Samurai's Debut EP: The Truth, The Trust, The Love

When I first saw Samurai live I instantly drew on Thrice as a great post-hardcore comparison, Poison the Well is another, both of these are quite apparent on “The Truth, The Trust, The Love”.

If you’ve ever attended a Samurai gig then you can be forgiven for thinking the stage was hot or perhaps electrified; they’re charged with a surprisingly fierce energy. Having seen Samurai live a couple of times now I’ll say they stay true to their promise of “crushing riffs, massive melodies and a 3-pronged vocal attack”.

Samurai list Killswitch Engage and AlexisonFire as inspirations for their hard-hitting sound and describe themselves as “a raucous blend of metal, hardcore, and alt-rock”.

“The Truth, The Trust, The Love” is a 4 track, unprovoked attack on the senses; a careful balance of tender melodies and Israeli-style aggression.

1. Laying Here Waiting For The Lights To Take Me
2. I Get My Strength By Fighting For The Right Reasons
3. All I Know Is The Extent of Everything I Don’t
4. Now All We Need Is A Deck of Cards

I’d have to say All I Know Is The Extent of Everything I Don’t is my favourite with Now All We Need Is A Deck of Cards a close second.

Samurai will be giving away free copies of the “The Truth, The Trust, The Love” with tickets to their next show, the first in support of their debut release at The Haunt in Brighton on July 6th.

Find out more about Samuraion their Facebook Page or download their EP yourself at http://samurai.bandcamp.com/

Eleven Year Switch

Eleven Year Switch belted out some eye-blistering tracks, their numerous warm-ups were more than worth it, they achieved a great sound, in the end

This week I particularlly liked their song Von Goosewing (isn’t that the goose bloke from Count Duckula?).

My mate Wayne’s new band Samurai also hit the spot at this relaxed Sunday night venue. Their final song All We Need Now Is A Deck of Cards was devastatingly heavy, but also hilarious as the band formed an onstage moshpit whilst playing.

Both bands have played several gigs elsewhere this month, but seem to be firm audience favourites at Laser Hub! The crowd seem to love the “antics” and charisma of both Samurai and Eleven Year Switch; mistakes and innovations alike were met with rapturous applause.

I also loved a really great band that opened the night called Puppet Kings, they’re from Guildford, Crawley, Brighton… allover really. They were covered in awesome sauce.

I’m also astounded to be able to tell you that WHEATUS (like, THE WHEATUS!) are playing at Laser Hub on Wed Jun 06 2012 at 06:00 pm. Tickets are £12, selling out fast from Laser Hub. Might be worth a laugh if you wanna toss them £12 worth of crack money.

The Malt Shovel Pub, Horsham

April 20th to 22th 2012

15 Springfield Road, Horsham, RH12 2PG 01403 254543

Myself and Dani will be there about 7.30pm on Saturday for some tasting if anyone fancies coming along! I rang the landlady of who said she’s ordered 20 barrels from local breweries (Dark Star, Hepworth, WJ King, Weltons and others). No-one’s sure how long it’ll all last, but they’re expecting a few of those beers to still be available on draught the following week too.

Sunday 22nd April is a charity fundraising day at The Malt Shovel with Morris Dancers and I think there’s other entertainment(?), there’s also a chance to win a 17 pint minipin of WJ King ale.

From: WJ King Blog

18th Reading CAMRA Beer and Cider Festival

May 2nd to 6th 2012

King’s Meadow, Reading, RG1 8BN

There’ll also be a LocAle bar, showcasing beer from breweries within 30 miles of the Festival. Food available at all times, music on Friday and Saturday. Sunday is a Family Day with children’s entertainment. Reading CAMBRA will also host the National Cider and Perry Awards on Friday and Saturday.

Tickets available from: http://www.readingbeerfestival.org.uk/

May Day Bank Holiday Beer Fest, Staplefield

May 4th to 7th 2012 @ The Jolly Tanners Pub

Handcross Road, Staplefield, RH17 6EF 01444 400 335

I’ve never been there but it sounds great! The Jolly Tanners website says “We are proud to promote real ale and local breweries and we are CAMRA members“.

The Jolly Tanners consistently appears in The Good Beer Guide and is Cask Mark accredited. Apparently a May Day beer festival is a yearly tradition at The Jolly Tanners, they’ll be live music and hot food too. Open 11am to 11pm.

From: Jolly Tanners Website

The Old Dunnings Beer Festival, East Grinstead

May 4th to 7th 2012 @ The Old Mill

The Old Dunnings Mill, Dunnings Road, East Grinstead, RH19 4AT

Check out their great website for more information: http://www.theolddunningsmill.co.uk/

Horsham Sports Club Beer Festival 2012

June 2nd to 3rd 2012
Almost no information about this at the moment but it will take place at Horsham Sports Club, Cricketfield Road, Horsham, West Sussex, RH12 1TE.

More information will hopefully appear on http://www.horshamsportsclub.co.uk/

16th South Downs Beer & Cider Festival

June 15th to 16th 2012 @ Lewes Town Hall

Not much information about this one, but it’s an official CAMRA event and will take place at Lewes Town Hall, Old Corn & Hop Exchange, Fisher Street, BN7 2QS.

Tickets available from: http://www.brightoncamra.org.uk/

Guildford Beer Festival

July 6th to 7th 2012

The third Guildford Beer Festival will be held at Guildford Cricket Club, Woodbridge Road, Guildford, GU1 4RP.

Tickets are on sale now and may be purchased online at www.guildfordcc.com or in person at the Guildford Tourist Information Office, 155 High Street, Guildford GU1 3AJ

There will be approximately 60 different cask ales sourced from independent and micro breweries in Surrey, Berkshire, Hampshire and Sussex. There will also be a good selection of handcrafted ciders, and a separate bar selling wines and soft drinks. The Beer List will eventually be published on www.guildfordcc.com, they’ve also published answers to some Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs).

Tickets available from: Guildford Cricket Club Beer Festival

10th Horsham Beer Festival

September 15th to 16th 2012

The 10th Horsham Beer Festival will take place on Saturday 15th and Sunday 16th September 2012, at The Drill Hall, Denne Road, Horsham.

Sessions as usual will be 12 noon-4pm and 6pm-10pm on Saturday and 12 noon-4pm Sunday.

Tickets go on sale on Saturday 2nd June from The Beer Essentials, 30a East Street, Horsham and are £6 each.

From: Beer Essentials News Page

More to come…

I’ll be updating this page throughout the summer with more information and events. If you know of a local beer festival I’ve missed, let me know!

Also I’d love to hear your comments, don’t anonymously like me on god-awful Facebook where I can’t see it, leave me a message using the comments gadget below!

Arundel Brewery

Ford, West Sussex

Prize Fighter 4.6% – A seasonal beer for March from Arundel Brewery which I tasted at the Bar Du Vin Beer Festival, Brighton. A chestnut coloured ale with a refreshing bitter flavour and hoppy aroma. The flavours arents quite deep enough for me, drinkable but not one of my favourites. My score 5/10.

Dark Star

Partridge Green, West Sussex

American Pale Ale 4.7% – I think the lines at The Hobgoblin needed cleaning because this golden ale tasted like cold dishwater, atrocious! Honestly, the pint I had was vile. I feel I must try it again because I’m sure that’s not what it’s supposed to taste like. But until then, my score 1/10.

Black Coffee Pilsner 4.8% – A February special from Dark Star, I found this one on draught at The Brewery Shades, Crawley. It’s actually a dark lager, brewed with Czech malt, hops and yeast. The coffee-taste isn’t as strong as WJ King’s Market Porter, but it’s simpler and smoother, far more drinkable. My score 7/10.

Hophead 3.8% – A golden ale with a super fruity and hoppy aroma, a citrus bitter taste and a long lasting aftertaste. One of my all time favourites, served at The Hobgoblin and lots of other places in and around Sussex and the South East. It must be awesome, it’s a Beer Festival regular! My score 9/10.

Rye and Juniper 5.2% – I was pleasantly surprised to see this one at The Brewery Shades, Crawley. Adapted from a traditional Finnish beer recipe; it’s dry, yet floral. Sweet, yet malty. It’s not a golden ale, but close enough. To quote DJ “that’s fucking lovely that is!”.
My score 8/10.

Revelation 5.7% – A Dark Star pale ale, envisaged 8 years ago but only introduced onto the UK market this year as people are now more open to drinking stronger beers in smaller measures. Revelation is a blend of 4 different hops which is dry-hopped again during cooling. Similar to Hophead but less refined, tempted to say that there’s “too much going on” with this one if anything. But it’s still a great, strong beer! My score 7/10.

Buxton,

Buxton, Derbyshire

Tsar 9.5% – OH. MY. GOD. This is as black as a coal miner’s arse, yet smells like a tramp’s face! The first sip of this unique, full-bodied, Imperial stout was… strange. I passed the glass over to a friend to try, but immediately wanted it back when the taste of dark chocolate and red berries began to surface in the complex aftertaste. Never before have I flipped from hating something to loving it so quickly. It’s delicious but deadly, but it may not be to everyone’s taste… and it reeks of booze! My score 7/10.

WJ King,

Horsham, West Sussex

Market Porter 5.0% – My friend DJ loved this dark brown Porter. It’s basically a deep, dark pint of roasted coffee.
There’s a lot more to it than that, the malty warmth and the liquorice aroma, but essentially it’s halfway between a cup of coffee and a Guinness.
The tasting notes refer to a “pleasant sulphurousness” which I can neither taste nor even imagine – I’ll take their word for it. My score 6/10.

Cascade 4.2% – I’m a big fan of pale and golden ales and this is both, Cascade would also be my superhero name if I ever become one, so I felt I had to try this. Brewed using only Cascade hops this is very drinkable, citrus and grapefruit notes mean it’s rather bitter! This is a flavoursome slap in the face, reminds me of Dark Star’s Hophead. My score 8/10.

Next Time

In April I’ll be discussing my favourite bottled ales, from the mainstream brands like Badger to my local breweries like Hepworth. Also, a selection of great ales for ladies; as my girlfriend Dani now enjoys an ale or two as well.

SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (PROTECT-IP Act) are very similar pieces of legislation proposed by the United States Congress that both want to stop illegal file sharing and music downloading.

But it’s widely thought that this power to prosecute ordinary internet users and shut-down entire websites, would be abused. Many people feel very uncomfortable granting such incredible power to movie studios and music companies based on how they’ve tried to tackle piracy in the past, for example; suing children and trying to block the introduction of the video recorder.

Real-World Implications of SOPA and/or PIPA
The real-world implications of SOPA and/or PIPA are frightening. Ordinary people like you and I could actually be sent to prison for uploading something as simple as a party video in which a movie is playing in the background or our friends are singing along to a song on the radio!

Check out this great video on the dangerous implications of SOPA and PIPA:

Power to the press!?
Frightening isn’t it, giving the profit-driven, unscrupulous entertainment industry to power to censor free speech and creativity! It will come as no surprise that the hated media mogul and all-round enemy of freedom, Rupert Murdoch, fully supports the SOPA and PIPA bills as it would allow many of his business interests to censor the internet. Consider for a moment all the unlawful journalistic wrongs perpetrated by his newspapers and the biased, lazy, unsustainable opinions broadcast by his news networks – is this the kind of man you want censoring the internet? Fuck no.

The Great Internet Blackout: Opposition to SOPA and PIPA

Google's anti SOPA/PIPA homepage

Blacked out sites included: English Wikipedia, Reddit, Boing Boing, Google, twitpic, The Oatmeal, Mozilla (makers of Firefox), WordPress, Wired, Minecraft, 4chan and Tumblr.

Wikipedia's anti SOPA/PIPA blackout page

Pretty much every website and corporation involved in The Great Internet Blackout issued a statement on their stance against the SOPA ad PIPA bills, but my favourite is this one from twitpic, the image sharing and micro-blogging service for twitter:

We would not be participating in these protests if we did not think they were for a worthy cause; one that can, and will, harm the innovation and freedom of information upon which the Internet was built.

Facebook did not blackout (preferring shameless greed to a noble loss in advertising revenues), however Facebook founder and Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg did have this to say on the subject of SOPA and PIPA:

We can’t let poorly thought out laws get in the way of the Internet’s development.

US President Barack Obama is against SOPA in its current form, but that thought that SOPA will return in February 2012. PIPA is also still being discussed in the US Congress, and is just as potentially damaging to the free and open internet as SOPA.

What are your thoughts on SOPA and PIPA? Feel free to comment using the form below:

Ta ta!