Blades formerly known as ''Blades of Hades'', are an

Australian hip hop Australian hip-hop traces its origins to the early 1980s and was initially largely inspired by hip-hop and other urban musical genres from the United States. As the form matured, Australian hip hop has become a commercially viable style of musi ...

group from

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...

.Planet Urban Interview with Likewyze
Since forming in the late 1990s they have released four albums, ''Blades of Hades'', ''This Installment'', ''Shadow Art'' in 2008, and ''The Leak'' in 2013. The group took its name from

Greek mythology Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of ancient Greek folklore, today absorbed alongside Roman mythology into the broader designation of classical mythology. These stories conc ...

, where

Hades Hades (; , , later ), in the ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, is the god of the dead and the king of the Greek underworld, underworld, with which his name became synonymous. Hades was the eldest son of Cronus and Rhea ...

was the Gatekeeper of the

Underworld The underworld, also known as the netherworld or hell, is the supernatural world of the dead in various religious traditions and myths, located below the world of the living. Chthonic is the technical adjective for things of the underworld. ...

. Their hardcore style lyrics and dark production are reminiscent of many

British Hip Hop UK rap, also known as British hip hop or UK hip hop or British rap, is a music genre and culture that covers a variety of styles of hip hop music made in the United Kingdom. The development of UK rap was shaped by a distinct set of regional inf ...

'Britcore' acts, such II Tone Committee,

Hijack Hijack, Highjack, or High Jack may refer to: Film and television * ''Hijack'' (1973 film), an American television action film * ''Hijack!'' (1975 film), a British children's drama film * ''Hijack'' (2008 film), an Indian Hindi-language action f ...

and Killa Instinct. The group have developed a strong following overseas, having performed at many festivals in Europe, including Germany's ''Mass Hysteria'' in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

. In 2008, they were the first independent Australian hip hop act to perform at the

Glastonbury Festival The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts (commonly referred to as simply Glastonbury Festival, known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts held near Pilton, Somerset, England, in most su ...

in the United Kingdom.

History

Newcastle brothers Kid Lyrical and Wizardry met Likewyze onstage, when the duo began rhyming over a performance of a funk band Likewyze was playing guitar in. At the time Likewyze was studying audio at music school and offered to record the duo, along with Scotty B and DJ Skoob, the three time NSW DMC champion. This resulted in their debut album, the self-titled, independently released ''Blades of Hades''. By 2005, Jane Tyrrell had joined the Sydney

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

group The Herd full-time. The group counter-acted the line-up change and shortened their name to just 'Blades' in 2006. The same year, they released their second album ''This Installment'', which was distributed by

Obese Records Obese Records was an Australian hip-hop, Australian hip hop record label based in Melbourne, Victoria. It was the largest independent hip hop label in Australia and was home to acts such as Pegz, Hilltop Hoods, Thundamentals, Reason (Australian ...

. The album featured Newcastle DJ Mark N on cuts and production for the track 'Blast Opposition', which they also released a video clip for. Blades appeared on Oriel Guthre's documentary ''Skip Hop: Volume One'' in 2006. They were interviewed and also contributed to the project's soundtrack. ''Shadow Art'' was released in 2008, followed by their free to download mix tape ''Two Thousand And Nine'' the following year. Another free to download mix tape was released in 2010. In June 2010, Blades became a signee of Difrnt Music, a record label known for representing COG, Regular John, The Snowdroppers and iconic Australian rock band The Angels. Notably, Blades became the label's first hip hop group. The signing was facilitated by Lui from Unda K9 who was serving as the Operations Manager for David Edwards, the former manager for

INXS INXS (a phonetic play on "in excess") were an Australian rock band, formed as the Farriss Brothers in 1977 in Sydney. The founding members were bassist Garry Gary Beers, main composer and keyboardist Andrew Farriss, drummer Jon Farriss, gu ...

Michael Hutchence Michael Kelland John Hutchence (22 January 1960 – 22 November 1997) was an Australian singer and songwriter. He was the co-founder, lead singer and lyricist of the rock band INXS from 1977 until his death in 1997. The band sold over 50 ...

and the Executive Producer of Rock Star: INXS, and who helped negotiate the deal. Lui also played a pivotal role in the strategic marketing of Blades debut single "Where The Fire's At", which generated significant buzz in the commercial music space at the time. This helped propel Blades' subsequent efforts to secure a release from Difrnt Music. and ultimately sign with Warner Music, with Adam Marshall taking on the role of the group's official manager.Blades Official Myspace

Discography

Albums

*Blades of Hades – Independent (2003) *This Instalment –

(2006) *Shadow Art – Steal City Records (2008) *The Leak – WHITEHOUSE (2013)

Singles

*Where The Fire's At – Difrnt Music,

Universal Music Australia Universal Music Australia Pty Ltd. (UMA) is the largest Australian music corporation. It is a division of the Universal Music Group. Universal Music Australia's corporate headquarters are located in Sydney, Australia. Labels Universal Music ...

(October 2010) *One – Difrnt Music,

(November 2010) *City Called Home – Difrnt Music,

(December 2010) *Radio – Independent (November 2013) *Australian / Run This Shit – Britcore Rawmance (2016) *The Rhyme Slayers EP – Naked Ape Records / Underground United (July 2019)

Mix Tapes

*Two Thousand And Nine – Free MP3 Download (2009) *2010 Mixtape – Free Facebook MP3 Download (2010)

Video Clips

*''Find Ya Higher'' (2004) from Blades of Hades *''Blast Opposition'' (2007) from This Installment *''Cannibalistic Act'' (2009) from Shadow Art *''Where The Fire's At'' (2010) *The Rhyme Slayers (2019) from The Rhyme Slayers

Other Appearances

*Underground United Vol. 1 (2009, Naked Ape Recordings, Underground United) – Contributed the track ''Kaos Orda'' from ''Blades of Hades''. *Skip Hip: Volume One (2009, Rubber Records,

EMI EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...

) – Contributed multiple tracks: ''Intro'' (DJ Scoob, Scotty B), ''Choirific'' (Scotty B), ''Mr. Mister'' (Tyrrell), ''Austyles'' (Blades Of Hades) and ''Hardcore'' (Blades Of Hades). *King HIts by Bouncer (2009) – "Can't Get Past Us" (Feat. Blades Of Hades)

References

External links

Blades Official Myspace
{{Authority control Australian hip-hop groups New South Wales musical groups Australian industrial music groups Alternative hip-hop groups Musical groups established in 2000 Obese Records artists