Slam Dunk 2015: Impericon Stage

Here’s everything you need to know about Slam Dunk 2015’s Impericon stage, headlined by The Bronx…

THE BRONX Watching The Bronx perform live, in any environment, is akin to setting off a firework inside a submarine – expect absolute carnage. We’re envious of anyone out who’s never seen them live before because as with all the best thrills, nothing beats the first time. Our ultimate tip, if you’ve never seen The Bronx or Mariachi El Bronx before, is make sure you watch them both. The phrase “mind blown” is reserved for such occasions.

**GALLOWS **Gallows back-to-back with The Bronx? Holy harcore, Batman! If anyone manages to walk out of that double onslaught of musical bedlam unscathed, it’ll be a miracle. Gallows have always been great live, whether it’s with Frank Carter or Wade McNeil at the front instigating all the chaos, but right now their sonic attack seems unstoppable.

**H20 **Sick Of It All roadie Toby Morse founded H20 back in 1994 and he’s been adding – albeit sporadically – to the ongoing legacy of NYHC ever since. If you’re interested in the roots of hardcore music, H20 are a key gateway band between founding acts like Sick Of It All and Madball and the bands that emerged on Epitaph and Fat Wreck Chords during the 90s. Plus, they’ve got killer Bad Religion-esque vocal harmonies and they rule!

**COMEBACK KID **Canadian hardcore punks Comeback Kid are the embodiment of hardcore music. They’ve been slogging away over the years and touring relentlessly, relying on a passion for the genre and the word of mouth of their diehard fans to help spread their name far and wide beyond their home city of Winnipeg. But don’t call it a comeback! They’ve been keeping it real for over a decade now, ignoring the rise and fall of musical trends and staying true to the scene that spawned them.

**BANE **And the award for best hardcore band name goes to…Bane! Formed in Massachusetts (again, there must be something in the water) in 1995, Bane began as a side project for Aaron Dalbec of Converge. But Dalbec exited Converge in 2001 and low and behold Bane are still going strong, with fellow local lad Aaron Bedard on vocals. This is proper hardcore music: powerful, brutal, unflinching and hard, just like their DC Comic supervillain namesake.

**STICK TO YOUR GUNS **Orange County metalcore outfit Stick To Your Guns released their debut album whilst they were still in high school, and they’re now onto album number five. Produced by screamo godfather John Feldmann (there’s that name again), Disobedient came out earlier this year to praise from critics and fans alike – even Slipknot’s very own Corey Taylor is a fan. Their cocktail of punk rock, hardcore and metal belies a deep love of aggressive music paired with honest lyrics. Why would you not want to see that live?

**DEEZ NUTS **Hardcore hellraisers Deez Nuts leaned more towards an upfront and aggressive sound on their latest studio release Word Is Bond, but that simply means they have an array of hard-hitting anthems to accompany all the party tunes already in their hip-hop influenced, street punk arsenal of songs. Be there as the Melbourne-based posse set things off nice and early at Slam Dunk festival.

**TRASH TALK **If raw, disjointed, cacophonies of noise are your bag then Trash Talk is right up your scuzzy little alley. Hardcore will forever be the music of the underground and as long as there are volatile and incendiary acts like these Sacramento rebel rousers around, the scene will remain healthy and alive, which is more than we can say for your eardrums after you’ve seen Trash Talk live.

**BEING AS AN OCEAN **Pulsating drones, deafening breakdowns, harsh/clean vocals and poppy edges all combine to make Being As An Ocean one of the more subtle, diverse and interesting melodic hardcore bands on the scene, and 2015 has been a particularly busy year for the boys from Alpine, California. They’ve already completed a full run of the Vans Warped Tour around the US, and are paying the UK a cheeky visit before dropping their third full-length album later this year. Slam Dunk festival will your chance to hear the new material. Don’t miss out.

**DEAD HARTS **Continuing the South Yorkshire assembly line of heavy as hell rock music, and following in the footsteps of Bring Me The Horizon, While She Sleeps, Rolo Tomassi and Marmozets; ladies and gentlemen it’s… Dead Harts. They may be a way off making the sort of inroads or attaining the cult credibility of the aforementioned acts, but as the first band on the bill there’ll be more than enough beatdowns and layered metallic grooves to get the day off to a suitably brutal beginning.

For more information on Slam Dunk, click here.

DJ, presenter, writer, photographer and podcaster Matt Stocks was a presenter on Kerrang! Radio before a year’s stint on the breakfast show at Team Rock Radio, where he also hosted a punk show and a talk show called Soundtrack Apocalypse. He then moved over to television, presenting on the Sony-owned UK channel Scuzz TV for three years, whilst writing regular features and reviews for Metal Hammer and Classic Rock magazine. He also wrote, produced and directed a feature-length documentary on Australian hard rock band Airbourne called It’s All For Rock ‘N’ Roll, and in 2017 launched his own podcast: Life in the Stocks. His first book, also called Life In The Stocks, was published in 2020. A second volume was published in April 2022.