Between Earth and sky info/Alpha & Omega- Life Swallower

Trial was a band that I was very into in the late 90s. I was fortunate enough to see them twice in Buffalo and once in Syracuse. I was even more fortunate to interview Greg Bennick in Syracuse in 1999. People like him are one of the reasons why I first got into hardcore and stayed into it for as long as I have. In this day and age of "Hot Topic Hardore," it is very refreshing to see people playing hardcore with actual emotion again. Not only that, but Greg Bennick definitely takes activism to another level. If you want to get a feel for how much he has done outside of the four walls of hardcore, simply google search his name. Even I was amazed and somewhat shocked just how far he has come in the last ten years.
Between Earth and Sky is a new band featuring Greg Bennick on vocals, as well as ex-members of Catharsis, By A Thread, Gob, and Strain. With Bennicks vocals sounding similar to previous efforts, it is hard not to make the Trial comparison here. Even some of the music reminds me of them. There are a couple more melodies and less mosh than Trial though. I don't have a record player anymore, but I still intend to get this at some point. If you click that link you can also preview one of their songs. I am interested in hearing more from Band of Mercy as well.


Alpha & Omega- Life Swallower (6131)
California's Alpha & Omega are a band that kind of crept up on me. I had heard their name before, but didn't really remember hearing anything that earth shattering. When I saw them in Philly last year, I was blown away. And that was with somewhat of a scab lineup and what appeared to be an ill vocalist. I immediately picked up their Devil's Bed ep. Out today, this full length is the follow up to that ep. They seem to pick up right where they left off. Biohazard and No Warning mixed with a little bit of metal for good measure. There's a couple acoustic guitar parts on here and spoken vocal parts, which leads me to believe this band might be going completely metal at some point, which probably wouldn't be to my liking. I like the mix on this record though, it is just enough metal mixed in to keep my interest. Honestly, there's really no throw away tracks on here. Ultimately, it is the vocals that make a good hardcore band and luckily frontman Luis Hernandez has a great set of pipes. This band is about to go on tour with Bane, Cruel Hand, and Trapped Under Ice. I really want to hit up a couple of the shows in September.