S.A.C. "S.A.C."

Cassette - $4.75
STREET DATE: 6/2/23
CAT#: PRO-082
LABEL: Protagonist Music

S.A.C. is a 4-piece slam/grind outfit from Providence, RI. Drawing their influences from hardcore, death metal, screamo, and hip hop, Shoot All Cops are putting us on notice with 3 tracks of unfettered disgust. Their songs tackle issues such as police brutality, inflated egos, smashing societal standards, and self accountability. The sound is as bleak as the message, dripping with filthy riffs and breakdowns that compliment their scathingly acidic vocals. Turn the volume up and prepare to ram your head directly into the nearest wall.

Featuring ex/current members of: Worst Days, Amitié, Tar, The Hate Street Dialogue

TRACK LISTING:

1. Check Yourself
2. MF 9-5
3. P.O.S.

MARKETING POINTS:

• Featuring ex/current members of: Worst Days, Amitié, Tar, The Hate Street Dialogue

FOR FANS OF:
Speed, Edict, Greed Worm, Sunami

Damien Done "Total Power"

CASSETTE - $6.00
STREET DATE: 5/19/23
CAT#: PRO-089
LABEL: Protagonist

Dusky rock'n'roll meets gloomy pop from Damien Moyal, the former of frontman of As Friends Rust, Culture, Morning Again, and Shai Hulud. Playing alongside former members of Child Bite, Earthmover, and Scissor Now, this latest effort sees Moyal continue his sharp turn from the angst of his past, instead using Damien Done as a vehicle to croon unnervingly voyeuristic tales over a collection of bleak but catchy tracks. Touching on the doom and drawl of swampy grunge and the cold, blue sneer of darker 80s pop and hazy post-punk, Total Power is just the slightest curl of a lip on an otherwise angelic face.

TRACK LISTING:

1. Maw
2. Black Moon
3. Pray For Me
4. Inexorcisable
5. Young Drugs
6. Always On Fire
7. Fin Dom
8. Gentleman Thief
9. Bounty and Blight

MARKETING POINTS:

• Featuring members of As Friends Rust, Shai Hulud, Child Bite.
• Full-color and multi-facet packaging with O-Card.

FOR FANS OF:
Nick Cave, Interpol, Billy Idol, Echo & The Bunnymen

Omen Astra "The End of Everything"

LP - $14.00
STREET DATE: 5/19/23
CAT#: PRO-076
LABEL: Protagonist

Nothing can fully prepare you for the scope and scale of what Omen Astra are documenting on this monumental debut. Crushing. Atmospheric. Challenging. Just some of the descriptors one might choose to wrap their mind around this release. Influences present include the brute force, technicality, and hooks of bands as diverse as Cult of Luna, Faith No More, Cave In, Gojira, and Neurosis, and even touches of the interstellar psychedelia and melodic songcraft of Bowie or Pink Floyd. The full album is so sonically and emotionally heavy that it might transform your record player into a home version of the large-haedron collider. No comparison or written description is truly apt here, though it might be best characterized as an explosion of rage and beauty akin to the eye inside a storm - an experience to be lived rather than read about. And one absorbed best at full volume!

TRACK LISTING:

1. Breathe Into the Wave
2. False Gods
3. Who's Been Painting My Roses Red?
4. The City That Burns
5. Glory To The Crown
6. This Is The End of Everything

MARKETING POINTS:

• Features members of New Day Rising, The Black Maria, Spread the Disease

FOR FANS OF:
Cult of Luna, Cave In, Gojira, Mouth of the Architect, Neurosis

Spiritkiller “Two Thousand Twenty Three”

CASSETTE - $4.10
STREET DATE: 3/31/2023
CAT#: PRO-084
LABEL: Protagonist Music

Spiritkiller will make you move, but leaves behind the mosh-heavy content and instead focuses on the dynamics and coherence that was so prevalent in 90's hardcore. The band carefully aims to lock you into a groove with the use of solid drumming and catchy strings. Topping it all off is the mission to get some lyrics stuck in your head and ultimately view the music as a chance to promote some self-awareness. Featuring members of: Hundreds of AU, Endicott, Lariat, At War With Shadows, Black Kites, and more, this is thoughtful hardcore. This is Spiritkiller from Albany, NY.

TRACK LISTING:

1. The Spiral
2. New Economy
3. Blind to Myself
4. Unconditional

MARKETING POINTS:

• Featuring members of Hundreds of AU, Endicott, At War With Shadows, Lariat, Black Kites

FOR FANS OF:
Unbroken, 108, Snapcase, Undertow, One King Down, Endeavor

Academy Order “The Devil Spoke”

CASSETTE - $4.75
STREET DATE: 3/17/23
CAT#: PRO-080
LABEL: Protagonist

Academy Order is a punk/death rock outfit formed in Philadelphia in 2021. They released a six song EP entitled “To Wilt Without Shame” via Denver’s Convulse Records that same winter which was very well-received, sold out of press, and was subsequently re-issued by Protagonist. The group blends punk, death rock, and new wave that calls to mind Christian Death, 45 Grave, and Clan of Xymox, with touches of early Oi and hardcore such as Blitz and TSOL. Here they have returned with “The Devil Spoke" which captures their continued growth and strong focus on demanding and infectious songwriting, while teasing listeners for what is yet to come...

TRACK LISTING:

1. The Devil Spoke
2. Death in the American South
3. Perennial Sun (Cassette Exclusive Track)

MARKETING POINTS:

• Featuring members of Stud Count, Drill Sergeant
• Art & Design by Preston Weippert (Of Feather And Bone)
• Includes download card

FOR FANS OF:
Killing Joke, 45 Grave, Stud Count, Christian Death, TSOL, Clan of Xymox

Common Wounds “Common Wounds”

CASSETTE - $4.75
STREET DATE: 3/10/23
CAT#: PRO-077
LABEL: Protagonist Music

Common Wounds is a Phoenix, Arizona based band established in 2018, under the former moniker Dead History. The band finds itself rooted in a love of 90's noise rock, post grunge, and emotionally driven post-hardcore with waves of distortion, melody, and pulsing rhythm driven through angst ridden, low-tuned instruments. This music calls to mind the street heavy DNA of Helmet and Unsane, with the meandering chaos of Lowercase and Unwound, and the passion of Hoover and Current; while any hints of influence serve the creation of their own tension-filled cacophony.

Though they are forging new paths in sound an songwriting, Common Wounds features members of respected bands like Run With the Hunted, Landmine Marathon, Suicide Nation, Seas Will Rise, and War Tongue. To properly capture the mood of this EP, it was recorded and mixed by Zachary Rippy (Full of Hell, Defeater) at Sound Signal Recording Studios in Mesa, Arizona, and mastered by Nick Zampiello (Torche, KEN mode) at New Alliance East.

TRACK LISTING:

1. Lament
2. Hit or Miss
3. High/Low
4. No Exit
5. Phantom Limb

MARKETING POINTS:

• Full-color, maltese style fold-out cover.
• Digital download card included.
• Ex-members of Run With the Hunted, Suicide Nation, Landmine Marathon.
• Recorded and mixed by Zachary Rippy (Full of Hell, Defeater) at Sound Signal Recording Studios in Mesa, Arizona.
• Mastered by Nick Zampiello (Torche, KEN mode) at New Alliance East.

FOR FANS OF:
Unwound, Lowercase, Jesus Lizard, Unsane, Hoover

New Day Rising "Memoirs of Cynicism"

LP - $14.00
STREET DATE: 12/30/22
CAT#: PRO-073
LABEL: Protagonist Music

New Day Rising helped to start an "emocore" explosion in the mid 90s. They created a unique sound unlike any other band of the time, which spurred many record labels to approach them for releases. Memoirs Of Cynicism, the band's only full length, sees them going beyond their original earlier 90's melodic hardcore roots to embrace a darker direction. Fueled by a growing lyrical pessimism alongside the musical rise of a more metallic delivery, the stand-out album from 1997 is a documentation of the band's growing song-writing power. Mixing a gutteral assault with elements of vocal beauty, New Day Rising showed that they would not be held down by the limitations of genre. This milestone album is finally making it's debut onto vinyl for it's 25th Anniversary!

Members also play(ed) in notable bands such as Spread the Disease, Acrid, The China White, Die In The Light, and Omen Astra. The original recording was only ever released on CD, but has been newly remastered for this 25th anniversary vinyl edition by James Plotkin at Plotkinworks, with all new artwork and layout by band-members Dave Buschemeyer and Oliver Nac.

TRACK LISTING:

1. Hired Angel
2. Cash Core
3. Old Souls Can Be Beaten
4. Holy Martyr
5. Shithead
6. Annoying
7. Punishment
8. Predator

MARKETING POINTS:

• Members of Spread the Disease, Acrid, The China White, Die In The Light.
• First time ever on vinyl for the 25th anniversary of the original CD release.
• Mastered for vinyl by James Plotkin at Plotkinworks
• Includes download card

FOR FANS OF:
Cave In, Hourglass, Groundwork, Spread the Disease, Envy

Groundwork "Today We Will Not Be Invisible nor Silent"

LP - $13.35
STREET DATE: 12/16/22
CAT#: PRO-050
LABEL: Protagonist Music

The Arizona desert has produced its fair share of notable underground music over the years, and one of its early hardcore offerings was the emotional and political charge of Groundwork. Rising from the dust in the first half of the1990's and imploding in only about four years, Groundwork left behind a series of vinyl releases and live performances which still retain an impact on heavy music today. Sharing the stage with bands like Unbroken, Rorschach, Swing Kids, Chokehold, Born Against, Outspoken, Downcast, 4 Walls Falling, Native Nod, and many more, their evolution in sound and approach culminated in their only full-length release in 1994. Today We Will Not Be Invisible Nor Silent is sometimes cited as a defining LP of that era in hardcore, despite the band remaining lesser known than many of its contemporaries. Sharing subtle melodic touches, bone-rattling heaviness, and an undercurrent of groove, the record uses quiet passes and wild crescendos to achieve a battering experience that leaves a lasting impression. It is a testament to everything the band stood for, explored, endured, and ultimately was destroyed by; an intense and emotional journey for a group of friends set to the soundtrack of catastrophe. Members went on to play in bands such as 400 Years and Absinthe.

The recording was lovingly restored from the original reels and remixed by Steve Roche at Permanent Hearing Damage. It was then mastered for vinyl and digital by James Plotkin at Plotkinworks.

TRACK LISTING:

1. A Prayer for the Dead
2. Question Me
3. Hungry
4. Willing Victim
5. Channel One
6. Token Man
7. Daily Bread
8. Birds of Passage
9. Epitaph
10. Control

MARKETING POINTS:

• Restored from the original reels and remixed by Steve Roche at Permanent Hearing Damage
• Mastered for vinyl and digital by James Plotkin at Plotkinworks.
• Includes a fold-out poster insert, digital download code, and sticker

FOR FANS OF:
Chokehold, Rorschach, Disembodied, Downcast, 400 Years, Absinthe

EDICT "EDICT"

LP - $13.35 / CASSETTE - $4.75
STREET DATE: 9/30/22
CAT#: PROTAG066
LABEL: Protagonist Music

Hailing from Rhode Island and surrounding areas, EDICT have been making a name for themselves since 2021 when they first unleashed their unfriendly sound upon the world. Now it's time for these members of Bury Your Dead, As the Sun Sets, Dropdead, Ruin It and more, to unleash five tracks of unsettling audio destruction on this self-titled EP. Nothing but scathing anthems of social upheaval and irreligious critique are to be found here, pounding at peaked volume and drenched in a delivery that is at times violently rapid fire, and at others, anchored by the most savage of breakdowns. Recorded with Greg Thomas (END, Yashira) and Chris Teti (Chained to the Bottom of the Ocean, Fiddlehead) at Silver Bullet Studios for maximum effect. Absolutely not for the faint of heart.

TRACK LISTING:

1. Rat Lines
2. Invisible Hand
3. Salvation
4. Father/Son
5. Face First

MARKETING POINTS:

• One-sided 12" with custom silk-screened B-side.
• Features Members of Dropdead, Bury Your Dead.
• Recorded with Greg Thomas (END, Yashira) and Chris Teti (Chained to the Bottom of the Ocean, Fiddlehead) at Silver Bullet Studios.
• Includes download card

FOR FANS OF:
All Out War, Bury Your Dead, END, Hatebreed, Nails

Icepield "aɪspiːld"

CASSETTE - $4.75
STREET DATE: 8/5/22
CAT#:PRO074
LABEL: Protagonist

Fusing the seemingly disparate sounds of post-hardcore and post-punk, this new San Diego outfit offers up their debut 3-song cassette. So, what happens when you take a heavy dose of melodic chaos not unlike their hometown heroes Drive Like Jehu, add a pinch of Sense Field, and dashes of The Jesus Lizard and Pitchfork, then toss it in a blender with a few sprinkles of 80s alternative rock? Well, you get Icepield. Duh. Featuring ex-members of: Stickfigurecarousel, Foreign Bodies, Modern Love.

TRACK LISTING:

1. The Glove
2. Bitter Marrow
3. Don't Change

MARKETING POINTS:

• Includes download card
• Recorded and mixed at Earthling Studios
• Features members of Stickfigurecarousel, Foreign Bodies, Modern Love

FOR FANS OF:
Drive Like Jehu, Sense Field, Pitchfork, Stickfigurecarousel, Jesus Lizard, Fiddlehead

Hundreds of AU "A Briefing On The Human Condition"

12"EP - $13.35
STREET DATE: 3/25/22
CAT #: PROTAG072
LABEL: Protagonist

Coupling impassioned, melodic crescendos and progressive, technical screamo hardcore, Hundreds of Au are back again with another album of pure energy.

The band has become known for its razor-sharp playing, waves of chaotic sound, and emotional exposure. Moments of desperation and catharsis are woven into the varying layers of these intricate, yet propulsive tracks, all anchored by the stellar musicianship. Each record in their growing catalog is an event, and "A Briefing..." is certainly nothing short of another momentous occasion.

Featuring ex and current members of You and I, Working Through Rust, Hell Mary, The Assistant, Capacities, Estella, Lesser Minds, and more!

TRACK LISTING:

1. 100 Year Test
2. Objective Party
3. Afloat
4. Ancestor Reality
5. Return

MARKETING POINTS:

• Ex and current members of You and I, Working Through Rust, Hell Mary, The Assistant, Capacities, Estella, and more.

FOR FANS OF:
Frail Body, Capacities, Touché Amoré, Respire, For Your Health

Funeral Pile “Evoked In Flames”

LP - $12.00 / CD - $7.00
STREET DATE: 3/11/22
CAT #: PROTAG067
LABEL: Protagonist

A formidable German quartet comprised of Annike, Martin, Matthias, and Ralf, Funeral Pile was born in January of 2020 from the ashes of previous bands. Their wide variety of musical influences inspired them to create a sound of their own, combining elements of black metal, death metal, and thrash. With atmospheric touches and epic song structures, this debut album is an entire metal experience in itself, providing listeners little mercy on their journey into the flames!

TRACK LISTING:

1. Evoked in Flames
2. Funeral Pile
3. Food for the Flies
4. Dead End Red Sand *
5. King Cockroach vs. The Lizard Queen
6. Nameless City
7. Dead Horse Trail
8. Klondike (The White Silence)
9. Like the Ocean's Tide

*CD / Digital Bonus Track

MARKETING POINTS:

• Vinyl Includes Download Code

FOR FANS OF:
Dark Tranquility, Panopticon, At The Gates, Umbra Vitae, Wayfarer, In Flames

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