Category Archives: vegan bands and musicians

We asked Avvika’s Filip about the frames of vegan intersectionality

Posted on by PalangL

We asked Filip, guitarist of the czech-swedish vegan anarchist band Avvika, about the ethical frames of vegan intersectionality and how to politically navigate veganism as an activist praxis and tool for liberation. In the lyrics of their song “Eternal Treblinka” Avvika speak about the correlation of totalitarian genocide and the taboo of speciesism as the totalitarian zoocide rooted in the epistemics of human hierarchical “objectivity”.

Filip: Personally, veganism is an important commitment in my life. I am happy every time I see new people turning vegan and honestly a bit sad when people turning back to this way of living. As well, people like to say that “it’s everyone’s choice”, but is it everyone’s choice to have a slave or beat their wife? I will still be on the side of the oppressed rather than fully respect the choice of somebody taking control over someone elses life. Yes, it might sound overexaggerated, but that’s a problem of those who read it, not mine. That’s the whole problem coming from speciesism – to see some beings as “just” animals and peoples choices as a principle with higher value.

Though, I find veganism as a path rather than a solution. It’s a choice how to live in the place and the time I/we live in. For me it’s a way, not a goal at all. It’s the least, the most passive act and basic ground of what each of us can do or choose. It’s just a start within the long run for animal liberation. I consider human beings as animals too, so for me it goes hand in hand with anarchist revolution, whatever that means. Veganism is also an act of solidarity.

Veganism got a bit trendy in some circles, which I can’t say I am a big fan of. I think, that to realize something shall come through (self) education or more sources of information rather than from fashion. Because what happens is that people quickly become vegans without really knowing why and then they conclude that it doesn’t make any sense to them, so they stop. But still I obviously welcome this trend much more than if it was trendy wearing fur, or go hunting, you know.

I think it is a mistake to think that nowadays you can boycott anything by just choosing a different product. Let me show some examples of what I mean: Most known vegan milk companies are owned by the biggest dairy corporations of the world. I heard there is some (anti)social media page called something like “compassion pizza” and there is list of places where you can get pizza with vegan cheese. These sellers never wanted to make a vegan restaurant or even don’t care, they just realized that they can sell a bit more if they include vegan cheese to the menu, so “compassion blog” actually made free advertisement to all the restaurants which mostly profit from selling meat and dairy products. That’s what I find dangerous about this trend.

Many people think that the choice of vegan cheese and soy cappuccino makes some change. All the food industry is a greedy monster (actually not just the food one, any industry is evil to all life). And especially so called green capitalism is a great example of how this system takes whatever comes from people who have some potential to question or critique inequalities and power structures. The system takes it, absorbs it, turns it into some product and sells it back to you. That’s why capitalism is more efficient than any dictatorships. It makes almost everything possible if you can afford it and people believe that that’s the freedom, just to get higher in this competition to be able to pay for it. It’s „democracy“ when you can have nearly everything if you have enough money, and it’s even easier if you are white and “at best” male. Then you have an „equal way“ to power.

That’s not freedom! We live in a „man made hell“!

We created a mantra which is now much bigger than us, than any each of us. The most of people’s values and relationships are capitalist ones; to see something or somebody else valuable according their social status or profit potential. The animal industry with vivisection is just a peak of insanity and ignorance of this society. And it is a big example. I don’t believe in liberty and harmony within capitalism. Capitalism with it’s own stupidity like economical competition, global “free” markets, the prison system, national states, police and more and more … . All of that is not gonna change by buying vegan coffee. That’s why I wouldn’t call veganism (without anticapitalist critique) as ethical.

I see the way to animal liberation through abolishing  thedomestication of animals (including us people). Domestication by work, money, industry, church, alcohol, social (gender, sexual) norms, etc. All of it just creates an alienation. Yes, I know that many could oppose these opinions and say that people with these ideas can just move to the forest and shut up. But I am talking about abolishing domestication, not hiding from it. Last, but not least, in a region where I am from, or even country (probably like in the most of Europe) there is not much natural (not man-made) forest which is not considered as private or state property where one could stay and live wildly without further repressions anyway.

We have to strike back, not hide or escape!

No one is free, untill all are free.

GO VEGAN! GO FURTHER!

Filip//AVVIKA

Avvika – Eternal Treblinka

You can find an explanation of this song here. Here are the Czech and Swedish translations of the lyrics.

The beginning of Genesis says that God created man in order to give him dominion over fish and fowl and all the creatures. Of course, Genesis was written by a man, not a horse. There is no certainty, that God actually did grant man dominion over other creatures.

What seems more likely, in fact, is that man invented God to sanctify the dominion that he had usurped for himself over the cow and the horse, over the pig and the bird. Yes, the right to kill an animal is the only thing that all mankind can agree upon, even during the bloodiest of wars.

We have been at war with the other creatures of this earth ever since the first human hunter set forth with spear into the primeval forest. Human imperialism has everywhere enslaved, oppressed, murdered, and mutilated the animal peoples.

All around us lie the slave camps we have built for our fellow creatures, factory farms and laboratories, Dachaus and Buchenwalds for the conquered species.

We slaughter animals for our food, force them to perform silly trics for our entertainment and delectation, gun them down and stick hooks in them in the name of sport. We have torn up the wild places where once they made their homes.

Speciesism is more deeply entrenched within us even than sexism, and that is deep enough.

The most calamitous and fragile of all creatures is man, and yet the most arrogant. Is it possible to imagine anything so ridiculous as that this pitiful, miserable creature, who is not even master of himself, should call itself master and lord of the universe?

The domestication of women followed the initiations of animal keeping, and it was then that men began to control womens reproductive capacity, enforcing chastity and sexual repression.

A greedy monster devouring with a thousand mouths.

The spirit of Capitalism made flesh.

European explorers and colonists, who at home abused, slaughtered, and ate animals to a degree unmatched in human history up to that time, sailed forth to other parts of the world representatives of a religious culture that was as theologically arrogant and violence-justifiying as any the world had ever seen.

In the made-for-TV culture the only addmitted genocide is now part of history. “It’s comforting – it’s over”.

But aren’t the Auschwitzes of today animal farms, transports, laboratories and slaughter houses that are so carefully hidden from view? Where the most defenseless of the world’s victims are merely seen as material.

Nowhere is patriarchy’s iron fist as naked as in the opression of animals, which serves as the model and training ground for all other forms of opression.

Sight, sound and smell. Death on monumental scale.

No one wants to hear it, no one wants to see.

All unseen and unheeded, this horrible crime is

buried out of sight, wiped out of memory.

…thou shalt not be a perpetrator; thou shalt not be a victim; thou shalt not be a bystander. …”If learned throughout society, those three commandments could help people see that choices we make determine the extent to which we are perpetrators, victims, or bystanders in a society that has long been carrying out a holocaust against animals and other beings and ecosystems while declining to recognize it as a holocaust.”

“the point of understanding the Holocaust in Europe is to prevent and halt other ones, not to remain narrowly focused on that particular one, traumatic though it was.”

Credits: from S​/​T 12″, released26 February 2014

Connect:

http://avvika.musicforliberation.com/
http://avvika.bandcamp.com/

Steve from the The Drag Hook about the urgency of ethical veganism to make the U-turn against global destruction

Posted on by PalangL

Steve, vocalist of the vegan hardcoreband The Drag Hook from Cleveland, told us about ethical veganism:

Veganism is an important step on the road to acknowledging and ending suffering worldwide. The fact that the human body has evolved to run most efficiently on a completely vegan diet is a side benefit of living as close to a cruelty free life as is humanly possible in the world today.

Once we stop ignoring the fact that creatures with the capacity to love and enjoy their lives are being tortured and murdered every day in the name of gluttony and greed, we can start addressing this problem and every other form of needless destruction we inflict on this planet and all those we share it with.

We as human beings have a long history of doing terrible things to each other and to all of our fellow earthlings. We must right these wrongs or go extinct trying.

-Steve Osborne XVX
The Drag Hook

Ignorance Is Complicity

they live in the space you ignore
they die on the killing room floor
because they’re born for you to waste
they give their lives for the way they taste
this is real monstrosity
ignorance is complicity
Breed them in new mutated forms
so fat they cant lift themselves off the floor
dying in numbers too large to record
sold to your plate before they are born
this is real monstrosity
ignorance is complicity
everyone knows the difference
between chained and free
there will be a war
until every cage is empty

Not In My Name

let them suffer no more for me
let the walls that cage them topple over, let them be free
let the hand that grips the whip be severed clean
let eyes that witness and do nothing, no longer see
carry their cries out to every ear
let no one enjoy their pain without having to hear
Bread to be tortured and killed
raped into existence then fed to the world
this will not be my legacy
i wont go down with the rest of my species.

Both these tracks are from their January 2014 release: Lethal Dose.

Connect via
Bandcamp: https://thedraghook.bandcamp.com

Marseille based vegan band Velvetine

Posted on by PalangL

We asked Stef from the Marseille based French band Velvetine about how they would describe themselves as a vegan band:

Ethically / politically: The members of Velvetine are vegan, antispeciesist, antisexisist and antiracist. Our third opus “Un jour ordinaire” is dedicated to animal liberation. Velvetine plays in places militant as in not militant places, to spread the antispeciesist message as widely as possible.

Velvetine’s style: using guitars, voices and machines, distilling an electro-rock blend of savage poetry. Colored by subtle harmonies, Velvetine draws up a tormented and powerful mood from deep running roots in ethnic and noisy music. The release of our next album is planned for spring 2014.

Un jour ordinaire

Des oiseaux empalés rôtissent dans les vitrines.
Des corps démembrés garnissent les étals.
Sur le pont des bateaux, des poissons tressaillant
Lentement s’asphyxient

Dans des hangars fétides, de mornes vies s’écoulent
On coupe à vif, des becs, des dents, des testicules
On enfonce des embucs jusqu’au fond des gosiers
Partout roulent des camions bourrés de condamnés
Ceux qu’on va égorger, saigner.

En ce jour ordinaire, ceux qui ont peur et mal
Se comptent par millions
En ce pays en paix, la torture et le meurtre
Sont le lot quotidien
Et maintenant, et maintenant
Ça dure encore
Et maintenant, et maintenant

From Velvetine’s album Septembre which also thematized Animal Liberation.

Connect via

Bandcamp: http://velvetine.bandcamp.com
FB: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Velvetine/377544125513

Svarteskerm: Christian punk and veg*ism as being a constituent part of the love for the Creation

Posted on by PalangL

Elof from the Swedish Christian punkband Svarteskerm told us about their stance on the ethics of veganism and vegetarianism:

For us as a band inspired by the teaching of Jesus compassion is a big deal. How do we as humans (individually and as a community) grow and develop our compassion? Vegetarianism/veganism is one of the things that we believe is a way to grow your compassion. How can you respect the Creator If you abuse the creation?

Not all of our members are vegan/vegetarians but all is in a process to grow in compassion towards all of Gods creation.

For us it’s important not to judge people but to inspire and help them take steps towards a more compassionate lifestyle, if someone stops eating animal products completely and another starts to have vegetarian Mondays from listening to our music we’re happy to have helped. On every journey there’s a first step and a second and a 113th… We can only help people take a (small or big) step, not change them altogether.

With that being said, eating meat is both stupid, cruel, egocentric, harmful (to animals, creation and humans and yourself) so please stop doing it!

Svarteskerm – Maktlös

Connect via

Bandcamp: http://svarteskerm.bandcamp.com/
FB: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Svarteskerm/36537262026

Nunca Es Tarde’s Veg X Wolf on being vegan in Panama

Posted on by PalangL

Veg X Wolf singer of Nunca Es Tarde:

Being a vegan hardcore kid in a non-vegan scene

Panama is a country where ethic veganism doesn’t exist, since we are little they make us believe that eating other living things, taking they’re newborns food (milk) or eating their menstruation (eggs) is something completely normal.

The fault of this is the lack of information, organizations for the ethical treatment of animals don’t exist in panama and in the hardcore scene there aren’t people who want to get involve on veganism (giving information/educating others about this).

Even though only 2 members of nunca es tarde are vegan and that most of our lyrics are about straight edge or about supporting the hardcore scene we always give informative flyers about ethic veganism every time we are invited to a gig and we have a few songs about this subject.

Compasion / Compassion:

Estas feliz con esto? / are you happy with this?
Asesinas por placer / you kill for pleasure
Consumis por tradición / you consume because of tradition
Donde se fue la razón? / where has the reason left?

Basta ya! Basta ya! / stop it now, stop it no!
No mas consumo y maltrato animal / no more combustion or animal abuse!
Basta ya! Basta ya! / Stop it now, stop it now!
Ahora es cuando debemos actuar! / This is the time when we have to act!

Cual es el punto? / whats the point?
Cual es la razón? / Whats the reason?
Esta en ti! Es tu decisión / its in you, its your decision
No consumir, no asesinar / no consumption, no killin
Yo decidí por ellos luchar. / i have decided to fight for them

Basta ya! Basta ya! / stop it now, stop it no!
No mas consumo y maltrato animal / no more combustion or animal abuse!
Basta ya! Basta ya! / Stop it now, stop it now!
Ahora es cuando debemos actuar! / This is the time when we have to act!

From the release: http://nuncaestarde.bandcamp.com/track/nunca-es-tarde

Connect via
FB: https://www.facebook.com/NETxCrew
Bandcamp: http://nuncaestarde.bandcamp.com

Knives and Forks for Freedom on awareness and the complexity of ethical veganism

Posted on by PalangL

Vegan punks, Knives and Forks for Freedom

Cody, multitasking member of the political hardcore punk band Knives and Forks for Freedom from Canada, tells us his thoughts on the complexity of ethical veganism:

For me, living in the industrial capitalist world, there is almost no reason not to be vegan. I believe that not enough people are truly aware of the consequences of supporting industrial animal agriculture. It is safe to say that the majority of the population is mostly unaware, or chooses not to acknowledge the reality of the practices of factory farming and slaughterhouses. Animals are born into a life of confinement in poor conditions until their brutal slaughter, very often done without anaesthesia. It’s very obvious that this is the reason slaughterhouses are not made of glass walls and are often located in remote areas, safe from public awareness. Otherwise, so much less people would knowingly support this industry.

I generally have a reasonably optimistic view on humanity though. I’m sure most people would be opposed to these practices if they were more aware of them. After all, many people like animals, such as their pets. No one would want their dog or cat to have to experience a life of confinement, neglect and torture. But because of the complete disconnect with where this food comes from, no one really thinks about it. It seems that most people are led to believe in vague myths that this food comes from traditional family farms where animals live happily. But instead, what we have is intensive factory operations whose primary goal is to create profit as efficiently and cheaply as possible.

On top of all of this, industrial animal agriculture generates so much pollution and causes great environmental damage. It also requires so much more grains, soy and water to feed livestock than the food created from plants. It’s just very inefficient and unsustainable. So by simply refusing to support the industry, it creates less demand for the products and then creates less harm. So for me, the refusal to support these industries is also rooted in an anti-consumerist and anti-capitalist way of thinking.

At a larger level, we live in a culture based on hierarchy and power. Animal’s being forced to spend their lives in confinement and poor conditions for people’s benefit is one example of that. I think we’re also vaguely led to believe in a “survival of the fittest” myth, which ultimately just serves to normalize the idea that it’s completely fine for the dominant class to rule and exploit those who they consider “inferior”. In the case of non-human animals, this denies them their sentience and their own right to live. As such, it’s absolutely essential to be critical of power relations in all levels in society. In the case of veganism, it is simply about making small daily choices to simply not support industries built on exploitation. Our comforts and pleasures should not exist at the expense of the lives of others.

Please Don’t Eat Me

Well I know it’s not the best you’ve ever had,
but I sure don’t think it’s all that bad.
Is it enough knowing that nothing living had to die?
I know you’re used to your meat, but soy is worth a try.

The cows never saw it coming,
relaxing in the green pastures of lies,
never knowing the humans’ insatiable hunger.
No time for this cow now, but who is next?!
Please don’t eat me!

“This tofu tastes terrible”, is all you can ever say.
And “who cares about a fucking cow anyway”,
but have you ever thought about the life they live?
We take so much from this planet, that we never give.

To the death you’d argue it’s about health for you.
Well what’s good for that cow to eat, is fucking good for you too.
If we planted that grain in the fields where they eat,
it would end world hunger and no one would have to eat meat.

There’s no reason for us to still do this.
We have the technology to surpass this savageness.
Humans are much smarter than all other animals on earth,
but when we act like animals,
do we doom ourselves to die…like animals?!

Album: I’m Not Fucked Up, The World Is, released 2011

Dic of the Hour

The dictator of choice wasn’t chosen by you,
but chosen for you.
Believes in America and his country,
believes we do not have a voice.

Put in place, by the powers that be.
I’ve learned enough, they’ll never have control of me.
I’ll keep screaming, ‘til I have no voice.
One day, we’ll remove the dictator of choice.

They laugh, while you slave for your daily food.
People are slaughtered in the streets every minute,
people just like you.

A new dictator; how many times will they do it?
How many times will no one notice?
Until the whole world, is fucking third world!?

Album: Who’s in Control?, released 2012

Connect through:

Bandcamp: http://kafff.bandcamp.com
FB: https://www.facebook.com/4freedom4all

Holy on their AR veganism, on belief systems and intersectional approaches

Posted on by PalangL


Holy vegan hardcore from Milan

Stefano, singer of Holy told us about animal rights, veganism, belief systems and intersectional approaches:

The four of us approached veganism in very different ways and time, I think that mostly what we share is that we all became vegans because we have a critical view of the world around us.

The biggest strength of the meat industry is the “don’t question” approach, consuming animals or animal product is something that in most cases is done without consciousness, no one ever wonders about how cows turned into steak, it’s not something considered questionable at all. Just part of the everyday normal life.

It happened in a certain moment of our life that we started questioning it, of course punk has had a huge influence in the process of making this choice. It’s because of punk that we perceived veganism for the first time as a political choice, and not only as some kind of fashionable hippy diet. When we started this band, we’ve put our opinion about animal rights in the spotlight, so we knew that there could have been misunderstandings about our band name’s origin and meaning.

During these years, more than once we had to make ourselves clear about the fact that we are not a religious band, but we are 4 rationalists/atheists. The way we practice veganism, as I said, is as a conscious lifestyle, and I can’t imagine anything further from this than religion.
It is a CHOICE, not an act of faith, and we’re committed to this not to save our souls, or empower our karmic whatever. We are vegan because we care both for human and for non-human life; we don’t see humanity as the center of the universe, nor the top of food chain.

I grew up in Italy, which has still a Catholic culture. This made me think how deep the roots of speciesism are. If you try to think about the idea that men are created in the image and likeness of God, you realize that this people is basically telling you “you are not an animal.” You’re something above all life, and below God only, and this is not only because this is written in the Old Testament, this is because the Catholic Church is still against evolution theory, and still supporting and spreading this shitty idea of creationism. This is a hetero-normative patriarchal Church of a god that created man out of clay (but not women of course, who are just a product of an extra rib.)

You have to know that in Italy the relations between church and state are still regulated by a 1929 agreement Between Mussolini and Pope Pio IX. Catholicism is still considered the main religion, is still a class in primary school (although it is optional), and we still have crucifixes in our classrooms. This means that the Christian imprinting is pretty effective on children at first, and also on the whole population.

Some eastern religions are known for being more “animal friendly” or even for preaching explicitly not to eat meat. Through the years these religions fascinated western people because for some reason they’re perceived, as more “human” and peaceful compared to monotheist religions.

What really depress me is not religious people themselves (as an Atheist, I stand for the freedom of questioning), but the fact that most of the people (to be honest 100% of the ones I’ve met) who approached vegetarianism through religion, seem to be incapable of connecting it to other aspects of life and politics. I mean, I don’t care if the Bhagavad Gita tells you to eat cheese and yoghurt, but how can you consider yourself and intelligent person if you stop eating meat to spare animal lives on one side, and on the other you are still contributing to death, consuming dairy products, because your god told you so? An act of faith is weak by definition: an individual makes choices and reinforces those choices, themselves, even thou it’s oblivious that the choice could be wrong.

This is one of the many ways of how veganism is intersectional to me, it’s both the result of many choices that lead me to what I am today and one of the foundations of what I will be tomorrow. As a thinking person, not just as a vegan.

Asleep

Give us today / our poisoned bread / our daily piece of trash / our dose of forgiveness / altars for those who torture / gallows for those who care / how long will the lambs / be so bloodthirsty? / the sleep of consciousness / built cities and gold paved streets / monuments to its own failure / to praise / to bless / to sleep / forever.

Album: Self Titled 12″ released by Hell Yes! (2012 release)

FREE DOWNLOAD: www.mediafire.com?a5bt7rzkz7rhnae

Restless

I’ve been told a better place awaits
I’ve been told we’ll lay and rest in peace
I’ve been told love lasts forever
Over our dead bodies
I’ve been told no more suffering
I’ve been told no more pain
I’ve been told but if I ask now nobody answers
And my knuckles hurt, my nails are worn
There’s no gold at the end of the road
I’ve been told but if I ask now
Nobody answers
Is anybody out there?
It’s only gravity
Pushing us down so fucking down
Until the ground will swallow us

Album: The Age Of Collapse (2013 release)

Live at Aladdin Jr in Pomona CA (USA) June 2013

Connect via:

Bandcamp: http://holyvegan.bandcamp.com/
FB: https://www.facebook.com/holyvegan

Band of Mercy, Texans, Veganocrats

Posted on by PalangL


Band of Mercy, courtesy toomanyweapons.com

Band of Mercy, Texans, Veganocrats

Singer, guitarist Daniel from theHoustonTXbased vegan hardcore Animal Liberation Band of Mercy told us about vegan effectiveness, possibilities of leading by example and basic intersectional veganism:

My main concern, at this point in my life (after being vegan for 8 years, and being an animal rights activist for more than 5 of those years), is the issue of promoting vegan culture. Of course, the basis of why someone stays vegan throughout their life usually comes from maintaining veganism as a philosophy based on ethics, as opposed to being a  lifestyle that affords them the most personal pleasure (let’s face it, most dietary vegans will make exceptions to what they feel is a restrictive lifestyle). Unfortunately, the ethics of veganism aren’t the most appealing aspect of veganism to most people. So what is our best approach to help the most animals and reduce the greatest amount of cruelty to them?

As activists, we must consciously remind ourselves that most people DO care about animals to some degree, and that most people do not wish harm upon them. Most people accept animal cruelty as an obscured part of our food system, fashion industry, clinical fields, and so on, simply because they think things have always been that way, and that they are powerless to change things. It’s not that they wish cruelty onto animals–rather, they feel their personal sacrifices to help animals would likely not be worth the effort.

What I have found has worked best for me, in my personal life with friends and family, as well as in my activist life, is to be an educated example of personal empowerment. I have taught myself how to thrive as a vegan, and I have made it a point that all those around me see how I am thriving as a vegan. After all, everyone wants to thrive in their lives. We must aim to show people that veganism requires more discipline than sacrifice– and more importantly, that the discipline we teach ourselves to live by will enhance and benefit our lives, not wear us down or limit our potential to have fun and be happy.

I have become stronger and healthier on a vegan diet. It requires some education to learn how to eat optimally as a vegan, and it does require some planning and discipline, but my physical and mental gains from eating optimally make my life more enjoyable, as I am able to do more activities that I enjoy for greater lengths of time, even as I get older. I eat a wider variety of foods, and I enjoy the rituals of eating more now than I did as an omnivore. Food is now a celebration in my life, not just something I must consume as a matter of hunger and convenience. Not only this, but many variations of vegan food and clothing are in fact cheaper than animal-based alternatives. Through veganism we all stand to gain physically, mentally, financially, as well as knowing the peace of mind that comes with thriving while causing the least amount of harm to others.

We must empower ourselves with the knowledge of how to live vegan in an optimal way, and then we must share that knowledge with those who are curious about veganism so that we may build vegan culture. For those who are not yet curious, we must live so boldly that we invoke their interest. We can not tear down the ways of old without offering the population newer, better ways to live. They will join us when they see us laughing, when they see us succeed and lead in the workplace, when they see us staying lean and healthy into old age, when they can see that our intellect is not just one dimensional–that we read books and make creative contributions to the world outside of the concepts of animal rights. We must show that we are well-rounded, well-developed individuals who have educated views.

While the ethical arguments are always abound in the world where people want to question us or be skeptical of us for not eating animals, and in this world of cruelty as the norm where protest is so often necessary, we must be able to shift our focus beyond the ongoing debates when necessary. We must become leaders who shed the light on a better, healthier, more positive way to live. In the end, that is how we will save the most animals.

Band of Mercy – Eat to Win

There is a war, and me must fight
But we won’t win if we don’t eat right
Billions are suffering, so we must prevail
You want Vegan Power?
You better eat KALE!!

Tofu, rice, and beans – BEANS!
And dark leafy greens – GREENS!
Fruits and nuts and seeds – SEEDS!
Partake of these to smash enemies

War is upon us, like it or not
No hippies or weaklings, we need juggernauts
‘Cause change never comes from asking nicely
You want Liberation?
You better eat broccoli!!

Tofu, rice, and beans – BEANS!
And dark leafy greens – GREENS!
Fruits and nuts and seeds – SEEDS!
Partake of these to smash enemies

Born to lose, eat to win!
Toughened by tempeh, strengthened by seitan
Born to lose, eat to win!
We scoff at the phrase “protein deficient” (HA!)

(“Where do I get my protein? What, are you a fuckin’ idiot??”)

Show them a vegan like they’ve never seen
Primed to deliver one million ass beatings!

Tofu, rice, and beans – BEANS!
And dark leafy greens – GREENS!
Fruits and nuts and seeds – SEEDS!
Partake of these to smash enemies

Connect via:

FB: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Band-of-Mercy-the-band/130053330369316
Bandcamp: http://bandofmercy.bandcamp.com

 

Davey xSABOTEURx on vegan AR intersectionality!

Posted on by PalangL

xSABOTEURx at the Asylum 2 – Birmingham, 8.04.2013

We asked Davey, the bassist of the former UK vegan band xSABOTEURx, about his view on ethical veganism and animal rights intersectionality:

Basically for me veganism has always been for the animals and that’s how I would imagine it would stay. The band tackled issues of homophobia and sexism too with our vocalist at the time being gay.

We also come from a background where there’s a lot of privilege and consumerism in hardcore and honestly that’s just never been what it’s about for us.

Our politics have always been about liberation, both human and animal, and that’s something that should always continue on for us.

xSABOTEURx – Reaction

“In a world that’s fueled by the suffering of others,
ignorance is no longer an option. I would rather see
the world for what it really is than blind myself with
excuses. No longer will I stand by and watch as the
innocent fall victim to selfish desires. No more.”
Abstinence from a culture guilty of atrocity,
industries that profit off other beings misery,
mind altering substances that keep thought distracted,
pay heed to our crimes,
this is my reaction.
How many more have to suffer?
I can no longer stand by and do nothing,
as life is destroyed by human consumption,
slaves to convenience,
faith in a bottle,
this is my reaction in a world so hollow.
VEGAN STRAIGHT EDGE
Rape,
Vivisection,
Murder,
Exploitation,
Suffering,
Misery,
This is my reaction,
I won’t stand still.
Won’t stand still.
Won’t stand still.

xSABOTEURx – Unjustified

Compassion for those you once called friends,
lost among false notions of survival,
tradition is delusion in a modern age,
where substitute can take deaths place.
Slaughter, unjustified.
Slaughter, unjustified.
Animals aren’t commodity
or ours to control
industry to industry,
all will fall.
The hunters hunted,
the demons exposed,
no compromise for those who oppose.
Mass liberation from the hands of moral corruption,
those who’d brand a currency on sentient life.
Now is the time!
Mass liberation
from the hands of moral corruption.
Righteous vengeance on those who oppress.
It’s time for us to recognize,
retribution of nature’s calling.
Every second that’s spent waiting,
leads to another demise.

Both track are from xSABOTEURx – Demonstration, released in May 2013.

Via FB: https://www.facebook.com/saboteurxvx

Orel Ofoi, singer of Paris-based vegan band FTA, on animal ethics and veganism as global ethics

Posted on by PalangL

Orel Ofoi is the singer of the Paris-based vegan band FTA. We asked Orel about how she sees animal- and vegan ethics and their contexts:

My idea of the ethic regarding the respect of animals and animal protection is really a global ethic: The respect for animals will have an impact on environmental protection and on the respect for human beings themselves.

In the Judeo-Christian religion, for instance, the majority of people read the biblical text with the notion that humans stand at the centre of the world, and that they have to dominate the earth and the animals, thus dismissing the image of the human as a shepherd: who is a friend and protector face to face, on the same ground with the environment and other lives … .

I think that we should see the relationship between humans and animals as a relation of “co-creatures”, based on respect, love and protection of the others.

The Earth is our mother, and the human is the most dangerous animal for her and her environment.

An individual awareness all over the world would be necessary to see a real evolution; one, by fighting those who’ve become cancerous to the planet, who murder us physically and alienate us on a daily basis; I speak about Monsanto for example or also the lobbyists (pharmaceutical or agro food, etc.).

I believe that it is necessary to support ethical producers and to not hesitate with sharing the message, because we need to stick together and to be united to see a real revolution and a real ethical evolution.

Standing Point. Intersectional vegan hardcore from Piracicaba, São Paulo, Brazil!

Posted on by PalangL

Standing Point. Intersectional vegan hardcore from Piracicaba, São Paulo, Brazil!

Standing Points voice Alex Peguinelli tells us on the intersectionality of ethical veganism:

Well, we are a third world band, so we see veganism and animal rights in a particular way. We have so many problems here in America Latina, that people don’t even think about the non-human animals, so being a vegan, straight edge and anarchist band here is very necessary.

Beyond the band we are involved with vegan anti-consumerist collectives and the struggle for public transport. We think that talking about veganism is talking about anti-consumerist politics, anti-capitalist issues and a lot of other things that are directly connected with the human and non-human animal liberation.

Our Album ‘Work. Consume. Die.’ talks about the inability to live a free life in a world that offers you only prisons.

Standing Point – Loveless

“People who talk about revolution and class struggle without referring explicitly to everyday life, without understanding what is subversive about love and hate, live and DIE, and what is to refuse their limitations, these people speak with a corpse between their teeth.”

Loveless

I threw myself from the highest cliffs
from the most beautiful mountains
I threw myself from the largest buildings

Always knowing that the ground
would be the (final) destination
That the fall would be the path

And the wind would lead life
like carrying pieces of paper

What can we do with the crumbs of theories?

(Normality can properly
Teach people how to live
And how to die)

What can we do with the crumbs of theories?

I tried to hold the air
I tried to hold in the air
I tried to leave the flight
a rough landing
inevitable and painful

And then life became
a scenographic city
if you pull to strong
the walls fall down

Now I see through
these falling walls
That love is the only reason of life
Love for struggle
Love for resistence
Love for freedom

No Compromise
No Excuses

Freedom
By any means necessary

(We turn again to the streets
But we have changed
And the streets mean something different now
We walked and these moments changed us
We saw buildings burning
We were touched by death
We loved and we felt alive
We saw the moon rising behind the barricades
We heard the echo of our voice in the voices of others

We do not walk today
asking the power for grant
They had never legislated peace or freedom
Now their armies cannot occupy our dreams
And their prisons cannot contain our number

This is our world
And these streets belong to us

We are the other,
We are the unemployed,
We are the hungry,
We are the homeless,
We are the thieves,
We are the saboteurs,
We are taking the streets,
We are destroying corporations,
We are taking control of the factories,
We are walking through the night carrying a heart on fire.

all of us,
we are everyone,
we are one.)

Standing Point – The Real Change

Connect through

Bandcamp: http://standingpoint.bandcamp.com
FB: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Standing-Point/240527789340168

Not merely human attributes! Friendbeast’s Koala Largess on vegan intersectionality

Posted on by PalangL

We asked Friendbeast from Baltimore about vegan intersectionality

Koala the vocalist of Friendbeast told us:

As an anarchist, I look at the relationships of power. This doesn’t preclude the relationship that humans have to the world around them. If we want real anticapitalist structural change, we need to look at the most basic part of our lives, what we eat and how we relate to it – our food. Bodies, hearts, and minds are not merely a human attribute, and forcing deprivation, sexualization, and then death upon other creatures debases our humanity and throws us deeper into a capitalist web.

Friendbeast – Caged

I could sell her to a lab
Euthanize her tomorrow
Society says she’s property
All I want is an end to this.

CHORUS:
Bought
Sold
Kept in a cage

There is no freedom in the exploitation of another

Bought
Sold
Kept in a cage

There is no dignity in the ownership of another

Systems of power
Desire to control
Fuck your disregard
Fuck this domination
No one should have ownership over another
Animals shouldn’t be confined
Alone…
Cold…
Waiting for your curiosity

Connect through
Bandcamp: http://friendbeast.bandcamp.com/
FB: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Friendbeast/465040923548720

Risa on intersectional veganism and the impacts and effectiveness of individual action

Posted on by PalangL

We have asked Risa about what intersectional veganism means to her in terms of impacts and its further reach:

Veganism is an economic boycott of products and services that disrespect the lives and rights of other species to be free. Since I value freedom and doing the things I love to do, I would feel hypocritical supporting the suffering, confinement and death of other living beings who all have the desire to live free.

So, with the energy that money is, I choose to support farmers and products that are congruent with my philosophical beliefs. I try to minimize suffering and harm through my vegan lifestyle, while realizing that no lifestyle except growing all of your own organic food, etc. is a ‘perfect’ choice; I do the best I can to live in harmony with nature.

Veganism has worked for me for more than 13 years. I consider it a spiritual practice, as living with integrity in a way that’s consistent with your beliefs gives you peace.

Risa talking about her writing the song STRANGE FRUIT, as an Animal Rights song inspired by Billie Holiday‘s famous song:

Listen on Bandcamp:

Connect on

Bandcamp: http://risa.bandcamp.com/
FB: https://www.facebook.com/risamusic
Twitter: https://twitter.com/risatweet
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/selectahhrecords

Spiknykter’s Simon on intersectional veganism

Posted on by PalangL

Swedish hardcore band Spiknykter’s Simon told us on intersectional veganism:

I have been vegan for many different reasons over the years, and I just keep getting more and more reasons why I should continue to be vegan.

Recently I learned that the abuse of animals and sexual violence are statistically connected. Apparently it’s common that the violent part does not start to exert violence on their partner, but starts practicing – so to speak – on a pet or other animals.

That, among other things, made it clear to me that empathy towards nonhuman animals is important, not only for its own sake, but also for being emphatic towards other people too.

Spiknykter – Arg som 17

jag brukade va ledsen, nu ä jag bara arg
på borgare, sexister och folk som skjuter varg
andra skaffar jobb och stil och ilskan klingar av
men jag blir bara mera arg, för varje jävla dag

10 år av aggression
spottar och fräser till pension

jag brukade va uppgiven nu är jag bara sur
på USA och Israel och deras jävla mur
andra går och gifter sig och slutar styra härj
snackar rött men röstar blått och hymlar med sin färg

gamla guben, arg som fan
grinig, sur och tvär vegan

kvar är agget fast jag tappat mitt hår
gnisslar tänder i sömnen och odlar mitt magsår
svär över diskbrock och högerpolitik
över kids som är nöjda och snutabyk

Connect via
FB: https://www.facebook.com/Spiknykter
Bandcamp: http://spiknykter.bandcamp.com/

xNO MOREx – vegan hardcore from Minneapolis on intersectionality

Posted on by PalangL

xNO MOREx – vegan sxe hardcore from Minneapolis.

We asked Anthony, the vocalist of xNO MOREx, about the fundamentals of intersectionality and veganism:

This text as a PDF (link opens in a new window)

Veganism comes down to 2 issues. And those are Capitalism and Patriarchy.

I think that with Veganism, we have to realize that although we are clearing our own conscience by not eating animal products or using animal tested body care or what have you, it will only go so far. Veganism is so complex and intersectional to all other aspects of oppression. Unfortunately, its something a lot of vegans don’t seem to realize. Whether it be ableism, classism, sexism, transphobia, racism etc. these are all issues that really come down to capitalism and/or patriarchy.

You look at something like animal liberation. Sure, 5 million vegans in the United States is better than none, but these animals are still not liberated, they’re not free from oppression and speciesism, they’re still referred to as “its” instead of he’s and she’s. Veganism is a spark for something so much bigger, it’s really just the beginning of an eye opening perspective on the systematic oppressions that exist in our society.

Capitalism for example, a system that has been created where you actually have to pay for (work for) food, which is essential to the body to be able to live. What kind of a society have we created when we say, “I understand you need food to live, and it grows out of the ground all the time, but in order to obtain this food, you have to work according to a value somebody else has put on this job that society has forced you to work. The same goes for housing, as recent as 2011, there were thought to be roughly 3.5 million people homeless in the United States of America, and yet, there were 18 million unoccupied homes. But capitalism says that these people don’t deserve to have a home or a roof over their heads because of these fallacies it has created about money, power and “freedom.”

Things like factory farming will always exist so long as capitalism is still in place. People will eat, sleep, breathe and watch whatever they’re told to by these corporations, and cheese burgers are definitely no different. Animals are nothing more than property to these people and corporations, so to them, they see a cow producing milk, they see dollar signs, so they will force that down your throat until you buy, buy and buy some more.

But again, these are issues that a lot of vegans still don’t understand or care to realize. This is why intersectionality is important and vital. It’s all one singular issue of oppression that all leads back to Patriarchy and Capitalism.

Veganism must be intersectional, otherwise its counter productive. It’s ALWAYS important to question how you see things, how you’ve been raised to look at ideas and society. A Vegan isn’t doing a ton of good to the world if they are preaching animal rights but being a sexist or ableist asshole at the same time. You’re taking one step forward in one movement but 2 steps back in another, completely failing to realize that they are the same movement.

Blood Mouth

Murder is Murder, its all the fucking same.
You can wrap it up and give it a nice sounding name.
But your lies just don’t make it humane
269 its all of our names
Years cut short, they still bleed out, all the
fucking same. Grass fed or knee deep in shit.
It’s still murder, all the same.

Intro / Value

I don’t value life based on mental capacity
not on gender, sex, race, or nationality
Humans aren’t the only species who
deserve basic rights.
Eat. Live. Free.

FB: https://www.facebook.com/xNOxMOREx
Bandcamp: http://xnoxmorex.bandcamp.com/

Wolf x Down on vegan Animal Liberation and intersectionality

Posted on by PalangL


Wolf Down at Ieperfest 2013

We asked Wolf Down about their position on ethical veganism and intersectionality

This text as a PDF (link opens in a new window)

Wolf X Down guitarist Tobi stated it for us:

Veganism to us is not just a diet, as declared by lifestyle vegans that see it merely as a way to stay healthy. It’s a conscious ethical decision of causing the least suffering and harm done to the planet and its inhabitants. Thus, we don’t feel that veganism is “giving up your favorite products and food”, as meat-eaters like to put it into question: “Don’t you miss xy?”. No and no. No, because there’s just about every delicious meal in a tasty cruelty-free vegan version and no, because there’s just no other way. It’s not a choice that is open to anyone. You’re not free to choose if you wanna hold yourself a slave or not, are you? So why do we think it’s everyone’s personal decision to exploit, torture and murder animals?

Despite all this, veganism is a means, not an end. We don’t think real change is to come from simply boycotting products and sharing your favorite raw food recipes. Be honest to yourself, veganism alone is not even saving animal lives. Thus, veganism is to be used as a stepping stone only. The consensus of our society about animal exploitation will not be broken without further action. If we want to achieve animal liberation, the animal rights movement needs to become a political and social movement just like the abolitionist one. The abolition of slavery and struggle for Black people was not won by boycotting cotton. To be successful, a movement needs a broad bandwidth of actions. And the direct actions of sabotage, property destruction and animal liberation carried out by underground ALF activists are just as vital as the clean-cut vegan on the TV talk show. So let’s raise our voices to be heard, and never forget, thousands of individuals are being tortured, mutilated and killed right this second: “I am aware, that many object to the severity of my language; but is there not cause for severity? I will be as harsh as truth, and as uncompromising as justice. On this subject, I do not wish to think, or speak, or write, with moderation. No! no! Tell a man whose house is on fire, to give a moderate alarm; tell him to moderately rescue his wife from the hand of the ravisher; tell the mother to gradually extricate her babe from the fire into which it has fallen; — but urge me not to use moderation in a cause like the present. I am in earnest — I will not equivocate — I will not excuse — I will not retreat a single inch — AND I WILL BE HEARD. The apathy of the people is enough to make every statue leap from its pedestal, and to hasten the resurrection of the dead.” – William Lloyd Garrison, American abolitionist

In a wider context, veganism to us is part of a struggle for total liberation, including not only non-humyn, but also humyn animals. Just as humiliated womyn and people of color or of different ethnic and cultural backgrounds striving for true equality, the gay couple or queer- and trans-people striving for acceptance, people with disabilities for support, refugees for shelter and animals for a right to live without suffering and exploitation, we all aspire to be free and healthy. Not the same, but equal. Only by exposing the commonalities in the different forms of oppression and understanding the nature of the hierarchies and the mentality of the oppressing forces towards their subjects, we can find a way to mutually improve, amend and progress in fighting back, united and strong: “Unity of oppression”. When fighting our own separate fights, we may dismantle and maybe break out the one or two specific spokes that represent our pain in the wheel that is oppression, but it won’t stop the wheel from turning, it will still continue to roll over our comrades. Thus, to achieve our goal of true and lasting liberation, we need to reach hands and make it one common struggle for liberation, to build a unity of the oppressed and break all the spokes in this seemingly everturning wheel:  “So you can stay cool behind your window and choose the view you want to see. But as long as there are others held captive, do not consider yourself free.”

Wolf Down – No Silent Approval

while the blood drips off the blade the cries still resonate
estranged, cut into pieces – rediscovered on your plate
you stop at nothing for the privileg of taste
like a panel of judges you’re deciding their fate

born in misery, abused – got nothing to lose
exploited for profit therefore you breed by humyn greed
this machine that turnes lives to products is called tradition
your silent approval – what an imposition!
individuals – facing perversion by superior forces
social, sentient beings degraded to resources
you stop at nothing for the privileg of taste
like a panel of judges you’re deciding their fate

this is about freedom, this is about compassion,
abolish exploitation – animal liberation!
The time has come – to break this culture of death

From Wolf x Down’s 2013 album release STRAY FROM THE PATH.

FB: https://www.facebook.com/WOLFxDOWN
Bandcamp: http://wolfxdown.bandcamp.com/
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/WOLFxDOWN
Twitter: https://twitter.com/WOLFxDOWN

stray from the path — escape prescribed conformity

We asked Per Aspera about ethics, veganism and its intersectional grounds

Posted on by PalangL

We asked Per Aspera from Chicago, IL, about their stance on veganism, and their thoughts on the “how to” of veganism’s intersectional condition

Per Aspera’s guitarist Nicholas Schmidt told us:

For starters, we strongly believe that it is gravely immoral to support and/or engage in the practice of murder, imprisonment, rape, and torture of living creatures. This applies not just to our fellow Homo sapiens sisters and brothers, but to all feeling beings.

The fundamental logic underpinning our decision to abstain from supporting the animal exploitation industry explicitly requires us to be opposed to all forms of systemic oppression that serve only the interest of the ruling elite. Hence our communal opposition to capitalism, fascism, patriarchy, racism, and environmental destruction are necessary components of responsible, honest, and consistent animal welfare activism.

With that said, engaging in any sort of radical political thought or action guarantees an intense amount of social baggage to encourage a placid and largely benign movement. When organizing in opposition to such mainstream and widespread power dynamics, it can be incredibly tempting to siphon off oneself or one’s small social clique from the rest of society. The antisocial message so common in punk and radical left circles serves to remove the possibility of organizing mass popular movements necessary to confront oppressive institutions across the whole of society. Furthermore, these tendencies offer no substantive vision and strategy for a society we are indeed capable of creating on this planet, as activism may be reduced to personal lifestyle decisions. Admittedly a somewhat ironic argument to hear from a DIY punk/metal band, we feel that the persistent drive to alienate left-wing struggles from working class culture resembles the same counter-productive prejudices that have plagued social justice movements for so long in regards to women, people of color, the natural world, and now with ever more increasing awareness, our fellow non-human companions.

The liberation of Mother Earth from the systemic diseases we have brought upon her is completely dependent on our ability to reach out, connect, and organize with all people who are experiencing the same oppressions, in whatever form, from our own backyards and neighborhoods, to the world at large. Ya dig?

Per Aspera – Shikata Ga Nai

We live with the lie that everything dies,
It’s only the spectres we perceive alive.
We personify existence in the natural world,
So we can mourn the proof of our own remorse.

I reject the notion that a desert of pain is the only universe that we have to explain.
As the memories of our families evaporate into space.

The hollow woman kicking blood,
Reminds us what waits in our blood.
As she cries for her slaughtered friends,
The vacuum of space hears no dead ends.

So I will cry when my friends die, and I won’t forget to live,
With passion, vigor, love, and fear of losing all that I hold dear.

Bandcamp: http://perasperapunk.bandcamp.com
Tumblr: http://perasperapunk.tumblr.com
FB: https://www.facebook.com/PerAsperaPunk
Contact: perasperapunk [at] gmail [dot] com

We asked the vegan hardcore band Eat Me Fresh about veganism and intersectionality

Posted on by PalangL

We asked the vegan hardcore band Eat Me Fresh about veganism and intersectionality:

Just like we do think there is no place for racism in hardcore and in the world as it is, so we think there is no place for speciesism.

Being a vegan doesn’t mean that we just don’t eat meat and dairy products, it means a lot more like that we care about the planet we live on, and that we don’t want to waste it.

And the thing is, that people think that they are so clever, and they just don’t mind that we weren’t the first on this planet. We are as ”immigrants” as every species is, but every species became a member on this planet, in another time or on another place.

We don’t own the planet, the planet owns us. And as we behave to it, it will behave to us.

Sexism, Racism, Speciesism, Nationalism and much more of these evil things should be over.

THIS IS THE 21st CENTURY. PLEASE PEOPLE WAKE UP!

STAY FRESH.

https://www.facebook.com/eatmefresh

Eat Me Fresh, themselves being from the Czech Republic, have been touring Europe this year. They released their track INSIDE OF US this August 2013 on Bandcamp http://eatmefresh.bandcamp.com/.

We have asked Chris of Olde Ghost about ethical veganism and intersectionality

Posted on by PalangL

olde_ghost_2c
Sounds, Animal Liberation, Veganism and Intersectionality

We have asked Chris LaPointe, co-singer of Olde Ghost from Seattle Washington about ethical veganism and intersectionality

This text as a PDF (link opens in a new window)

First, I’d like to appreciate the fact that you acknowledge veganism and its intersectional subjects. All too often I have encountered the inability of humans to make and understand the connections between these issues. At face value some of these issues may not seem to be related but as you delve deeper conceptually there are definitely connections. That’s one of the aspects I like most about these forums and discussions; making deeper, more meaningful connections. I think the main thing we need to recognize and promote is this interconnectivity. We need to not only promote this in our relatively small community but beyond to the global community.

As a career, I’ve worked with environmental organizations for more than a decade. One of the situations that always leaves me feeling perplexed, confused and oftentimes upset is how people so devoted to the protection, preservation and rehabilitation of the physical environment seem to lack the true understanding of the connection between veganism and the impacts a meat based diet has on the environment. In these discussions I’ve had a lot of people counter with “well, the meat I eat is free-range therefore its ok” or some blind attempt to dismiss the topic by discussing the negative impacts of soy bean production or the fact that the vegan lifestyle is just “extreme.”

Although it’s a lame attempt to dismiss the premise of veganism and deflect the conversation I fully acknowledge the impacts of soy bean production and agriculture as a whole have on the environment and the people living and working in those areas. I would really like to see these type of topics discussed further. With that, I really believe this correlation needs to be addressed, researched and discussed. The common denominator, I believe, is there are too many people on earth competing for limited resources. Ultimately, those with money and power are the ones who “succeed” due to exploitation of the land, farmers and other people living in the area in which the agriculture is taking place. This then brings to the surface a number of social justice and environmental justice connections.

As a band, Olde Ghost really doesn’t have these deeper political conversations. It’s kind of assumed. We are comprised of people who have been friends for years, are all vegan and some are straight edge. Seldom do we have deep political conversations but we all are grounded in living a compassionate, thoughtful lifestyle. A lot of the lyrics I write are very political and address these issues but we try to convey our message through thoughtful actions as opposed to the in your face, we’re trying to convert you to veganism approach. A majority of the shows we play are benefit shows for local organizations who’s missions are related to animal welfare or humanitarian efforts. For example, all of the proceeds for our next show in September will be donated to the Precious Life Animal Sanctuary.

For me personally, living a vegan lifestyle just makes sense. As a child I always wanted to do something with my life that had a positive impact on the world. Growing up as a punk rock kid I was exposed to a lot of new music and ideals that I would have not otherwise been introduced to (in rural Florida and later on Arizona). One line in one song by one somewhat obscure 80s DC punk band changed my life forever. The song entitled “Name in Mind” by Soul Side changed the way I thought about the food we eat and where it comes from. This is a great song because they not only talk about not eating a meat based diet but they look at the related issues such as human exploitation. From that point on (1988) I assumed a meat free diet. I felt as though veganism was the next plausible step in my life, my belief system and the impact I can have on the environment and non-human animals. Becoming vegan is the most profound decision I’ve made in my life. I will stay committed to a vegan lifestyle until the day I die.

Olde Ghost – For

As the smoke settles and the ash returns to earth
and the air becomes clear…
Eyes red a glaze stare into space seeing nothing, still.
It will never be the same. Never be the same again.
Convicted are forgotten. Innocent are brought to slaughter.
Locked away, despised, ignored.
What fucking crime is worse?
Lifestyles of compassion or the ten billion you commit every year?
Ten billion crimes a year.
“If we ever get out of this alive,” she said, “I’ll do it all again. That’s right, I’ll do it all again”.
We are but one.
The rest is up to you.

Olde Ghost playing at Seattle ADL – Precious Life Sanctuary & Melvin fundraiser a fundraising show:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbH9iDhzdjI

Precious Life Animal Sanctuary: http://www.preciouslifeanimalsanctuary.org/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OldeGhost
Bandcamp: http://oldeghostnw.bandcamp.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/OldeGhost

The song that Chris mentioned: ‘Name in Mind’ by Soul Side

Vegan Bands: We asked Painted Wolves drummer Mattias about his thoughts on the contexts of ethical veganism

Posted on by PalangL

We asked Mattias of the Swedish vegan hardcore metal punk band PAINTED WOLVES (bandcamp, facebook) if he could word for us what ethical veganism implies to him, also in regards to an all-encompassing intersectionality:

“‘If I can do some good I want to do it. If I have a choice I want to make it. It’s my human responsibility.’

Brilliant words by a brilliant band, one of my favorites ever: EMBRACE.

If we have the possibility to minimize suffering and damage in this world then why should we not try? If we have a choice then why should we not make it?

We’d all grow and evolve in a world without barriers. Until the last lock breaks none of us are free.”

Our favourite track on Painted Wolves album S/T is ‘Serve the Serpent’

Mattias is also with Anchor, Blessings and Nerve.

A link to the song cited.

PAINTED WOLVES latest (12″ 6-track) album: S/T has been released in June 2013. And yes, it’s vinyl: paintedwolves.bigcartel.com!