The standard of hardcore and its various subgenres is at an all time high. 2023 was a year rammed full of face-smacking riffs and disgusting breakdowns and only 2 weeks into 2024 it seems this standard is set to continue. An important release for Rough Justice before they commence their UK tour with Malevolence and Pain of Truth in February, Faith in Vain demonstrates immaculate growth since their 2019 EP, Hell Is Other People. While maintaining their entrenched metallic hardcore sound, Faith in Vain features complex guitar sections, conscientious structure and impactful lyrics evidencing the band’s passion for metal and hardcore and enabling them to stand out in a saturated genre.
From the off, this record is as passionate as it is ignorant. Opening track ‘Coward’ ruptures the record into life, delivering exactly what Rough Justice are loved for, face-paced groovy hardcore chaos reminiscent of the distinctive Sheffield sound and MLVLTD influence. As the opener finishes with a sample from Dead Man’s Shoes, following track ‘Overruled’ prolongs the pummelling heaviness commencing with a quintessential-hardcore band name call out from vocalist, Jimmy.
The split is an integral part of hardcore and its legacy. Over the years, an impossible number of bands have got their start or made a name for themselves by sharing record space with another group. In 2024, with Spotify and other streaming services changing the way music is consumed, the fact that the split concept is alive and well is nothing short of astounding.
Two of the most exciting names in British hardcore have two tracks a piece on this record. Preston based beatdown merchants Lethal Minds join forces with Norwich panic chord dealers Hour Of Reprisal and in just shy of 12 minutes, they’ve created something special.
To describe this record as pissed off doesn’t do it justice. The opener, ‘Lie Cheat Steal’ featuring a guest vocal appearance from Hour Of Reprisal, a favour repaid in kind) doesn’t shy away from its staunchly left wing, anti-conservative views. A call to arms in nature, it will fill your veins with fire and you’ll grit your teeth in anger as the message resonates, and this rings true throughout the rest of the record. The deeper, more nasal, classic punk tones of Oli combine with Joe from Hour Of Reprisal‘s harrowing, goosebump inducing shrieks to create an uncomfortable yet gratifying experience.
Despite 2023 being an absurdly strong year for death metal as a genre, Escuela Grind are already kicking the doors in for 2024 to ensure that the focus doesn’t start to wane so swiftly. Following on from their 2022 full length album Memory Theatre, DDEEAATTHHMMEETTAALL rounds out the trilogy initially conceptualised with 2020’s Ppoowweerrvviioolleennccee and Ggrriinnddccoorree EPs. The new EP follows a similar trajectory of the band honing in and paying tribute to the specific elements of the extreme sub-genres that make Escuela Grind who they are.
“Ball and Chain” opens up the EP in barbaric fashion, the pummelling chug of the guitars and relentless percussive pounding feeling suitably weighty as the title suggests. Growing in intensity as the song progresses, it’s hard to believe “Ball and Chain” wasn’t initially planned for the EP, as the murderous slab of lower-tempo death metal carnage makes for the perfect opener. Swiftly following it is “Punishment Ritual”, which dials up the pacing from the get go, Katerina Economou’s guttural howls opening the track are like a shotgun to the face and wouldn’t feel out of place on a Cannibal Corpse album. Krissy Morash’s guitar hook leading into the switch up in the bridge is absolutely disgusting, paired with Jesse Adan Fuentes’ explosive blasts push the band to their sonic limit in the best way possible.
Recorded with Will Killingsworth and mixed/mastered by Kurt Ballou, between the two they have more than enough experience with noise, hardcore and death metal to bring out the absolute best from Escuela Grind. Whilst plainly obvious paying tribute to death metal musically, lyrically the band take the gore and violence tropes found strewn throughout the genre and approach them from a decidedly feminine angle, as they described it, without eschewing or shying away from brutal imagery.
In terms of the alternative music scene, few parts of the UK can hold a claim to be as productive as Wales. From emo/post hardcore veterans Funeral For A Friend to current scene anthem generators in Holding Absence, Cymru has a fertile and bustling musical landscape. In 2014, a band formed that would capture hearts and minds like none had since the halcyon days of the early noughties and that band was Casey.
Channelling the full fronted emotional assault and post hardcore influences of their peers with a modern sheen, the band soon grew beyond their local scene and word out mouth made them into one of the most exciting and beloved bands of the ’10s in Britain. Their two albums, EPs and standalone tracks attracted a cult following upon release, and few bands have been mourned as hard as they were when they split in 2019.
How To Disappear is their first full length the band have released since their comeback. With a name possibly hinting at their hiatus and the nature of absence itself, it arrives with big expectations and a lot of weight attached to it, with their fans having endured a hard four years since they departed. Would the band still be able to tug on those heartstrings, to induce such intense catharsis and crucially, fit it all into a hard hitting scream along package?
Pulling together diverse influences into a new sound is hardly a novel idea. Peruse any band bio from the last few years and you’ll find that mentioned almost verbatim, along with plenty of mentions of catharsis and ecstasy cropping up time and time again. Kite Thief aren’t really doing anything new by fusing techy riffs with flourishes of synth. The songs follow a tried and true roadmap, moving from stop-start riffage to smooth rolling choruses with sickeningly catchy hooks inciting the listener to sing along. The mix is that gloriously sterile and inoffensive Architects-lite preset, the harmonies are straight from the pop-metal playbook, the little glitches and stops come exactly when we expect them to. Even the title nails that sort-of-clever-until-you-think-about-it smarm that’s swept through music in the last decade. Yet despite its seeming off-the-shelf nature, Ambiviolent is great.
Ambiviolent opens with The Tide, which feels like a safe bet. The riffs bounce and chug where they need to, the vocals are equally spat and crooned, and the electronics make the whole thing sound incredibly slick and considered. The chorus lilts where it should explode, but the song gets where it needs to by the end, finishing with a triumphant punch. The highlight of the EP is a brief refrain in second track ‘Goldsick‘; Hope you get stuck in traffic on your way to work / Hope there’s a rock in every sock you put on your foot / Hope there’s a hole in all your pockets so you lose all your change / And most of all I hope your ego’s fucking laid to waste”.
Since the beginning of 2023, Mississauga, Canada’s Jenafur have been teasing something special. Initially releasing their first single “Arms Bent Back” on February 5, 2023, almost a year later fans can fully experience what this alternative quartet have to offer with their debut EP Sometime, Thereafter. With influence from the alt scene’s best acts of the last twenty years or so, there seem to be a ton of bands releasing nostalgia inducing tunes lately but none do it quite like Jenafur. Combining emo, Midwest emo, and post-hardcore; Sometime, Thereafter draws on the best of the genre to form one incredible piece of art.
Opening up the record is the aforementioned “Arms Bent Back”. It’s a perfect example of what Jenafur has to offer, blending the harsher vocals of post hardcore with the emo melodies of the early 2000s. At the same time, instrumentals swap seamlessly between classic Midwest emo and post-hardcore. Bouncing between an Alexisonfire track to sounding like Modern Baseball in a matter of two and a half minutes, “Arms Bent Back” couldn’t be a better track to open up this stellar debut. And let’s not forget to mention the amazing mix and mastering job done by the one and only Nick Ginn of School House Studios based out of Dundas, ON, bringing not only this track, but every track on the record to life.
Taking some time to slow things down is third track, “Pillar”. Displaying the range this Canadian foursome is willing to go, melodies carry the majority of the song with strings riffing out a beautiful tune throughout the entire track. A catchy yet thumping rhythm section backs the entire song and is nearly impossible to miss with catchy bass and percussion sections that couldn’t be more in the pocket. Arguably the best part of the entire track are the vocals provided by the ever talented Tom Riddle. Nailing each and every melody with finesse while complimenting each verse with a raw and emotional screamed chorus section. “Pillar” feels like what Blink-182‘s self-titled album would sound like if it was a post-hardcore record.
