Buffalo, NY has been a major hotbed for hardcore for the past couple generations. Here to prove just that is up and coming act Spaced with their highly anticipated new EP, which is planning to release through Revelation Records, This Is All We Ever Get. This record not only embodies Buffalo hardcore perfectly but it also encapsulates the psychedelic and groovy vibe Spaced were going for and more. With recording done by Jay Zubricky of Terror and Mindforce while mastering was done by Will Killingsworth of Orchid over at Dead Air Studios, its clear the world isn’t even close to ready for what Spaced has to offer on this new release.
Opening up with the first single of this album cycle, ‘Landslide’ is a fast paced and pounding ordeal all on its own. Although the track blends perfectly into track two which is titled ‘Big Picture’. A completely different beast on its own; slowing down a hair this track but that’s not to say it isn’t heavy. Really showing listeners that groove and bouncy aspect of their sound while pounding through an absolutely smashing example of Buffalo hardcore at its finest. ‘Big Picture’ has potential for best track on the record hands down.
Our third track is a short one but oh so sweet to say the least. A mere two minutes but it gets its point across perfectly as vocals chant lyrics at listeners while some flawless two step hardcore pounds behind it all. Vocalist Lexi Reyngoudt‘s approach behind the mic not only hits hard as ever but the delivery is guaranteed to keep this track repeating in listeners heads for a while. Keeping with this approach on track six , ‘The Difference’, Lexi’s vocals are as catchy as ever. Right behind them yet again are the fabulous psychedelic grooves that the band manage to combine flawlessly with the hardcore influence they bring to the table.
With the plethora of vibrant colours raining down on you from the vast range of illuminations, alongside a ferocious Irish sea battering its shoreline, the town of Blackpool is a meeting point between the ferocity of nature and the relentless tourism industry. However, through the hazy lights there is an atmospheric, emotive post-rock force steadily on the rise. Coming off the back of their ground breaking debut album Modern Escapism, Blanket make their return with their highly anticipated third album, Ceremonia.
The four piece – made up of Bobby Pook (Vocals / Guitar), Simon Morgan (Guitar / Vocals), Matthew Sheldon (Bass) and Aiden Baldwin (Drums) – revisit their early musical roots whilst continuing their emphatic musical evolution. Influences such as Cave In, HUM, Swervedriver, and Ride come to the fore alongside Blanket’s penchant for Brit-pop melodies. The philosophy for this album being to sound like a indie band but infinitely heavier. With the main objective to capture the excitable and lively vibe of the four of them recording together in the room, the band went into the studio set out to do things differently on Ceremonia. By capturing their songs in a live environment and recording the album song by song allowed the band to truly expand their creative boundaries Blanket were hell bent on achieving their aim.
That they most certainly did. Ceremonia is an energetic yet surprisingly delicate album, packed full of rich, fuzzy atmospheres and a diverse range of lyrical themes that range from a kid in America that made his own nuclear reactor in his Mums back garden – ‘Nuclear Boy Scout’ – to the cathartic emotional releases on tracks such as ‘Porcelain’ and ‘Sea Of Bliss’. So while Ceremonia is eclectic in its influences, it still remains cohesive.
Known for a brand of HM2 worship so ferocious that if you listen to it on full volume it would actually violate some noise pollution laws, Hull natives Mastiff have been one of British heavy music’s best kept secrets for the best part of a decade now. Few bands in the world, let alone these fair islands, can match the northern nihilists when it comes to sheer aural punishment, as demonstrated perfectly on 2021’s Leave Me The Ashes Of The Earth. That record, released in the aftermath of one of the darkest times in modern history, captured the mood perfectly, despite being mainly written beforehand.
Influences in the band’s sound could be defined as the nastier, more desperate forms of death metal mixed with sludgier elements, at least in the past. When it comes to Deprecipice, things have taken on a distinctly more chaotic hardcore approach. Think about the fury and almost hopeless anger that comes from Trap Them, END and All Pigs Must Die mixed with a dollop of British crust dirt and you’re pretty much on the money.
Before you even press play, the album art sums up the album perfectly. Designed by longtime collaborator Paul Phillips from True Spilt Milk Designs, the scene of a nameless person falling into a grey, endless, repeating void is incredibly apt. Not just a metaphor for life today, it brings together the uneasy, despairing nature of the record.
Opener ‘Bite Radius’ is the aural equivalent of being given a vicious beating by someone you love and trust, with the wall of harsh guitars feeling like it’s closing in on you at all times. Jim Hodge screams and snarls like few others, inviting comparisons to END vocalist Brendan Murphy at his most demonic. That’s a feature of the record, the almost unrelenting relationship between the terrifying music and the unrelenting fear that Jim can instill.
Rarely has a song been more aptly named this year than ‘Skin Stripper’, which in just 90 seconds, packs in more punch and destructive energy than most manage in an entire career. Compared to ‘Pitiful’ though, it almost seems restrained, as in the album’s longest track, the band lurch from a doomy stomp to some classic hardcore bass swinging.
Twenty-one years is a healthy career for a heavy band, and plenty of the great heavy bands have struggled to release consistently good records for even half that time. Comeback Kid don’t really fit the mould there, as the TROUBLE EP is still bubbling over with energy and enthusiasm like a band fifteen years their junior. The release is comfortably under 13 minutes long, so is in and out before you’ve even realised it, and the whole time keeps a grin plastered on your face. Opening song and title track equivalent ‘Trouble In the Winner’s Circle’ is a riotously enjoyable hardcore punk track that edges on the pop punk side of the genre, whilst still keeping both feet stuck into the heavy end of things. Safely less than three minutes long, it brings in upbeat punk riffs and an easily chanted chorus that’ll sate any singalong appetite. ‘Disruption’ gives the listener all of half a second to prepare before it kicks in, getting things going with some razor riffs and the sound of youthful anger.
Florida five piece Gouge Away have just released their third LP and we couldn’t be more grateful that their hiatus didn’t last. This album is a true gift from the band to their long-term fans who have been longing for six years for new music, and spoiler: it was so worth the wait.
Deep Sage has been in the works since 2020 when the production of the album was forcibly paused due to the pandemic. In 2022, when the band relocated to Portland, Oregon, they appeared on stage as live guests for Militarie Gun. It was right then that a fire reignited and they decided to finish their project. The album has been recorded in analog and almost entirely live with Jack Shirley at Atomic Garden East in March 2023. Definitely not an over-produced album, but filled with abrasive noise and with a gigantic soul. The tracks space from post-hardcore, noise rock and shoegaze with the already well-known Gouge Away signature.
‘Stuck in a Dream’ is the perfect opening for the album with multifaceted guitars by Mick Ford and Dylan Downey and crispy clear drumming by Thomas Cantwell. Here, vocalist Christina Michelle slaps us in the face with her repetitive lyrics, which are something we will find again throughout the course of the whole record.
Aborted are one of the most criminally underrated death metal bands on the scene today. Initially formed in 1995, the bands pioneering brutal legacy is now coming up on 30 years of age. Constantly shifting and evolving in the Belgian underground scene around lone original member and vocalist Sven De Caluwé, the international cluster of technically gifted musicians have been tightening Aborted’s sound throughout their illustrious career. The bands previous albums, 2018’s Terrorvision and 2021’s ManiaCult, garnered a lot of attention with the resurgence in death metal popularity. New album Vault Of Horrors sees the band keep things easy going, opting to write songs in tribute to their favourite cult horror films and invite their friends to provide guest vocals on each track, leaning into the various bands death metal influences for a horror and death metal anthology.
Opening track and lead single ‘Dreadbringer’ (featuring Ben Duerr of Shadow Of Intent) sets the atmosphere right, stoking tensions and leaning into the cult horror vibes with a spooky synth intro before cascading into relentless death grind blasts and tech heavy riffing. The imposing and epic atmosphere is reminiscent of Shadows Of Intent themselves, the trade offs between De Caluwé and Duerr sound absolutely monstrous. Its exactly what you’d expect from Aborted’s modern era, meant in the best way possible… and that’s just the first of ten. Other single ‘DeathCult’ (featuring Steve Marois of Despised Icon) starts off as expected, with ferocious technical chops, but dips into maniac territory as it goes on. Leaning into the Deathcore energy Marois brings to the table and absolutely steeped in gang chant vocals in the chorus and earth shattering, fist pumping breakdowns.
