Your Demise

Your Demise formed in St. Albans during September 2003 and intitially featured a guy called Robert Kiff on vocals, but they didn't record anything with him. The first demo titled 'First Strike' was released in 2005 and featured Roland on vocals. I believe he was also in the OG St. Albans band Flatline (or maybe that was Robert?). They then put out a second demo in 2005 called 'Your Days Are Numbered' - George was now on vocals rather than guitar and they changed drummer between the two demos. I ripped both CDr's and while the songs are the same, the artwork is different and track times slightly different as well.

During 2006, they released their first full length on Zone 6 Records called 'You Only Make Us Stronger'. There were a few other lineup changes here, making George the only original member of the band as Stu didn't join until 2005. An interesting bit of trivia for you - the band Flatline had done a track called 'SAHC' on one of their early 00s demos (if anyone's got these, hmu) so YD did their own version called 'SAHC2'. Even further down the line, another band called Dead Weight did a track called 'SAHC3'!

Photographer and location unknown. Taken sometime in 2008.

Come 2008, they released 'The Blood Stays On The Blade' via Thirty Days Of Night Records. This was their last small release before going with the bigger independent label Visible Noise (BMTH & BFMV etc). Their lineup was mostly the members you see now at this point, aside from James who joined in 2009 from previous band Your Creation. I've also included the extended version of this that was due to be released on Three Swords Records. Not sure what happened there, but I'm not here to run the rumour mill...

I've only included the harder to find George era stuff, as the rest is readily available nowadays. I'm a fan of every iteration of this band, and they've been an important part of me growing up through the hardcore scene.

Your Demise - First Strike (2005)

Vocals - Roland Farrar

Guitar - George Noble

Guitar - Stuart Paice

Bass - Sam Brown

Drums - Ashley Davison

Your Demise - Your Days Are Numbered (2005)

Vocals - George Noble

Guitar - Stuart Paice

Bass - Sam Brown

Drums - Oliver Wolffe

Your Demise - Your Days Are Numbered [Re-Issue] (2005)

Vocals - George Noble

Guitar - Stuart Paice

Bass - Sam Brown

Drums - Oliver Wolffe

Your Demise - You Only Make Us Stronger (2006)

Vocals - George Noble

Guitar - Stuart Paice

Guitar - Andreas Yasoumi

Bass - Nathan Liddle

Drums - George Dixon

Your Demise - The Blood Stays On The Blade EP (2008)

Vocals - George Noble

Guitar - Stuart Paice

Guitar - Daniel Osbourne

Bass - James Sampson

Drums - George Dixon

Your Demise - A New Ending (2014)

Vocals - George Noble

Guitar - Stuart Paice

Guitar - Daniel Osbourne

Bass - James Sampson

Drums - George Dixon

Bring Me The Horizon

Probably the biggest band I'll ever post on here, so I hope I don't get told off for it! I'm only posting some demo stuff though, as 'This Is What The Edge Of Your Seat Was Made For' and the rest is still readily available. Formed in 2004, the band quickly wrote a demo - two of the tracks from this session are available below. Now, there is a handmade version of 'tiwteoyswmf' out there that was going to contain six tracks on a CDr. These would have been:

1. Bring Me The Fucking Horizon
2. Who Wants Flowers When You're Dead? Nobody.
3. The Film Produced The Effect I Wanted, And It Plunged Like A Dagger Into The Heart Of Paris As I Had Foretold. Our Film Ruined In A Single Evening Ten Years
4. Passe Compose (I Admit, I Was Never That Good At)
5. Traitors Never Play Hang Man
6. We Are All Moviestars

It's a shame the rest of these songs weren't actually recorded in this state, as you can see them live if you do some digging on YouTube. Tracks 2 & 3 have been floating around for some time now, one of them was incorrectly labelled as 'Shed Light'. Interestingly, the CDr does actually exist, but only contains a video of Oli's brother Tom skateboarding. Another point of interest with the CDr, is that the artwork says they live a 'drug free lifestyle'. I've also heard of a t-shirt that says xbmthx or something like that - if anyone can confirm the truth surrounding this, that'd be ace! The actual CD would then be properly recorded and released through Thirty Days Of Night Records in late 2004 and then reissued with different artwork by Visible Noise in 2005.

Photo taken by Mel Siddall. Public toilet, Sheffield 2004.

Also included with the downloads are their 2005 BBC Radio 1 session where they play Dragon Slaying (AKA Liquor & Love Lost), Medusa and Off The Heezay. These all vary in quality, but I can't find any official mention of this session online and I've had these for well over a decade with nothing better being leaked. Oli's vocals are truly savage on this session and he's even thrown in a few pig squeals for good measure! These tracks would obviously be properly recorded for 'Count Your Blessings' in 2006 and I'm sure you all know their upwards trajectory from there. While I only like bits and pieces after 'Sempiternal', it's still really cool seeing where they started compared to where they are now (although, Post-Human was excellent and I love the nu metal style they went for).

If anyone has any of these demos in clearer quality, please hit me up on Instagram.

Bring Me The Horizon - Demo (2004)

Vocals - Oliver Sykes

Guitar - Curtis Ward

Guitar - Lee Malia

Bass - Matt Kean

Drums - Mat Nicholls

Bring Me The Horizon - BBC Radio 1 Session (2005)

Enter Shikari

Formed out of St. Albans in 1999 as a three-piece called Hybryd, they played something more akin to Muse. This incarnation recorded a demo around 2001/2002, but I don't think it ever saw a physical release. Rory joined the band in 2003 and they changed their name to Enter Shikari. They'd started picking up more of a hardcore influence from the Herts scene (cryforsilence being one of those influences), and by the time the 'Nodding Acquaintance' EP was released in 2003, you started getting an idea of where their sound would be heading.

2004 saw the release of two further EP's - 'Sorry You're Not A Winner' and 'Anything Can Happen In The Nex Half Hour'. A lot of these tracks would be re-recorded for their debut LP, so this was a good taste of how their sound had progressed to synth based post-hardcore. Some of them are exclusive to the demos though, so enjoy the downloads below (even though they're probably fairly well circulated nowadays).

Photographer and venue unknown. Taken sometime in 2004.

During 2006, they released two CD singles, featuring slightly different versions to the album of 'Sorry You're Not A Winner' and 'Mothership'. The latter track being the first song I ever heard from them around 07/08 on their MySpace - an important part of my musical growth. They would then go on to release 'Take To The Skies' in 2007, and the rest is history really.

The band have released a load of other albums since, including live shows and remixes, and they don't seem to be slowing down any time soon. It's always great seeing a band's humble beginnings within the greater UKHC scene for them to go onto bigger things. Look how big Bring Me The Horizon and Architects nowadays - fair play to them. I may not really be into any of these band's newer releases, but they played an important part in the scene and in my life.

And for anyone questioning WTF that logo is at the top - it's the one they used on their website all the way back in 2004!

Enter Shikari - Nodding Acquaintance E.P. (2003)

Enter Shikari - Sorry You're Not A Winner (2004)

Enter Shikari - Anything Can Happen In The Next Half Hour... (2004)

Cry For Silence

 

Formed in the summer of 2000, cryforsilence were based out of Watford in Hertfordshire (there are so many good bands I'll be covering from Herts). They started off with a heavier metalcore sound on their 'Through The Precious Words' demo in 2001, which featured Craig on vocals. For whatever reason, he left the band and formed breakingdays, which continued the sound found on that first CFS demo. Adam would then join the band, and their sound became a lot more melodic with more of a post-hardcore/emo influence.

Their second demo from 2002, featuring only two tracks, established the newer sound they were going for. I also love that it came in one of those plastic clamshell CD cases - very much a product of the time! By 2004, the band were picked up by Mighty Atom Records (Hondo Maclean, Funeral For A Friend, etc) and released their excellent CD 'The Longest Day'. 

Photo taken by Mikee Sangree. Cellar Bar, Bracknell 2003.

After a few years of touring and recording, they would release their only album 'The Glorious Dead' on Visible Noise in early 2008. This was probably their heaviest release to date, and quite a departure from their sound between 2002-2004. The artwork for this CD was drawn by Dan Mumford, who's done a ton for bands over the years such as - Gallows, Break The Sky, The Legacy etc. Some of you may also remember him from Watford band Incoherence.

Not long after this album was released, the band unfortunately decided to call it a day. Aside from Alex focussing on being a guitar tech for various bands, playing with Krokodil and then Slipknot, I don't know an awful lot about what the members did after CFS. Craig formed breakingdays, Andy would play with First Signs Of Frost for a few years, Ali and Steve play with Spy Catcher, but I'm unsure whether Adam and Ian pursued anything further with music.

Cry For Silence - Through The Precious Words EP (2002)

Vocals - Craig

Guitar - Alex Venturella

Guitar - Steve Sears

Bass - Ian Partlett

Drums - Ali Gordon

Cry For Silence - Demo (2002)

Vocals - Adam Pettit

Guitar - Alex Venturella

Guitar - Steve Sears

Bass - Ian Partlett

Drums - Ali Gordon

Cry For Silence - The Longest Day (2004)

Vocals - Adam Pettit

Guitar - Alex Venturella

Guitar - Steve Sears

Bass - Andy Saxton

Drums - Ali Gordon

Tenfold Truth

Formed sometime in 2002, Tenfold Truth had members in both the Hertfordshire and London areas. Musically taking cues from melodic death metal and metalcore, they improved their sound with each release - the final demo they released in 2004 is just incredible. My history on this band is a little murky, as there's next to no information online, but Joe has kindly provided me with some information to fill in the gaps.

With only a handful of demos to their name, they were slated to release a CD on Burial Records sometime in 2003 or 2004, but this unfortunately didn't materialise. Their initial 2002 demo featured the lineup stated below - they interestingly had Alex from cryforsilence/Slipknot on drums! The 2003 demo featured some of the previous tracks re-recorded and they had a more solidified lineup with Joe taking over on drums. This wouldn't last all that long though, as Chris and Jaber left to focus their time on TRC, and Rochelle also parted ways with them. Gregg would take over from Jaber, Preston also of TRC, played bass and vocals were left to Ashley.

Photo taken by Deano Jo. The Dome, London 2002.

As mentioned above, some of the members continued playing in bands. Chris, Jaber and Preston all play(ed) with TRC. I've covered Dan already with LHOT and 7th Judgement - he was a busy guy! Alex was in CFS and obviously progressed onto much bigger things from being a tech to playing with Slipknot. As for the rest, I don't believe they did anything after the demise of TFT.

If anyone's willing to let go of their physical copies of the first two releases, please hit me up!

Tenfold Truth - Demo (2002)

Vocals - Ashley McCallan

Vocals - Chris Robson

Guitar - Jaber Ahmad

Guitar - Dan Knight

Bass - Rochelle Simons

Drums - Alex Venturella

Tenfold Truth - Things Left Unsaid... (2003)

Vocals - Ashley McCallan

Vocals - Chris Robson

Guitar - Jaber Ahmad

Guitar - Dan Knight

Bass - Rochelle Simons

Drums - Joe Holdsworth

Tenfold Truth - Demo (2004)

Vocals - Ashley McCallan

Guitar - Dan Knight

Guitar - Gregg Birch

Bass - Thomas Preston

Drums - Joe Holdsworth

Last Hours Of Torment

Taking their name from a Sunrise song off their 'Child Of Eternity' record, London's Last Hours Of Torment formed sometime in 1999 and played their very first show on 24th February 2000. The majority of the band were straight edge, but I don't think they collectively identified as sxe. There's also a lot of religious imagery within the lyrics and a few mentions of Jesus Christ in the thank you list - can anyone confirm whether they were a spirit-filled band? Their influences were mostly from Scandinavia with a predominantly melodic death metal sound with some black metal touches here and there (the photos in the booklet were actually taken in Norway). Think of a mix between Withdrawn, Carcass and Dissesction.

Much like their Burial Records labelemates Seventh Judgement, LHOT didn't release an awful lot. Sometime in early 2002, they self-released a CDr demo titled 'Throne Of Decay' which featured two demo tracks which would be re-recorded for their MCD. One of those demos also featured on the Burial Records 'Burning Their Lies' sampler, which I'm sure I will do a separate post on at some point. During November 2002, they released the mighty 'Downfall Of Man' MCD on Burial and John Peel even played one of these tracks on his BBC Radio show. They would then release a single demo track in 2003/2004 (which I actually found on MySpace) and that was that.

Photographer unknown. Taken at Mill Hill's Studio 4.

They did have a whole batch of songs to be recorded, but after the Yabrifa brothers left, the band tried to plough on with an altered lineup. Sam and Simon were still in the band, with the addition of Dan Knight and a couple others. Unfortunately though, this eventually fizzled out and the band fractured by 2004. It's a real shame as that final demo track was excellent and I can imagine how good a full LP would have been. 

The original band members didn't seem to do much within hardcore - Peter and John would both become professional photographers. Sam played guitar in Taking Names (a post for another day I'm sure), but I have no idea what happened to Simon. There seemed to be a revolving door of bassists and second guitarists, so I can't say for certain whether they were in other bands or not, aside from Dan who was in Seventh Judgement and Tenfold Truth etc. Only interesting bit of trivia I can provide on this one, is that the great John Hannon (RIP) of Understand recorded and mixed the MCD.

I'm also looking for their elusive t-shirt, of which only 100 were apparently printed! The likelihood of ever finding this is slim, but I would literally take any size just to have it in the collection.

Last Hours Of Torment - Throne Of Decay (2002)

Vocals - Peter Yabrifa

Vocals - Simon Sorga

Guitar - Sam Chin

Guitar - Adam Knight

Bass - James Garstang

Drums - John Yabrifa

Last Hours Of Torment - Downfall Of Man (2002)

Vocals - Peter Yabrifa

Vocals - Simon Sorga

Guitar - Sam Chin

Guitar - Adam Knight

Bass - James Garstang

Drums - John Yabrifa

Last Hours Of Torment - Habitation Of Devils (2003)

Vocals - Simon Sorga

Guitar - Sam Chin

Guitar - Dan Knight

Bass - James Garstang

Drums - Gavin Ward

Seventh Judgement

 

Seventh Judgement formed in North London during October 2001, with a goal of breathing some life into London's mostly nonexistent straight edge scene. They play your typical early 00s metalcore, with influences ranging from Prayer For Cleansing to Shadows Fall. Interestingly, they had some dealings with To Die For Clothing, who were popular at the time for collaborating with bands such as 18 Visions, Bleeding Through and Throwdown etc.

They released one MCD on Burial Records titled 'Allies Amidst Infidels' sometime in September 2002, and had a track from said MCD featured on the Burial Records CDr sampler released the same year. The MCD was actually going to be a split with Last Hours Of Torment, due to be released on August 2002, but for whatever reason, the bands decided to release their material separately (you can find a flyer for this on the UKHC History Instagram page).

Photo taken by Simon Maguire. The Verge, London 2003.

Unfortunately, this was their sole output and the band would come to an end sometime in 2003. Troy would go on to play with Deny Everything who featured members of Beatdown Fury and Ignoramus. Sean (who previously played in Public Disturbance) would play with Routine Check, Chains Of Hate and various others. Dan was already playing with Tenfold Truth at the time, but he would also be in a wealth of bands such as Raise The Dead and Ted Maul, plus a load of progressive stuff. If anyone has any info on his OG band Her Broken Wings, drop me a message! I unfortunately know nothing of Alex and Ryan - Gregg from Tenfold Truth filled in while Alejandro was absent and Kris also from Tenfold Truth took over from Ryan when he left the country.

Some additional trivia for you UKHC nerds out there - xKris Tysonx AKA Chris Robson provides additional vocals on the track 'From Within'. He played drums for Tyson and TRC, before becoming one of their vocalists. xAdamx CFS provides vocals on 'Conceived Of Winter's Contempt' who you may know from Cry For Silence (still crazy that Alessandro now plays for Slipknot). Lastly, the layout and design was by Richard Shiner of xCanaanx!

Seventh Judgement - Allies Amidst Infidels (2002)

Vocals - Troy Roe

Guitar - Dan Knight

Guitar - Alejandro

Bass - Sean McKee

Drums - Ryan

Introduction

Welcome to the UKHC History blog! Ever since Unchecked Aggression stopped posting, I've felt like something should take its place. However, that never seemed to happen until now. With each post, I will cover some history on the band, a picture or two and a download of their releases. Now, this will generally be for defunct bands, but there will be the odd occasion where I might post the demos/out of print releases for an active band. I may also deviate from this format and post things that you'd see in a zine such as interviews etc, but we'll see how I get on...