Hardcore

Oberst – Paradise Review

By Cherd on January 13, 2020 in 2020, Hardcore, Indie Recordings, Metalcore, Norwegian Metal, Post-Hardcore, Post-metal, Progressive Metal, Reviews, Hardcore, Metalcore, Post-Hardcore, Post-Metal, Progressive Metal, 24 comments

“Back in the 90s, I was in a very famous TV show I was all about hardcore and early metalcore. As a matter of fact, I was straight edge, though not for the same reasons as other practitioners of that ethos. I was a good Christian boy who happened to like aggressive music, and the rise of Tooth and Nail Records and their sub-imprint Solid State meant I could have my cake and eat it too (that’s not to say I didn’t have dalliances with “secular” labels like Victory or Revelation). I left -core behind many years ago, as tends to happen as one ages, but last year I found myself drawn to a few newer bands with hardcore influences, and that got me nostalgic. Return to the core.

Otoboke Beaver – Itekoma Hits [Things You Might Have Missed 2019]

By Grymm on December 19, 2019 in Damnably Records, Hardcore, Noise, Not Metal, Punk, Things You Might Have Missed, Things You Might Have Missed 2019, Hardcore, Noise, Not Metal, Punk, 40 comments

“As long as it’s good, gives us reviewers joyous vibes, and is kinda sorta somewhat within proximity of our wheelhouse, we’ll give it a fair shake and coverage. Kyoto’s Otoboke Beaver’s debut full-length, Itekoma Hits, is several miles away from our particular wheelhouse, but we see them, cheerfully smiling and waving while screaming, delivering some absolutely apeshit bonkers music that veers from pop-punk to hardcore to surf music to practically everywhere else and in-between.” It’s not metal, but then again, neither are you.

Senza – Even a Worm Will Turn [Things You Might Have Missed 2019]

By Kronos on December 15, 2019 in 2019, Grind, Hardcore, Mathcore, Releases, Reviews, Things You Might Have Missed, Things You Might Have Missed 2019, Hardcore, Mathcore, Post-Hardcore, 19 comments

“The bird snared in a net. The snake with a wound in its side. The fawn with a broken leg. Glassy-eyed and propelled only by adrenaline, they will lash out; they will peck, claw, kick, and bite, not for malice, but as a reflex. The body, independent of thought, will jerk and writhe and mangle itself further. We all have a desperate subconscious violence we hope will never surface, a basic, universal response no different than the flailing of an impaled insect.” Survive or die.

Bednja – Doline Su Ostale Iza Nas Review

By Carcharodon on November 27, 2019 in 2019, Black Metal, Croatian Metal, Folk, Hardcore, Post-metal, Reviews, Transcending Obscurity, Black Metal, Hardcore, Post-Metal, 24 comments

“Beneath each review posted on this hallowed website, a little comment swamp forms. They vary in size and depravity but in nearly everyone, a debate of some kind ensues. The other day, in just such a swamp, I expressed the — perhaps controversial — view that I like it when black metal bands infuse their music with different influences, sometimes straying into different genres. There I gave examples of post-metal and prog. Well, step forward and take a bow Bednja, who bill themselves as black metal hardcore.” Tales from the hard (dark)side.

M:40 – Arvsynd Review

By Mark Z. on September 25, 2019 in 2019, Crust Punk, Halvfabrikat Records, Hardcore, Reviews, Suicide Records, Swedish Metal, Crust Punk, Hardcore, 9 comments

“I find it hard not to like crust. It’s savage, primitive, and typically comes packaged with a thick DIY vibe that emanates like the stench of a gutter punk whose pants are held together by Discharge patches and broken dreams. Like most things, I prefer it with a little black or death metal mixed in, but even more traditional crust bands like Disfear and Wolfbrigade are plenty enjoyable now and then. Like those two acts, M:40 hail from Sweden and are heavily influenced by all things crust.” Crust lovers unite.

Cult of Luna – A Dawn to Fear Review

By Huck N Roll on September 17, 2019 in 2019, Hardcore, Metal Blade, Post-metal, Progressive Metal, Reviews, Sludge, Swedish Metal, Hardcore, Post-Metal, Progressive Metal, Sludge, 61 comments

“This summer saw a couple of top-notch releases from instrumental post-metal vets Russian Circles and Pelican. Both albums were worthy entries in the genre, but we should consider them appetizers, or warm-up acts, because one of the heavy hitters just walked in, and they have something to say.” Drink this Kool-Aid.

Soul of Anubis – The Last Journey

By Cherd on September 10, 2019 in 2019, Doom Metal, Hardcore, Portuguese Metal, Reviews, Seeing Red Records, Sludge, Hardcore, Sludge, 6 comments

“There’s a moment after a slow build intro, just shy of two minutes into “Beyond the Plague” that stands as a thesis statement for The Last Journey, the sophomore album by Portugal’s Soul of Anubis, if not for the entire genre of sludge metal: create a sound so thick and heavy, that when it fully hits, it causes a wobble in the Earth’s rotation. Thousands of years from now, scientists would trace the formation of the great Canadian deserts and Antarctic rain forests to that slight rotational wobble, and the “Anubicene” would enter scientific vernacular.” Earth mover.

Ledge – All I Hope For Review

By Kronos on September 3, 2019 in 2020, American Metal, Doom Metal, Hardcore, Powerviolence, Releases, Reviews, Sludge, Translation Loss, Hardcore, Powerviolence, Sludge, 6 comments

“Ledge is not a clever band and All I Hope For is not a clever album. Nuance and erudition have no place in this music, and there’s no shame in that; whom among us does not count lunkheaded and reductionist music among their passions? Whether it’s deathcore, slam, war metal, stoner rock, or today’s subject (lurching hardcore), most metalheads have a weakness for dumb fun of some variety. We want something stupid and heavy to complement our drinking, gym routine, vegetable chopping, etc.” Heavy shit, brah!

Life Right Now – Avant Garde Review

By Cherd on August 14, 2019 in 2019, American Metal, Emo, Hardcore, Metalcore, Nu-metal, Reviews, Self-released, Emo, Metalcore, Nu Metal, Pop Metal, 68 comments

“Let’s start with the title of the band’s debut, Avant Garde. I guess it’s conceivable these lads genuinely don’t know what that phrase means. After all, it’s French. Then again, the band claims to be from the entire world, so. Point is, Avant Garde doesn’t test the outer edges of anything except this reviewer’s patience.” Is this real life?

Freighter – The Den Review

By Kronos on July 19, 2019 in 2019, American Metal, Experimental Metal, Hardcore, Mathcore, Reviews, Self-released, Mathcore, 17 comments

“At some stage of sleeplessness, the pace of thought continues at speed while the fragmented hard drive of the mind reads straight across without regard for pointers or references. Ideas, memories, images, and anxieties flow without order or continuity through consciousness. It’s a state best approximated by mathcore, and mathcore is what Freighter approximate it with; The Den trades in the genre’s usual angst for a paranoid psychedelia to express this unique deprivation.” Not your dad’s metal.