Ink and Dagger, and Sheer Terror–and it sold out in less than two days. Furthermore, an overwhelming majority of these bands lready performed at last year’s United Blood, begging the question as to why others aren’t being subbed in. I’d love to see bands with profiles like First Blood and Most Precious Blood on the bill, or artists like Hivemind or Incendiary that could surely benefit from the exposure given by a prominent fest like this.

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If you’re one of those people who read this site every day (God bless you, you fucking masochists!), you may have noticed a lack of premium content from yours truly these past couple of weeks. That’s because I’ve been in Japan soaking in neon, dining on fresh sushi, and recoiling in horror at the perverse underbelly of otaku. I did manage to hit up a few rock bars in Osaka (Rock Rock — check out who else has been there!) and Tokyo (Beat Cafe), but otherwise this was a pretty metal-free trip–and that’s okay with me.

So, shit, man. Quite a bit happened in the wonderful world of hardcore while I was away! Ruiner broke up. This Is Hardcore 2010 finally revealed its drool-inducing lineup and sold out in less than two days. (I wasn’t able to get my tickets in time, sadly.) Unsane announced a series of U.S. dates where they’ll play 1995′s awesome Scattered Smothered & Covered live in its entirety. Notable releases included Ceremony’s Rohnert Park, for which I’ll be posting a review later this week. Some pretty awesome tours were announced as well. Check out the dates for some of these below.

Looking forward to your “Welcome Back” sentiments in the Comments section!

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