Largely inspired by 90s metallic hardcore and empowered by their striking message, Germany’s CLEARxCUT (members of HEAVEN SHALL BURN, IMPLORE and KING APATHY) come as one of the most energizing hardcore bands on the rise. Resembling many groundbreaking records from the past in both vitality and ambition, their new offering “For the Wild at Heart in Cages” is a dazzling amalgam of raging sonic anger and a condensed dose of mind stimulating messages. Touching on important issues and themes worth fighting for, the Berlin based warriors have joined us to share an in-depth commentary on each and every song of their new record! See the full feature below!
CLEARxCUT’s sophomore release is as bold a statement as a collective can make. Following a long tradition of vegan straight edge bands who have chosen to ally themselves with the voiceless and to speak out against injustice wherever it exists. This is an album made with love and passion, ignited by anger. A perfect storm of melancholic notes which violently combust into hymns for the wild at heart kept in cages.
The upcoming album features seven songs dealing with issues like environmental destruction, the ongoing exploitation of humans and animals within capitalist societies (and industrial civilization in general), animal liberation, the benefits of a vegan diet & a straight edge lifestyle, and the need to fight sexism and rape culture as a means of emancipation.
The message that connects all songs on this album is, that there is an urgent need for all the different struggles for liberation to work together to overcome a political system which dominates and exploits every living being on this planet.
The band explains:
Hardcore punk is still more than music to us. The world we all live in is getting darker and darker every day. Authoritarian politicians everywhere, discouraging news about corrupt and brutal law enforcement every day and the ongoing exploitation of the natural world make it hard to believe in a bright and colorful future.
While pop songs about getting drunk on the beach seem to be the soundtrack to the end of the world, we feel the urgent need to adress issues like anarchism, human and animal rights, veganism, straight edge, feminism and the destruction of the environment within our songs.
For total liberation!
“For the Wild at Heart in Cages” is available for pre-order through Catalyst Records HERE. The band will be touring in support of the new release in mid-April alongside KING APATHY and A SECRET REVEALED. See the dates below.
Continued below…
Unison
The first song of the album starts with a fragile guitar intro which stands in stark contrast to what follows afterwards. The driving drums and energetic yet melancholic guitars give a good impression of what the whole album is all about. This is not a tuned down metallic hardcore album which is all about brutality and breakdowns. We like albums like this, but we wanted to combine energetic hardcore punk with kind of sad melodies that set the tone for a melancholy which continues to evolve throughout the album. We are angry, but also very frustrated. It makes us sad to write about all the shit that is happening in our society! In the end ‘Unison’ is a desperate cry for resistance against oppressive systems like capitalism and civilization in general. It is a scream for total liberation! In the chorus we compare the perspective of mainstream culture with our own. After giving a brief introduction of what is wrong in our opinion, we continue with a prospect of the future and what we can do to change the status quo. The melodic end of the song is accompanied by a spoken word passage, quoting Buenaventura Durruti – a famous anarchist fighter in the spanish civil war: ‘We are not in the least afraid of ruins. We are going to inherit the earth; there is not the slightest doubt about that. The bourgeoisie might blast and ruin its own world before it leaves the stage of history. We carry a new world here, in our hearts. That world is growing in this minute.’
A shadow falls across the ravaged land
This is a manifesto for environmentalism. The myth of human supremacy is one of the biggest problems of our time. People still think that they are the ‘pride of creation’ and that the world is there for them to use as they please. This belief gave way to a mindset that is as unjust as it is destructive: Money is always more important than living beings! A forest is seen as an area which can turned into money by clearcutting it. It is not seen as a biome, a living ecosystem supporting myriads of different lifeforms – each precious and unique in its own way! Everywhere ancient forests disappear. They fall under the attack of the chainsaw because of the greed of our economic system! When will we understand, that we are a part of the web of life and are therefore bound to a healthy planet? ‘Who gave you the right to destroy what grew for thousands of years?’
Disgust
The lyrics of this rather untypical song – starting with blast beats and very nervous guitars – are a detailed description of how a sentient living being is turned into a product. It accompanies a calf from the moment it is taken away from its mother until it is brutally slaughtered for meat. It is a raging song against carnism and the consumption of meat and other animal products. There is no valuable argument against veganism!
The keys to the cages
Energetic hardcore meets depressive tunes. A song about animal liberation and against speciesism. We are human animals, why should we have the right to subdue non-human animals in any form?! They want to live their lives in peace just as we do! Us having a bigger brain than most of the other animals doesn’t mean shit! All lifeforms have skills and features that are unique and useful for a life in their specific ecosystem. That does not make them more worthy of life. In that sense mankind is also not more worthy of life than all the other animals!
Continued below…
Break the silence
Let’s face it: We still live in rape cultures! The objectification of women is still everywhere! Sexism and homophobia are still so normal and omnipresent that most people dont even recognize them! Feminism is still described by some as ‘the blabla of hysterical women’! As a feminist and pro homo band it is absolutely important for us to take a stand against gender inequality and the patriarchy itself! This song shows solidarity with all the people who fight for their right of self-determination. This song is for everyone who has to deal with sexual assault, harassment or discrimination in any form. You are not alone! You have the power to reclaim your life!
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Behold the curse
Industrial civilization is the curse that came upon this world! For thousands of years mankind exploited the natural environment – and we still do it today! With the beginning of agriculture around ten thousand years ago mankind made itself the ruler of the natural world. After clearcutting forests – for farming and breeding animals – there was a surplus of food and the population grew – to a level which could not be supported by the landbase. The first cities emerged and civilization began to hold the whole world in its iron grip. Hierarchies emerged, exploitation on a whole new level started and everything was turned into a commodity: the earth, animals and also other people. We still continue to destroy our planet and thereby ourselves! The amazon rainforest and basically all other forests on this earth are under siege, indigenous tribes fight against increasing attacks and the insane consumption of meat and other animal products ruins the climate and the landscape alike. Bolsonaro, Trump and other fascists wont stop to sell the wild and to develop the extraction of resources until the last untouched forest is turned into a parking lot! Capitalism wont be satisfied until this world is gone to hell, because of climate change, deforestation, rising sea levels, chemicals in our bodies and an extinction rate way higher than anytime before. Civilization can never be sustainable!
Collapse
A very personal song about the feeling of helplessness in a more and more hostile and destructive world. Who doesnt know the feeling of being alone and not being able to change the injustice happening on this planet?! This is a song about the small glimpse of hope, that some day all the institutions of oppression will break down and a new age of equality and harmony will emerge from the ruins – like a small flower blooming amidst the cracked blacktop.
12.4. München. Kafe Marat
13.4. Nürnberg, Projekt 31
14.4. Gießen, AK44
15.4. Köln, AZ
16.4. Leipzig, Stö
17.4. Dresden, Chemiefabrik
18.4. Hamburg, Hafenklang
19.4. Kiel, Schaubude
