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...
Subscribe to our mailing list
Current Top Ten Chart
Skinny Puppy - Mythmaker
Converge - No Heroes
The Graduate - Anhedonia
Death By Stereo - Death Alive
Comeback Kid - Broadcasting
The Snake The Cross The Crown - Cotton Teeth
Dear and the Headlights - Small Steps, Heavy Hooves
The Geeks - Every Time We Fall
Limbeck - Limbeck
WinterKids - Memoirs
03.09.2007 by J-Sin
Music Reviews of Hardcore, Crust, Post-Hardcore, Metalcore
Nights Like These — Sunlight At Secondhand Buy it at Amazon
Victory Records has made their mark not so much with their hardcore or punk acts that they were so known for in the late ‘90’s and early ‘00’s but with their more made-up (as in eyeliner) screamo and emo-ish bands. Well move over wusses, here comes Nights Like These, a band destined to avoid pigeonholing for forever. “Sunlight at Secondhand” finds the group bouncing from metalcore to hardcore, dark metal to technical brutality all without ever taking a breather or a mulligan. Spastic guitars, stirring vocals, and plenty of merciless gut-checks, Nights Like These are a favored choice among the black-dyed hair do groups.
- J-Sin
Bless the Fallen — The Eclectic Sounds of a City Painted Black and White Buy it at Amazon
Brutal rhythms and solid lead vocals that have nice range are the first elements of Bless the Fallen that you’ll notice. With their debut album now out on Crash Music, the group seems destined to raise the collective decibel level and gush out with their eye-popping off-kilter technical metalcore sound. Loud drums, spastic guitars, and vocals that bounce from singing to screeches to screaming. Not too bad.
- J-Sin
Fight Pretty — Rewiring the Human Body Buy it at Amazon
Having just seen “Transformers” I almost feel like the album’s title is meaning something robotic and unfeeling. But I was sadly mistaken when Fight Pretty’s unpretentious brand of passionate and very human sort of hardcore is unleashed. It reminds one of Converge, the Locust, and Undertow. Having toured with the band of brothers known as Ed Gein, Misery Index, and Animosity, Fight Pretty shows that their approach is not only friendly to the ears after a visit to the studio but sounds pretty intense at a live show too. Angular guitars attack the air that surrounds their singer whose prose flows from nostrils and lips that bend harmony in ways it was never meant to amid screams and yells that make Jacob Bannon look fucking sane.
- J-Sin
Robots and Empire — Omnivore Buy it at Amazon
From up north, Robots and Empire empty their wallets of their powerful rock credit cards and go into debt with their metal hybrid sound. Post-hardcore visions cast a shadow upon “Omnivore”, which seems likely to be among the tops in all lists of heavy albums this year without a shadow of a doubt. “Omnivore” is a dog fight in chugging riffs that remind one of Quicksand with its dirty bass grooves and wailing vocal harmonies. Easily the bastard step-child of Orange 9MM, Failure, Black Sabbath, and Cave In, Robots and Empire seem destined to write raw energetic post-hardcore anthems that no one has a hope of forgetting.
- J-Sin
Atlas Shrugged — Vigilante Songs Buy it at Amazon
New York hardcore band Atlas Shrugged is a look back at what used to be quite popular in the hardcore scene. It’s awesome too because I haven’t heard a band do this style of hardcore this passionately in quite a long time. Why aren’t more bands these days taking a firm look back and trying to recreate that sick sound? All nostalgia aside, Atlas Shrugged dominates with crushing breakdowns, loud and abrasive guitars, and yelled vocals. Also included with these three songs is a live set recorded at the legendary CBGB’s on Mother’s Day way back in ’97.
- J-Sin
Bulldoze — The Final Beatdown Buy it at Amazon
Who doesn’t deserve a freakin’ beatdown in this day and age of make-up wearing lunatics calling themselves hardcore on their MySpace page? Well one of the original New York beatdown kings of hardcore unleashes their complete discography on this album. “The Final Beatdown” boasts Bulldoze’s demo, 7”, and their New York compilation tracks as well as a live set from ’95 at the Wetlands. Beautifully remastered, it also contains a DVD with an hour of live footage shot at both CBGB’s and the Wetlands. The group broke up and reformed over the course of ’98 and ’03 and the band fizzled while Kevone (vocalist) spent some time in the slammer. Last year however they finally got an opportunity to tour Europe and bring their attitude and violent brand of hardcore to the European shores. Pick this one up for sure!
- J-Sin
Get Back Up — Weathering the Storm Buy it at Amazon
Fuck yes! Positive hardcore in the vein of Champion, Gorilla Biscuits, and Carry On. Coming out of the stacked Buffalo hardcore scene, Get Back Up are no stranger to intense live shows often flying out in pissed off abandon. Loud, abrasive and brutally fast hardcore anthems that feature plenty of sing-a-longs and tons of great hardcore messages. This is what it’s about—not the fucking fashion or makeup.
- J-Sin
Shit Outta Luck — Family Tradition Buy it at Amazon
Milwaukee hardcore band Shit Outta Luck is a group of six average Joes who just so happen to like to play dirty rock ‘n’ roll with tinges of punk and hardcore. “Family Tradition” is every but with lyrics boasting about drinking, women, and how the bitches just keep fucking you up and down. Having toured with the likes of Agnostic Front, Valient Thorr, and Municipal Waste, Shit Outta Luck have represented Milwaukee proper. Throaty vocals, loud clangy drums, and crunchy distorted guitar mayhem that sounds like a merger of Clutch and Blood For Blood.
- J-Sin
The Forms — The Forms Buy it at Amazon
Steve Albini, famous engineer to the stars of crusty garage rock, recorded The Forms along with some help by Greg Norman (Pelican, Built to Spill). The group’s take on post-hardcore is refreshing, with a side glance to Quicksand, and a firm nod to Slowdive and the Dischord roster of yonder. Driving rhythms and guitars land softly with subtle nuances woven in and out of this unique ethereal glean of chugging rock. I have to admit, I’m not usually a fan of Albini’s stuff but the raw effectiveness of The Forms is changing my mind quick.
- J-Sin
The Autumn Offering — Fear Will Cast No Shadow Buy it at Amazon
Fast, brutally fast guitarists that shred solos left and right without even considering to take a breather. That’s The Autumn Offering. Yes I realize that they are somewhat clichéd and that there are probably a zillion other MySpace bands doing something somewhat similar but the hell if these cats are talented as all get-out. It’s metalcore with your traditional emotional singing and screamo belching with predictable song structures, ballads, and breakdowns. But again, they are impressive at least in their delivery. And these days, that’s actually worth a whole lot.
- J-Sin
Read More Music Reviews