Newcastle punks Hack The Mainframe deliver ten tracks of their much loved fast and energetic 90’s skate punk on the eagerly awaited debut full length “Disorders Of Consciousness”. Catchy and fun fast skate punk with personal and socio-political messages, get ready to bounce about like it’s 1995! Punk rock for fans of A Wilhelm Scream, Strung Out, Bad Religion, Rise Against. facebook.com/hackthemainframe

Pressing:
500 x Digipak CDs
100 x Opaque Red Vinyl
200 x Opaque Grey Vinyl with Red Splatter

REVIEWS:
Colin’s Punk Rock World
HACK THE MAINFRAME – Disorders Of Consciousness
Hack The Mainframe are a fast melodic punk band from the Central Coast area of Australia. The five piece, which features Heath Rowley (vocals), Nick Oberg (guitar), Leroy Markwell (guitar), Paddy Demps (bass) and Zac Thomas drums, formed in 2014. Last December they released their debut full length titled Disorders Of Consciousness on Pee Records in Australia and Disconnect Disconnect Records here in the UK. The Australian punk rock scene is absolutely incredible at the moment so I was looking forward to checking this album out. Disorders Of Consciousness begins with the song R.E.M Sleep. This track starts how you might expect a fast melodic punk album to begin with some technical guitars that build the song up until the vocals hit. It’s always great to hear band’s singing in their own accent and that’s certainly the case for Heath Rowley with his thick Aussie voice sounding great backed by the rest of the band. The track is about dreaming and the escapism that comes with it, where there are no limits but endless possibilities. The second track, Col, is more of a skate punk song and is absolutely superb. There’s a bouncy melody that is infectious and grabs you very quickly. Col is one of those songs that despite its upbeat sound, is actually quite a sad song. This is about the struggles of addiction which sadly lead to the death of a friend of the band. This song serves a couple of purposes, firstly as a message to people about the dangers of drinking too much and getting addicted and second as a tribute to a friend. Up next is the song Anxiety. This hard hitting and fast paced number will quickly lodge it’s place in your head. It’s about dealing with anxiety and letting it take over your life. As the song goes on it talks about wanting to stay home and not do things to feel safe but as it gets to the end Rowley sings “my anxiety gets the best of me, but my anxiety won’t be the end of me.” This makes me feel like things will get better for the protagonist in the song. Next Week Never Came is the rather bleak sounding title of the fourth song. The song is about not being able to see a loved one before they passed away because you were putting off seeing them. The song starts off in a slow and sombre way with some gentle guitar work before things pick up and the vocals come in. The real high point of the song is when some incredible harmonies are sung by the band. They do this amazing job of keep your interest peaked in the song and also add some emotion to proceedings. Hack The Mainframe pick up the mood on the following song, Amy. The song is an ode to a friend of the band who can be difficult but is also just wonderful. It’s a bit of a sing-a-long drinking song that will get the best reaction from the crowd. Again the incredible harmonies of the band are on display at the end of the track and I really adore them. It’s not the most serious of songs but it’s damn good fun! The fun continues on Coriander. This is a simple song about hating the taste of coriander. Amusingly this is one of the hardest and most angry songs on Disorders Of Consciousness. Hack The Mainframe clearly have a passionate dislike of this particular herb. Track number seven is titled Intoxication and is very intense in its sound. Obviously this song is about getting drunk, due to the stresses of the world getting too much for you and using alcohol to escape. Zac Thomas’ drums stand out on the song, providing a strong foundation for the song that the band build on brilliantly. The eighth song on the album is named Baggage. This is a slower and more anthemic side to the Hack The Mainframe sound. The pacing of Baggage is very deliberate and doesn’t stray from its slow, methodical style until the very end when the band really let loose. Baggage is about being affected by your past and wanting to run away and forget about it. The penultimate song is Boy With A Gun. To start with the track sounds like an updated version of 80s hardcore punk rock which Hack The Mainframe have brilliantly intertwined with their own melodic punk sound. A very nice mix of the past and the future. Boy With A Gun is about the use of young boys by terrorist extremists. It looks at the loss of young people who have been brainwashed and the effects this has on the boys’ families. This is a unique and very interesting topic for a song. This is also very brave songwriting by Hack The Mainframe. The convention of writing about this topic is normally to write about the effects of terrorism by the innocent people who sadly lose their lives dues to attacks, rather than looking at the people who carry out the attacks. Last up we have Save Yourself. After a stop start beginning we have a soaring melodic skate punk track. It’s about, you guessed it, saving yourself. This is a great, positive and motivational song to finish a superb album on. I loved Disorders Of Consciousness from my very first listen. Australian punk rock continues to churn out more and more incredible punk rock. From the genre of melodic punk rock, Aussie bands The Decline and Local Residential Failure have been making names for themselves all over the world. I fully expect Hack The Mainframe to start coming up in conversations about best Australian punk bands very soon.

Punk Rock Theory
HACK THE MAINFRAME – Disorders Of Consciousness
Count on Pee Records, home of The Decline and Local Resident Failure, to find some more kickass skatepunk in the Australian outback. Okay, so Hack The Mainframe is actually from Newcastle, which hardly qualifies as the outback. But the rest of the sentence is true. Just listen to these dudes’ debut album.
‘Disorders Of Consciousness’ comes with ten tracks’ worth of fast-paced, melodic skatepunk that is highly indebted to the sounds of the 90’s and lyrics that go from the socio-political to the personal. Think NOFX, 88 Fingers Louie, Strung Out and the likes. It’s not exactly an extremely original sound, but luckily it is a lot of other things: fun, energetic as hell and incredibly catchy. Kudos! 7/10
Review by: Thomas

Punk Online
HACK THE MAINFRAME – Disorders Of Consciousness
Disorders of Consciousness is the debut album from Australia’s skate punkers Hack The Mainframe. With ten tracks of fast, melodic hard hitting skate punk, this is the real deal. The superb opening track, R.E.M. Sleep, is speedy, laden with hooks and is very played throughout with a great chorus. The first single from the album is next, Col, and I loved it for its sense of fun, personal heartfelt lyrics and celebration of a drinking legend. Next up is Anxiety with a spoken word clip, fast chords, pummeling bass and pounding, pounding drums all supporting a punk rock extravaganza of a track replete with shouted backing vocals – it rocks! The longest track on the album is Next Week Never Came and Hack The Mainframe use the extra time to introduce some varying pace and power through distinct sections. The punk rock pace is evident throughout as it is on the Toy Dolls like Amy. The 99 seconds of Coriander just tear a new one through the speakers musically whilst the absurd lyrics rally against the infamous herb. Returning to the subject of alcohol, the band make a case for a beer or two on Intoxication fueled by 150mph skate-punk backing…good stuff! On Baggage the booming bass and serrated guitar chords lead into a churning and chunky punk rocker that will have you swaying in unison. The second to last song is Boy With A Gun and Hack The Mainframe channel some 1980’s punk in the vein of Canada’s DOA. It sets up Save Yourself to close this one off with some excellent stop-start skate-punk chaos.

PunKanormal Activity
HACK THE MAINFRAME – Disorders Of Consciousness
We live in troubled times, we’re sinking slowly, our minds aren’t as stable as we think, security is needed. And Australian band Hack The Mainframe dish out a record scorning the world, they describe politics, and they march to eradicate anxiety, but have to endure pain and misfortune. The record shudders and pinpoints mistrust and broken luck. Pessimism features heavily on the opus, driving in like a hammer to a nail, like a crash. Negativity spurs them on though as they provide punk choruses and intricate guitar sequences which maximises the listening experience. And there’s no denying the technical skill as these musicians form moments of rage and love.They don’t patch over their words, they don’t tone it down, and they let it all free. On the record are songs heavy in their deliverance, songs volatile and extreme. There are hard hitting vocals pounding through, vocals that could break ground. Disorders Of Consciousness is Hack The Mainframes mission statement. Their hate letter to their enemies. R.E.M Sleep kick starts fury. The pounding drumbeats and fast guitar lines explode to create tension and an admirable track. There’s pessimism in the lyrics, there’s emptiness to fill, dreams to follow. Anxiety is a dramatic spin on emotional instability. The lyrics describe a protagonist running, keeping his guts intact, striving for a pill to eradicate the feeling of uncertainty.Intoxication showcases intricate instrumentals and hateful words. Drunkenness is explored, hope seems difficult to keep alive. Hack The Mainframe are a band striving for answers in this fucked up world. Review by: Mark McConville

RELEASE DATE:
22 Dec 2017

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CREDITS:
CAT #: PCD071 / PV017
Drums Recorded by: Michael Ferfoglia @ RTN Studios
Guitars & Bass Recorded by: Michael Ferfoglia @ Redman’s Studios
Vocals Recorded by: Heath @ Heath’s Place
Mixed & Mastered by: Murray Adamson @ Hisplace
Artwork by: Glenn Smith
Layout & Design by: Juan de Lange

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