CLASSICK OF THE MONTH - NOVEMBER 2018: BACKFIRE! - "STILL DEDICATED"

CLASSICK OF THE MONTH . NOVEMBER 2018:

BACKFIRE! - "STILL DEDICATED" (2000)
(Running time: 28:56 minutes; 12 songs)
("I Scream Records"; CD):

Tracklist:
(01.) "WAITING FOR MY TIME"
(02.) "TRAPPED IN THE MAZE"
(03.) "DON'T STAY"
(04.) "THE WAY I LIVE"
(05.) "I REMEMBER"
(06.) "FREEDOM"
(07.) "THERE'S A DIFFERENCE"
(08.) "DON'T WANNA DIE YOUNG"
(09.) "NO TURNING BACK"
(10.) "BURIED IN THE FIELDS"
(11.) "LEAVE IT BEHIND"
(12.) "STILL DEDICATED"

God damn it, hey guys and it's sort of like an old story happened again and this is the old story of me nearly forgetting the current "CLASSICK OF THE MONTH" article up here and this time it nearly had been the "CLASSICK OF THE MONTH - NOVEMBER 2018" edition-article, oh boy, busy month(s) but anyhow'n'anyway because better late than never or so to say and so here'n'now we finally go one more time for the next round and so to say the next dose. For the very month of November 2018 I've picked a(nother) very special (also on a very personal level) and still today damn fucking great and relevant album and like so often this year with articles in'n'of this very posting-series also this time it will be all about nothing else and especially nothing less than the almighty (old tyme) Hardcore and here'n'now it will be and in fact it is all about the immortal BACKFIRE! and their absolute masterpiece from out of the year 2000 titled "STILL DEDICATED" released back then via the legendary "I SCREAM RECORDS", oh hell yeahr, a more than 'just' worthy entry in'n'of the "CLASSICK OF THE MONTH" series up here, yes, and so finally and definitely here we go again.

BACKFIRE! were born and bred and still roar strong and loud from out of the dutch city of Maastricht and they were founded way back then in the spring of the old'n'gold year of 1994 by the four friends of Pat (vokillz), Wyb (guitar), Frank (bass) and Richard (drums) who all shared a huge passion for Hardcore. Pretty soon after being founded'n'formed as BACKFIRE! the four released their first demo "THE LAST TIME" and already with that very early piece they started to made themselves a name and left an impact and so they managed to get a record deal with the infamous "LOST & FOUND RECORDS" from Germany which back then released a lot of great bands and albums but anyhow anyway sort of always since then has a (very) poor and (pretty) bad reputation judging by quite a bunch of a lot interviews I've read back then and/or over the years. In 1995 they then released via "LOST & FOUND RECORDS" their debut EP "WHO TOLD YOU LIFE IS EASY?" and they toured together with the likes of MADBALL, 25 TA LIFE, and the almighty WARZONE. Yes, and the mentioned bands are also pretty good cornerstones if we talk about the influences of BACKFIRE!, yes, but this we will do in the next chapter of this article so just wait a little bit longer. Roughly'n'shortly a half year after "WHO TOLD YOU LIFE IS EASY?" saw the light of day BACKFIRE! released their proper full length debut "REBEL 4 LIFE" and this used to hit the Hardcore scene like a bomb and also legends like WARZONE were totally conquered by it and took them on their european tour and BACKFIRE! totally lived up to the high expectations and even 'out-matched' them (and this also pretty massively) and they really started strongly and massively to build up momentum and to make a name for themselves. After their tour with WARZONE then BACKFIRE! left "LOST & FOUND RECORDS" and got a new deal with "KINGFISHER RECORDS" where then in 1997 their follow-up album "ALL BETS ARE OFF" was released. With this album and their following touring activities together with the stand-alone DEVIATE they only build up their momentum more and more, yes, and this for nothing but damn well justified reasons. BACKFIRE! were one of if not maybe even the biggest and brightest shining star on the European Hardcore horizon at that time. After their touring activities to promote'n'support "ALL BETS ARE OFF" the band decided to take a little break to 'refresh' themselves a bit and some members focussed on side-projects or helped other bands on their tours and so. And all was looking fine if not very fine back then, yes, at least 'for all the world to see' or so to say. But this all changed at the 20th of March of 1999 when Richard tragically died by commiting suicide and the rest of the guys in BACKFIRE! thought about also carrying the band to its grave. Ultimately they decided to carry on and so with the former HOMETHRUST drummer Igor on the drums in the year 2000 they released their third-full-length-album "STILL DEDICATED" via "I SCREAM RECORDS" and they released it as a dedication to Richard. And this very album, "STILL DEDICATED", is not only my absolute and total personal-all-time-favorite-album of/by BACKFIRE!, but it is also here'n'now our very "CLASSICK OF THE MONTH - NOVEMBER 2018" album. To promote'n'support "STILL DEDICATED" BACKFIRE! toured heavily and this also again with for example MADBALL. In 2003 then BACKFIRE! released their EP "THE WAR STARTS HERE" which was followed by their phenomenal albums "CHANGE THE GAME" (2003, "I SCREAM RECORDS") and "IN HARM'S WAY" (2008, "GSR MUSIC"), added a second guitarist but for all what I know sticked 'else-wise' together as on "STILL DEDICATED", yes, and if I now recall it correct then they were for a time 'un-active' but since a few years or so to say they are still going strong with playing live and releasing new albums also still today, yes, and only thanks for that to the band. And after this brief BACKFIRE! history now in the next and final chapter of this article we will have a closer look on "STILL DEDICATED" in all its glory itself.

BACKFIRE! were one of the strong(est) going European Hardcore and/or Euro Core bands back then and they were out at the very front of establishing a damn great, vital, active, strong going, heavy blasting, and well reputated Hardcore scene of'n'in central europe together with formidable and legendary great bands like HARD RESISTANCE, DEVIATE, RIGHT DIRECTION, ONLY ATTITUDE COUNTS, BRIGHTSIDE and/or the RYKER'S (to name just a few) they created something new back then and something damn great with an impact up to this present day. The cornerstones of BACKFIRE!'s sound'n'style were heavily influenced by New York Hardcore and especially legends like WARZONE, MADBALL, AGNOSTIC FRONT, SICK OF IT ALL, and also 25 TA LIFE, hell yeahr, and all was'n'is massively and heavily enriched by a huge dose of slightly 'crusty' Hardcore Punk and a healthy dose of thrashing metallic heavyness and a huge and pretty independently by them done'n'arranged hymnal sing-a-long-fueled anthemic character to the songs and also with a pretty to very sinister and militant/battle-scarred atmosphere and tone to it all and all done in their very own unique way, having sounded and still just sounding only and always like BACKFIRE! themselves and like no one else or less, yes, with BACKFIRE! always having had and still have a very decent, own, strong, and unique identity of their very own. Hell yeahr, and on "STILL DEDICATED" maybe even stronger than ever (before). Devastatingly heavy and without any mercy or regrets everything and everyone down into the ground crushing guitars, sharp and harsh roaring lead vokillz backed up by loud'n'proud widescreen backings and strong guest singers, and a nails spitting and bodies grinding heavy thundering rhythm section deliver highly grapping and rousing, compact to the and on point played and written highly intense killing songs with a tight and dense atmospheric approach to it all on a highly skilled damn great and strong level of quality and this in general as well as in particular here on "STILL DEDICATED", oh yeahr, melting raging speed, down-breaking grooves, and hymnal sing-a-long-parts into one hell of an intense burning'n'raging inferno that was back then THE total hitter and that's still today THE total hitter and as strong, as great, as unique, as conquering, and as relevant as back then in 2000. Add to this very strong lyrics, a great'n'stylish Hardcore artwork, and a smashing'n'crushing production sound, yes, and you see why and that this here was and is the complete package and nothing but and nothing less than the ultimate real deal. If you are too young to know BACKFIRE!'s "STILL DEDICATED" from back then or if it back then went why the bloody hell ever then under your radar or if you somehow sort of forgot about it since back then in the last 18 years then trust me when I say that you should make sure to finally know BACKFIRE!'s "STILL DEDICATED" with getting your hands on it and finally discovering it or make sure to finally re-discover it again, yeah', because it's all "still dedicated to my music and family, still dediacted because it means so much to me". BACKFIRE!'s "STILL DEDICATED", yes, a definition of a timeless amd ageless true and real larger than life masterpiece and you should definitely know and own it. Hardcore!!! Fist!!!

BACKFIRE! - "STILL DEDICATED" (2000, "STILL DEDICATED")

https://www.facebook.com/Backfire.Mtown (-the link to the facebook site of the band)