MAN IN THE SHADOW

Location: Nova Gorica, Slovenia

Year active: 1996 - 2000

Members: Marko Rusjan (vocals), Miran Rusjan (guitar, vocals), Sašo Kotnik, Valter (bass), Nenad (drums), Jani

Related bands: Analena, Elodea, Elvis Jackson, Entreat., Hellcrawler, Iamdisease, Scuffy Dogs

FFO: Embassy, Fingerprint, Floodgate, Jasemine, Reach Out, Seven Sioux, Still Life

Man in the Shadow was a six-piece emocore band from Nova Gorica, Slovenia, and one of the very first emo acts to emerge from the Ex-Yugoslav region. During their short-lived activity, they released two 7” records and a demo tape, along with appearances on several compilations, before breaking up in 2000. After the split, members went on to play in bands such as Analena, Elodea, Entreat., and Iamdisease, among others. A full discography was released by Choose Life Records in 2001. The band reunited once more to play their final show at Mostovna in 2005.

Their sound sits somewhere between hardcore punk, anarcho-punk, and emocore, with lyrics that are largely political in nature and mostly sung in Slovenian. They were heavily influenced by French emo acts such as Ivich Fingerprint and Jasemine, as well as the California-based band Still Life - influences that are clearly audible throughout their work. The self-titled 7” leans more toward repetitive anarcho-punk structures, while Pax Americana expands further into emocore territory, marked by pained screams and raw, desperate growls.

Even if the sound is undeniably dated, that hardly matters. Their relatively small discography remains well worth revisiting, especially for fans of old-school hardcore and early emocore.

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Man in the Shadow je bio šesteročlani emocore bend iz Nove Gorice, Slovenija, i jedan od prvih emo sastava koji su se pojavili na prostoru bivše Jugoslavije. Tokom svoje kratke, ali intenzivne aktivnosti, objavili su dva 7” izdanja i demo kasetu, kao i učešća na nekoliko kompilacija, pre nego što su se razišli 2000. godine. Nakon raspada, članovi benda nastavili su da sviraju u sastavima poput Analena, Elodea, Entreat. i Iamdisease, između ostalih. Kompletna diskografija objavljena je 2001. godine za Choose Life Records. Bend se ponovo okupio još jednom kako bi odsvirao svoj poslednji koncert u klubu Mostovna 2005. godine.

Njihov zvuk se nalazi na raskršću hardcore punka, anarho-punka i emocorea, sa tekstovima koji su u velikoj meri politički intonirani i uglavnom pevanim na slovenačkom jeziku. Snažan uticaj imali su francuski emo bendovi poput Ivich, Fingerprint i Jasemine, kao i kalifornijski sastav Still Life - uticaji koji su jasno čujni kroz čitav njihov opus. Istoimeni 7” više naginje repetitivnim anarho-punk strukturama, dok Pax Americana ide dublje u emocore izraz, obeležen bolnim krikovima i sirovim, očajničkim growl vokalima.

Čak i ako zvuk danas deluje neosporno zastarelo, to je u suštini nebitno. Njihova relativno mala diskografija i dalje vredi ponovnog slušanja, naročito za fanove old-school hardcorea i ranog emocorea.

BANDCAMP

MITS'S LAST SHOW IN MOSTOVNA, 2005

heart-on-sleeve

Location: Bitola, North Macedonia

Year active: 2020

Members: Marijana Nikolovska (vocals, guitar), Stefan Apostolovski (guitar/drums), Aleksandar Petrovski (bass), Bojan Stanikj (drums, bass)

Related bands: YÖU

FFO: Ashes, Analena, Jejune, Mineral, Now now, Sore Eyelids,  Squirrel Brain, 125, Rue Montmartre

heart-on-sleeve is an emogaze band formed in Bitola, North Macedonia. It was formed as a kind of a side project in 2020, sharing members from other DIY MK bands, such as YÖU.

Their only material to this day is a live recording session taking place in Trnovo. It was recorded in collaboration with SPC Centar-Jadro, as part of their annual music program.

Live at Trnovo consists of seven tracks, all of them midwest emo lamentations soaked in reverberation, at times bordering on dream pop (though not in a psychedelic sense). It serves as a reminder of what emo sounded like in the ’90s - longing, somber, bittersweet, and heartfelt all at once.

Personal highlights from the release include Nevermind, City Lights, Happy Ever After, and Again and Again, mostly due to their emotional crescendos and the cathartic moments spread throughout the set.

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heart-on-sleeve je emogaze bend nastao u Bitolju, Severna Makedonija. Projekat je započet 2020. godine kao svojevrsni sporedni poduhvat, a članovi su istovremeno bili aktivni i u drugim makedonskim DIY bendovima, poput YOU.

Njihov jedini dosadašnji materijal je live snimak sesije održane u Trnovu. Snimanje je realizovano u saradnji sa SPC Centar-Jadro, u sklopu njihovog godišnjeg muzičkog programa. Nakon toga, bend nikada nije objavio studijski snimljen materijal.

Live at Trnovo sadrži sedam pesama - sve redom midwest emo lamentacije natopljene reverbom, koje se povremeno približavaju dream pop atmosferi (mada ne u psihodeličnom smislu). Ovaj snimak deluje kao podsetnik na to kako je emo zvučao devedesetih: čežnjivo, sumorno, gorko-slatko i iskreno, sve u isto vreme.

Lični favoriti sa izdanja su Nevermind, City Lights, Happy Ever After i Again and Again, pre svega zbog snažnih emotivnih kulminacija i katarzičnih trenutaka razasutih kroz ceo nastup.

Their first instagram post.

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LARS FROM NORWAY

Location: Ljubljana, Slovenia

Year active: 2024

Members: Tilen Boršič (guitar, vocals), Anja Mikulan (drums, vocals), Martin Tomažič (bass)

Related bands: ???

FFO: Whirr, Wisp, Slowdive, Jejune, Sore Eyelids, Title Fight (later)

Lars from Norway is an emocore/shoegaze band formed in Ljubljana, Slovenia. They released their first demo single in November 2024, followed by a demo tape (stylized as D(emo) Tejp) a year later - notably recorded on a phone.

Since then, the band has dropped two more singles, some of which received airplay and support from Radio Študent. This led to greater visibility in the Slovenian DIY scene, pushing them onto stages across the country and into lineups alongside newer acts such as Falesia (ITA/SLO).

Their debut single leans heavily into old-school punk. At just around a minute and a half, it can come off repetitive and doesn’t quite reflect the musical direction Lars would explore in their later work.

D(emo) Tejp, on the other hand, shows a dramatic shift. The blurry, reverb-soaked fuzz gives the songs a dreamy, ethereal mood - complete with alternating dual vocals and the occasional harsh shout. It’s raw, lo-fi, and imperfect, but it’s also the first glimpse of the identity the band seems to be carving out for themselves.

The first thing that catches your ears is the way the project builds atmosphere - with slow, saturated chords, teenage sadness and vocals that sound like they're coming from some foggy bedroom. It's the kind of music that doesn't try to be "big" or production-heavy; on the contrary, it relies on intimacy, rawness and a sense of inner distances.

As part of a scene that is rarely associated with such genres in our country, Lars from Norway brings something fresh: music that stands between shoegaze melancholy and the emo sensibility of the early 2000s. It's not just nostalgia, but a real attempt to capture the moment - that mixture of tiredness, longing and tenderness that you feel when the world quiets down a bit.

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Lars from Norway je emocore/shoegaze bend iz Ljubljane, osnovan 2024. godine. Članovi su Tilen Boršič, Anja Mikulan i Martin Tomažič. Prvi demo singl objavili su u novembru 2024, a godinu dana kasnije izbacili su demo kasetu pod nazivom D(emo) Tejp - snimljeno direktno na telefonu.

U periodu posle toga objavili su još dva singla, a nekoliko pesama dobilo je i emitovanje na Radio Študentu. To im je donelo veću vidljivost u slovenačkoj DIY sceni i omogućilo nastupe širom zemlje, uključujući lineupe sa novijim grupama poput Falesia (ITA/SLO).

Njihov debitantski singl oslanja se na old-school punk pristup - kratak, repetetivan i ne baš pokazni primer onoga što će kasnije razviti. D(emo) Tejp, s druge strane, predstavlja veliki estetski zaokret: mutni, reverbom zamagljeni fuzz stvara sanjivu, eteričnu atmosferu, vokali se smenjuju i povremeno pucaju u oštrije krike. Sirovo, lo-fi i tehnički nesavršeno, ali istovremeno prvi pravi nagoveštaj identiteta koji bend danas gradi.

Prvo što upada u uši jeste način na koji projekt gradi atmosferu - sporim, zasićenim akordima, tinejdžerskom tugom i vokalima koji zvuče kao da dopiru iz neke maglovite spavaće sobe. To je onaj tip muzike koji ne pokušava da bude „velik“ ili produkcijski ispeglan; naprotiv, oslanja se na intimnost, sirovost i osećaj unutrašnjih daljina.

Kao deo scene koja se kod nas retko povezuje sa ovakvim žanrovima, Lars from Norway donosi nešto sveže: muziku koja stoji između shoegaze melanholije i emo senzibiliteta ranih dvihiljaditih. Nije to samo nostalgija, već pravi pokušaj hvatanja trenutka – one mešavine umora, čežnje i nežnosti koju osećaš kad se svet malo utiša.

SUPPORT LARS FROM NORWAY ON BANDCAMP BELOW!

NORTH OF ME

Location: Zagreb, Croatia

Year active: 2025

Members: Dino Kezo

Related bands: ???

FFO: Lunar, Man Zero, Moving Mountains, Toundra

North of Me is a Zagreb-based project that is run by Dino Kezo. He plays a somber instrumental post-rock that somehow borders on the Emo Revival, while also nodding two familiar croatian post-rock bands such as Lunar and Man Zero, as well as some from abroad like Moving Mountains and Toundra.

He dropped a two-track EP 'Second Chapter' this spring. Although it was made under the demo production, it also gives us a hint of what this newly formed project would be. If that's the case, i am really looking forward new, full fleshed sounds from this project.

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North of Me je zagrebački projekat iza kojeg stoji Dino Kezo. Njegova muzika naginje ka sumornom, instrumentalnom post-roku koji povremeno skrene u Emo Revival estetiku, dok istovremeno vuče paralele s domaćim post-rock imenima poput Lunara i Man Zero, ali i sa stranim bendovima tipa Moving Mountains i Toundra.

Ovog proleća izbacio je dvopesmični EP Second Chapter. Produkcija je i dalje demo, ali dovoljno jasna da pokaže u kom se pravcu projekat razvija. Ako je ovaj EP ikakav nagoveštaj onoga što dolazi, realno — ima tu prostora za nešto vrlo lepo i zaokruženo.

KOMPILACIJA BRODSKIH BENDOVA

Well, what do we have here? A release review? A compilation album, perhaps? Yup, that's exactly what it's about. A little change of pace here and there and honestly, it wouldn’t hurt to shed some light on something this obscure.

In the middle of internet deep hole digging (using various tools for google searches etc.), i found myself an online zine mentioning one band that played emocore and their music can only be heard on this compilation. I was intrigued by this so i had to see if i can find a way to get this on my hands and voila! Found a copy on Kupindo.com. It now proudly sits on my shelf and is on my "to-play-on-car-radio" list.

"KOMPILACIJA BRODSKIH BENDOVA" contains demo songs from local bands Faak Am See, Faul, Kriva Istina and Lotus - formed in Slavonski Brod, Croatia. All except Faul recorded in the Firov Kraj 43 studio. The compilation was released in 2003 and it's marked as the bands' starting point. Almost each band shares its members. Faul formed a little earlier before FAS and KI. Later on, FAS and KI would make a split together in 2006. To this day, only Kriva Istina remains as the longest running active band in the Croatian punk scene. The entire comp lasted for only thirty minutes.

Starting off with a South Park sample, FAAK AM SEE kicks off with their fast, brief and raw hardcore punk with three songs for a 5 minute runtime. Following FAUL whose energetic melodic hardcore elements pave their way for seven plus minutes and KRIVA ISTINA following Faul's footsteps, albeit in a more brooding way for eight more minutes.

Then lastly, we're having a change of pace with LOTUS here. This right here belongs to the slow-burning 90's emocore vibe, featuring Tijana on vocals and a different drummer. Quiet/loud dynamics and some passionate clean singing and shouting here and there. Sort of bordering between Directed Crew, Analena and Eldritsch Anisette. Raw and promising. It's definitely a treasure worth finding.

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Pa šta imamo ovde? Recenziju izdanja? Kompilaciju, možda? Pa, upravo to. Malo promene ritma tu i tamo, i iskreno, ne bi škodilo da se osvetli nešto ovako opskurno.

Kopajući po internetu (koristeći razne alate za pretragu), naleteo sam na online fanzin koji je pomenuo jedan bend koji je svirao emocore, a njihova muzika se može čuti jedino na ovoj kompilaciji. Intrigirano, morao/la sam da vidim da li mogu da dođem do nje i evo ga! Našao sam primerak na Kupindo.com. Sada ponosno stoji na mojoj polici i na listi “za puštanje u kolima”.

KOMPILACIJA BRODSKIH BENDOVA sadrži demo pesme lokalnih bendova Faak Am See, Faul, Kriva Istina i Lotus — svi iz Slavonskog Broda. Sve osim Faula snimljene su u studiju Firov Kraj 43. Kompilacija je objavljena 2003. i označava početak ovih bendova. Skoro svi članovi su svirali jedni s drugima. Faul je nastao nešto ranije nego FAS i KI, a kasnije su FAS i KI izdali split 2006. Danas, jedino Kriva Istina ostaje najdugovečniji aktivni bend na hrvatskoj punk sceni. Kompilacija traje oko 30 minuta.

Počinje South Park semplom — FAAK AM SEE startuje brzo, kratko i sirovo hardcore punkom kroz tri pesme od ukupno 5 minuta. Sledi FAUL sa energičnim melodic hardcore pristupom od preko 7 minuta, pa KRIVA ISTINA koja ide stopama Faula, ali malo mračnijim tonom, još 8 minuta.

Na kraju imamo promenu tempa sa LOTUS. Ovo je onaj polako-tinajući 90’s emocore zvuk, sa Tijanom na vokalu i drugim bubnjarom. Quiet/loud dinamika, malo strastvenog čistog pevanja i vikanja. Negde između Directed Crew, Analene i Eldritsch Anisette. Sirovo i obećavajuće. Pravi dragulj za pronaći.

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LATEST

Location: Zagreb, Croatia

Year active: 1999 - 2000

Members: Davor Bolant (guitar), Krešo Žerjav (bass), Marko (drums), Ozren Mlinarić (vocals)

Related bands: Clean, Counterfit, Don't Mess With Texas, Lunar, Minimum System Requirements, Nikad, Radio Free Isaac, Razlog za, Senata Fox

FFO: Farside, Quicksand, Shift, Shutter To Think

Latest was a short-lived post-hardcore band from Zagreb, Croatia, active between 1999 and 2000. Featuring members of key local acts like Clean, Nikad, and Don’t Mess With Texas, the project was a brief but deliberate homage to the mid-'90s wave of emotive post-hardcore, echoing the sounds of Dischord Records, Quicksand, and Farside, with a touch of alt-rock melody.

After playing a handful of shows, they released their sole EP Platform Shoes, initially as a promotional CD, and later on cassette through Čakovec’s DIY label Lifeline Records.

To be blunt: it’s solid, it flows well, but it’s not exactly game-changing. It sounds like what it is, friends from other bands trying something new before disappearing into other projects. The production is clean, the songs are listenable, and while nothing really jumps out, it’s the kind of EP you put on during a slow afternoon when you’re tired of everything else.

It's not legendary, it’s not forgotten, it’s just there. And sometimes, that’s fine.

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Latest je bio kratkotrajni post-hardcore bend iz Zagreba, Hrvatska, aktivan između 1999. i 2000. godine. U sastavu su bili članovi ključnih lokalnih bendova poput Clean, Nikad i Don’t Mess With Texas, a projekat je predstavljao kratak, ali promišljen omaž talasu emotivnog post-hardcora sredinom devedesetih, uz zvučne odjeke izdavačke kuće Dischord Records, bendova Quicksand i Farside, te sa dozom alt-rock melodije.

Nakon nekoliko odsviranih koncerata, izdali su svoj jedini EP Platform Shoes, prvo kao promotivni CD, a kasnije i na kaseti preko čakovečkog DIY labela Lifeline Records.

Da budemo direktni: solidno je, teče glatko, ali nije ništa revolucionarno. Zvuči tačno onako kako jeste — prijatelji iz drugih bendova koji su htjeli isprobati nešto novo prije nego što su se razišli u druge projekte. Produkcija je čista, pjesme se lako slušaju, a iako se ništa posebno ne izdvaja, to je onaj tip EP-ja koji pustiš tokom sporog poslijepodneva, kad ti je svega drugog preko glave.

Nije legendarno, nije ni zaboravljeno — jednostavno postoji. I ponekad, to je sasvim dovoljno.

PROMOTIONAL CD

LIFELINE'S TAPE VERSION

Thanks for Igor of GuranjeSLitice for uploading the full EP.

STEPA

Location: Novo Mesto, Slovenia

Year active: 2020

Members: Šiba (drums), Krempl (guitar), Želo (vocals)

Related bands: ????

FFO: Rolo Tomassi, Naked City, Me and Him Call It Us, Mara'akate, Rep Seki, Usurp Synapse, Honeywell

Every once in a while, a band appears briefly and burns out fast, leaving behind a single document of their existence so dense and chaotic it feels like a transmission from another realm. That band is Stepa.

Formed in 2020 in Novo Mesto, Slovenia, Stepa was a short-lived trio that only released one self-titled album, thirteen minutes of sheer dissonant fury. It was released on cassette via Quebec’s LeBlast Records, a fitting match given the label’s taste for sonic extremity.

Their style? Call it emoviolence. Call it grindcore. Call it whatever you want, but the result is a twelve-track onslaught where no song breaches the two-minute mark. The shortest, "Vrtača," clocks in at a mere 26 seconds, while the longest, "Hodnik," barely reaches two minutes but somehow feels massive.

This is music that doesn't beg for attention, it kicks the door down. Krempl’s guitar playing is like shards of broken math equations. Dissonant, fractured, and constantly mutating. Šiba's drumming is absurdly fast, channeling the relentless speed and stop-start chaos of bands like Honeywell or Usurp Synapse. And Želo’s vocals? Unhinged. It’s raw-throated desperation with zero restraint, like a flesh wound set to blast beats.

The highlight here is unquestionably "Hodnik", the closing instrumental. In a bold move, Stepa drops the vocals entirely and leans into dissonant chaos filtered through a start-stop rhythmic breakdown. It’s almost like the eye of the hurricane, if the hurricane had no eye. The mathy structures collapse into themselves and re-emerge, only to combust again. It’s unsettling, dynamic, and perfectly in line with what the genre’s more experimental edge they had to offer.

Stepa never stuck around to release a follow-up. No extensive touring. No cryptic new project hints. Just one record, some cassettes, and a whole lot of noise. But in those fifteen minutes, they delivered something Slovenia rarely sees: a band unafraid to go full chaos mode and leave it all in the wreckage.

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S vremena na vreme pojavi se bend koji kratko zasvetli i brzo nestane, ostavivši iza sebe samo jedno izdanje: gusto, haotično i toliko posebno da zvuči kao da je stiglo iz nekog drugog sveta. Takva je bila Stepa.

Bend je nastao 2020. godine u Novom Mestu, Slovenija, i radio je kratko, tek dovoljno da snimi svoj jedini, istoimeni album. Trinaest minuta sirove energije i nesvakidašnjeg zvuka objavljeno je na kaseti preko kanadskog izdavača LeBlast Records iz Quebeca, poznatog po ljubavi prema DIY emo/screamo muzici.

Kako opisati njihov stil? Pa neko bi rekao emoviolence, neko grindcore, a istina je da je to dvanaest kratkih, žestokih pjesama, nijedna ne prelazi dve minute. Najkraća, "Vrtača", traje tek 26 sekundi, a najduža, "Hodnik", jedva dve minute, ali ipak ostavlja jak utisak.

Ovo je muzika koja ne traži pažnju, jer je ona jednostavno osvoji. Gitara Kremla oštro reže i stalno mijenja smjer, bubnjevi Šibe srljaju nezaustavljivim tempom, a vokal Žela donosi sirov i neispeglan naboj, kao da prenosi osećaj trenutka bez ikakvog filtera.

Poseban trenutak na albumu je "Hodnik", završna instrumentalna pjesma. Bez vokala, bend se prepušta igri ritma i disonantnih dionica koje se ruše i ponovo grade. Dinamično, nepredvidivo, i potpuno u skladu s njihovim eksperimentalnim pristupom.

Stepa nije imala nastavak priče, nije bilo novih izdanja, velikih turneja ili tajanstvenih najava. Samo jedan album, nekoliko kaseta i puno buke. Ipak, u tih petnaestak minuta ostavili su trag nečim što se kod nas rijetko čuje: bendom koji se usudio pustiti da ga haos vodi do kraja.