| 2013 |
| Calvaiire Forceps | 3.5 |
| Regression Born Into Grey | 4.5 |
| Apart A Bright and Clever Hell | 4.5 |
| A culmination of all the desperation and anxiety you've ever felt. |
| Grandview Everything Between Paint and a Wall | 4.5 |
| City Lights The Way Things Should Be | 3.5 |
| What We Left Behind Countdown | 4.5 |
| Easily one of the best metalcore releases I've listened to in the past few years. Also takes the title of most fun release of the year. Really it's not a contest. |
| City Of Ifa City of Ifa | 3.0 |
| Hammock Oblivion Hymns | 5.0 |
| Landing Feet First Landing Feet First | 3.5 |
| Foxing The Albatross | 3.5 |
| Mansions Doom Loop | 4.0 |
| State Faults Resonate/Desperate | 4.0 |
| Front Porch Step Aware | 4.0 |
| Myka Relocate Lies to Light the Way | 3.5 |
| The Swellers The Light Under Closed Doors | 3.5 |
| Totem Skin Still Waters Run Deep | 4.5 |
| ERRA Augment | 3.5 |
| A Lot Like Birds No Place | 4.0 |
| Death Mercedes Sans Eclat | 3.5 |
| Distanced Making Do | 3.5 |
| Cedron Chased By Shades | 4.0 |
| Sainthood Reps Headswell | 3.5 |
| Anchorless Bodies The Remedy Process | 4.0 |
| Seaway Hoser | 3.5 |
| "Keep Your Stick On The Ice" for chorus of the year |
| Save Your Breath There Used To Be A Place For Us | 3.5 |
| State Champs The Finer Things | 4.0 |
| Young Lions Burn | 4.5 |
| This is the new the Dream the Chase, and I couldn't be happier about it. |
| Saviour First Light to My Death Bed | 3.0 |
| Rainmaker Alienation | 3.5 |
| Bleach Blonde Starving Artist | 3.5 |
| Touche Amore Is Survived By | 4.0 |
| Better Off (I Think) I'm Leaving | 3.0 |
| Aesthesys Ascendere | 3.5 |
| dangerkids collapse | 3.5 |
| The Persevering Promise An Illusion In Shambles | 2.5 |
| The Devil Wears Prada 8:18 | 2.0 |
| Placeholder I Don't Need Forgiveness | 2.5 |
| Courtesy Drop Songs To Drive To; Cry, and Make Love To | 3.5 |
| Saves the Day Saves the Day | 2.0 |
| Of Confidence The Forest | 3.0 |
| Balance and Composure The Things We Think We're Missing | 4.0 |
| A fantastic record by a band that continues to near closer to its ultimate potential. "Lost Your Name" and "Back of Your Head" is a heck of a one-two punch. |
| Moving Mountains Moving Mountains | 4.5 |
| It's not Pneuma, but it's still pretty darn awesome. |
| Hope In Hand In Light | In Shade | 3.5 |
| Modern Life Is War Fever Hunting | 3.0 |
| My Ticket Home Strangers Only | 3.0 |
| Search The City Flight | 4.0 |
| The Rodeo Idiot Engine Consequences | 3.5 |
| Self Defense Family The Corrections Officer In Me | 1.5 |
| Feather Oars Reckless | 3.0 |
| Sworn In The Death Card | 2.5 |
| City in the Sea Below the Noise | 3.5 |
| The Ongoing Concept Saloon | 3.5 |
| Born of Osiris Tomorrow We Die Alive | 3.0 |
| Football, etc. Audible | 3.0 |
| Roanoke Beautiful People | 3.5 |
| Home Ties Detours | 4.0 |
| We Still Dream Something to Smile About | 2.5 |
| Sed Non Satiata Mappo | 3.0 |
| Still Rings True Still Rings True | 2.0 |
| Sparrows Cold Ground | 3.0 |
| wherebirdsmeettodie I'm Alone In This | 4.0 |
| Hands Like Houses Unimagine | 3.5 |
| Unfortunately not as good as Ground Dweller, but still good nonetheless. |
| Counterparts The Difference Between Hell and Home | 3.0 |
| Jungbluth Part Ache | 3.0 |
| GDP Holla | 1.0 |
| Defeater Letters Home | 4.0 |
| My Heart to Fear Algorithm | 3.5 |
| Alaska (USA) Everything is Fine | 3.5 |
| Stickup Kid Future Fire | 3.0 |
| The Burial In The Taking Of Flesh | 2.5 |
| Phinehas The Last Word Is Yours to Speak | 3.0 |
| North Runner All That I've Got | 4.0 |
| August Burns Red Rescue & Restore | 3.0 |
| Extol Extol | 1.0 |
| Gatherer Caught Between a Rock and a Sad Place | 4.5 |
| The World Is a Beautiful Place... Whenever, If Ever | 3.0 |
| Citizen Youth | 2.5 |
| Why oh why does every good, energetic band have to put out a record that is so somber and depressing? Young States was terrific, and while this is good, it doesn't sound like the Citizen I loved. |
| Deafheaven Sunbather | 3.5 |
| I the Mighty Satori | 4.0 |
| I kinda knew what I was gonna rate this before I heard it. Now that I have, and even though a couple tracks are a little weak, I can honestly say this album just about lived up to my high expectations. Highly recommended. I love what this band is doing. |
| Colossus (SD) Time and Eternal | 4.5 |
| All We Have Balance and Meaning | 4.0 |
| Streetlight Fire The Sun Stands Still | 3.5 |
| Real Friends Put Yourself Back Together | 3.5 |
| The Homeless In Loving Memory Of What Could Have Been | 3.5 |
| calculator This Will Come To Pass | 4.0 |
| Full of Hell Rudiments of Mutilation | 3.0 |
| Mutevoice Heritage | 4.5 |
| One Last Look Pretenders | 3.0 |
| Built on Secrets The Disconnect | 3.5 |
| Have Mercy (Indie) The Earth Pushed Back | 4.5 |
| Palisades Outcasts | 2.0 |
| They just had to go for the trendy dubstep electronic effects, didn't they... |
| The Front Bottoms Talon of the Hawk | 2.5 |
| Dependence All The Things You Don't Want To Say | 4.0 |
| The Sky Above and Earth Below Parting Ways | 3.0 |
| The Wonder Years The Greatest Generation | 3.5 |
| Captain, We're Sinking The Future Is Cancelled | 4.0 |
| Apart From This In Gloom | 2.5 |
| Gillian Carter Lost Ships Sinking With The Sunset | 4.0 |
| "Sinking With The Sunset" may wind up being the song of the year...the whole track is flawless. |
| Superheaven Jar | 3.0 |
| Streetlight Manifesto The Hands That Thieve | 2.5 |
| State Lines For the Boats | 1.5 |
| Famous Last Words Two-Faced Charade | 3.5 |
| Removal Downer | 3.0 |
| Amber Lovesaken | 3.0 |
| Their / They're / There Their / They're / There | 3.5 |
| I Kill Giants I Kill Giants | 3.0 |
| Turnover Magnolia | 4.0 |
| Random Holiday Space to Grow | 3.0 |
| Disembarked I Do Nothing but Regret the Fact That I Left | 4.0 |
| Former States Heritage | 3.5 |
| Strangers Now/Enta Split | 3.5 |
| No Omega Shame | 3.5 |
| Transit Young New England | 2.5 |
| What happened with the production?? The music's not that bad (but nowhere near L&F); but seriously, this is too good of a band to be ruined by awful production. |
| Barrow Though I'm Alone | 4.0 |
| The Color Morale Know Hope | 3.0 |
| The Story So Far What You Don't See | 4.5 |
| If I Were You End of an Era | 3.5 |
| Thoroughly impressed. I thought I was gonna be listening to a generic metalcore album but everything is more than a step up from their peers. I will admit they need to figure out a different introduction to their songs because half of them have the same exact one. |
| Caravels Lacuna | 2.5 |
| Not really feeling this one...and that's a pretty important element for a good melodic hardcore/screamo album. |
| OneRepublic Native | 3.0 |
| Tear Out The Heart Violence | 2.5 |
| Caminos/Hourglass Split | 3.5 |
| Hundredth Revolt | 3.5 |
| Shirokuma Shirokuma | 3.5 |
| Stolas Living Creatures | 3.0 |
| Fit for a King Creation | Destruction | 4.0 |
| Firestarter New Beginnings | 4.0 |
| Old Gray An Autobiography | 4.0 |
| Empire (USA-NC) Shedding Skin | 3.5 |
| Strong contender for most unexpected great release of 2013 |
| Step On Memories Furthest | 4.0 |
| Safe Hands Montenegro | 2.0 |
| Within the Ruins Elite | 2.0 |
| Perspectives Blind | 4.0 |
| Another Five Minutes Another Five Minutes | 3.5 |
| Paper Lungs Death Will Touch All We Love | 3.5 |
| Capacities There Is No Neutral | 2.5 |
| The Calm Before Drift To Me | 2.5 |
| whenskiesaregray What Can Not Be Reversed | 4.0 |
| Frameworks Small Victories | 4.5 |
| Silverstein This Is How the Wind Shifts | 2.5 |
| Of Us Giants Stitch | 2.5 |
| Heart in Hand Almost There | 2.5 |
| Empty Handed A Memory That No One Clings Onto | 3.0 |
| The ratio of EPs to LPs in the emotional hardcore genre has got to be something like 4:1. So naturally I get a little bit excited when a LP from a band I know is coming out. In my opinion, Empty Handed absolutely nailed this. The vocals and instruments have all improved greatly. |
| Diamond Youth Orange | 3.0 |
| Fall City Fall Victus | 3.0 |
| Continents Idle Hands | 3.0 |
| Polyenso One Big Particular Loop | 2.5 |
| Absent What I Had & What I've Lost | 4.5 |
| Rescuer With Time Comes the Comfort | 3.0 |
| The Plot In You Could You Watch Your Children Burn | 2.0 |
| Tiny Moving Parts This Couch Is Long & Full of Friendship | 3.0 |
| Touche Amore/Pianos Become the Teeth Split | 4.0 |
| Heiress Early Frost | 2.5 |
| Grandview Absolutely Nothing | 3.0 |
