Just last week while doing my usual new release research, I came across the EP for a band I hadn't previously heard of called Shellgame. It only took a few seconds to grab my attention. Their sound is a brawny, big riff-driven, and catchy blend of hardcore and whatever genre category you consider bands like Only Living Witness and Life of Agony to fall into. I even hear some Deliverance-era Corrosion of Conformity in the guitar department.
After a quick search on Instagram, I messaged the Shellgame account to set an interview up. "Shellgame at the time of writing this piece consists of myself on vocals, Ollie on drums, and Mitch on guitar," said Nico from the band. "We all currently live in Melbourne or Naarm, as per the traditional name of the First Nations people.
"Mitch and I have played in bands over the last decade or so in the hardcore/punk space in Melbourne and have our own individual journey within hardcore and playing in a million bands since forever. We met and befriended Ollie through playing together in our respective bands and from shows, as you do."
Nico told me he grew up playing in bands in The Netherlands, native Melbourner Mitch did the same, and Ollie currently drums in death metal outfit Gutless, and was previously a member of such bands as Vile Apparition and Sewercide.
Shellgame's sonic blueprint was the next order of business. "Pretty much blues-tinged NYHC," guitarist Mitch wrote.
"Something that would probably make sense on Roadrunner Records in the '90s. We're pulling from bands that have a strong sense of identity, and that's what we are trying to achieve too. Bands like Life of Agony, Cro-Mags, Sheer Terror, Biohazard, and lots of others."
Nico hooked up some background info on Shellgame's aforementioned self-titled debut EP. "It was all recorded, mixed, and mastered by Lewis Noke Edwards, who has worked on a wide range of hardcore and hardcore adjacent releases in the last 10 years or so including my other band, Crawling, who I play bass for. His work is solid and he is the most pleasant and stand up gentleman in the biz. He works out of a studio that is currently called The Black Lodge. A place with a rich history spanning over a few decades under a few different names.
"I wrote the lyrics kind of from a stream of consciousness approach. I decided I wanted to channel some anger and frustration in regards to people in my life that I felt hard done by, betrayed by in some sense and abandoned by, as well as them seemingly getting away with being shit humans in general.
"I created this amalgamated fictional 'person' that embodies all of that and all of them and it became the subject of all the lyrics. A tried and true hardcore theme but with a different spin, perhaps. Not just hate, but some critical thinking and flirting with forgiveness and some sort of reconciliation as well."
In usual No Echo fashion, I asked Nico for some local music recommendations. "I think the Melbourne scene is alive and well, more than it has been in a long time. As is the wider Australian scene. There are so many shows and festivals and they are all so well attended. New (young) bands are blooming and I think that is a telltale sign of a healthy scene.
"I'm in my early 40s so I'm not going to pretend I have my finger on the pulse but some of my local favorites at the moment are: Threshold (metallic hardcore, tough as nails) Iron Mind (the flagbearers of Melbourne Hardcore est 2009) Dizdain (think Merauder meets Cold as Life) Forewarned (late '90s straight edge vibes in a contemporary jacket) Implode (think late '80s styles a la Breakdown) pretty much anything Kingpin Records touches and some mainstays such as Mindsnare and Straight Jacket Nation.
"Big shout out Brick & Mortar for releasing our stuff and keeping melbourne freshly dressed. Hardcore music should stay in the streets where it belongs and Free Palestine."
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The Shellgame EP is up on steaming outlets, and is also available on cassette via Brick & Mortar.
Shellgame on social media: Instagram
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