The Black Heart Rebellion

The Black Heart Rebellion

The Black Heart Rebellion is a Belgian band that starts in the punk scene in 2004 and develops into a post-rock, screamo, experimental and post-hardcore act. Its work is marked by constant change in sound and presentation, with an interest in visual, graphic and musical ideas as part of its wider artistic approach. The band performs under the abbreviation TBHR as well as its full name.

Career and releases

The band’s first record, Monologue, appears in 2009 and is released in Japan. Around the same period, the band tours Japan in November and contributes music for Medea, a stage play by the Belgian-German theatre company In Vitro. The production is supported by a heavy, apocalyptic soundtrack. After performances in Ghent, Antwerp and Cologne, the band pauses other plans to concentrate on writing the follow-up to Monologue.

Work on that successor takes place over several years. The band records with Koen Gisen, who has also worked with Kiss The Anus Of A Black Cat, The Bony King of Nowhere and Flying Horseman, beginning studio work in March 2012. The second album, Har Nevo, becomes the result of that long writing and recording period and reflects the band’s patient, restless approach.

Activity and collaborations

Since starting out, The Black Heart Rebellion builds a substantial live history, playing many concerts and moving from the international underground to more public stages in and around Belgium. Its recordings are also issued in German, Italian, Malaysian and Japanese editions. The band later collaborates with the Church of Ra collective, where it finds a shared way of working and a similar outlook. During that period it plays only a few live shows in order to stay focused on writing and developing the material.