hardcore for people who think code orange sold out after signing to roadrunner

We're now deep enough into the Rawring 20s' return of nu-core that we're seeing projects getting upstaged by other projects the literal week after it drops; kinda funny in a cosmic sort of way. And almost fitting that the man who'd come back for the crown nowadays is Josh Ang and David Wilder, both formerly of Dealer, though unlike Josh's other side project PINCER+, his contributions are pretty lesser in comparison, being credited moreso as a studio collaborator and lending his vocals to a ... read more

Let me paint a picture. It's summer in some indiscriminate period in the early to mid 2000's. Some generic party, blink-182 playing in the speaker, frat bros playing beer pong somewhere in the corner, some other kids playing Tony Hawk's Pro Skater in another, it's sunny out, there's probably a volleyball game going on outside and everyone's trying to make sure the volleyball doesn't fall onto the grill, nobody knows just how absolutely godawful the next two decades are gonna get, and everyone's ... read more

The musical route that AFI have taken throughout the years has been a strange one. Starting off as a hardcore band, before shifting towards a more melodic, alt-y sound not unlike My Chemical Romance, then going full alt rock, the path has led us here: The ever polarizing land that is post-punk. Not a genre I tend to have the best relationship with, but to AFI's credit, they pull it off pretty well. As expected for an AFI album, there's a noticeable pep here.
It's a controversial move, ... read more

Having gone too far off the deep end by calling Fashionably Late, one of the most condemned albums of the 2010s, "actually kinda good", I figured "fuck it, might as well finish the discography up", leading us to Just Like You. And yeah, this one's pretty good too. Unlike Fashionably Late, Falling In Reverse tend to play things way safer sound-wise here, downplaying a lot of the aspects and influences that made that album special. Not to say they're completely gone, save for ... read more

To call Fashionably Late an ambitious album would be a hell of an understatement. Gone is the easycore-dominant sound of their debut, with the band taking on a musical route not unlike Korn's in The Path Of Totality, that being "more wubz". a LOT more wubz, as a matter of fact. And beep-boops in general, taking just as much influence from chiptune as it does from brostep. FL is also way angrier than The Drug In Me Is You, with more screams and rapping from vocalist Ronnie Radke.
Much ... read more

People are strangely averse to calling Falling In Reverse "easycore" even though they fit the bill pretty well (fusion of pop-punk with metalcore). Ronnie's cleans especially remind me of Pete Wentz a bit, which is an absolutely horrifying thought. As for the actual album, it's a solid listen through and through, especially the second half. Not to say the first half is bad, just that it feels pretty one-note compared to the more energetic and peppy second half. The solos are pretty ... read more

it'd be easy for me to revert to the "MCR for goth kids" comparison that most resort to, but at least here they make an actual effort to distinguish themselves from the other post-hxc bands at the time. they do get alarmingly close at times (especially {and unsurprisingly} in the two big hits of the album: Girl's Not Grey and Dancing Through Sunday), but for the most part, it's the Misfits influence that jumps out in this album (given that this is the intermediary between their ... read more

can't decide between the angry soulless machination of Godflesh or the headbangy metal of Fear Factory? well 3teeth have just the solution for you! granted, only like half of the album has actual riffs, but chances are if you like normal industrial and/or industrial metal (or even synthwave) then this album might do enough to please you.

This album feels very much like 3TEETH's own Hau Ruck. Gone are most of the trad-industrial influences of their earlier works, in favor of a more "groove metal with synths" style approach to industrial metal not unlike Marilyn Manson. The riffs are chunkier, there's more of a focus on the vocals (which at times even sound like Sacsha Konietzko and En Esch) than the now somewhat more organic instrumentals, and everything overall feels more energetic than before. Though there's still a ... read more

I abstained from listening to this album for two and a half years after its release simply because of my hatred of hyperpop, but, one 2022 night, I was bored enough that I figured I'd give this a shot. And what do I get for my troubles? An actually decent album. Don't get me wrong, a landmark album this is not, and it doesn't even reach the quality standards set by our lords and saviors 3OH!3 by the godsend that is Want, but I can definitely see the appeal.
Of course, it'd be easy for me to ... read more

The orchestration in the background of the pop punk instrumentals does sound pretty good for a bit (especially during the heavier parts of the album; such as I'll Sleep When I'm Dead), but there comes a point in the album where it stops sounding solid and it just starts sounding like it caters towards the Tumblr emo fanbase that, at this point in time, was probably being alienated by Fall Out Boy's shift to more mainstream pop.
By 2012 standards, this is a late entry into a race that's long ... read more

the thinking man's converge, with a hint of spiritbox to boot. it strikes that perfect balance of calm post-metal and angry mathcore that it doesn't feel as much a bore to listen to as Bloodmoon: I was, and RT manage to keep things both interesting and original enough that it feels better to listen to than eternal blue was. though the longer tracks do tend to drag on a bit (long enough that i probably won't listen to this on repeat anyways), it isn't as atrocious as converge's more sludgy ... read more

This album fucking RIPS. The band starts leaning more towards straight up metalcore for this album, but still manages to perfectly retain the overall chaotic vibe from Errorzone (they even sneak a few amen breaks in here!). It definitely hits a snag in the last few tracks, but people are bound to disagree, I just think slow tracks at the end of an album just feel like a slog. Either way, fans of Vein.fm or overall pursuers of batshit insane music will find a lot to enjoy here.

Fierce. Crushing. Soulless. Cleansing. Divine. Just some of the many colorful words that can be used to describe an album like KRÜLLER, possibly even moreso than Beastland, the last album from one-man band Author & Punisher. Although it feels less like a successor and more like a follow-up, frontman (and only man) Tristan Shone definitely improves where it counts, though. The drums feel even angrier (especially on Misery, where said drums are courtesy of Tool's own Danny Carey), the ... read more

Fusing the worlds of Nintendocore and sasscore feels strange at first, but honestly, after discovering the existence of cybersass, I figured "fuck it, it could work". And work it does, resulting in a wonderfully chaotic fusion throughout its short runtime.
Is it a mess? Yes, but that's what adds to the charm of it all, with the panic chords, vocal inflictions, and time signature changes of sass providing the perfect backdrop for chiptune, autotune, and many other synthesized noises ... read more

every scene needs to have the lesser, more inoffensive bands, i guess. the original pop punk scene had Mest, and now the revival has emo-rapper turned pop-punker (yknow, i'm starting to notice a pattern here) formerly known as Sueco The Child. what a name. granted, in his studio album, the emo rap influence is way more subtle, the most that shows up is the occasional verse or beat. as for the pop punk aspect, it's definitely one of the more inoffensive albums of the lot. compared to, say, ... read more

saying "the job isn't finished" and then releasing a clearly unfinished album not even 48 hours later isn't a good move. at all.
there are a few songs that show promise, such as the opener Security, which gives me Yeezus vibes, or the collab with Jack Harlow, Louie Bags, where Jack raps about the highs and lows of being a star over a simple (but solid) beat (said promise for the latter is almost ruined by Kanye's repetitive "I stopped buying Louis bags after Virgil passed" ... read more

This is the first Set It Off album i've ever listened to. And even though it sounds completely different compared to the few songs I've heard, it feels like it caters to the same demographic that I sense listen to a band like Set It Off, so hey, I guess it's a return to form! And true to said form, this feels like what'd happen if you made an album specifically to cater to Tumblr users. All of them. But specifically the ones that plagued the site in like 2013-15 that kept calling Bo Burnham ... read more

I'm sure the "hehe Bad Omens are just dollar store Bring Me the Horizon jokes" are well past worn by now, but there's definitely a spoonful of truth to it. Hell, you can even track which album they're trying to sound like in chronological order! Their self titled was angry metalcore akin to Sempiternal, Finding God Before God Finds Me started taking on more melodic and alt-metal-y tones akin to That's the Spirit, and by that order, we've finally reached the Amo phase. And y'know what? ... read more