Hailing from Sydney, Australia, melodic metalcore band Bloom introduces their first album with Pure Noise Records, Maybe In Another Life. While there are undoubtedly some standout tracks on here, they are easy to overlook on first listen. Many of the songs flip flop between exactly the kind of quality melodic hardcore the scene is lacking in, and those sounding like filler tracks from a 2010s metalcore album. Continue reading
It is not every day you come across a band like Being As An Ocean. The Californian genre-benders have always been experts at executing public service announcements in the form of poetic melodic hardcore songs. There are not many artists out there who can consistently put out such lyrically blunt music that still feels more motivational than pessimistic. As their first album to follow the dumpster fire year of 2020, Death Can Wait (Out Of Line Records) is a true test of the band’s longevity in staying true to that defining quality.Continue reading
California quartet Silent Planet is known for their unique take on metalcore that continues to lead them to victory, earning them respect and fans from all over the metal spectrum. Their enticing, story-like method of songwriting is what sets them apart from their peers. When vocalist Garrett Russell delivers the lyrics, he does more than just perform a song – he vividly and theatrically illustrates the sinister world that embodies Silent Planet, all while the instrumentals set the stage for every scene, brewing build-up, thunderous climax, and desolate aftermath.
The hope for a band to “return to their roots” is a phrase that has been thrown around so much in modern music, it has begun to lose its meaning. As with the roots of a tree, a band’s roots are always there, securing the foundation of their sound, no matter how many different directions it may branch out into.
Hailing from the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada, Metalcore quintet Conquer Divide has come back together in Atlanta to record their long-awaited second full-length album, Slow Burn (Mascot Records). Slow Burn presents a balanced, cohesive collection of songs while also throwing the frequent curveball – ones that don’t throw the direction off track, but rather launch it forward into expanded territories.
One of the fastest-rising bands in modern metalcore, Australian group Polaris shows their musical ancestors how it’s done with their third album, Fatalism (SharpTone Records). As they break through the scene, the quartet continuously grows with their refinement of the genre, pulling off a sense of timelessness for a style that some of their peers have fallen under the radar trying to keep alive.
If you had to book a show for an audience of half-Pop fans and half-Metalheads with the promise that no one would walk out, it would seem like an impossible task. But book Welsh band Holding Absence for a show like this, and everyone’s jaws will be on the floor before the first song finishes.
It’s not every day you come across a band with members from Hong Kong, Israel, and Germany, giving them such universally diverse perspectives as the shameless genre-benders of PLAIINS – let alone ones with the musical chemistry to create an EP like Puppet (Self-Released). Through a seamless blend of punk, indie, hardcore, and alternative rock, the multicultural trio uses their range of experiences to oppose political issues from around the globe. Thus, making them lyrically relatable across nations, as well as sonically appealing to indie and punk fans alike.Continue reading
While the leading names in Nu-metal are ones that started twenty to thirty years ago, bands like Sicksense bring high hopes for the genre’s future. Testing the limits of the style Linkin Park and Korn made history with, the group shares their second EP, Fools Tomorrow (Sound Escape Agency), a sequel to their debut EP Kings Today. They each promote the idea of holding on tight to the throne earned from major achievements, stating that it could always be pulled from right under you if your hard work ceases.
When any kind of metal band promotes their new material as “the heaviest music they’ve ever made”, it’s usually met with eye rolls from fans who have heard this very promise time and time again from their favorite groups who failed to deliver. Hearing this from The Amity Affliction, a group that has always stood on the lighter side of metalcore, I was one of the skeptical ones. Ever since the Australian quartet released their instant classic Let The Ocean Take Me in 2014, each album following has paled in comparison.
Until now.