New York Hardcore is one of the most stand-out hardcore scenes, and it has a who’s who list of hardcore bands. Combust is a fast-rising group in that scene that eats, sleeps, and breathes New York Hardcore, and their latest album, Belly of the Beast (Triple B Records), is another big step forward. Between the guest appearances and the memorable riffs, each track has its own story to tell and energy to expel.
The more uncertain the times, the more violent the reaction. A point proven in the eighties with the explosion of Hardcore and Thrash, and this self-titled debut by Oregon act Stress Test is like taking a step back into that time. A time when everyday existence meant the fear of war, disease and hate; a time when religion and politics were even more corrupt and depraved than certain types of criminals. The sad thing is though, you only have to spend thirty seconds watching the TV or doomscrolling through your news feed to see history repeating itself, only worse and often in more insidious ways.Continue reading
Rising from Austin, Texas, Mugger are turning heads with their familiar yet fresh brand of Hardcore Punk. The four-piece band makes a promising first impression with their debut album Luck Forever (Quiet Panic Records).Continue reading
Formed in 2018 under the Dead History moniker, Phoenix, Arizona’s Common Wounds’ respective members are drawn from the likes of Run With the Hunted, Landmine Marathon, Suicide Nation, Seas Will Rise, and War Tongue while All Night Blood their first full-length release follows on from last year’s S/T debut EP. Continue reading
Sweden’s Wolfbrigade occupies a very specific place in hard-core. The band’s 11th album Life Knife Death might be their first for Metal Blade Records, but it does not venture far from the sonic ground they covered on the previous ten albums. This aligns them closely to Motorhead in a few ways, the first being they are steadfast in their dedication to burly hardcore champs. It charges at you with all the Punk and rocking fury you might expect from this band who infuses Entombed’s dense guitar tone with Motorhead’s reckless energy. The raw-throated vocals are more Lemmy-influenced than metal. There is a scant trace of the stomping sections you might expect from hardcore, though this is way heavier than punk, thus making it hardcore. Ten albums in they know what they are doing.Continue reading
One of the most exciting bands in the brutal/slam death metal genre today, Peeling Flesh, continue on their way up from the underground in Oklahoma with their latest release, The G Code (Unique Leader Records). In under a half hour, the slams and rap interludes will have your head spinning out of control, smashing into the walls of your room. What’s more, there are quite a few guests on the record to further cement how far Peeling Flesh have come and how much the scene respects them.Continue reading
On August 10th OTTTO and Bastardane – both prominent groups within the modern hard rock scene – came to Chicago in light of their current Reconquest Tour. The two rock outfits are no strangers to touring together, as both bands played together the previous summer as well. The Reconquest Tour sees both Bastardane and OTTTO in new fashions, but when it comes to each group’s signature sound, talent and onstage energy – those matters remain the same.Continue reading
Syracuse, New York will be familiar to fans of Straight-Edge Hardcore thanks to Earth Crisis and Trail of Lies can thus be seen as a continuation of this lineage.
Not content with the tunes created over the previous couple of decades with previous band Victims, members turned to new pastures with the latest hardcore punk collective, Alarm! Crossing over the sounds of melodic hardcore with previous endeavours in crust punk, Alarm! are set to make an explosive hit onto the Swedish punk scene with their debut self-titled effort via Armageddon Label.
Sometimes the day presents challenges to us all and we just need to swing haymakers in a pit. For days worse than that, there’s Missing Link. One of the most “unga bunga” ignorant Hardcore bands I’ve ever seen play (American Hardcore Festival 2023). Getting the chance to review their full-length debut, Watch Me Bleed (Triple B Records), is an absolute privilege. Eleven tracks (twelve if you count the hidden track) of unadulterated violence and aggression are going to stampede into your ears and not apologize for the disturbance.Continue reading