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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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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2010 has already been an eventful year for reunited New York hardcore bands. Favorites like Cro-Mags and Killing Time, the latter of which dropped a great new album a couple months ago, have been playing live gigs. Agnostic Front performed a one-off show with their classic Victim In Pain and United Blood rhythm sections in lieu of their present recording/touring lineups. Recently, Bridge Nine announced the return of Underdog with a forthcoming complete discography and a handful upcoming live shows. Out of nowhere, Supertouch and Yuppicide have both returned to play this weekend’s Black N Blue Bowl. But now, despite my earlier elation, I’m starting to wonder if this trend is getting out of hand.

In the past 24 hours, I’ve learned about several more NYHC reunions. Late-eighties group Inside Out (not to be confused with Zack de la Rocha’s pre-RATM band of the same name) has also apparently reunited and are playing their “first show in 21 years” at Andrew W.K.’s Santos Party Haus. Additionally, BrooklynVegan scribe Black Bubblegum posted recently regarding reunited NYHC band Indecision, who have a show coming up at Knitting Factory in July. He also revealed that current New York resident Moby has regrouped with Vatican Commandos, his long-forgotten Connecticut hardcore act, for a July gig at Mercury Lounge.

So what’s going on?

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If you’re a fan of metallic hardcore and you’ve yet to catch a Reign Supreme show, you’ve been missing the fuck out, buddy. Frontman Jay Pepito, tattooed and brawny, stalks the stage with a startling amount of energy rivaled only by that of the band’s passionate fans. And boy, are those dudes into it. It’s actually pretty impressive given that Reign Supreme only just released its full-length debut Testing The Limits Of Infinite last year. Signed to Converge vocalist Jacob Bannon’s Deathwish Inc. label, the group have previously built a reputation based on a limited number of short form releases and, as I said before, one hell of a live show.

As I recounted in a review of a recent Killing Time show, Pepito knocked out an unruly attendee during Reign Supreme’s opening set. So naturally, given the opportunity to chat with him mere hours before they were to play this year’s New England Metal/Hardcore Festival, my quasi-journo music blogger integrity compelled me to ask about that incident at the outset. Check out his response below.

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(Read Part One here)

When Saturday Night Live recently aired a hilarious sketch where an 80s hardcore punk band reunited at their singer’s daughter’s wedding, it underscored an interesting dilemma. With many of their seminal, most urgent records released nearly three decades ago, how do hardcore acts from those bad ol’ days prevent themselves from becoming embarrassing, irrelevant caricatures of their former selves? One band that manages to rise above the fray is Killing Time, whose record release concert utilized levity and honesty to negate any charges of purely pandering to the nostalgia set. Armed with a new album’s worth of tunes, Killing Time may have grown up yet they haven’t lost their connection with the sentiments of hardcore.

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Late last December, I braved some bitter winter weather to catch NYHC pioneers Cro-Mags play an almost intolerably crowded gig at Andrew W.K.’s Santos Party Haus. And boy, was it worth it! With original vocalist John Joseph and drummer Mackie Jayson, alongside members of Leeway and Sick Of It All, the current incarnation–previously touring as Cro-Mags(Jam)–ripped through so many classic Age Of Quarrel cuts to the evident delight of a flailing, furious crowd of devotees. Thanks to the Intarwebz (and a courageous soul willing risk injury to record it), you can actually watch a full set from a couple days prior in Philadelphia here. But even such great footage isn’t the same as actually experiencing the band live. Well, thankfully, many of you will get the chance now that a number of Cro-Mags gigs have been announced.

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As some of you might know, I have a Twitter account. I find the microblogging site to be a useful tool for making pithy comments about the state of metal as well as for catching up on the activities of some of my favorite bands (such as Emmure, Kingdom Of Sorrow, and Jucifer). But, man, the following tweet from Agnostic Front serves as the clearest reminder of why everyone should be using this invaluable social networking service:

Upcoming Victim In Pain Tour, AF will be playing the WHOLE VIP record!! This will never happen again!!

That’s right: Agnostic Front will play Victim In Pain, the definitive NYHC album (rivaled perhaps only by Cro-Mags’ The Age Of Quarrel), live in its entirety on a tour that kicks off this week. And on one date in particular, audiences will be treated to a rare performance from the classic lineup that recorded that album.

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Though undeniably influential, Killing Time haven’t exactly been the most prolific NYHC band, thanks to a career interrupted by several hiatuses. Thankfully, the seminal “second wave” hardcore group, which reunited for the third time in 2006, will rectify that this year with their first record since 1997′s The Method. Three Steps Back drops February 9 on Dead City Records, a New York-based label which boasts releases from No Redeeming Social Value and Billy Club Sandwich in its discography. Recorded in the same garage that yielded their debut Brightside, this new album includes the same classic lineup as on that full-length, with bassist Christopher Skowronski (who joined in 2006) filling the place of former bassist/now-second guitarist Rich McLoughlin.

Peep the promotional clip above for a preview of some of the music off Three Steps Back. If you dig what you hear and you live anywhere near New York City, you’re definitely going to want to check out Killing Time when they headline their record release show on February 27th at The Knitting Factory – Brooklyn. Openers include New Jersey’s Suburban Scum and fellow second-wavers Maximum Penalty.

-GS

[Gary Suarez manages the consistently off-topic No Yoko No. Say, why don't you follow him on Twitter?]

If you’re a fan of metallic hardcore like Terror or Madball then you’re probably already into Maximum Penalty, an underrated but still respected NYHC group that has been around for over two decades. The music video above comes off last year’s Life & Times (not to be confused with former Husker Du frontman Bob Mould’s 2009 solo album of the same name). What the promotional clip lacks in originality, it makes up for in familiarity, with New York street scenes complementing frontman Jim Williams’s back-in-the-day reminiscing.

Like many long-running acts, Maximum Penalty has not retained much of its original lineup, though I had hoped to catch the current incarnation (which includes former Terror bassist Jonathan Buske) perform live this past weekend at a show at some sort of “humanist” community center out on Long Island, one of the dates on a tour with Reaper Records’ labelmates Trapped Under Ice and Forfeit. Unfortunately the band had to cancel as Williams tore his hamstring a few days ago during their set at a New Years Day hardcore matinee in Syracuse. Hopefully he’ll be all healed by their scheduled show opening for Killing Time at Brooklyn’s Knitting Factory on February 27.

-GS

[Gary Suarez helps manage Shadows FAIL. Say, why don't you follow him on Twitter?]