Expectations at Rock Bar Download in Plovdiv on 8 November - Bulgarian hardcore promotes its fifth album My Last Time To Shine

Bulgarian hardcore rarely makes the news, and Expectations are one of the bands that have kept it alive for more than a decade. On 8 November the Sofia group presents its fifth album "My Last Time To Shine" at Rock Bar Download in Plovdiv, sharing the stage for the first time with Ataxic and Dazhd.

The band formed in Sofia in 2009 with a clear goal: melodic hardcore, of which there wasn't much in Bulgaria at the time. They have played across Europe and the Balkans and shared stages with Parkway Drive, Stick To Your Guns, Comeback Kid and Bane. The new album came out on 25 September on the Bulgarian label Balkan Sprachbund and Germany's Bound by Modern Age Records, produced by long-time collaborator Marius Costache, who also produced the 2014 album "After Twenty Years".

Alongside the trademark post-hardcore melancholy, the album carries influences from old-school hardcore, post-punk and 2000s metalcore. Guests on the recordings include Aleksandar Boyadzhiev of Last Hope, Vasko Raykov of Odd Crew and saxophonist Stavros Spiro, and the cover was painted by artist Silvana Ilieva. A saxophone on a hardcore album? The band clearly doesn't like repeating itself.

Doors open at 7 pm. Tickets on bilet.bg currently cost 15 euros (about 920 denars), rising to 20 euros (about 1,230 denars) on the day of the show.