Hold Me Closer - Music

Victims Of Society Is The Name Of More Than One Artist. 1 Belgian Hardcore
2 US Punk 1 The History Of Victims Of Society Started Somewhere In Summer Of 1992 When Pea Bart Van Eyken And His Classmate Jim Decided To Piss On Society Some More And To Start A Band To Do So. Jim Was Playing The Guitar At The Time And Pea Was Going To Take Care Of The Vocals.
First Things First They Needed To Find Some More People To Join Them In The Band So Jim Introduced Pea To His Friend Web Wesley Vanmal Who Also Abused Strings. Now They Had 2 Guitar Players And A Singer. They Still Didn't Have A Bass Player Or A Drummer But They Started Rehearsing Anyway At Jim's Parent's Garage Under The Name Terrible Noise. They Went To Many Punk Gigs All Over Belgium So They Thought It Wouldn't Be Difficult To Find Some Other People Who Would Be Interested To Make Some Noise Together With Them. Actually It Didn't Take Long At All Because In The Same City They Bumped Into A Drummer Bakkie Twix Dieter De Backer . They Met Him At A Bar On The Night The Legendary Spermbirds Played In Town. This New Wave Kid Dressed In Black Turned Into An Animal When Behind His Drums And So He Was Welcomed Into The Band Too Bad For Jim's Neighbors Though. Because Jim Wasn't That Good At Guitar Playing He Put The Guitar Aside And Picked Up The Mic Instead. They Were Heading For What You Can Call A Band With Jim For The Screams Web On Guitar Dieter On Drums And Pea..... Well Pea Nothing To Do Anymore Because Jim Was Going To Scream He Decided To Buy A Bass Guitar. So There You Have It. The 4 Members Got Rid Off The Name Terrible Noise And From Now On Liked To Call Themselves Victims Of Society. After 3 Months Of Rehearsing The Four Had 15 Fast HC/punk Songs Ready To Let Loose On Some Unsuspecting Punks Local Noise-Lovers And Random Victims. So It Was Somewhere In Autumn That They Shocked Their Hometown Heist O/d Berg With Their First Gig At The Youth Club. They Got A Lot Of Good Feedback And Started To Play Many Clubs In The Region. After Some Time The Four Felt They Should Strengthen The Victims-Sound So They Started Looking For An Extra Guitar Player. Months Of Rehearsing And Playing Passed By And Finally Somewhere In 1994 Helze Davy Helsen Joined The Band. Victims Of Society Was Evolving And They Were Getting More And More Gigs. Together With Their Friends/bands END OF ERNIE And FUNERAL DRESS They Thrashed Many Clubs And Squats All Over Belgium Also Getting An Infamous Reputation In Holland. Through The Years They Played With Several Punk Legends E.G. UK SUBS ENGLISH DOGS VARUKERS CHAOS UK TOTAL CHAOS PETER & THE TEST TUBE BABIES LAST YEARS YOUTH … 4 Years After The Start-Up Victims Of Society Decided To Record A Demo "Screams From The Gutter" A Killer Tape Recorded At STUDIO 195 In Holland Including 10 Fast Melodic HC/punk Songs. Right After The Release Of This Demo Pea Left The Band. He Was Going To Bang The Bass And Express His Musical Talents In One Of Belgium's Most Respected Punk Rock Bands VOID SECTION. Victims Of Society Almost Immediately Found A Replacement Toon Toon Severijns Who Was Playing The Bass In Another Local Oldschool Band Called UP TO NOW. This New Line Up Inspired Them To Start Playing A Bit Of A Different Kind Of Music As They Did Before. They Shifted Towards A Sound Influenced By Bands Like Minor Threat Gorilla Biscuits Chain Of Strength Nations On Fire… Victims Of Society Started To Get Labeled As An OLD SCHOOL Band. Still Playing The Good Old Punk Gigs They Also Got To Play More And More HC-Shows. By Distributing The Demo Victims Of Society Got Good Response From Both Press And Record Companies. In Fact It Was Lost And Found And I Scream Records Who Contacted The Band To Release Some Material. At That Time Lost And Found Was Still One Of The Leading European Hardcore Labels Nothing Wrong With Their Reputation Yet So It Was Convenient To Sign A Contract With Them. Winter 1997 Saw The Release Of Their Debut MCD "WAY OF LIFE" On L&F Containing The Remastered Tracks Of The Demo. Consequently The Band Got Some Nice Gigs And They Had The Opportunity To Play Supporting Bands Such As RAW POWER RACIAL ABUSE Cameran TOE TO TOE NRA 59 TIMES THE PAIN DEVIATE NO FUN AT ALL … Summer Of 1998 And Victims Of Society Visit Studio 195 For The Second Time To Record A Full CD. After Some Bad Experiences With L&F Victims Of Society Decide Not To Deal With Any Record Company Anymore And To Release The Next CD On DAYBREAK RECORDS Set Up And Run By Victims Drummer Bakkie. The 15 Old School Tracks On "SCREAMING ALONE" Are A Bit Different From The Earlier Released Tracks. They Choose To Bring A More Brutal And Technical Sound Less Straightforward Than Their Punk-Outings But Much Loved By The Old School HC Fans. The Release Party Of This CD Was Given At JH SOJO Followed With A Small Tour In Spain Together With Fellow Band PN. After The Tour They Continued Playing In Clubs All Over Belgium And Holland Including Supports For AGNOSTIC FRONT BATTERY MURPHY'S LAW RATOS DE PORAO THE NEIGHBOURS IMBALANCE OIL… Victims Of Society Were Asked To Add Songs To Several Compilation Cd's. Because Of The Good International Response Victims Of Society Were Able To Do Some Tours In The UK Germany And For The Second Time Spain. After These Tours The Band Had Some Internal Difficulties. They Decided To Take A Short Break. In 2001 They Pick Up The Instruments Again And Reformed The Band. Web Who At That Time Was Also Playing In The Metal Band Panchrysia Decided Not To Take Part Of Victims Of Society Anymore. Hakkie Hans Van Keilegom Ex UP TO NOW Joined The Band And Replaced Web On Guitar. They Started To Make Some New Songs And Finished Off Previously Written Songs. Their First Show With The New Line Up Was At The Yearly FUNTIME Festival At JH SOJO Serving As A Try Out For The New Songs. The Months After Victims Of Society Focuses On Giving Them A Final Touch. February 2002 Victims Of Society Sign A Contract With Funtime Records Run By Long-Time Band Supporter And PN Frontman Jokke. They Record 9 Totally Straightforward Old School Hardcore Songs And A Special Cover Of Spermbirds' Playboy Subscriber. "GLASGOW KISS" Was Released At End Of April And Both National And International Press Gave Some Good Comments And Reviews.. What Follows Is A Very Busy Period For The Band… Helze Guitar Is Running A Bar And This Seems To Clash With The Need To Put All The Energy And Time In The Band Necessary To Play Gigs Regularly And Go On Tour. These Are Both Things That The Band Definitely Wants To Do Certainly After The Intense Efforts Of Drummer Dieter And FUNTIME Label-Owner Johan To Get Victims Of Society Back In Full Force. For A 4-Day Tour In Germany Victims Of Society Had To Replace Helze Because It Was Impossible For Him To Do This. They Started To Rehearse With Another Guitar Player Known As "den Ives" Steven Ivens Former Member Of NOT THAT STRAIGHT . The Intention Was To Play Some Gigs With Steven On A Temporary Basis. They Played Some Shows Supporting ENSIGN REACHING FORWARD CELEBRITY ROAST MDC... With Steven Playing The Guitar. After An Intense Period Of Playing Gigs All Over Victims Of Society Started Writing New Songs. They Are Going Strong Again And They Want It To Keep It That Way. Sadly Davy's Lack Of Time Is Becoming An Increasing Problem For The Band So They Had To Take The Tough Decision To Go Along Without Him. Steven Was Asked To Join The Band And He Did So. Summer 2002 Victims Of Society Is Rehearsing Intensely And Have Got Some New Stuff Ready And In The Making. They Keep Working On New Songs And Intend To Record A New CD End Of 2002. Among The Upcoming Things For Victims Of Society This Year Is A Tour In France/Spain Lots Of Gigs All Around Belgium And Smashing Up Your Local Club… Check Em Out! 2 Victims Of Society Was Formed In 1983 By Two Members Of Rapid Deployment Matty Walsh Singer And Phil Portuesi Drummer . From The Rage Came Scott Meko Guitarist And Scott Robinson Bassist . read less