Uzumaki
User

Soundoffs 24
Album Ratings 5186
Objectivity 74%

Last Active 08-19-22 8:00 pm
Joined 11-13-18

Review Comments 4,471

 Lists
01.18.24 It Came From The Bowels of Bandcamp…08.30.22 Death's Final Revenge
02.14.22 -Core List 18: I'm Tired, Boss...02.05.22 2022 Death Metal Compendium
02.05.22 -Core List 17: This'll Be The Death Of 01.31.22 -Core List 16: Once More, With Feeling
01.20.22 A Coda (Postponed)01.19.22 Core Homework #14: I Think I May Have A
01.17.22 Insert Witty Title Here. Core Explorati01.15.22 The Number 12 Sounds Kinda Like This...
01.12.22 ... They Pull You Back Into Their Core.01.10.22 Eleventh We're Reaching Saturation...
01.02.22 2021 Mutant Ninja Turtles: Secret of th ♦12.28.21 Just When You Thought You Were Safe...
11.15.21 3 Years On Here…05.02.21 Son of Death: Back From the Dead and Hu
12.29.20 Uzu’s Tops of 2020 ♦12.25.20 Uzu’s Honorable Mentions of 2020
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hardcore/post-hardcore/metalcore homework list, pt.4

... Looks like there's enough for a pt. 4. Wow. Didn't think I'd have this much. And it seems like there might be enough for a FIFTH list. Damn, son. Once again, shoutout to everyone who's taken the time to comment and drop recs for me to expand my musical horizons. Here we go...
1Overcast
Expectational Dilution

This was some interesting shit right here. To be honest, the first time I listened to it I couldn’t rightly wrap my head around it. Was it metalcore? Hardcore? Hell, at moments was this friggin’ crossover??? The true answer is probably going to be a mix of all three I think. Most of the structure and flow here does feel really comfy in crossover territory, almost like a spiritual successor to Metallica’s “Kill ‘Em All”, and then they break out a breakdown and slam the tempo face first into the ground and I realize what Overcast is going for. This took me quite a while before it clicked, but at the end, this was a good album.

3.7/5
2Overcast
Fight Ambition To Kill

This is the better outing from Overcast, I think. Taking their (by now) signature style, sound and flow and doubling down on it whilst simultaneously expanding into heavier territory, this was fucking killer with really no filler. The audio clips sprinkled throughout really lent to the atmosphere and made everything feel darker and more ominous, and I really enjoyed this.

4/5
3Foundation
When The Smoke Clears

This was a solid, “meat-and-potatoes” style of hardcore release; while it was really good on a instrumental level, a technical level, the stylistic rigidity of the vocals kinda held this back from being REALLY good in my opinion. “Anthem For Redemption” was a fucking banger though; so yeah.... not much else to say here. Moving on...

3.4/5
4The Ghost Inside
Fury and the Fallen Ones

Fuuuuuuuck, this is the musical equivalent of punching above your weight; to add to my boxing metaphor, this release from TGI is a fucking heavyweight in a sea of metalcore flyweights. If I had discovered this several years back, hoooo boy.....
EVERYTHING’S A BREAKDOWN!!! INITIATE ENDLESS HEADBANG!!!
4.8/5
5Buried Alive
The Death Of Your Perfect World

Very solid, very competent effort here from Buried Alive, but the fairly monotone vocal stylings and pacing of the album hold it back just enough from being better than what it turned out to be. I do want to stress that I did enjoy the album in full, and the feelings and energy hitting you right out of the gates is fantastic, but by the middle of the album everything begins to sound a little same-y in terms of tone, pacing and instrumentation, and that detracts from the overall experience in my opinion, and that is a shame, truly.

3.5/5
6Dead To Fall
The Phoenix Throne

Very gothic in its initial impression on me, DtF bring a very interesting take on metalcore as I know it to the table. The tone and flow here are satisfying, ticking all the standard “metalcore” boxes, but what made this really tantalizing was the atmosphere DtF injected into their songs, most of the time slowing things down as opposed to normal time signatures, and this lent the album that gothic impression I mentioned earlier. Heavy, plodding (in a really good way!) and equal parts eerie and irresistible, this was a winner.

4/5
7Rinoa
An Age Among Them

I see what y’all doing here, what with recommending me -core bands with post-rock influences, trying to play towards my affectation of that particular genre in the hopes I will give the rec a higher rating.
It works, dammit.
Pouring forth a passionate mixture between post-hardcore and post-rock, Rinoa craft a simultaneously entrancing and emotive album with this, “An Age Among Them”. If the album were of singular genres it would feel slightly lax, but together both genres play to each other’s strengths perfectly, allowing the vocals and lyrics to reach a better level of emotional catharsis and the vocals allow the instrumentals to engage more fully and deeply with the listener. This was a fantastic listen, and I enjoyed every minute of this.

4.4/5
8Demolisher
World of Hatred

I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry.... not even 10 seconds into this thing, the tone of the guitars, drums and lows of the vocals conjured me an image of Jared Dines doing angry crabcore dancing. The mental picture was hilarious and kinda sums up my thoughts about this EP; it’s decent for what it is, but feels irrevocably stuck in presenting one specific style or image and does very little with the material ultimately produced. Good for the spin or two (or three), but really not much after that. I’ll revisit this after the lists are done.

3.3/5
9Will Haven
Carpe Diem

Damn, but this was good. By tuning their guitars to a different key, Will Haven manage to create an unsettling yet at times ethereal atmosphere here, imbuing their songs with an intriguing and unique sense of flow throughout. The vocals were well done, and the technicality and tone of the instrumentals were fabulous. Fucking good shit.

4.4/5
10Unruh
Setting Fire to Sinking Ships

Wow. An incredibly spastic and spasmodic exercise in math-tinged hardcore, this had me riveted to my seat and studying my speaker intently, eagerly awaiting the next copulation of rhythmic whiplash to hit me full on and send my senses into overdrive. Hot damn this was good!

4.2/5
11The Swarm
Parasitic Skies

And we’re back to the full-blown, mathy, chaotic excellence that seems to enjoy inhabiting the first section of this list lol. In a way, this felt like The Swarm swapped a little bit of that chaos for speed, as this album does not let up for even a second; as soon as one song is over, another rushes to take its place and on we go, forward into the maelstrom. This album reinforces my amazement at how technically proficient these types of bands are, and it almost feels ludicrous to realize how under the radar a lot of these bands went, interns of mainstream appeal. Damn this was good.

3.5/5
12Curl Up and Die
The Only Good Bug Is A Dead Bug

To preface, and to be fair, I honestly don’t quite remember all that much from CUaD’s effort on the previous list, but after re-reading what I wrote and rated and contrasted it with this, I must say I enjoyed this a good deal more than that other album. This was short and tight, the clips from Starship Troopers made those particular moments mirthful before diving straight back into the math-tinged musical madness, and ultimately, I really liked this one.

4/5
13Iona Grove
Breathe

This was like the classic epitome of metalcore as I knew it before getting turned on to all this other stuff by you guys and gals: production is clean and full but not to the point of sterility, the instrumentality is solid and technical, showcasing he individual talents, and the vocals are solid as fuck, with an appreciable range and completed by highs that initially feel off-putting but by the start of the second song you accept it and find that it’s actually not that bad. Only sad part was this was only three(!!!) tracks; would’ve greatly enjoyed a full-length from these guys.

4/5
14Johnny Truant
No Tears for the Creatures

Hell to the yes. This is -core expressly made to mosh to: heavy, yet bouncy; groove abounds here but the songs and flow are still elastic and fluid; technically proficient overall yet the band is unafraid to go for your jugular and simply crush it - everything that makes a damn fucking fun album. It’s a sincere pity that Johnny Turant is no more, as I would’ve loved to here how they would’ve tipped themselves after this.

4.4/5
15Bleak
We Deserve Our Failures

Dammit, I’m fucking loving this particular strain of hardcore. Dammit, dammit, damn. Going to town with such ferocity in the abrasive vocals and instrumentation always manages to put a shit-eating grin on my face and this is such an excellent release. The strains of actual melody that sneaks into the song’s backbones just earn extra points of appreciation from me. Love it.

4.3/5
16Botch
American Nervoso

This was interesting; while I was listening to this I was getting a Norma Jean vibes, more so in how Botch was fast to switch times and tempos than anything else I could equate this sensation to. Huh.
A fine debut album for Botch, this felt more raw, dirty and immediate in the production than their monolith of a sophomore album, and everything that endeared my sensibilities to Botch show up here as well. Botch just can’t be beat, can they?

4.6/5
17Knut
Challenger

Oh, this had so much promise, so much potential - and for the most part, this achieved its potential, but portions of this album felt tonally jarring, ending up not flowing as well as it could have, and thusly dampened my hopes I had for this. It felt like Knut couldn’t make up their mind whether to be a dissonant metalcore band or an atmospheric, almost sludgy, metalcore band. Both types on their own were decent enough, but together didn’t jive really well, which was a shame because tracks 6-8 were fucking beauts. Track 9 didn’t have to exist though. Pity.

4/5
18Breather Resist
Charmer

Another day, another good album here. Breather Resist’s “Charmer” was, compared to some of the other metalcore albums on this list, of a different cut from the same cloth. Tonally and stylistically BR was similar to these albums, but lyrically this sounded more like lamentations instead of venom and/or satire, and this really made me sit up and take notice. I really liked this changeup and I had a fun time with this album.

4/5
19Coalesce
Give Them Rope, She Said

After listening to Coalesce’s past two entries on my previous list, my expectations were incredibly high for this album, and I’m happy to report that this effortlessly exceeded them. I was completely, utterly and ecstatically gobsmacked at the entire effort presented here, from the strong vocal work to the top notch instrumentation; hell, I even shed a tear of happiness over how the production sounded, so clean and clear, yet rough enough around the edges to really accentuate Coalesce’s strong suits as a band. This was incredible from start to finish, and I didn’t even mind that the middle section sounded juuuuuust a teensy bit same-y, the flow was that good. A stone cold classic, through and through.

5/5
20Drowningman
Busy Signal At The Suicide Hotline

You know the feeling when you’re shopping around and you get everything you wanted all in one stop, and then just before you leave you spot the one thing you really enjoy and didn’t think you’d find there? Yeah; coming hot off the heels of Unruh, that’s how this album felt; like, “what have I done to deserve such good fortune?” Anyway, Drowningman continue down the path blazed by Unruh, yet in a slightly more restrained and melodic manner. Don’t get me wrong, there’s plenty of chaotic, mathy portions throughout that satisfy my music fancies with respect to this particular genre, but there also are moments here where things get slow, things get quieter, and that’s where they trick my fancies into appreciating the overarching whole more than I did before, and that’s the true mark of an excellent band and an excellent album. Bravo, guys and gals.

4.1/5
21Harkonen
Harkonen

Fuuuuck yeeeeesssss this was fucking delicious. I love how dirty and abrasive the production sounds on this album; both the production and the vocals on here are on point and so fucking killer. I liked this so much and I played it again as soon as I finished the first listen. Fuck yes.

4.6/5
22Not Waving But Drowning
If It's Too Cute...Set It On Fire

This was good; I appreciated the fact that this was different than the past several albums I had listened to in that it was more melodic than mathy, and with it being that way I could take my time, so to say, and really dig into the album and give it the attention I want to give it as opposed to being blown away the first listen or two and coming back to move past those impressions and really pinpoint why I liked that specific album.
Anyway, tone and flow here were well done, and the instrumentals and vocals were on point. I needed this change up lol.

3.7/5
23Anodyne
Lifetime of Gray Skies

Oh my goodness. Picking up where the latter half of HW list #3 left off, this album, along with Harkonen and Bleak are fucking representing the dirty, dissonant side of hardcore and I couldn’t be happier. Tone, flow, instrumentation and vocal work all combine so smoothly and coherently to create a portrait of such venom that it’s almost breathtaking in parts. This one’s a winner, folks.

4.4/5
24Playing Enemy
I Was Your City

This was an interesting release once all was said and done; at times atmospheric and almost always flitting between depression and anger in the lyrical department, Playing Enemy craft a highly melodic, technically proficient yet sad sounding album. I was intrigued to note that member(s) of Kiss It Goodbye were in here, which kind of explains the propensity of the album to almost literally bounce between time signatures as it moves along. Despite the atmospherics in some of the songs and lyrics, the album flows really well, and the choral backgrounds during the second half of “A Thousand Victories” was really unexpected and I loved it. A wonderful time with this.

4/5
25Crowpath
Red on Chrome

Well folks... I think we might’ve hit saturation point with mathy -core bands. Crowpath’s “Red On Chrome” is a math/noise extravaganza, opting for razor sharp technicality, flow and time switches that are tighter than the lid of that pickle jar you have sitting in the back corner of your fridge, and a vocalist filled with such manic energy and venom it’s quite incredible. This is practically the closest I’ve come to prime era Dillinger, and it’s been at least 2 years since I’ve listened to them last. With that being said, this almost felt like sensory overload in places, and it seriously threatened my overall impression of the album; even if you say you’re ready for this album, you’re not, and it takes a bit before there’s enough material to hang on to. I will say the back half of this album is better than the front half, as there’s snippets of melody anchoring things down, but even after several listens I keep getting thrown for a loop every time I hit play.

4/5
26Scarlet
Something To Lust About

And we’re back with more Scarlet, with this particular entry being just as good as their full album “Cult Classic”. Still heavy with mathcore elements, but in this particular instance this felt a little less manic and a little more organic in sound, which was a nice change up to what I knew of the band’s style. A fun little jam right here.

4.1/5
27Shora
Shaping the Random

Oof. That’s certainly one way to open an album, launching full force and full throated in precise, technical doses of venom. The rest of this album is just as excellent, and it did surprise me a bit with the ambient elements threaded throughout the songs, which acted as a nice counterpunch to the more mathy elements.

4/5
28Dead Man In Reno
Dead Man In Reno

You know, I was ready to knee-jerk this and write it off in the beginning because everything they were doing, style-wise and instrumental-wise was screaming “generic-core!!!” to my ears and sensibilities; by the end though, I had warmed up to this album and I didn’t mind it as much as I did before. Overall, DMiR’s take on metalcore was/is still somewhat generic, but they sprinkled in enough originality throughout that I could appreciate this album for what it was and the moments that made it stand out as something more, like the acoustic interludes and that tremolo picking in “The Devil Made Him Do It” - that moment alone was almost enough to register goosebumps. So, to reiterate, this was decent, albeit slightly smacking of a generic sound, and something that while I enjoyed, I probably won’t come back to this terribly often. Maybe seed it through a playlist though....

3.4/5
29Harlots
The Woman You Saw Is The Great City

I honestly haven’t proper words to describe this. An onslaught of furious melancholy, draped simultaneously by curtains of ambiance and post-metal fog, Harlots “The Woman You Saw...” is one of those rare albums that you don’t listen to to get or understand; rather, you need to project yourself within the maelstrom of sound in this album and simply allow it to flow through you, to experience it all. And once the album is done you sit and stare at the middle nothingness in meditative silence, reflecting on the appreciation you can undeniably feel for this album, yet have no words to project in its direction.
Or is this just me?

5/5
30Zao
Where Blood and Fire Bring Rest

You guys requested that I kick my list off with this album... and hooo boy does this fucking rock! I’m finding it funny that the more I listen to Zao, the more used to their style and intangibles (re: vox) I’m getting, and thusly my appreciation for the band steadily grows with it. Enter this album, and front to back, top to bottom, I fucking loved this. It was so good that as soon as the album ended I hit play again and listened through it, jamming out, and then when that play through ended, I hit play again. Three times. One sitting. This album fucking ruled and was the absolute perfect way to start this list. Hell to the fuck yeah!

5/5
31Veil of Maya
[id]

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you: Meh, The Album!!! Sorry, I got bored the more I got into the album, and by the end my brain wanted to move on. If done well and intelligently, technical wankery (re: instrumental proficiency) will capture my attention, period, and I’ll make the time to listen, but when it feels like a degree of originality is missing from the whole proceedings, there isn’t a whole lot of memorable hooks, if at all, to aurally hang onto and stick with it. I don’t regret listening to this album, but I have veeeerrrryyyy little interest/motivation to come back to this album.

3/5
32The Used
The Used

A decent debut that subverted my expectations for the album and the band, this felt, minus the uncleans, like it had more in common with Fall Out Boy and EARLY P! ATD than any other post-hardcore band, structurally and tonally speaking. This structural familiarity though is probably the album’s biggest strength for me, and therefore makes the songs a bit more catchy to my ears. It ain’t no LFTL or TC, but you gotta start somewhere, right?

3.2/5
33Turnstile
Pressure To Succeed

Huh. A hardcore band that plays in throwback, early ‘90’s stylings and features a vocalist that sounds like The Beastie Boys and Zach de la Rocha had a lovechild. I wasn’t aurally prepared for this and once I moved past my bemused thoughts and settled into this EP, I...... didn’t care for this as much as I wanted to. From what I understand, Turnstile is supposed to be one of the better hardcore/metalcore(?) bands out there today, and basing my opinions off of this, I’m not really seeing it. Maybe it’s just me; I’ll check some of their other material, but color me unimpressed here.

3.2/5
34Edge of Spirit
Rebirth

Oh my ‘lanta, that guitar tone is almost pure sex. Another Japanese entry onto my list, and this album comes out swinging with both fists right outta the gate. Practically flawless flow, rock solid vocal work and excellent musicianship are all pieces that make this album one damn good whole, and shows that there are Japanese bands out there that can stand toe to toe with some of the best the genre has to offer.

4.1/5
35Illuminati (JPN)
Crime

Took a chance on some earlier Japanese deathcore here, and for the most part the band, and the album, delivered. The tone was really good, the flow was decent overall, and the technicality and proficiency was delicious. My only quibble was that the vocals, while strong, didn’t really have too much range to them, and therefore held my enjoyment back a wee bit. By the end of the album my snobbishness about vocals had subsided and overall, this was decent. The audio clip of Charlie Chaplin’s “Great Dictator” speech to open the album and the 8-bit cover that closed the album were nice touches though.

3.7/5
36Sand (JPN)
Nuthin' But a Bitter Mouth

Solid hardcore record here but not much else to say. Even though their heart is in the right place, some of the “Engrish” vocals come off unintentionally smirk-worthy, almost like internally you’re like “awww, they’re trying.”; some of those highs though, damn... tasty as fuck. Instrumentality is on fucking point throughout, and the flow is decent. Would serve well as a “intro” to Japanese hardcore.

3.4/5
37Loyal to the Grave
Abstract Sensations

Another album to place into an “intro” to Japanese hardcore category, LTtG craft a dope-ass debut here. While it didn’t exactly “click” for me personally, there was still a lot to like coming away from this; like Sand, LTtG has a fantastic guitar tone here and use it to almost literally crushing effect, the flow works well overall and the vocals are better than Sand’s. Despite this, the album feels a little safe in spots and it felt like LTtG didn’t quite capture the potential they could’ve easily achieved here.

3.4/5
38Palm (JPN)
My Darkest Friend

Fuuuuck yeeeessssss, this is the absolute shit right here. Palm packs in so much intensity into their albums that it’s impossible not to be impressed with this band, this album being no exception. 10 seconds into the first song and I already had a shit-eating grin on my face as I was aurally re-introduced to their sound. Tone and flow here is spectacular, and the instrumentality and vocal work is excellent. Palm is leapfrogging their way to the top of the line for my favorite Japanese -core bands ever. Keep it going, guys!

4.7/5
39State Craft
To Celebrate the Forlorn Seasons

Fairly decent Japanese metalcore to be found here; for the most part skewing toward the heavier spectrum of the genre, State Craft still manages to throw in moments of melody as a counterpoint to the whole affair, solidifying the flow and actually making the tone sound refreshing (if that makes sense). The little acoustic bits woven into some of the songs was a nice touch, and overall everything worked well... except those highs, which sounded like the vocalist was shouting them, and that in turn disbalances the harmony of the vocals and may be a little jarring for some people.

3.7/5
40Quicksand
Manic Compression

Lol I shouldn’t have listened to the new Tool before this; the vocalist is making a strong case for vocally equating himself with Maynard. On the flip side, this is definitely harder and more aggressive than “Slip” and the equivalencies between Quicksand and post-hardcore are much easier to aurally distinguish. I like both this album and “Slip”, but this is a bit more interesting for my interests on this list, and therefore gets the edge for now.

4/5
41Break Your Fist
Break Your Fist

Hell yeah! Now that’s some damn good Japanese hardcore right here! Break Your Fist takes a very no-frills, basic route with their tone and style, and this album just pummels you for half an hour. Guitar tone, vocals, flow of the album - you name it and Break Your Fist fucking deliver. Fantastic stuff!

4.2/5
42Phinehas
The Last Word Is Yours to Speak

Now this brought back some good memories, of discovering heavier strains of metalcore ala Miss May I around the same time I used to peep Memphis May Fire’s “Challenger” album; in a word, I would’ve been all over this kind of metalcore and album back when I first got into the genre, and this gave me those good old-timey feels. You can razz me if you want, but I enjoyed this album.

3.9/5
43Refused
Songs to Fan the Flames of Discontent

I had high expectations for this album as well, and the Refused delivered, albeit in a different manner than what I was expecting. Even though their seminal album “The Shape Of Punk To Come” would be the next album they’d go on to create, “Songs...” here is a bit more metallic, gritty and rougher around the edges than what I knew of their sound. I feel though the overall production fit the tone and style they were going for here, and they play towards that particular strength, particularly on the tracks “Hook, Line and Sinker” and “Life Support Addiction”. An excellent album, but their next album absolutely runs circles around this one in my opinion.

4.4/5
44Farside
Rochambeau

Interesting.... veeeeerrrrryyyy interesting. This would fit right in with Far and Quicksand, inhabiting the side of post-hardcore that sidles cozily up to alternative and grunge. At first glance you may pass this off as straight alternative/grunge (heck, this was 1992 after all), but take another listen and you can hear stylistic and musical cues that would become part of the building blocks of post hardcore, like on the tracks “Rochambeau”, “Lost In Space” and “Smarter Than Ever”. A treat of an album, and a fun little time capsule to listen to.

3.7/5
45Merauder
Five Deadly Venoms

Just as good as “Master Killer”, Merauder bring the fucking jams once again here. Good riffs abound here and are draped with metallic grit and a punchy production, the vocal delivery is on fucking point and the tone and flow is delicious. Fun stuff!

3.9/5
46Handsome
Handsome

You know, this was actually an interesting album, and interesting in the sense that it was actually decent. To be sure, this fell on the “alternative rock” side of post-hardcore, like Quicksand and Far, but the talent in the band really make this an enjoyable experience. Solid instrumentation, good vocal work and good sense of tone and flow really make this a solid effort, and it kinda sucks that this is the only album from this band.

3.8/5
47Farside
The Monroe Doctrine

Farside unleash their most sonically complete outing with this album, “The Monroe Doctrine”. Building confidently and competently off the sound and style they established on “Rochambeau”, Farside bring an at Times almost exquisite sense of tone and flow to this album, riding their alternative sound and garnishing almost every one with the confidence and bounce found in early post hardcore acts. The songwriting chops and vocal performance here is absolutely top-notch, and everything here was an enjoyment to listen to. Even their grindcore parody song.

4.4/5
48Jawbox
Jawbox

This was a lovely little album that felt almost alternative rock in places (in a way that only the 1990’s can make something feel), yet had nice post-hardcore flourishes and underpinnings. I really enjoyed how the flow to this album felt, and this would feel right at home along with Farside.

4/5
49Small Brown Bike
Dead Reckoning

No sophomore slump here; SBB take all the good momentum thy had coming out of their debut album and apply it heartily here, doubling down on everything they do so well, and the end result is a stronger album overall. I really enjoyed this more than their first album, even though I like both of them for the same reasons. Another personal winner here, folks.

3.5/5
50Phinehas
thegodmachine

Fucking bomb-ass metalcore right here. I love how highly melodic this all is, even to the point of including guitar solos throughout the songs instead of over-relying on breakdowns. The vocals are exquisite, and the contrast between highs and lows in the uncleans is aurally superb. Love this... fucking love this.

4.2/5
51Small Brown Bike
Our Own Wars

This was a fun little album, feeling hella like early post hardcore, so full of zest and pep with the song structures, raw vocal delivery and much of the lyrics. Flow was really nice and smooth, and overall this was a nice way to spend a half an hour of one’s time.

3.3/5
52Blind Witness
Nightmare on Providence Street

Solid. Decent. Average. All these adjectives leapt to mind as I spun this a second time, and all could be used to label this band and this album. This is solid metalcore/deathcore, with a healthy disposition towards technicality on the instrumental aspect of things. Tone and flow is decent (that word again!!!), and the vocals were pretty good; the attitude of the vocals reminded me of bands like The Last Of Our Kind, where they exude an almost snotty disposition and a whole lot of “fuck you, bitch!”, and I really don’t miss that at all, so points deducted for that...
This is one of those albums that if I had discovered it earlier, I’d have been all over it. As it is, this falls more squarely in the “forgettable” camp. And I’d be hard pressed to come back to this anytime soon.

3.3/5
53Contrition
Transitory

While yesterday I encountered some good metallic hardcore in Withdrawn, today I encounter Contrition, another metallic hardcore band, and their album “Transitory” is.... ok. While there’s something that catches my ear and makes me pay more attention in most cases, Contrition ticked all the boxes necessary to make an album, and that’s it. No flair, nothing memorable. This is solid for what it is; tone and flow are good, musicianship and vocals are good... and that’s it. Blink and you miss it.

3.1/5
54Empty
From a Chemist's Point of View

Rather interesting; Empty is a new band, so to say, and this release was from last year. Sound-wise, this is more in line with metalcore than the post-hardcore label people like to give them, however their sound is fluid enough that I can see where they’re coming from. Tone and flow are great, and the instrumentality is good as well; the vocals are decent, and they can only go up from here, provided a little work and TLC is shown to them, but with time and maturity, they’ll reach that sweet spot undoubtedly.

3.6/5
55Inside Out
No Spiritual Surrender

Probably most famous for being Zack de la Rocha’s band before he moved on to RATM, Inside Out’s only release here was more enjoyable to me than RATM’s debut. Thank you for coming to my TED talk.
This felt alive and immediate, with the musicianship, while sounding slightly linear, bringing focus and energy to the whole proceedings, and Zack’s vocals sound more impassioned and honest than what you find in RATM. I’ll take this over RATM any day of the week.

3.8/5
56Twelve Tribes
Midwest Pandemic

Hell yes, this is some good metalcore! Twelve Tribes’ “Midwest Pandemic” is a bop and a half, making for an engaging and enjoyable listening experience. Vocals were really good and the instrumentality was on fucking point; loved how the percussion had a bounce to it, almost like what you could find in jazz or swing percussion. Tone and flow were absolutely excellent, and I liked how clean and crisp the production sounded and complemented the whole mix. Fuck yeah!

4.4/5
57Strongarm
The Advent of a Miracle

Fucking solid metalcore here, a classic example where all the little bits and pieces come together and create something mightily impressive. Everything present, including those intangibles that can either make or break my opinion of a band/album, worked perfectly in sync with one another and just blew my expectations away. Instrumentality was excellent throughout, and the vocals worked really well within this context; tone and flow, hot damn. An excellent example of early metalcore right here.

4.2/5
58Walls of Jericho
All Hail The Dead

Ahhhhhh. Walls of Jericho, it’s been too long. Honestly, I’m finding I don’t get tired at all of this band; every time I press ‘play’ for one of their albums, I’m excited to hear it, and to their credit. WoJ don’t disappoint. All the stylistic hallmarks from their previous entries in my lists are in here as well, and this album is a blast. Next time you play Spiritbox, just give a nod of appreciation towards WoJ, as Candace Kucsulain did it first.

4.1/5
59Suicide Silence
Suicide Silence (EP)

Not a bad debut EP for Suicide Silence; granted, this is my first exposure to the band, so chronologically this'll be interesting to keep track of their progression in style and sound; however, I'm just waiting to see/hear y'all say this was a bad choice, lol. Dammit, I liked this. As an EP, flow is kind of inconsequential, but the tone was decent. I don't really care for how tight the drums sounded, but the guitars made up for the drums' shortcomings. Vocals though were kinda dope, with the range more akin to death metal than straight up deathcore. This was alright.

3.3/5
60Suicide Silence
The Cleansing

Ok, damn, this was a lot better than I was honestly expecting it to be; this could legit go toe-to-toe with Whitechapel’s “This Is Exile”, and I’ll stand behind that. This was better than their self-titled EP, in that everything sounds cleaner, more polished and mature than before. Tone and flow is really good here, and the musicianship and vocals are all aces. NGL, I loved that “reverse” breakdown in Girl Of Glass, where the guitars, instead of going down the scale in the breakdown, hit a point and go a half step/step (?) up the scale, and that makes everything sound eerier and a bit more evil than a regular deathcore breakdown. Really good shit right here.

4.2/5
61Poison the Well
Tear From the Red

Fairly solid shiznits here from PtW, a tick under tOoD and YCBY in my opinion, but still solid nonetheless. It was an interesting tactic for them to spruce things up with acoustic segments, and these segments do work, but to me it was somewhat unexpected and therefore felt a little odd. Hmmmm....
Musicianship was really, really good, and the vocal work was tops. Tone sat well, and flow was decent, my reservations of the acoustic bits notwithstanding. I’ll have to come back to this after all is said and done and re-evaluate Against their other two I listened to.

3.9/5
62After the Burial
Forging a Future Self

You know, as much as I enjoyed their latest album, “Evergreen”, I wasn’t really feeling this release. I absolutely loved the technicality and proficiency in the musicianship, but the vocals were kinda one-note and killed some of the momentum for me. As a debut album, maybe I shouldn’t be as harsh, and I should listen to their other albums to really judge this as fair as I can be; however, I feel comfortable with this rating.

3.4/5
63Zao
(Self-Titled)

Oh my; Zao throwing a curveball here on me. Incorporating electronic elements into their metalcore sound, Zao inject a fresh sense of vitality into their proceedings and surprise my expectations. For me, the electronic elements add an extra sense of foreboding, amplifying the rawness and immediacy of the individual components. Instrumentality and vocals are very well done, and the tone and flow is fantastic, thanks in no small part to the atmospheric segues between the songs. Given time, I think this album will definitely grow on me, and I can't wait.

4.2/5
64Silverstein
When Broken Is Easily Fixed

This brings back memories; of first wading into the post-hardcore pool, of discovering so many bands with similar sounds and traits to Silverstein.... of growing out of this style but never really forsaking it... you know, good times. Silverstein really pushes these nostalgic buttons with this album, and this was fun to listen to. Musicianship, tone and vocals are all of that “classic” variety and really indicative of its time (c. 2003), and good for its purpose, and the flow is fine enough, however this isn’t really something I’d care to revisit terribly often, but I’m happy that I did at this time.

3.5/5
65Crystal Lake
Dimension

So, this was actually interesting; while this may sound a bit more basic as opposed to CL’s later work, there’s still an inherent energy and anger that can be found here by the bucketful. It’s cool to note that this album is before their current vocalist, Ryo, and drummer Gaku joined, so this has a more “old-school” metalcore sound to it than their modern, progressive tendencies. Tone is good and flow is pummeling in the best way possible; musicianship feels a little bit more on the basic side, but that comes with the style they have here, and the vocals actually skew a bit to the hardcore/metallic hardcore vibe to them, which actually works really well here. This was really fun and moshy to listen to.

3.9/5
66Crystal Lake
Into The Great Beyond

A continuation of sound and style from their previous, “Into The Great Beyond” sees CL also expand their horizons, if even so slightly, opting for a little more aggression in the proceedings and taking tentative steps into who they would become. A lot of what I said for “Dimension” also applies here, for better and not for worse, as CL double down on their stylistic calling cards in musicality and vocals, with the end result being a solid slab of metalcore; it was cool to hear a little more technicality applied to the song structures and percussion, and the vocals have tinges of a newfound ferocity and incorporate hints of death metal into their hardcore/proto-metalcore sound.
Fucking solid listen.

4/5
67Killing Time
Brightside

Dope-ass crossover thrash/hardcore, and a fucking fun time. Killing Time really balances both sides of the equation here, perfectly playing to both genres without pandering too much to either, and that's kind of a hard act to pull off, and I can appreciate that. Musicianship was fucking dope and the vocals really fit; tone has that classic sound to it, and the flow works well.

4.4/5
68108
Songs of Separation

I'm kinda digging the sound 108 brings here, alternating between straight up hardcore, melodic hardcore... hell, it even gets sludgy in parts. Production is pretty good for this type of music in the 90's, and 108 bring a good energy and vibe to the proceedings. Tone and flow is pretty good, and the musicianship is competent overall. Not a bad time with this album.

3.5/5
69Racetraitor
Burn The Idol of the White Messiah

Damn, this was some heavy shit here; “heavy for heavy’s sake” indeed. This just pounds your eardrums from the word “go” and does not let up at all. Dunno why, but this was giving me Earth Crisis vibes, albeit Racetraitor is much faster than Earth Crisis; maybe it was the tone of the guitars...
loved the tone and flow, and the instrumentality was fucking dope. Oh Andy Hurley, how far you’ve fallen; vocals were really good too, and fit the tone of this like a glove.

4.1/5
70Judge
Bringin' It Down

Classic example of hardcore and prolly a really early example of crossover here, Judge do exactly what the title of their album says and brings it down, but HARD. Possessed by a fantastic sense of flow, tone and melody, Judge take the brakes clean off and ride this album for as fast and hard as they can. Instrumentality and vocals are all top notch, and I'll chalk this up as another example of a "classic" take of the then nascent genre. Fun stuff.

4.2/5
71Bane
Give Blood

Decent hardcore, but really nothing to write home about at the end of the day. The energy that Bane brings shows through in the flow of the album, and truly is appreciated, but when the musicianship and vocals feel, well, “normal”, the end result is less than what it could have been, and that’s a shame. Nothing gained, but nothing lost.

3.3/5
72Weekend Nachos
Worthless

This........ This was........................
Something.
Once again, a decent hardcore record with good musicianship hampered by lightly cringey vocals, I was willing to work past my aural issues, but then they switch gears so fast that I still have whiplash and go into drone territory that I’m beginning to wonder if it made SportsCenter’s “C’mon, Man!!??” segment back in 2011. Either or, Weekend Nachos, either or...

3/5
73The Beautiful Ones
Jaded Love

For the most part, this album was pretty good, holding my attention with its sense of dynamics and flow, but I realized I was developing a love/hate relationship with the vocals, and by the end of the album I really didn’t know which side of the fence I wanted to be on, so I’m gonna stay on this fence a while longer until I can figure it out. They’re not much different from vox you’d find in melodic hardcore, but it was the tone and timbre that was slightly grating to my ears. I’m not trying to detract from the whole experience, no, but I’m gonna have to spend more time with this and figure the whole thing out.

3.6/5
74Arkangel
Dead Man Walking

Ahhh, it’s felt like it’s been too long since I last had a band from the Belgian scene here, and therefore allowed me to enjoy this entry more than I was expecting to. Delicious, delicious, delicious, delicious metalcore. This had that classic, raw tone to the guitars, vocals and production that one runs across in this particular sub-genre/region, and urn was fantastic. Flow here was superb, and this was the fucking bomb. Fuck yes to this baby.

4.6/5
75Breach
Kollapse

If I were to rank the three Breach albums on a "good/better/best" ranking, this would absolutely reside in the "best" category. I was a little trepidatious about the instrumental/ambient segments, but halfway through I realized that these segues set up their aggressive songs so very fucking well, and makes the album flow sooo very smoothly. This album is absolute aces, and I'm loving it.

4.5/5
76Breach
it's me god

Holy shit, this is fantastic! So dense and chaotic in its production, and yet so pointed and aggressive in its instrumentality and vocals... I haven't heard something on the same wavelength like this in a long time, probably around when I was working my way through DEP. Breach gets extra points for putting the bass so high up into the mix, as that beast drives the majority of the songs with its dirty sound and relentless pace. Fuck yes, even the flow here is amazing, including the ambient beats towards the end. Fantastic shit right here.

4.2/5
77Baptists
Bushcraft

After working my way through albums that felt spaced out and filled to the brim creatively Baptists bring it all back to the first part of this list with a heavy, dirty and fast take on hardcore/metalcore. This style felt good to get back in to, and the intangibles here made everything enjoyable. Flow was wonderful and the tone and production was spot on; the musicianship and vocals on display was a great reminder of what I’m coming to enjoy from this genre, and I loved this.

3.8/5
78Starkweather
Croatoan

Now this, this was tight. By far their best album I’ve heard yet, “Croatoan” greatly improves upon Starkweather’s metalcore formula and melds amenable elements to it, creating an expansive yet inclusive experience. Tone and flow here are absolutely impressive, concocting an irresistible atmosphere that pulls you in and doesn’t let go; the musicianship is outstanding, and the vocals are better than I remember them previously; do I even detect traces of death metal in the vocals as well? Whichever way you slice this, this is well nigh perfect. Classic.

5/5
79Cro-Mags
The Age of Quarrel

Classic hardcore punk with these guys that hits you harder than a fist to the face and is faster than a jackrabbit on a date, this would make a flawless 1-2 punch with some Minor Threat. Musicianship and vocals are excellent, and the flow is interesting, as Cro-Mags drift between punk, hardcore and even a little thrash here and there, making for an experience that is never boring but at times feels a teensie bit too frenetic. Well done, lads.

4.5/5
80Earthmover
Death Carved In Every Word

Fast paced and furious, Earthmover's "Death Carved In Every Word" is a hardcore shot of adrenaline to the senses. Combining a delectable array of riffs with a solid sense of aggression, this release had me bobbing my head and ready to throw some elbows around. I loved how the flow didn't let up throughout, and the tone was tasty. Instrumentality was really solid, and even though I wasn't really interested in the vocals in the beginning, by the end they won me over.

4/5
81Disembodied
Heretic

Incredible. Fucking incredible. Worlds away better than "Diablerie" and stylistically following "If God Only Knew..." Disembodied release an absolute monster of an album on the metalcore world at large with this. My fucking goodness, this was... it was. It is. I've got no words to adequately express how excellent this album was to listen to. I was hoping this would be as good as IGOKTRWD, and Disembodied blew my expectations clear outta the water and put it into orbit. Instumentals, vocals, tone and flow... everything was perfect. Amazing. Incredible. Again, I've got no words. Believe the hype.

5/5
82envy
All the Footprints You've Ever Left and the Fear Expecting Ahead

This was fucking gorgeous; another band that mixes post-hardcore with elements of post-rock, envy create an instant classic with this album in my opinion. In here, all elements and intangibles come together to create an absolutely sublime experience; the tone and flow cannot be beat, and the musicianship and vocals are absolutely perfect. I have absolutely no qualms with this album, at all. Completely flawless.

5/5
83Floorpunch
Fast Times At The Jersey Shore

This band’s name was my reaction to this album. Fucking good hardcore done in an old-school, punky sound, Floorpunch is the first hardcore rec I can think of off the top of my head that carried a largely positive message in their lyrics lol. It was fantastic; a lot of the lyrics were so positive I was grinning at the earnestness and direction they gave out. Flow was a bop and a half, as the songs were so fast that the band were onto the next song before your brain could fully process the song previous; tone was perfect and the musicianship and vocals were well done. I really liked this one.


WHAT THE FUCK IS UP, DENNY’S?!?!?!?!
4.3/5
84No Warning
Ill Blood

It seems we're continuing the trend of dope-ass crossover albums here... and I'm perfectly content with this. No Warning bring the fucking jams here, trying to pull off that tricky balancing act with their music; it doesn't quiiiite work here, as the album feels like it leans a little bit closer to the hardcore side of things and added a shiny thrash veneer to it all, but I'm not complaining. Tone and flow are really well done, and the the instrumentality and vocals work well in the context of the material.

4.3/5
85Shelter
Attaining the Supreme

Yet another entry into the hardcore category that could pass itself off as alternative if you’re not paying attention, Shelter here deliver a solid, if slightly unmemorable, album. As much as I liked this as I was spinning it, there really wasn’t anything there in terms of intangibles that stuck in my head and made me remember it, you know? Musicianship is really good and the vocals are decent, and the tone and flow of the album is fine yet plain. Unless you want your ears talked off about Krishna and such, you can skip the last track though.

3.4/5
86Majority Rule
Interview With David Frost

Interesting take on hardcore here; what started out as par to the genre evolves into something a little bit more as Majority Rule incorporate, for lack of a better term, ambient structures as a linking mechanism between songs, and this simultaneously spaces and fleshes out the album, which certainly made me intrigued. Because of this, the tone and flow of the album felt different and yet familiar enough not to lose track of the whole proceedings. Musicianship and vocals were also stand out efforts, and helped to accentuate the elements.

4/5
87Neglect
The Complete Don Fury Sessions

You know, I honestly get that a large majority of lyrics found on hardcore/metalcore albums deal with individual battles, both internally and externally, but when 95% of the lyrics on this album is so nihilistic and depressing, I just had to pull the plug and show myself out the door. This is like the hardcore version of Blue October, and the Blue October I’ve listened to is depressing as fuck, and I can’t take a whole album of that. On the funny side of things the vocalist, to me, sounded like the vocalist for Venom and it made the disbalance between the vocals and instrumentals a bit more tolerable. Only good things here that I’m positive about is that the tone and flow was good, and I liked how sludgy this sounded, but yeah, this is kinda a no from me, dawg.

2.8/5
88Aftershock
Through The Looking Glass

This was... terribly interesting for a metalcore record; this was unique to me because it didn’t rely on aggression or other metalcore stereotypes to catch one’s attention. Rather, it was similar to Harlots’ entry in this list in the fact that it utilized atmospherics to create an identity within this album, and I liked that they went that particular route. Instrumentality was good and the interludes were a nice touch, vocals were decent throughout and the tone and flow were well done. I know I’ll have to listen to this again to truly appreciate it, but for now, this was good.

4/5
89Breach
Venom

Hell yeah, Breach continue on down the path their previous album laid out for them, and the results are as good as IMG. The production here sounds a little cleaner as compared to their previous one, but that's not a knock on this, as this still has wonderful tone and flow throughout. The musicianship and vocals are still top notch, with the percussion injecting a little bounce into their sound and rhythm; I don't know how best to describe it, but if you listen to the album, you can hear it... Damn lot of fun with this.

4.1/5
90Warzone
Don't Forget The Struggle

Early hardcore here, and it’s halfway decent. It gets a little hard for me at times to differentiate between hardcore and the later strains of punk that were playing at the same time period, but I could definitely hear the hardcore influences in the songs here; tone and flow were good, with a nice energy permeating all the songs. Instrumentality is also well done, and the vocals kinda reminded me of the Beastie Boys, which probably isn’t too far off the stylistic mark, as IIRC Beastie Boys started as a hardcore unit before switching up their style. It’s always fun listening to these types of albums because they feel like time capsules to their respective genres.

3.3/5
91The Contortionist
Intrinsic

For me at least, this seems to be the best fusion of what The Contortionist was on their first album and what they would turn into by the time they released their latest album, and I'm loving the balancing act between the heavy unclean vocals and the atmospheric prog djent tones in the musicianship, ala "Altered State"-era TesseracT. Flow here is exquisite, and the ratio between clean and unclean vocals is well struck. Highly enjoyable.

4.2/5
92The Contortionist
Language

Venturing further and further away from their initial sound and further into the more atmospheric realms of prog, The Contortionist create another solid album to add to their discography and add another signpost to their evolution of sound. Whilst not as immediate and intriguing as their previous album, I felt that Language carried over much of the positives that they had executed on Intrinsic, solidifying most if not all of their musical directions and tendencies that would come to be their calling card today while still adding and relying on elements that would satisfy (most) of their old fans. Tone and flow work well together here, except for the rare odd moments where their heavier aspects abutted the general prog sound, creating a tonal shift that felt lightly jarring, and the vocals were solid overall, relying more on the cleans than the uncleans this time. Not bad, this album, and I'll be interested to continue working my way through the rest of their work.

4/5
93Withdrawn
Seeds of Inhumanity

Solid metallic hardcore right here. Vocals are decent yet solid, tone and flow works well throughout, and the instrumentality is good, with the guitars sounding full and thrashy at points while the drums are punchy and fast. Not much else to say though; with the label “metallic hardcore”, you kinda know what you’re getting into, and how much you like it is all based on your tastes in the genre. I liked it, and maybe you will too.

3.8/5
94August Burns Red
Looks Fragile After All

Hilarious. Absolutely hilarious. Sounding nothing like what they would go on to stylistically become, I really can’t take this seriously. Vocals are try-hard and the spoken word segments are tonally jarring, but hey, at least the musicianship is good... album flow is decent for what it is, but.... WOOF. Save us, Jake Luhrs!

2.3/5
95August Burns Red
Thrill Seeker

Alright, this was WAAAAAYYYY better than their "Looks Fragile..." EP; carrying over from the EP though is the rock-solid musicianship, and in that respect ABR bring the fucking jams, man. The tone and flow also takes massive steps in the right direction as opposed to their EP, and best of all, they have a better vocalist here than who they had before. What a fucking difference that change makes! This was another one of those albums that reminded me of when I started out in metalcore and all in all this was a fun time.

3.9/5
96Avail
Over the James

Alright, this is a fun album to listen to; combining punk with hardcore influences, Avail craft an effort here that doesn’t ask much from you, only that you sit back and enjoy the ride. Musicianship is good, and the tone is really nice; the album flows really well from song to song, and the vocals fit everything like a glove. Nice.

3.7/5
97Between the Buried and Me
Colors

It was time to revisit this; I remember where I was when I heard this for the first time, and yet I couldn’t remember a single thing from this album, and that stunk. Over the years I remember I kept reading about how “Colors” was the game-changer for BTBAM, how it elevated them out of the metalcore genre, etc., and after listening to it again, I can see how. Compared to Alaska or The Silent Circus, this rarely relies on any metalcore tropes, and even if it does, those tropes are reimagined in such a fashion that it makes it feel fresh and new. The stylistic and tone changes in here are phenomenal, almost mind blowing, and BTBAM stake their interest in prog into new and exciting directions here. The musicianship is almost off the charts in how good it is, and the vocals are very strong for what was needed from them. Completely amazing in almost every way (they could’ve trimmed this down a couple of minutes though), I now think “Colors” is the BTBAM release to beat.

4.5/5
98Between the Buried and Me
The Great Misdirect

Almost as good as “Colors”, “The Great Misdirect” sees BTBAM perform minor tweaks to their formula they were rapidly solidifying, and the end result here is another fantastic release. Just like before, the tone and flow present is flawless, with the band implementing changes even more fluidly than before; the production and instrumentality is perfect, and the vocals are just as strong as ever. As opposed to “Colors” though, this album doesn’t feel overlong or bloated in my opinion, and yet I kind of prefer “Colors” juuuuuust a wee bit more than this. Still, this is absolutely excellent, and helps solidify my enjoyment for BTBAM.

4.4/5
99Bleeding Through
Portrait of the Goddess

You know, I think I’m enjoying this album more than their previous album. Now, you could scoff and chalk it up to natural progression for the band, but I really enjoyed their first album for what it was, and therefore that kind of set the bar high for Bleeding Through. Here, BT really harness the tone and flow of the album to really complement the intensity they bring through their instrumentals and vocals, and indeed, this album feels a bit more mature than their debut. A nice, solid and balanced effort on display here, and I’m looking forward to hear the rest of their discography when I have time.

4.2/5
100Invent Animate
Everchanger

This was honestly better than I expected it to be. I remember listening to their latest (re: last) album when it released and wasn’t terribly impressed, but this outing has me entertaining the possibility that I might’ve been wrong; then again maybe not entirely, because I remember at the time I was knee-deep in bands like Invent, Animate and similar sounding paste-and-copies, so I may have been burnt out on the sound. Anyways, this was actually pretty good; tone and flow were delicious, musicianship was on point and had that right amount of prog technicality that’s mainstream in a lot of metalcore bands today, and the vocals were killing it, both the lows (so good!) and the highs (I warmed up to them). All in all, a rock solid effort on display here.

3.9/5
101Stigmata (USA-NY)
Hymns for an Unknown God

Oh yeah, this is good shit. Metallic hardcore that has more than a dollop of groove to it, Stigmata bring all they got to bear on this album, and it’s a blast. Drums are tight and punchy, guitars are crunchy and fun, and the vocals work really well here. The tone and flow of the album is excellent, and this is just a fuck-ass good time listening to this; that sense of groove really makes the album bouncy, in that there’s never a dull moment.

4/5
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