FIRESTONE,
The metallic lords hailing from the infamous K-town area, heart of the once world-renowned H8000 scene.
Five adolescent friends who happen to reside near the epicenter of the H8000 scene decided to form their own project of mayhem after witnessing the ever growing scene surrounding them during that brief period of time in the mid ’90’s. Shows, labels, zines and bands sprung out of nowhere and the scene was very vibrant during those days.
FIRESTONE is the result of their vision upon the world and their surroundings. Influenced by fellow H8000 residents and friends such as SPINELESS, DEFORMITY, LIAR, CONGRESS,… they brew up a mixture of death metal beefed up with a H8000 hardcore attitude.

Element is the mini EP they released in 1998 on SOBER MIND RECORDS, the legendary label once run by Hans from LIAR. Since FIRESTONE was only around for a brief period of time their legacy holds only a few releases such as “Aim For A New Tomorrow” and “Element”. Certain members of FIRESTONE are still active in music and have been part of ( or still are) bands such as AMEN RA and LIAR.

The six songs on this release are an example of the pure aggression that the H8000 scene once displayed
through their metallic infused version of hardcore. Heavy grunts from deep below scream out their vision on
society. The disgust drips through the speakers as thundering drums join weeping guitars. Finger licking guitar solo’s add a final layer to the wall of anger. Some slower parts are incorporated to add some variety in their metal influenced compositions. Still hard and full of fury they waltz their way through this mini EP.
Chugging their way throught the chords they show us a fine example of what the whole H8000 was about.
FIRESTONE never really caught on to the scene since their style wasn’t very renewing or diverse. In the end it was all riff based metal played out to a hardcore crowd. And that crowd happened to be spoiled with all the great original bands in the scene.

The lyrics are diverse views on themes such as human rights, death and other topics that relate to the whole H8000 influence. Accompanied by their heavy hitting sound and unleashed vocals these offspring of the H8000 gave the world a different kind of album of what was the current standard back in the mid ’90’s.
It was leaning more to the metal side than the original H8000 sound was but still had enough balls to participate in the scene and leave his marks on it.

FIRESTONE never really reached out like other H8000 bands that achieved scene-stardom and world-fame back then. They were a project of young bloods in those days and that can be noticed by a closer look at the lyrics. Straight to the point and direct in your face, no hidden messages here. Not bad, but you can notice the difference with other legends of the scene and as said before they were still young and fresh to the whole concept of performing so this can be seen as a ‘growing of age’ album, a first step into the creative process.

Once part of the glorious heydays of H8000, this album can still light up my day by putting it on my record player and giving it a spin. Thoughts of windmilling and feet first dives come to mind listening to this record.
Small venues turned into violent pits of anger full of idealistic youngsters releasing their fury to their beloved music and representative bands. A scene that was founded on mutual respect and commitment towards making this world a better place for all. Where the youth was fed up with the current society and did things their own way, DIY. Where has it’s gone too? It’s still out there in the hearts of many, only clouded by the many scenes that developed after the glorious H8000 days. Instead of unity, backstabbing has become todays reigning trend.

Ezekiel02:24:81