Rose clouds of hardcore

Dwid Hellion is one of the most interesting characters in “darker” music. Mr. Hellion founded the band Integrity, which made waves in the straight edge hardcore scene in the late 1980s – the time Lord Bassington-Bassington was loosely affiliated with it. Then things got weird. Hellion traded in the "X" on the back of the hand for tabs of LSD, and developed an obsession with the Process Church of the Final Judgment - a perfectly normal obsession to have. Integrity became one of the most intriguing bands around in the early 90s.


In the two decades since this track saw the light of day Integrity have only gotten heavier, darker and better. As a result of this, the band has a healthy cult following.


(Mr. Hellion. To the right: Mr. Rice. Photo: Mr. Rodahl Dedekam).

In the meantime, Mr. Hellion's own interests have developed and broadened. A result of this is the band (or perhaps it’s more apt to call it a project) Roses Never Fade, which delivers a strongly personal take on the neofolk genre. Their self-titled album has been a favourite at Bassington Manor over the last year, and Lord Bassington-Bassington is lucky enough to own a copy on wonderful yellow vinyl (picture stolen from this blog).







And now they have a new seven-inch EP out on Neuropa Records, well-known haunt of industrial and neofolk connoisseurs. Mr. Hellion is no longer contributing musically to the band but, multi-talented chap that he is, is also an interesting artist and graphic designer and this makes the release look excellent. This bodes well for the coming album, but if one takes the band’s apocalyptic sensibilities seriously it bodes less well for the world.