| 2.5 average |
| Alpha Wolf A Quiet Place to Die |
| How to be a popular and extremely hyped metalcore band in 2020: 1) Be Australian. Because g'day, mate. 2) Have an "image" that screams "look, I'm really into manga, anime, and futuristic literature". 3) Pick random bits and pieces from every metal and hardcore band that has ever existed, glue them together in an incoherent manner, remove any substance, and have people call you forward-thinking and iconoclastic. 4) Be lowkey political with your lyrics. 5) Cater to crypto-rebellious internet hypebeasts, bernie bros, and millennials trying way too hard to be edgy. 6) Have music videos that are visually explosive yet as disjointed and overbearing as the music. The end result is Alpha Wolf, which manages to do all that. To their credit, it's working well. But whether the jaw-dropping amount of attention and praise they're getting will last has yet to be determined. |
| Annisokay Aurora |
| This is decently done post-hardcore with ambient moments, cookie-cutter cleans and growls, and generic yet interesting instrumentation. However, the lyrics are absolutely cringe-worthy. I dare anyone to convince me that they were not written by some angst-filled, pseudo-rebellious millennial that follows AOC, Bernie Sanders, and Extinction Rebellion on Instagram |
| Fear Factory Transgression |
| From Autumn to Ashes Abandon Your Friends |
| Helmet Monochrome |
| Loathe The Things They Believe |
| Mnemic Passenger |
| P.O.D. Circles |
| Paul Oakenfold A Lively Mind |
| Smaxone Regression |
| Static-X Cannibal |
| Threat Signal Vigilance |
| Threat Signal Threat Signal |
| Whitechapel Mark of the Blade |
