Ugly & Proud Records (Bulgaria), Nuclear Family Records (UK) & In My Heart Empire (Spain) are proud to present “Weight Of The World“, the newest EP from Edinburgh based youth crew infused hardcore punk act AFTERBURN! Today, we have teamed up with the band to give you its first full listen of this high-octane offering, spiced up with the band’s first hand commentary about their band, their lyrical content, their take on touring amidst the pandemic, political protests around the world, and more. See the full story below.
For fans of: Alert, Youth of Today, Go It Alone
The band
“Myself (David) and Luke have been in bands together for 8 years (War Charge, Deceit, Slowmove), and I love everything he writes on guitar and work really well together with him. The band initially went through a few lineup changes as Iโd started on bass before moving to vocals, we got Den (Kingpin GHC, Eviscerate AD) in on drums, and then needed to find a bassist to complete the lineup. Previously, myself and Luke had a practice with a couple of the guys from World Truth to start a new band which didnโt work out but we loved Joe’s bass playing and asked him to join Afterburn.
From there, we recorded our first EP โOpen Eyes Long Blindedโ in Glasgow with George Henry and played a bunch of shows whilst continuing to write.
“Weight Of The World” EP
“I think we found our sound a bit more on this record, Iโve done backing vocals in most of the bands Iโve played in but this is my first time really fronting a band and itโs taken a while to get used to. Musically, itโs about trying to go back to basics hardcore riffs with (hopefully) catchy hooks. Lyrically, itโs just clearing out my head and hoping people can relate. End of the day, weโre writing music we enjoy and would listen to ourselves.” – offers the band.
The lyrics
Asked about the content behind their lyrics, the band’s vocalist commented: “Most of my lyrics deal with mental health. I know it can seem itโs the โgo to topicโ these days but I donโt think it can be talked about enough and generally, the cathartic process you get writing lyrics helps a lot and itโs the hope – as cheesy as it sounds – that itโll help others.
In my early years, I wasnโt able to open up at all which left me nearly spontaneously combusting multiple times but seeing more and more people speak out helped me a lot.”
Track by track commentary
Chained is pretty self explanatory; not wanting to be here but not having a choice.
Everyone has their own thoughts on suicide but I genuinely think at least in my case, if it wasnโt for the effect itโd have on my family and friends, I wouldnโt be here. It may seem like a negative way of looking at things but itโs what makes sense in my head and if this clicks with anyone else, then hopefully that helps someone.
Forced Doubt is more about people continuing negative traits as itโs the easiest path and being reluctant to change. This songโs about trying to push them out of that routine and onto a more positive path.
Weight of the World is about our reliance on others to help us continue with our day-to-day lives, looking back on friendships and relationships from the past that didnโt work out, and getting trapped inside your mind going over every conversation, trying to figure out what went wrong or what you did.
Stand and Fight is about being pissed off at the things we see wrong with the world everyday. How much easier it is to ignore it and pretend these issues donโt exist than stand and learn from them or try to fix it.
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Touring:
“Ideally weโd just like to play shows as far and wide as possible. I used to play a lot of shows in Europe and would love to do that as soon as possible and I also previously had the opportunity to do 3 weeks in Asia which was one of the best experiences of my life, so Iโd love to take Afterburn over there if we ever get the chance.
We had our first shows in England booked playing Bradford & Huddersfield with some really sick bands in April but unfortunately everything went into lockdown a few weeks before, so they got pulled.
Weโd just love to play as many shows wherever we can.”
The pandemic
“Obviously we had a few shows cancelled, but itโs nothing in comparison to the effect this has had on the events and arts sector. The UK governmentโs reaction has been inexcusable with the lack of funding and care for an industry that brings in so much money. People think itโs โjust a few festivals less to get pissed atโ, but itโs crew, sound engineers, artists, booking agents, lighting engineers, etc that are all suffering as this is their full time job and theyโre not being looked after.
I think with everything going on, once we have the choice to return to live music (as long as the venues are still there) that people will realise what a privilege it is to have access to and take full advantage of this so I hope we get to play as often as possible. Stage 1 and 2 for the return of live music is purely digital with recorded performances & livestreams, so I’ll be working with friends to film sets and do this for as many bands as possible.
Another thing I think weโve seen as well is how little bosses actually care for their staff throughout this, especially rushing them back into unsafe workplaces. I know a lot of people are without work at the moment but itโs just something else I think should be highlighted.
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The George Floyd and other anti-racist and anti-violence protests
“I think a lot of people have had their eyes forced open with everything going on, myself included. We may have thought we knew the injustices people were facing, but the surface has barely been scratched with whatโs being reported on mainstream news sites compared to what weโre seeing on social media.
Weโve seen police attacking people for no reason, breaking into their homes, continually breaking laws like destroying medical tents and attacking the people inside. These people should have been safe under Medical Neutrality – itโs illegal to even do it to enemy nations, let alone on your own home soil, and people are being fucking lynched with next to no investigation? Itโs insanity.
Just recently, Lyda Krewson – the mayor of St Louis – read out the names and addresses of protestors that want to defund the police live on a Facebook livestream. Sheโs since apologised but this was a targeted attack, telling the far right where these people live and where to get to them.
๐ผ ๐กโ๐๐๐ ๐ค๐๐กโ ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ฆ๐กโ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐, ๐๐๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ข ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ก๐๐ฆ ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ข๐๐๐ก๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ข๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ข๐โ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐.
Keep talking about it, keep signing petitions and just do as much as you can. A lot of bands/labels within the hardcore community have made multiple fundraisers including Loathe, UKHC 4 Change, BDHW Records x Injustice Records, Triple B Records and loads more.
There will always be idiots arguing on the side of the far right, but a lot of the time, they’re not going to listen if you shout just as loudly as they do. If you have the patience, the ability, and the safety, try to get into a discussion with them, find out where these thoughts and ideologies came from. So often itโs generational and something thatโs been passed on from parents and/or grandparents to kids whoโre having these views forced on them until theyโre old enough to think for themselves and often, instead of doing that, they just continue on the same path. It’s unlikely you’re going to change someoneโs world view, but with enough plain facts, you never know.
Another thing I think is really important to point out is the work that Sunny (Hate5Six) has been putting in with documentation of the riots as well as fundraising. He was out on the frontlines in Philadelphia when peaceful protestors were herded into a trap and filmed the entire thing, not only highlighting it to his massive fan base but it also ended up being used in news reports which pushed it out to a larger audience.
Iโm talking from a place of privilege though, I can see all this from the outside, but I havenโt experienced it.”
๐ด๐๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ข ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ฆ, ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ก ๐กโ๐ ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐กโ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ก๐๐, ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ข๐ก.
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Edinburgh / Glasgow hardcore
“The majority of us are from Edinburgh but there really isnโt a hardcore scene here. The one thing we do have is a night called Subversiv which does monthly hardcore and punk nights and the cool thing is that they encompass all elements of the punk genre and have far more mixed bills than youโd usually see.
Mainly though, our local scene is Glasgow. It ebbs and flows but we continually have great bands making the 5 hour trip to Scotland on tours from Leeds/Manchester the day before because generally itโs always a great crowd. The last few months, weโd see maybe 1 or 2 hardcore shows a month which means theyโre generally always well attended.
Generally for the bands, itโs just a different combination of the same people in bands and at the moment it is leaning more towards metalcore or metallic hardcore which I love, but itโs also part of the reason we wanted to do Afterburn and bring back the fast riffy hardcore we initially fell in love with.
But yeah locally we have Revulsion, Vent, Revolve, Null, Kakihara, Gehazi, Divide, and loads of other bands.
Other bands worth a check:
Vent : a combination of so many styles, like Full of Hell tone meets some Turnstile groove, with the sickest vocals in the world.
Greed : I love seeing this band, a bunch of the nicest dudes in the world but the music is so heavy and James is fucking terrifying onstage as his vocals are so heavy.
Lawful Killing : Iโve only managed to catch them once – I was meant to see them again in Glasgow with Show Me The Body but it got pulled. Incredible raw hardcore punk from London and Benโs vocals and stage presence are so good.
Mastermind : I got asked by Ola at Quality Control HQ to make up some video promos for the new EP & after listening I couldnโt get Bad Reaction out of my head for about 2 months, super sick and catchy riffs hardcore.
Generation : Incredible band from Manchester, they came straight out with an LP which is called โCall it a Lifeโ. FFO : Dag Nasty, Rites of Spring etc with members of Insist/Survival.
No One Cares – When we were in Indonesia, we played a 1000 person show in Medan, which was insane. These guys were playing when we got to the venue and they started playing Leeway, to which our vocalist immediately ran off the stage. Theyโve got an EP called Serpent Soul that is untouchable from start to finish. I stay in touch with their vocalist and theyโre recording at the minute and I cannot wait to see what they come out with next.
Slowmove : Biased but all of us + Gemma of Vent have another band called Slowmove which is more FFO : Citizen, Basement. We released a single during lockdown and everyoneโs been so kind about it, I canโt wait to record more when weโre allowed back into the studio.
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Afterburn’s Top 10 Albums
Den (Drums):
Bad Brains – ST – Bad Brains ST was the first hardcore album I got into and they also touched my love of reggae and a lot of the songs spoke to me. But musically, a perfect mix of hardcore punk and reggae.
Nas – Illmatic – Illmatic again spoke to me lyrically, the beats are consistent and it still gets played. Subjects about the black struggle, how it was to grow up in the streets, lets say, folk love poems, rap lyrics are poems to me and Nas is one of more real out there. Basically, to me, there’s a lot of parallels between hardcore and hip-hop. Very similar lyrically and in attitude.
Continued below…
Joe (Bass):
Deftones – White Pony – First time I ever heard a band that could be as intricate as they could heavy, a perfect mix of emotions I could relate to as a wee guy just starting high school.
The Cure – Disintegration – Robert fucking Smith.
David (Vocals):
Glassjaw – Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Silence – The album that got me into heavy music, I’d listened to other bands before that were heavy, but this is just on another level. Daryl Palumbo’s vocals blow me away every time with the seamless transitions from clean singing to screaming. My first band covered the weirdest shit, from Arctic Monkeys, The Early November, and then we covered Piano by Glassjaw.
No Warning – Ill Blood – The album that cemented my love of hardcore. Start to finish, every song is incredible. I’ll never forget playing with No Turning Back and Risk It in Lauter (Germany) and back to back, we both ended up covering Short Fuse but it just meant there were people that knew all the words in the audience at all times.
Bloc Party – Silent Alarm – A perfect album from start to finish, an album I always come back to and never grow sick of.
Luke (Guitar):
Youth of Today – Break Down The Walls – I remember listening to this album for the very first time and absorbing every piece of the raw, amazing energy coming out of the speakers.
Texas is The Reason- Do you know who you are? – Teleports me back to the 90โs, when Iife was easier! Emo nostalgia.
Smashing Pumpkins – Siamese Dream – Because itโs quite heavy (moderately heavy) and atmospheric at the same. Seems like the perfect combination to me.
