May 1st 1996

May 1st 1996, also known as 'international workers'day...there was some kind of festival organised by the Socialist party..Some stupid rock and reggae bands played and both Congress and Blindfold got asked as well. During the start of Congress, Josh demanded the crowd to move the stage-barriers and came to the conclusion that this was very "un-socialist" and basically called the organisers on their shit on their own turf..which was hilarious. The crowd went berzerk and tore down the place basically. Congress was known for starting riots or the 'anything can happen' situations during their set, which definitely meant that hardcore had more balls than nowadays.
That pic is legendary and you can see Jeroen Sektor on top of the crowd, you can see Saskia (Shortsight), Wim and Jan (Blindfold), Nick (regression), Steve (Lifecycle),Colin (Spineless) in the corner below and some more...The pic below I just found back in my personal Collection from Blindfold performing at the same stage. I cherrish this gig as one of the highlights in the history of h8000 hardcore.
The show was rebellious, violent and brutally honest. True 100% hc spirit.

CONGRESS-UxJ-CORPSE PAINT 1995

Another legendary pic that definitely left a memorable impression on the kids at the Ieperfest '95 edition is this UxJ one. The whole band was on stage already and the Congress intro was blasting through the speakers...UxJ made his way through the crowd with a cape over his head and entered the stage with this Immortal look-a-like paint. This was definitely awesome. Note that he also opened his arms on that same weekend with a razorblade the next day during the Liar set..., I'll remember while UxJ was bleeding pretty badly and I smeared my face and chest with his blood...totally forgetting that my mom was checking our set from the side of the stage. Crazy times!!!

*The UxJ pic inside the 'Blackened Persistance' booklet is actually taken during that Liar set.

CONGRESS-JOSH FURY-HOCKEY MASK

Not alot of words needed here...probably one of the best golden oldies h8000 pic's ever.

SOBERMIND RECORDS 'the unreleased'

Here's a list of some releases that where planned, but never saw the light of day, or at least not through SMR:

*Ironside 'smothered conviction' 7"(normally planned on PMA records)
*Shortsight 'cold wounds waking' LP/CD (cd got released through Goodlife rec's)
*v/a "Yummy" compilation (Blindfold, Shortsight,SOY,FEEDING THE FIRE)..veggie compl 7"
*Kindred 7"
*Culture 'Born Of You' LP/CD (CTW and Goodlife did the job)
*xOutcastx MCD
*VITALITY 'Bloodlines' 10" vinyl.
*REACHING FORWARD full lenght
*ASHLAR CD

LIAR 'Deathrow Earth' color vinyl/Thor

LIAR's 'Deathrow Earth' has probably been the band's most controversial and militant release to date. For some people the technical and different song structure was a bridge too far, but we gained tons of new attention in a massive way. Liar played a shitload of shows in different spots all over Europe, did awesome tours...and played a lot of summer festivals to promote the record. Deathrow Earth has been one of my personal favorite Liar releases...even the fact I went through some shitty times around that time.
Lyrically, I personally never found any better source to take inspiration from. Bitterness, hatred and a broken heart is the perfect mix for a dark and raging release.

Here's some insight info on the sleeve itself. It's soldiers marching into the mist and snow on the Eastern front. Note that the tank on our sleeve doesn't have the flag for obvious reasons :)
We found the concept/image to be a very strong one and wanted to push the stupidity of warfare and killing for your country. The whole greenish color thing on the release + the back of the record was totally influenced by the game Quake, something I was personally totally hooked-on.
We made posters with the image of Thor (God of thunder) on it, for it's strong imagery and
pushing courage, inner-fire and rage. Check also the limited 'give-away to friends' Thor sleeve as well below + Pictured : LIAR/FACEDOWN '99 tour poster, most dates we played with EARTH CRISIS. Some kids drew swastikas and 'nazi straight edge' on Liar and ExC posters. Neverthless, the places where packed every single day on that tour.

LIAR 'Deathrow Earth' LP (Goodlife)
(200 burgundy - 800 black) 1000 copies
(Ltd THOR sleeve - 25 black) 25 copies


*Deathrow Earth tourpass '1999
*Regular sleeve + Ltd Thor sleeve
*War Of The Century book + Tank we stole from book cover.

SPIRIT OF YOUTH 'Source' LP

SPIRIT OF YOUTH has always been a special band to me...the two main persons in the band, Dompie & Fré started checking hardcore and punk at a very young age. The days of hanging out at the Roeselare ramp and skating the streets back in the early 90's are still fresh in my memory, even the fact it's that long ago. I played drums in the first line-up and played bass later on in SOY, we did a couple of great tours and the very first release on SoberMind was the engine/darkroom cassette release only. 'Source' got recorded a couple of years after the tape, and the trademarking style has been unchanged since that release till the very end of the band. I was pretty pissed about the fact that they left the label and signed with GoodLife, but this was definitely the best step for the band, a couple of great releases and awesome unforgetable shows all over where part of the deal.
Spirit Of Youth was without any doubt the most groovy H8000 band in the 90's.
The two brothers never stopped playing hard music, Solid was formed right after the end of SOY and now they are playing in h8000's Blood Redemption.

This pressing-info for 'Source' is to be found here as well:

http://h8000central.blogspot.com/2009/06/sobermind-records-pressing-info.html

Expect a full interview very soon with Dompie (SOY-BLOOD REDEMPTION) soon.

SMR08- 1997
SPIRIT OF YOUTH 'Source'
Format: LP/CD
Amount: 500 LP-1000 CD
Color vinyl: 100 Mint Green/ 10 Charcoal grey/390 Black Vinyl
Sleeve pic: Geert Verbeke

CONGRESS 'Euridium' 7"ep 1994

EURIDIUM - MCD / 7" - |1994|

1994, another early highlight in h8000 history, probably even THE highlight that made a change to many. After the release of their super limited demo tape that only insiders had in their possession. CONGRESS recorded 'Euridium', the 7" came on Warehouse records, the label that also brought shortsight, Acme, Blindfold and Nations On Fire. The cd release would be on Goodlife (GLR took over machination a bit later). The intro of 'Lead Astray' always was a winner on the early Congress shows, since this was their opener and many got bruised and beaten in the pit...The other 3 songs on the 7" are truly winning h8000 hit-songs...from that moment on, CONGRESS started touring and played many many shows all over with this great release under their belt... Any self-respecting hardcore kid should have this release in their collection.

On a side note...The strange title 'Euridium' has remain a mystery still...later on, the band would use more strange phrases and words on their releases.

Tracklist: - r.i. / I lead astray - Conspiracy of silence - Acoustic life - Black demon

PRESSING-INFO

* CD released on GOOD LIFE RECORDINGS

* 7" released on WAREHOUSE RECORDS

* 100 black (PITS Edition-LTD sleeve)

* 980 black, 20 red (first press)

* 1000 clear purple (second press)

* 1000 coffee-brown (third press)

* CD : 1000 cardboard-cover, jewel box -cover

Below, check...

Original CONGRESS 'Euridium' Promo-poster, note the Warehouse address and the distributor for Warehouse was Genet. A promo poster back in the day was just a xerox thing....check also the vinyl sticker that was included inside the sleeve...a true classic! I'm glad I have these treasures in my possession.