Ssick Of It All

Bokassa – All Out of Dreams Review

Bokassa – All Out of Dreams Review

“On the surface, the perceived lethargy of stoner metal doesn’t seem like a natural match for the reckless energy of punk. But the two genres have been roommates since college and still bunk together regularly. The soundtracks of Jackass and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater mixed them up freely, and bands like Clutch and Fu Manchu have plenty of popularity on both sides of the fence. When I saw Rise Against in March of 2011, they brought Coliseum, who fused stoner, hardcore, and punk into one. So I wasn’t particularly surprised at Bokassa’s self-appointed genre of stoner punk. I was more surprised, and apprehensive, at Lars Ulrich of all people giving them the seal of approval.” Big friends, dumb punks, and stones.

Karloff – The Appearing Review

Karloff – The Appearing Review

Karloff is a “metal punk” band, a phrase that doesn’t mean much to me. Military Shadow is “metal punk” too, but they sound nothing like Karloff. What does The Appearing sound like, then? To me, this is firmly in the Swedish realm of metal, specifically what post-Wolverine Blues Entombed was doing, including and especially Entombed A.D..” Coffin punk.

Obey the Brave – Balance Review

Obey the Brave – Balance Review

“Of all the things I thought I’d be excited about this year, the metalcore side project of Alex Erian from Despised Icon was not one of them. But sometimes life throws you a delightful curveball, giving you lemonade instead of lemons. Here, life also happened to put a generous double shot of vodka into my lemonade. I’m normally a beer guy, but like an unanticipated alcoholic lemonade, Balance is refreshing.” Drink up.

Despised Icon – Beast Review

Despised Icon – Beast Review

“The state of deathcore in 2016 isn’t an enviable one. It’s not quite old enough yet to spur on needlessly salty debates about the best MySpace pages, and it’s not fashionable or ubiquitous enough anymore to act as a gateway to further extremity as it once did for so many. Suicide Silence was never that good to begin with, but their records have noticeably declined in quality since their debut. Job for a Cowboy has been a boring modern death metal band since Genesis. All Shall Perish hasn’t released an album since 2011, let alone a good one since 2008; the list goes on. Enter the best-known Canadian deathcore band that’s not Cryptopsy in 2008: Despised Icon.” Deathcore in da house!

The Hell – Brutopia Review

The Hell – Brutopia Review

“Hardcore largely exists as a reaction to things in the world that invoke the ire of an angry singer. This can range from society as a whole (Pro-Pain), the government (Sick of It All), or some unnamed person who wronged the narrator so often and so consistently that it literally must be their job to anger the guy (Terror).” More music for Leg Day at the local gymnasium.

Salvation – Resurrect the Tradition Review

Salvation – Resurrect the Tradition Review

“Having recently gone through some much-needed “downsizing” in my personal life, hitting the gym has become a more common activity for me, so I selfishly jumped at the chance to review Salvation’s début album, Resurrect the Tradition. Salvation is a hardcore band featuring alumni of various other hardcore bands (including bassist Gary Meskil of Pro-Pain and Crumbsuckers), and this music is tailor-made to be a real life Game Genie for workouts.” Need some heavy hardcore for your heavy lifting? This might be your Salvation.

Things You Might Have Missed 2014: Body Count – Manslaughter

Things You Might Have Missed 2014: Body Count – Manslaughter

“June 10th, 2014: I looked out of my window and saw pigs flying, and shortly thereafter received a text from Satan asking why Hell just froze over. Suddenly I remembered that Ice-T’s rap metal outfit Body Count had just released Manslaughter, so I grabbed hold of one of the aforementioned pigs and flew to my local record store to pick up a copy. Upon hearing Manslaughter in its entirety, I texted Satan the answer to his question: “because a great rap metal album was released in 2014.”” There goes the neighborhood, again!

Sick of It All – Last Act of Defiance Review

Sick of It All – Last Act of Defiance Review

“Having formed at the tail end of hardcore’s first wave, New York’s Sick Of It All is one of the few HC bands — possibly the only one — that not only still exists, but continues to make powerful, relevant music. Decades after most of their contemporaries have imploded in a cloud of drama and/or poor judgment (oh hi, Cro-Mags), SOIA is still at it. They’ve never gone soft, never staged a “comeback,” and haven’t had a lineup change since Clinton’s first term.” NYC hardcore…is there any other kind? Nah, not really.