To the good people of Leeds and Sheffield, i'm very sorry. Sheffield fell through and I decided to pull out of Leeds as I'm hard up for money and needed to work this weekend. It was my decision and I apologise. If you see any of Beasts, give them a massive big hug from me! 

This has become of a bit of an issue recently as firstly we have completely sold out of copies, secondly the lable who released it have been causing problems.
We have had a few e-mails from people saying they have ordered the album from Rat Patrol along with other items, their money has been taken but no CD's have turned up.

The label have failed to communicate with us other the past year or so and as much as this may seem rather hostile of us...PLEASE do not order our album from Rat Patrol records, you will only be dissapointed.

It is upsetting for us to see something we have been involved with turn into a farce and we have even sent people the remaining albums we had for free, but we are in the process of sorting out a re-press on an alternative/reliable record label, the album may even make its way onto vinyl too, cheers A!V!

Yes yes yes...this has been talked about for over a year now, but it IS happening.  Its all been down to me having writers block and essentially a drunk for the last half of 2008, but in February I will be finishing off the vocals for the second song of our half.
The art work will also get underway in the next few days, Damara Kaminecki AKA Damarakthedestroyer (www.damarakthedestroyer.com) has contributed a stunning image for the cover, she was also responsible for the illustrations for our split with Young Livers so you know its gonna rule hard.  I'll be taking care of the design and layout.
The track listing is as follows:

Lavotchkin: 1.Holy Dust    2.Linger On.
Attack! Vipers!:  1.Untitled    2.A Text Book Definition Of Hell.

This slab 'o' wax will be dropping in March/April on Evil B Records, pressing info is not yet confirmed.  Finally...get into it!  JOeX
 
 

germany:
flight13. com
perkororecords. com
bisaufsmesser. com

uk:
punkerbunker
banquet

us:
interpunk
noidea

 

What are you waiting for?

From Punknews.org
The UK's Attack! Vipers! come up first on this eight-song split EP and
right off the bat thoroughly confuse me. I can't really tell if they're
just a bit directionless or really good at playing different styles of
hardcore; it's probably somewhere in between. See, the first minute of
their opener, "Atlantic Hearts," rides a very weird middle ground
between melodic, restrained screamo, like something Envy might write,
and the more slow-burning tracks off This Is Hell's Sundowning;
then it picks up considerably in tempo and overall aggression, becoming
a riffy, half-decent and mostly straightforward hardcore song. "Come
Dungeons Deep or Gallows Grim" is a little more chaotic, like HopeCon
or Diet Converge, but again, it breaks down slower and the transition
seems kinda disjointed. Their last one, "Fire in Your Lungs," is pretty
interesting, with soft, layered acoustic plucks in between those
roasted screams and bottom-heavy guitars; the closing part is most
reminiscent of straight-up Euro screamo. Overall, something seem a
little off about A!V!, but I'm hardly going to write them off. They've
got something going on here; I'm just not 100% sure what it is.



Austria's Astpai follow up their 2008 full-length, Corruption Concealed (Under Deceptive Slogans), with four songs here to match A!V!'s. They beat out A!V! a little bit with their brand of melodic punk/hardcore. I described Corruption Concealed
as somewhere between None More Black and Kid Dynamite, only not quite
as good as that might sound. Their songs here largely land in that same
territory, but with a pinch more originality. A little more cohesion
and I could see these songs really making a bang. As is, they're not
bad, and certainly have their moments; a track like "The Scavenger"
showcases a boatload of different tempos and vocal styles while still
sounding like the same band. Not too much on their side really grabs my
interest too hard, including their cover of Nerve Agents' "Carpe Diem,"
but there's a good beat about things, and the more upbeat closer "Of
Imposition and Instinct" is real solid.

From rockmidgets.com

Bringing together one of the most exciting emerging acts in the UK and a relatively unknown proposition from Austria, We Heart Records have yet again struck gold with this jaw-dropping split album. Featuring ex-members of DIY punk luminaries Jets Vs Sharks, Seven Arrows In Your Bastard Heart and Thirst, Attack! Vipers! are a band who's furiously intense yet melodic hardcore has been building the band an ever increasing groundswell of momentum since their inception in 2006. The Southsea-based four-piece's debut albumThe Mirror And The Destroyer made all the right noises last year and the four tracks here show the band certainly didn't blow their load too early, with rampaging brilliance of 'Atlantic Hearts' particularly burning bright. After such an immense opening, Astpai do a commendable job of holding up the second half of the record. Like a roughed up version of Hot Snakes tackling The Letters Organize, the frenetic punk-rock of 'Carpe Diem' and killer hooks of 'The Scavenger' ensure that this eight tracker is one of the best splits of 2008.

If you're into DIY punk at its finest, stop reading and pick this record up immediately. Seriously go. Go already. STOP READING DAMN IT! Tony from Suspect Device

I don't think it will come as a surprise to Attack! Vipers! when I say that their music isn't the sort of thing I choose to listen to; they are good dudes and know that I'm just an old punker who's stuck in his ways. They probably don't know that even though I'm not really into to it I am really impressed with what they do; the sound is huge, the playing perfect and I'd go as far as saying that no one does this heavy hardcore stuff better. Tom and Joe, in particular, are my friends and makes my heart swell with pride when I listen to this and think about it being them who made it. As I said above, Astpai are a very good live band, and I did grow to like their album, but their tracks here haven't hit me yet. They are a bit of a mishmash of styles; the first song almost sounds like they're trying to go down the Attack! Vipers! road, but then the next one reminds me of None More Black; then they do a Nerve Agents cover, before going back to the NMB style. To confuse things even further, I'm going to say that this is a very good split, despite my somewhat lukewarm comments, and I'm sure it's going to be a very popular release.
We Heart Records: www.weheartrecords.co.uk (Tony)

Hello

This may be a bit selfish, but i thought it was worth posting up!

The Rowans Hospice is a charity based "nursing" home that caters for people who are running out of life. They looked after my father until yesterday (boxing day) when he sadly departed.

The staff are friendly and helpful but could always do with more help!

I'm planning on donating a fair amount and raising money for them over the next few years at least.

I;m not asking for you to give money, but give the time to read the website and see how they help people. We can all relate to having someone pass away and how they should be comfortable in their last hours.

The Rowans Hospice

If this has offened you in anyway then sorry for troubling you.

Tom - Attack! Vipers!

David Hussey 1941-2007

Big Cheese.

Having been a band for just over a year, this south coast quartet have unleashed one hell of a deadly debut album.  Counting ex-members of hardcore greats Jets Vs Sharks in their ranks, their impressive musicianship has resulted in nine intense tracks.  'This Ship Has Sailed' kicks you in the face with a dirty, Motorhead-esque riff and Joe Watson's screamed vocals giving everything, backed by ben Pescod, Tom Hussey and mark Denney.  'Our Shark'. 'D-Rail Me' and 'Holy Ghost'  are fantastically savage and discordant.  The ..:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Deep South twanged intro of 'One Four One'  gives way to a caustic, sludgy assault, before speeding off on another rampage, making it a highlight of the album.  This is dark shit fuelled by rage and it tears up the hardcore & metal rulebooks and eats them, then devours your whole fucking family.  By the time the building, dream-like title track closes on the CD, you feel like you've survived a truly vicious attack.

Terrorizer

It's interesting how the melodic chaos of the late, great Drowningman has emerged in bands like Errander, Die By Design, D-Rail & Attack! Vipers!, bands that call the east side of the Atlantic home and do the full throttle, angular melodi-core thang far better than any Yank bunch claiming inspiration from Simon Brody and his dysfunctional band of substance-addled merry men.  Portsmouth's A!V! are experienced vets (with a list of priors including Jets Vs Sharks, Thirst, Seven Arrows In Your Bastard Heart, Ruin You! & Bail Out) adamant of their DIY roots who have come together to create nine impressive songs of gristly hardcore with an edgy, metallic feel to the guitars, melodic chord structures and strong choruses,  If unheralded American progressive punk/hardcore greats like Drowningman and Time In Malta were raised in squats run by the likes of Crass and The Vipers, the result would be the excellence of tracks like 'Le Morte Noir' and 'Group Therapy'.  A bright future indeed...:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

 Maximum Rock 'n' Roll.  Issue 289, June 2007.

The first track of this Cd is a short instrumental emo-sounding track.  here I go reviewing my 100th emo disc...But then the 2nd track started out with a rock 'n' roll guitar riff that sounded somewhere between AC/DC, garage rock & hardcore.  "Our Shark" is faster and sounds like Converge;  "One Four One" is slower and heavy with pained vocals; "Group Therapy" is faster, more discordant, and pummelling.  By now you've realised Attack! Vipers!  is not a one trick pony.  While all the tracks are hardcore, they also have that rock sound in the guitars.  I listened to this disc a few times for enjoyment, not just to review it - that's rare.

 Kerrang

 It's not Attack! Vipers! intention to make life easy for you.  Furious, raw and untamed, theirs is an old school approach to hardcore.  One raging smack over the head follows another with absolutely no let up.  It's the kind of music for live shows, in the eye of the storm.  So it comes as no small surprise when they about turn with the closing title-track, a seven and a half minute (of a 24 minute album), feedback-drenched, Pelican-style prog instrumental.  And oddly, taken as a hole, it's kind of brilliant.  Where they go next is anyone's guess, but finding out should be fun.

CAUGHT IN THE CROSSFIRE

http://www.caughtinthecrossfire.com/music/thepit/3857

To simply label Portsmouth-based quartet Attack! Vipers! as a hardcore band would be to sell them short; because the 'mirror and the destroyer' is probably one of the most ambitious and inventive records you'll hear in 2007.Granted, there's no shortage of raw thrash n' bludgeon on songs like "Our Shark" and "Group Therapy" but later tracks reveal a more progressive edge to their sound; with intricate instrumental passages that are reminiscent of Pelican or even Mogwai.  Beautiful in its brutality (and vice versa), 'The mirror...' not only helps to restore hardcore's much sullied name, but takes it to places where few other bands would venture.  Brilliant stuff.

ORGAN ZINE
Blistering hardcore metal with a desire to be just a little bit different, to challenge and to peel back your skin and rip you metaphorical throat right out. A band with a pedigree, a band who clearly know their stuff and know how to grab hold of things and push them a little bit more rather than just following the latest moves. Out of Portsmouth with a serious blend of old school hardcore and scathing screaming progressive metal violence. Scathing riffs, relentless onslaughts. They talk of Grade and Drowningman and Pelican and As Friends Rust, they've done time in bands like Jets Vs Sharks, Thirst and such – they know what they're doing, they know what they're talking about and they're well worth your time, money and your bruises, this is good already, it hints of things to come

ROCKLOUDER.COM
Post-rock is always a difficult medium in which to perform. Audacity and experimentation can so easily be confused for a lack of coherency and amateurism. The first release from Attack! Vipers! treads very finely down this line, with some moments of genius and some of sheer bemusement.
The band's background from various ex-punk bands certainly sings through. The vocals for example sound as if they cost singer Joe Watson more than one sore throat. Yet while the same abrasive, staccato attack is present in the guitars there is arguably far more texture than you're average punk band. The constant switches in time signatures challenge this for a start. Yet if anything the unusual dynamics Attack! Vipers! employ make this an enjoyably challenging release. This is not a quiet verse / loud chorus affair, more a loud / louder/ brittley quiet / even louder... you get the idea. Despite this it's a well crafted affair, undoubtedly thanks to mastering by Mastodon aid, Alan Douches.
With the nine tracks often beginning and ending seamlessly don't expect a firm favourite, nor expect anything you can sing along to. As might be understood also this sound has its own niche, being far heavier than the likes of Sonic Youth and Mogwai and less catchy than masters of the post-rock art, At The Drive In. Yet if you're record collection is missing out on some intellectual, diverse hardcore punk, then this band is certainly worth a look.

http://www.zapbangmagazine.comThe Mirror and the Destroyer is the debut from Attack! Vipers!, a metallic punk band whose various member's backgrounds include groups such as Jets Vs Sharks, Seven Arrows in Your Bastard Heart, Last Kiss and Thirst. After the opening rolls and mid-pace distortion of short instrumental "The Ship Has Sailed" the album kicks into the faster punk'n'roll riff of "Le Mort Noir" and delivers track after track of aggressively riffed and screamed hardcore. Offering some fat metal tones (credit here also to the quality production work of Rich Tamblyn and Alan Douches), and some monster riffs — see "Our Shark" and "D-Rail Me" in particular — the music twists and turns at speed but slows down every now and then to offer some more capturing moments — like the near-Screamo latter stages of "Cannibal Magic" and "One Four One"s country-blues twang opening and later chugging development. Not grind short but with songs generally around the punchy two/two-and-a-half minute mark  the album blasts gets through eight cuts in just over a quarter of an hour before ending with the post-metal (though not too inspiring) instrumental title track which descends into several minutes, of its 7:27 total, of feedback and noise. The Mirror and the Destroyer feels like a gauntlet laid down, a mission statement forcefully delivering a healthy dose of noise, discordance and energy and showing the effort that the group are willing to put in. Though offering suggestions, the album doesn't deliver as much of the technical nuance amongst the straight blinding hardcore that makes bands like Converge so appealing, however, Attack! Vipers! offer some classic aggro punk which hits hard and isn't purely straight-forward — the band stand with a number of others including Gallows and Ghost of A Thousand who offer much promise as the new face and future of British hardcore. Phillip Hoile - 3 1/2 out of 5
NEW NOISE.NET
Hailing from the sunny shores of Portsmouth, the quartet can boast current and ex-members of Jets Vs Sharks, Thirst, Last Kiss and Seven Arrows In Your Bastard Heart, all regulars on the small league hardcore touring circuit. Their music ethic seems to be ringing true amongst their audiences, as does their claim to be taking back the hardcore scene "one shit haircut at a time". About bloody time.
The vocals are impressively evocative of Drowningman, and are teamed with well-written opuses that combine the perfect amount of aggression with resounding melodies and towering structures. They single this band out from a scene that, as the band recognises, has become stale. Their grasp of the technicality of the genre from time put in with previous projects, as well as a working knowledge of the domain in which they are involved, shows that they know what it takes to be a success in the modern battlefields of UK metal and hardcore.
'The Mirror And The Destroyer', their first full-length release, is a nine track announcment of their intent to do nothing by halves. Mastered by the man behind Converge and Mastodon, it's set to make a real impact. The quality of production and the driving force of objective behind the band shines through, giving the upstarts a gleaming edge on the competition.
With glossy spazz artwork and apparent dedication and ambition that outlasts the short attention span of their peers, their range spans from the frenziedly excellent 'D-Rail Me' to the seven minute magnitude of title track 'The Mirror And The Destroyer'. It's not all rage and tempests of hardcore ethos, mind you; far from it. There is no gratuitous reliance on speed and spitting lyrics, as the depth of the instrumental portions of the album betrays. Think M83 meeting Converge, and getting along like a city on fire.
  Shows across Europe with impassioned punk rockers The Mercury League are scheduled, and the band has already shared stages with well-respected names like The Hope Conspiracy and Rise And Fall. It's hard to find anything to fault Attack! Vipers! on when their integrity and vigour are so clear to see. If anything, they are going to be met with resent from their peers, as they have produced a debut album that's well beyond the class that their age and experience suggests. If only all first endeavours could be this spot on.

ROCK SOUND
For once, the exclamation marks are justified. This Portsmouth crew's 23-minute debut burns briefly yet brightly with white-hot passion and heart-racing urgency. Think hardcore, but not the tiresome chugga-chugga variety. Think mangled riffs, jarring discordance and unbridled artistic expression. A commendably varied release, 'Four One Four' features acidic vocals reminiscent of Curl Up And Die, 'Cannibal Magic' comes awash with credible screamo influences, and 'Le Mort Noir' will batter you senseless with its raging punk rock hard-on. Things end on a more serene note with a slow-building instrumental number, climaxing in a bout of droning feedback that wouldn't sound out of place on a Boris album. Our verdict? Bloody! Good! Innit! 8/10 - MIKE KEMP

PUNKER MENTALITY ZINE
Attack! Vipers! are four righteous motherfuckers from Portsmouth that make up something of a southcoast hardcore super group, featuring members of everyone, perhaps most notably, Jets Vs Sharks. In my opinion this album pretty much surpasses anything any of the band members have done before, I haven't felt this way about a hardcore punk record since I Adapt put out No Passaran, everything about it just seems so concentrated, from the beautiful artwork to the lyrics to the music. Attack! Vipers! play noisy discordant hardcore punk with heavy as fuck doomy bits, fast thrashy bits and a whole fucking load of rock n roll. Possibly the bands that immediately spring to mind are Glass and Ashes and Planes Mistaken for Stars but at the same time bits of this record are evocative of Botch, The Hope Conspiracy, Old Man Gloom, Mogwai and anything else thats loud and evil. These diverse elements are crammed into 20 minutes of music thats so energetic and pissed off that any notion of contrived angst goes straight out of the window and the listener feels compelled to drink some whisky and smash up their living room. I'm a jaded fuck but this band seriously gives me hope in punk rock and makes me wanna do something positive. You should buy this album and so should every dickhead kid I see sat on the steps in town sporting hardcore's latest fad's t-shirt.

IN IT FOR THE MONEY ZINE
In a world where hardcore bands now usually pack as much punch as a Victoria Sponge and worry more about their haircuts being perfect than their music being challenging, The Mirror and the Destroyer has come to grab you by the throat and give you a ferocious yet tuneful kick in the nuts. Featuring Ex members of Jets Vs Sharks, Attack! Vipers! really have created something wholesome and captivating here.
Opener Le Mort Noir really sets the pace, as vocalist Joe screams "Boy, dig that fucking grave" over some tight, melodic riffing. Attack! Vipers! really can turn their hands to whatever they feel, tracks such as D-rail Me, Our Shark and Group Therapy are uncompromising tuneful hardcore at its best, never letting up for a second, whereas One Four One and title track The Mirror And The Destroyer echo the sultry progressive grooves of bands such as Isis and Pelican.
This album is a great listen and really is as enjoyable as seeing them live. A!V!'s sound is so well thought out; it takes the best elements of so many great bands (Botch, Give Up The Ghost, Orchid, Das Oath) and yet still remains fresh and exciting. All in all I would say, if this CD isn't in your collection already, you would be doing yourself a great injustice by not investing in it. An awesome collection of songs, crafted with undeniable talent and passion - Liam Fowler

DIE SHELL SUIT!
With the rise of Gallows popularity and media attention, it's no surprise that attention has been focused on any bands that rise out of that UK scene. With The Plight, The Legacy and Ghost Of A Thousand all gaining more interest of recent times it's the ideal moment for Portsmouth's Attack! Vipers! to release this CD and find their own niche in the market.
In essence this is good old, pissed off modern sounding, melodic hardcore. Complete with strangled, frantic vocals and twists and turns aplenty. But it's these twists and turns that raise it above the usual fare. They throw in discordant art-rock moments, Fugazi like grooves and some almost Cult Of Luna style breakdowns as envisioned on the closing title track.
Complete this with some awesome artwork courtesy of Dan Mumford (The guy who designed Gallows) and you have a pretty good debut release, some of the more basic hardcore sections might get generic at times but they pull it back with the speed and aggression of the more out there elements. Fans of the fore mentioned bands should dig this completely. Awesome stuff.

DAILY DISCHORD
"Insane Portsmouth mob take no prisoners on debut album.

I don't quite know where to start with this record.

Sometimes we encounter albums that just totally knock you for six. The sort of album that grabs you by the balls and doesn't let go, the kind of albums that leave you gasping for more after they've had their wicked way with you.

"The Mirror & the Destroyer" is one of these albums.

First listen, I wasn't paying attention and dismissed it out of hand. Second listen my curiosity was piqued and by the third listen, I couldn't get the fucking thing off! Attack! Vipers! Play the sort of hardcore that is all face peeling screams, ball bruising riffs and heart-racing drums. The kind of thing you normally equate to bands like Give Up the Ghost or This is Hell only with bits of Jesu and Isis chucked in for good measure.

The album eases you (if you can call it that) into its chaotic world with the opener "This Ship has Sailed" starting off vocal-less before catapulting you into "Le Mort Noir". While the first few songs display the intensity and raw passion of the band, its not until "D-Rail Me" explodes out of your speakers that you really hear this Portsmouth quartet going at it hammer and tongs with vocalist Joe Watson frothing and spitting his way through each track like a man possessed, with what can only be described as an apocalyptic calamity going on behind him with a sound that one could equate to the pulverizing rush you get if someone grabbed you by the legs and chucked you through the nearest plate glass window.

"The Mirror & the Destroyer" is an unrelenting, furious charge of an album. An album filled with so much focused intensity, so much frothing vitriol and powerful spirit that when you hear it, you can hear that these guys poured every ounce of themselves into it. Things never really let up for a second until you're confronted with instrumental album closer and title track "The Mirror & the Destroyer" which is akin to something right off of an Isis album (or close enough). The antithesis to everything else on the album, it some how brings the album to a very fitting close. Almost like putting bandages on all the puncture wounds that the band inflicted upon you until this very moment.

The UK has so much good hardcore coming through at the moment, and you can just add Attack! Vipers! to the finest of them. With this album, they demand to be there and I'm sure after listening to "The Mirror & the Destroyer", you'll put them at the very top of that list!
4/5"  Mark

Yup here's proof we are actually working on our new record...with the help of long time colaborator Rich Tamblyn, at the Blacksmiths, Portsmouth.
All the songs are down and awaiting vocals which are being layed day over two seperate sessions in the next two weeks. As you can see from the photos we're going all out to make this bad boy heavy, we've got an antique hammond organ on the go! Its a monster!
We've got 8 songs down (one of which is an intro) and its looking set to get mastered by Alan Douches (Converge/Mastadon) @ West West Side in New York.
Hopefully a release date of early January on Rat Patrol Records is still in our sights, with UK distro through Forte...all in all, we're stoked!