The eagerly awaited debut long player from Brisbane hard nuts Provoke serves up 20 minutes of no bullshit hardcore. For fans of Madball, Sick Of It All and Agnostic Front.
Pressing:
500 x CDs – SOLD OUT
REVIEWS:
Bombshellzine
PROVOKE – This Is Real
You never know what you are going to get these days when you open up something from what’s described as ‘hardcore’, the term has been stretched beyond belief in recent times. This time though, you can shove ‘This Is Real’ in the dictionary right underneath the term. These Queenslander’s have been around a little while, and it’s taken some time to get to this album, but they got there, and the result is solid as a nut. The production suits the genre to perfection, the tracks are short and pack a punch, no beating around the bush here. If you like that famous in your face New York Hardcore sound, then start riding the nuts of these guys. This is a massive step up from their previous split EP release, they’ve nailed it, nice artwork, nice tunes, 20 minutes of solid hardcore ready for you to crank up loud and piss off your neighbours. Check them out pronto!
~~~ PICK OF THE LITTER ~~~ Rating: 5/5
World’s Appreciated Kitsch [Greece]
PROVOKE – This Is Real
Provoke is one of the leading Australian hardcore bands nowadays. Pete from Pee Records sent me their new album that was released under his label a couple of months ago, and today I got the chance to listen to it thoroughly. Provoke come from Brisbane / Sunshine Coast of Australia and they were formed back in early 2004 and have already released an EP (recently re-released because it was out of print) and the split CD with Tempo 38 called “Brothers In Battle”. “This Is Real” includes 10 songs of pure, undiluted hardcore, that all the fans of bands like Agnostic Front, Madball and No Turning Back will definitely like. I had many months to listen to such a sincere old school hardcore band. Their sound is tough but the guys have nothing to do with fake tough guy / macho bands. They seem to love what they are doing, though. Go and dare to check ’em out if you wanna listen some pure, uncompromised hardcore music!
Die Shellsuit, Die! [UK]
PROVOKE – This Is Real
This Is Real is the product of four years of Provoke working their arses off to get recognised as a serious contender for the Australian hardcore crown. This Is Real showcases the honest, no bullshit side of the scene down under that Provoke perpetuate and puts a serious fire under the arses of fellow countrymen 50 Lions and Mindsnare. This is reminiscent of bands like Madball, Knuckledust and Agnostic Front; no hype, no bullshit and most definitely not soft in the slightest. Track by track, the staying true to yourself, your friends and your family clichés are firmly in place and for once I really don’t mind. Provoke are a hardcore band that don’t need to rely on lulling into a faux American accent like so many of their Australian contemporaries. They possess a raw, unpolished edge that makes them twenty times harder hitting and when those breakdowns come crashing in, you will most definitely want to throw someone through a window headfirst. This record is most definitely real, and I’m most definitely moshing.
Rating: 8/10 – Review by: Ryan Clements
ISSUE zine #39 [UK]
PROVOKE – This Is Real
How’s this for a definition of both ‘cool’ and ‘kind’ (gotta be cool to be kind?). I review the free sampler from Pete Pee, he reads my review and sends me the full Monty for my three fave tracks! You just can’t beat the DIY ethos for scene-building inspiration. Provoke is the first of the three drawn at random from the pile. This is old-school hardcore to rank with the best of them, deliciously brutal, high energy and high honesty. They crank through the ten tracks at break-neck speed slowing down for no-one and stopping at nothing. An excellent acquistion, which is gonna get a lot of air time in ‘Duncan Towers’. The “Passion Not Fashion” strap line reminds me of a similar by the Mingers. In terms of style and delivery, think Your Demise.
Tsunami Mag
PROVOKE – This Is Real
After a long period of inactivity, local hardcore lads Provoke have released their debut full-length, ‘This Is Real’. Bearing a sound strikingly similar to a sped-up Against before they discovered thrash metal, Provoke deliver an album of bare-bones beatdowns. There’s not a guitar lead in sight, just ’90s metallic hardcore laden with chunky chords and half-time chug. And while a better mix would’ve helped matters, fans of tough hardcore should still find quite a bit to love here.
Rating: 6/10 – Review by: Rob S
Sunshine Coast Daily
PROVOKE – This Is Real
When Provoke settled on This is Real as the title for their debut album, they couldn’t have chosen a more appropriate title. The Sunshine Coast/Brisbane boys have been doing their thing on the hardcore circuit for a while now, and while hardcore – as a genre – has become mixed and stretched and diluted, This is Real is, well, real. The tracks are appropriately short – 20 minutes total for the disc – and stick to the NY hardcore vein tapped by the likes of Agnostic Front, Gorilla Biscuits and Murphy’s Law. It’s fast and needs to be played loud. Don’t come looking for endless breakdowns, this is real hardcore, played by a group of Queenslanders who are obviously passionate about what they do and preserving the true hardcore sound.
Rating: 10/10 – Review by: Nathan Woulfe
Punk Rock Review [USA]
PROVOKE – This Is Real
With a name like “Provoke” you get exactly what you would expect, deep from the gut scratchy Baritone bellowing, with an East Coast Hardcore influence. The 2nd song on this album, “I Check Myself”, lyrically is incredibly good; however it just doesn’t fit the musical style of the band and is just an overload of words for the primal sound that is exert. The 3rd track, “Step up Again” is horrible with its back vocals that sound like one of those cheesy radio metal bands. Somebody needs to hug the singer of this band. He has a lot of bitterness from all the backstabbing and shit talking that people have done to him, all of which seem to aim towards all the people that have hurt his feelings or questioned his beliefs. Provoke writes some punishing music that appropriately matched the nihilistic imagery of the lyrics, which speak of the frustrations and the pressures the struggle to survive it all. Fans of East Cost Hardcore will punch their grandfathers in the nuts to get this CD
Review by: Jonny Taint
AsIce E-zine [Netherlands]
PROVOKE – This Is Real
It’s not very often that I receive promo’s from Australia; the last Australian band that I was introduced to in this way was a shot in the rose, and to this day I’m playing the records by The Corps weekly. Provoke from Queensland however brings a completely different style of music: this is hardcore, and hardcore the way I got to know it at that. In about 20 minutes, ten to-the-point songs burst out of my speakers. The groove, the pace, the vocals, everything about this 4-piece Australian band reminds me of Madball. Which is not bad, because Madball is one of my favorite hardcore bands, but a bit more of an own sound would have been welcome. Having said that, this is catchy! After the first spin I find myself already singing along to songs like ‘You are defined’ . With closing track ‘Still believe’, the only slightly longer song on this album, I can’t help but drawing comparisons to Backfire’s ‘Still dedicated’. The production of this album is very decent and I love the cover artwork. The lyrics are lashing out at police, at backstabbers or simply hateful in general. It’s all nothing new, but it is nice to hear a band keeping it simple like this, and I’m sure I’ll be keeping an eye out for this band in the future. To be very short: Provoke, groovy NYHC from Australia. Nice to get acquainted!
Rating: 3.5/5
RELEASE DATE:
20 Sept 2008
Also Available From:
CREDITS:
CAT #: PCD025
Produced & Engineered by: Darrek Mudge
Mastered by: Bryce Moorhead @ Zero Interference
Cover illustration by: Alex Wiltsie
