Montreal hardcore band Desecrate tours Seoul, Busan

Members of the Montreal hardcore band Desecrate / Courtesy of Desecrate

Montreal hardcore band Desecrate is coming to Korea on tour for the first time, but for Thomas, the band's guitarist, this is far from his first trip here. Over the past 10 years, he has visited Korea seven times.

He explained that the name Desecrate was chosen "to call to mind the downfall of our society, how we make leaps in technological advancements but at the same time regress on a human aspect." He added that the band's name means that "we're 'desecrating' human nature."

The band has released several recordings since its first demo in 2021. In 2024, Desecrate released "Power Play," featuring Scott Vogel of the legendary U.S. hardcore band Terror, also friends of Korea's small scene. The band released its first full-length album, "Without Fear of Consequence," last year, and just last month put out the four-song EP "Old Ghosts."

The songs are mercilessly hard, with a strong metal influence, and the lyrics are especially brutal, with lines like "There is no life without pain" in "Human Nature" and "Day after day, they corrupt and control, poisoning hearts, devouring souls, polluting the mind, polluting the land" in "Not Forgotten."

Thomas explained that the music "is related to the state of our society, how it's falling apart and how the same cycle is always repeated throughout human history."

The cover of Desecrate's latest album, "Old Ghosts," designed by Alex Goulet / Courtesy of Desecrate

The album artwork on the last two releases rely heavily on religious iconography, reflecting complicated feelings toward organized religion, which can be used to subdue and repress, or give hope.

"The different belief systems adopted by humans according to differences in time periods and geography is something that I've always found fascinating," Thomas said. "At the end of the day, however, even if religion might help you find purpose, we're all ending up six feet under the same soil."

10 years of friendship

Thomas' first time in Korea was in 2016, a visit that introduced him to a good chunk of the country's underground extreme music scene. During that time, he got to experience GBN Live House in southern Seoul's Mullae-dong, and met Seo Ki-seok from local band The Geeks.

"I fell in love with that scene," Thomas told The Korea Times. "The passion I felt from them was so real, and I had a great time. The general Korean culture is something that really amazed me as well during my first time there."

He returned a couple years later, during the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics. On that visit, he met up with Lee Jun-young from local hardcore band No Shelter, and they visited Gangneung in Gangwon Province.

"It was insane," he said. "We ended up there watching K-pop concerts, ice skating and famous Korean celebrity performances."

Also on that visit, Yeo Chang-wook, better known as Aje, an important figure of the Korean hardcore scene who tragically passed away last year, went to meet them in Gangneung.

"Aje was an amazing person, really one of a kind, a truly unique specimen," Thomas said. "I miss him a lot. Going to Korea is definitely not the same without him being there. We obviously had common interests, but most of all, he was kind, passionate, mysterious, funny, real, and he truly loved his friends. He took the bus at 2:30 a.m. to come hang out and sometimes even slept in jjimjilbang (a 24-hour bathhouse) just to be able to spend time with his friends. I loved going to Gangneung with him while I was visiting Korea. We talked about playing music together, he had so many amazing ideas. I have unforgettable memories with him."

After seven visits to Korea in the past 10 years, Thomas is looking forward to seeing as many of his friends here as possible.

This tour was the work of No Shelter's Lee, who books hardcore shows in Korea through the collective make me dance booking.

"It's crazy to see hardcore bring all those different people together, from one side of the world to the other," Thomas said. "Just want to add the proper thanks here to everyone involved in the tour, from the promoters to the spectators to the locals and passersby we've met along the way so far. Lots of unforgettable moments already — we're learning a different way of life over here everywhere we go, and that's a great reward for us already."

The band plays at Club Realize in Busan on Friday, where they'll be joined by Busan bands All I Have and End These Days.

Desecrate's first Seoul show will be on Saturday at Baby Doll, with openers The Geeks, AWL, Turn For Our, No Shelter and Desonide. Doors open at 6 p.m. and entry costs 30,000 won.

On Sunday, they're set to play a wild show at Spin & Grind, a new skate shop set to open in western Seoul's Sinchon later this month. Owned by Victor Ha, it's his new store after closing Look Beyond in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province. There will be a Record Threat record market in the afternoon from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., and the show starts at 6:30 p.m. Joining Desecrate for that show are Palecistus, Second Damage and Cutt Deep. The record market is free for everyone, but entry to the show costs 20,000 won.

Visit linktr.ee/Desecrate514 for more about the band, or follow @makemedancebooking on Instagram for more information about the tour.