We Still Believe In Ecostrike

Ecostrike are one of my favorite current hardcore bands these days, so I had no doubt that their new album, The Truth We Still Believe, was going to be great. Even though I was eagerly anticipating this record, I still somehow fucked up and missed when the preorders went up, and by the time I got there, the colored vinyl pinwheel pressing was already sold out.

When I heard the first Ecostrike record back in 2017, it really reminded me of early Earth Crisis 7 inches, and then the Voice Of Strength album in 2018 had some strong One Truth era Strife vibes to it, so I was excited to see what the band would deliver with their latest album. The Truth We Still Believe isn't that big of a departure from what Ecostrike was doing previously. Surprisingly the band haven't followed the metal direction that Earth Crisis and Strife took, and instead they stay firmly in that pocket of hardcore...and that is a good thing. This will easily be one of my favorite new hardcore albums this year.

300 pressed on blue with orange splatter vinyl.

Three Strikes

It has been a few years since I've been sucked into buying multiple copies of a record. That game kind of got played out for me, and it stopped being fun to chase different colored vinyl for the same record...but I've start to slip on that commitment this year as I've found myself hunting down additional copies of older records, and feeling compelled to grab some multiple copies of newer releases.

I don't know why I'm doing it, since I get more of a kick out of concentrating on filling the more serious holes in my collection...but I guess I still find some joy in collecting multiple copies for some bands as I keep finding myself drawn to it.

I absolutely loved the Ecostrike 7 inch from last year...I mean, this record is basically like time travelling back to the 90's, drawing some fat X's on your hands, and catching Earth Crisis and Strife down at the local YMCA. When Triple B reissued the record this year, I couldn't resist grabbing a couple more pieces of colored vinyl for it.

By the time that I realized that preorders were up for the record, I was already too late, and missed the purple vinyl pressing. Ugh. Still, I grabbed the green vinyl (300 pressed) and the clear vinyl (600 pressed).

For the new Ecostrike LP that was released earlier this year, there were 200 pressed each of black vinyl and some crazy electric blue with red splatter design. I thought the splatter looked like shit, so I opted for the black vinyl. Now that I'm toying with the idea of buying multiple pressings, no one is putting up the splatter design for less that $40 on Discogs, while you can buy the black vinyl for $20. Kids love their colored vinyl.

Anyway, while I was buying the reissue of the 7 inch, I figured that I'd waste more money and buy another copy of the LP. Pink vinyl limited to 800.

Voice Of Ecostrike

About a year ago, a was introduced to Ecostrike. It had been a long time since a Hardcore band had me as excited as I was when I first checked out their Time Is Now 7 inch. That record, with its 90's Straight Edge Hardcore sound, grabbed my attention and would not let go. Easily my favorite record of last year.

When I heard that Triple B was going to be releasing an album from Ecostrike in 2018, it immediately jumped to the top of the list of most anticipated releases for the year.

The album certainly delivers on its promises and lives up to the hype. While the 7 inch had me drawing comparisons to the first couple of Earth Crisis 7 inches, the sound on this album reminds me more of One Truth-era Strife. Earth Crisis...Strife...you can't lose with either one. It will be interesting to see if Ecostrike can make the top of my list two years running. Right now, I think they have a pretty good shot.

When preorders went up, I went with the simple black vinyl option. Both the black and colored splatter vinyl were limited to 200 each, but I was counting on the splatter looking like shit, so I went black instead. Now I kind of want that splatter vinyl as well...and maybe the pink colored vinyl as well...oh fuck, might as well add the record release to the want list as well.

Immortal Weapon

It feels like it has been a long time since I've been really fired up over a new Hardcore release. Sure there have been plenty of records from the past few years that have been good...but I'm hard pressed to recall anything that has really gotten me excited since 2013 with the Rival Mob and Red Hare albums. I just haven't really been interested, and have been more focused on Metal and Punk. I'm not sure if it is a change in my mindset, or if bands are just stepping up lately, but so far my 2017 has been filled with some really cool new Hardcore bands.

At some point over the last month or so, I started seeing the name Ecostrike pop up on social media. Initially, I wasn't paying much attention, and ignored all the praise of this band doing that early 90's Straight Edge sound. However, as I was getting deeper and deeper into some newer Hardcore bands, I figured that maybe I'd look into what all this Ecostrike hype was about.

What really captured my attention, and got me to finally check them out was when I saw a photo of the lyrics for the song Immortal Weapon when Nico posted about the record on his blog at Do Not Consider Yourself Free. Those Straight Edge lyrics ignited a spark in me, and brought me back to those angry Straight Edge days of the early 90's. Right then and there, I knew that I needed to hear this shit.

This entire record is great...and is everything that I want from a Hardcore band in 2017. Uncompromising Straight Edge. Easily one of my favorite new records of this year. This one is going to be hard to top.