New York hardcore legend and former Cro-Mags singer John Joseph is bringing his all-star new hardcore band to Europe. Expect dates in August. Bloodclot have just released their debut album ‘Burn Babylon Burn’.
BLOODCLOT's sound combines classic New York hardcore intensity with extreme metal precision and brutality. It’s the sound of the New York underground rising again. The members of BLOODCLOT are no strangers to the genre. Singer John Joseph is the former frontman of legendary NYHC pioneers CRO-MAGS. Drummer Danny Schuler was a founding member of Brooklyn's BIOHAZARD. Bassist Rick Lopez comes from NYC's MERAUDER, Guitarist Scott Roberts is a former member of CRO-MAGS, BIOHAZARD and Cleveland HC legends THE SPUDMONSTERS, and Guitarist Eric Klinger is from PRO-PAIN and THE SPUDMONSTERS. Despite a hardcore lineage, the band’s songs break out of any and all genre confines. They blend slick metallic riffs with hardcore hooks, while steam rolling rhythms spearhead the assault. Their self-produced debut, "BURN BABYLON BURN" will drop later this year and is bound to set a new hardcore standard.
Back in 2005, Scott called John and asked him to sing for a new band he and Danny were forming. Upon hearing the demos, John was immediately inspired and began penning lyrics to what he had heard. Soon after, Rick joined the fold and the band was complete. John describes the band’s sound best. “I don’t want to lock it into any categories. There are hardcore and metal qualities, punk rock qualities, even some fusion in certain parts. It's just heavy music, with a heavy message.” Tracks like “Revolution,” “Subtext” and the title track certainly draw from down and dirty NYC hardcore. However, the band couples that classic hardcore vibe with emotional intensity, spirituality, and intense musicianship.
Most importantly, the band maintains a positive focus, preserving the tenets of unity central to the classic ethos. And true to the classic punk-rock DIY vibe, they also wrote and recorded everything together in Danny’s studio, with no outside influence, financially or otherwise. Explains Danny, "We set out to create a piece of music that would last forever, and reflects the turbulent times we're living in. The only way to do that was to believe in each other and do it completely by ourselves. We lived every second of this record, we trusted our instincts, and worked our asses off to get it done. We made this record with absolutely no regard for what is popular right now. We listened to ourselves, dug deep, and created the record we wanted to hear." Each member shared the same vision from the second they started playing. John explains, “We just play what we feel. If the sounds move us, then that’s what goes down. As an artist, it’s important not to write for anybody else other than yourself because you have to take it to the audience and if it ain't real, the audience can smell the lie.” In some ways, this record even hearkens back to classic output by the likes of the CRO-MAGS and BIOHAZARD. “Every song tells a story and every song hits you over the head musically. In the sense of the message, I kind of see it as Age of Quarrel Part 2. Things have gotten a lot worse in the last twenty years. We’re at a worse point as a planet, and that’s what we're delving into on this album. It’s a more advanced version of Age of Quarrel, and there’s a lot more angst in the vocals, the lyrics and everything.” The message, however, remains relevant and functions as a call for change.
The band’s name itself also possesses an important meaning. “In Jamaican, the word ‘bloodclot’ is a curse that describes everything being fucked up. It’s a ‘bloodclot’ situation, what’s happening on the planet, who's running things through deception and lies, and we need to fix it.” If anyone can make a change through music, it’s these four individuals with over 80 years combined experience in hardcore. In the end, BLOODCLOT will make an impact. John exclaims, “We live this, every single day, that’s why it comes off authentic, because it 'IS' real.”
