Those of you with a keen ear to the underground Metal scene will doubtless already be familiar with Metallic Hardcore outfit Ithaca. Whilst it has been several years in its genesis, The Language Of Injury (Holy Roar) is the band’s full-length debut and, if the cliché that good things come to those who wait still has any relevance and cache at the start of 2019, then it most assuredly can be used here to welcome this record of brutal, uncompromising beauty.Continue reading
One of the most appealing aspects of getting to listen to Cloudburst’s self-titled sophomore (Samstrong Records) effort is learning that they hail from Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Through years of tape trading, international touring and eventually communicating online we’ve always known that the extreme music market is indeed a global one, but it’s always exciting to receive these imports.Continue reading
No airs, no graces, no gods, no masters; this is hitting hard, beating down, aggressive music. Armed with their seventh studio album, Total Retaliation (Nuclear Blast/Pure Noise) and bucket load of muscle and testosterone to palm-mute chug into your face, LA five-piece Terror, bastions of traditional Tough-guy Hardcore, bring the chants, the slams, the pit-anthems and the attack in their own inimitable and unmistakable approach.Continue reading
Canadian metallic hardcore-influenced noise rock band KEN Mode are back with a new album, Loved (Season of Mist), but there’s no love to be found on it. Contrary to the name, the Winnipeg, Manitoba band’s seventh album is a solid slab of slow churning, nihilist hardcore that sounds like it could self-destruct at any minute.Continue reading
One of my favorite occurrences in the heavy music world of today is when a Hardcore band with metallic influences can reach fans of both realms. Harm’s Way has done this for a few releases now, but their latest, Posthuman (Metal Blade), is certainly their best collective effort to date. Making the jump to Metal Blade was a clear sign that the Chicago natives are looking to further stretch boundaries of Heavy Metal and Hardcore. Continue reading
Informing me that a band features the talents of Fall Out Boy drummer Andy Hurley probably isn’t the best way to sell me on their album, but I’m glad I swallowed my ignorance. I mean, you should’ve told me that Hurley is super talented and that he’s flanked by members of Cursed, Catharsis and Earth Crisis in SECT. Combine those mega-powers with uber-producer Kurt Ballou and the fabled GodCity Studios and you’ve got a hell of a blast of Entombed-core in No Cure for Death (Southern Lord).
I’m not one for subgenres. I mean, I understand why they exist and how they appear to explain why Exodus sounds differently from Sleep all while still operating under the Heavy Metal umbrella, but I think we’re too preoccupied with the minutiae of the subgenres; we’re too busy defending the merits of our style against the perceived weaknesses of the others. That’s why it very refreshing to attempt to make sense of the sounds on Calligram’s Askesis (Basick). Continue reading
An oft-used phrase is that a band/song feels like it’s going to fall off the cliff at any moment. Well, Aussie Hardcore punks Idylls are back once again to make your brains descend from your earholes, actively looking for the precipice, and then some, with their new album The Barn (Holy Roar). Continue reading
Formed after the demise of Burnt By The Sun, River Black release their eponymously titled debut on Season of Mist with a line up featuring Mike Olender, John Adubato and Dave Witte of Burnt By The Sun, and joined by Brett Bamberger of Revocation.Continue reading
Texan purveyors of blackened crust Wildspeaker release their second full length on Prosthetic Records. A notable departure in the tone of 2015’s Survey the Wreckage (self-released) Spreading Adder has a much sludgier feel. Whilst Survey the Wreckage had a brighter and sharper tone, Spreading Adder is much lower and dirtier and the most obvious change is that vocals are more hidden in the mix, which limits their power.Continue reading