Music Reviews of Hardcore, Crust, Post-Hardcore, Metalcore
Band Spotlight
Chiodos
Perhaps no one can explain the sheer ferocity and timid quietness it is better than when vocalist Craig Owens says “we don’t want to let the kids down” when discussing the group’s intense vocals live at shows. Well they never let a single kid down with their vicious assault on the ears and grip on the jugular...
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03.09.2007 by J-Sin
Music Reviews of Hardcore, Crust, Post-Hardcore, Metalcore
Ambitions — Question Buy it at Amazon
Ambitions are indeed living up to their moniker—three members are of With Honor infamy while they have used lineups in live settings that have included multiple members of the revered Shai Hulud. Melodic hardcore punk vocals with breakdowns that blister and bubble to the surface with abrasive agony. Fast and furious drum parts that are interspersed with sparse guitar crunches and agonizing hooks that are incredibly catchy. But perhaps their best assault is via the percussion which just drops big bombs of snare riddling hits and tons of cymbal crashes amid a torrential downpour of awesome agonizing hardcore punk.
- J-Sin
Have Heart — The Things We Carry Buy it at Amazon
There are a lot of hardcore bands out there and yet few that probably deserve a lot of recognition. Have Heart is one however that requires your full and utmost attention. Brutal stage dives, a wall of people, and callused fist pumping aside, Have Heart are certain to put on one hell of a live show. “The Things We Carry” transcends normal modern hardcore as they put huge breakdowns in their songs, add driving percussion, and amp everything up way past 11. Hailing from Boston, Have Heart proves that the can put the chowder town back on the roadmap of hardcore success.
- J-Sin
Think I Care — World Asylum Buy it at Amazon
Heavy brutal bordering on murderous hardcore outfit Think I Care is the epitome of sick gnarly hardcore punk. Abrasive guitars with percussion that hammers away, chiseling out a little piece of you that you never knew you possessed. Bittersweet lyrics that are street-tested and worthy of a boxing ring, “World Asylum” is an angry listen. Pick up this album by a bunch of dudes who grew up listening to Boston hardcore.
- J-Sin
Triple Threat — Into the Darkness Buy it at Amazon
Modern hardcore has been overrun with the metalcore crowd and the kids who think that screamo is hardcore. Triple Threat unleash a whupping on that and steer us clear of those clichés. Straight-edge hardcore in the vein of Youth of Today, Triple Threat has a bit more in common with the old school punk bands of Minor Threat, Black Flag, and Circle Jerks. Brutal pit-stompers from start to finish, “Into the Darkness” is a healthy reminder of times past.
- J-Sin
Helmet — Monochrome Buy it at Amazon
Thank you Helmet. Coffee-stains aside, this is an album that deserves pure recognition as the savior to the entire post-hardcore scene. Page Hamilton and Helmet have once again turned in a fantastic album of guitar-centric grunge and hard-edged rock ‘n’ roll. Signatures aside though, “Monochrome” could easily stand alone even if Helmet didn’t already have “Meantime” and “Betty” to prove how important they were. Don’t believe me? Listen to “Brand New” which is hands down pure “Betty” as it gets and makes the band of the same name look downright silly and tired. It might be all black and white to these guys, but they color the scene with important elements of everything heavy that’s been done in indie rock for the past decade. Also apparently they dumped Interscope Records (not the other way around) to do this record, and enlisted producer Wharton Tiers who did work on “Meantime” and “Strap It On”.
- J-Sin
Cristalix — Cristalix Buy it at Amazon
Imagine if you could really drill a hole in your head. I mean it would be fantastic. Finally you could see what would happen if your brain had a big hole in it. Or you could listen to this self-titled EP. Cristalix might not be the worst band in recent memory but they’re closer than a match to a cigarette. It is funny to hear a band this terrible try so damn hard—metalcore that sounds so recycled it belongs in some sort of bin.
- J-Sin
Born / Dead — Endless War: Repetition Buy it at Amazon
I'm sure the soldiers deployed in Iraq for some three or four years now probably feel the same way of this album title. Collecting the vinyl-only releases of Born/Dead's career, this Oakland hardcore punk group grounds your head and body into a beaten slop of meat. Anarchist lyrics and abrasive guitars chortle with throaty vocals and declarations of driving punk rock anthems. Fast pseudo power-violence like this can be crusty punks best import.
- J-Sin
The Black Maria — A Shared History of Tragedy Buy it at Amazon
The title of the album was pulled from a line from the HBO drama “Six Feet Under”, which vocalist Chris Gray felt best summed their experiences from the last year of touring. The Black Maria have once again lunched on catchy hooks with artistic rock veining through and through each diverse track. Once Grade’s guitarist Kyle Bishop left the band, many thought the band was doomed but they quickly swept up drummer Theo McKibbon and guitarist Scott Swain both of Ontario-based band Far From Heroes. After shrugging off those lineup changes, The Black Maria set about to record a dynamic post-hardcore indie rock album with producer Mike Green who has recorded with The Matches and Yellowcard previously. The band sounds a bit different—almost more ethereal—than last year’s debut “Lead Us to Reason” felt, but it’s just as good.
- J-Sin
On the Last Day — Meaning In the Static Buy it at Amazon
Their album title might have been derived after watching Michael Keaton in “White Noise” or reading up on Electronic Voice Phenomenon. But their brand of melodic hardcore is hardly going to be mistaken as either noise or as a phenomenon. Hailing from Seattle, On the Last Day travels down the familiar path that many hardcore bands in these MySpace days have journeyed down. That’s not to say that the music isn’t deftly packaged with ambitious songwriting or a lack of great caustic screams and melodic crooning. But we’ve heard this done before.
- J-Sin
Last Ditch Remedy — The Following Buy it at Amazon
“The Following” is the debut full-length by Last Ditch Remedy, a Washington state pop-punk/screamo quartet. Unlike a lot of their bubblegum brethren, Last Ditch Remedy doesn’t stick to the typical mall punk fodder in their lyrics. Instead they tackle things like the Iraq War, political cowardice, and more social affairs that teens deal with like divorce. Wrapped in a wrangling of punk melodies and sometimes screamy post-hardcore hooks, “The Following” is cut from the same mold as Anberlin (an admitted influence) and Glassjaw.
- J-Sin
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