Have you ever heard a band that’s catered exactly for you and your taste? That’s One Step Closer for me. Equal measures aggressive, melodic and sad. My only complaint is some of the slower melodic songs can be a bit stale at times.

One of the best tracks on here is an instrumental with soaring clean guitars which is very telling about how annoying Emmure was then and still is today.

Classic 00s metallic hardcore that’s heavy as a fucking boulder. My only complaint is some of the tracks are a bit stale and the band is at their best when they go from pounding rhythm to knuckle drag beatdown breakdown.

UPDATE: 1/30/2026 (Previously 79)
Yeah I must’ve been in a mood the last time I listened to this because this shits so fucking hard.

Death metal played by hardcore guys is my favorite kind of DM.

Basically the equivalent of losing the remote while high on an edible.
Terrifyingly relentless sludgy noise rock.

A few years ago this was in my rotation nearly every day. I’m not as fond of it as I was then but it’s still prog / sludge gold.

One of my favorite sludge records. So brutal and creepy while somehow being incredibly melodic.

Might’ve contributed to my hearing loss.

I gained 20 lbs listening to this.

Pleasantly surprised by the brundlefly mix of genres this band goes for on this record. Found it by accident and ended up loving the sludgy / stoner / death metal sounds of it but the other influences sort of threw me through a loop.

Contender for greatest opening and title track.
Unfortunately the back half is sort of generic halfway decent Jimmy Eat World tunes.

Legendary beatdown tough guy hxc.
Makes me want to buy a gun.

Fleshwater is cool but can we bring back one of the best modern core acts again?

A smorgasbord of influences and sounds thrown into a melting pot that somehow works and works very well.

UPDATE: 2/25/2026 (Previously 90)
Will probably go down as one of the defining albums of the genre (mathcore / chaotic hardcore, numetalcore, metalcore, etc)

The problem I have with so many NuMetalcore bands these days is they think they sound like Vein when in reality they sound like Staind.

UPDATE: ... read more

An absolute heater again from Arm’s Length.
Another modern emo masterpiece. Choked up multiple times.

Hot Mully never misses. To be honest I've listened to this multiple times now because I've always felt like HM's tracks take time to really settle in with me then they become an earworm that I can't get out. The lyrics are great on here as well with another rumination on self depreciation and self medication.

Admittedly I'm not a huge fan of death metal but god damn this thing smacks.

The hardcore influence is definitely evident here without the aspects of deathcore.

Third eye is completely pried open.

Is Tool one of the most polarizing bands of all time? I think it's a good question because they are such a one of a kind band they sort of transcend any label or genre attached to them but what kind of imprint have they actually left on music and pop culture? I for one think they are amazing but could see why someone might call their music pretentious and/or monotonous.

As for this album it would be near perfect if there wasn't all those ... read more

Mall classic. It's everything right and wrong about the genre.

Lacking media literacy is one thing but when it's your own band, kind of embarrassing.

The dichotomy of the singles (which are masterful) and the deeper cuts on here are pretty interesting considering the radio hits are very well constructed with heavy and melodic parts while the other tracks are idiosyncratic and unpredictable.

I don’t get down with the bizkit. I just can’t stand it. Maybe it’s the attachment to Fred Durst and his douche baggery I can’t look past and the performative nature of the band itself. I always felt like Bizkit could’ve been a good band but had a terrible frontman.

I wish they made more atmospheric tracks like Don’t Go Off Wandering.