Hardcore – Page 60 – Wonderbox Metal

Order of Chaos – Deadweight Undertow (Review)

Order of Chaos are from Australia and play a combination of Underground Metal/Hardcore.

This is a hard one to pin down in some ways. It has elements of the more modern Metal/Metalcore sound, but also more of an unhinged, underground vibe and some definite Death Metal/violent Hardcore leanings.

This is more of the kind of thing I would have expected to come out of the UK rather than Australia; I’m thinking of bands like Corrupt Moral Altar, Charger, Raging Speedhorn, Labrat, Mindjuice, Mistress, The Rotted, etc.

Nonetheless, Australia it is, and it’s a good listen. The songs are typically about the 3 minute mark and are focused into little balls of heavy rage. They’re well written and have a good amount of energy. Although the emphasis is on heaviness, small amounts of melody get a look in here and there.

This is a good synthesis of modern-styled Metal with a violent Hardcore element keeping it grounded. It’s underground, nasty and rumbles along with a good chug and a healthy groove.

The singer sounds quite demented on occasion; the higher pitched he gets the more he appears to lose it.

It’s easy to like these songs as the emphasis is on ripping the listener’s face off before they even know what’s happened.

Songs for the moshpit.

Martyrdöd – Elddop (Review)

Martyrdöd are from Sweden and play Hardcore Crust. This is their fifth album.

Elddop has a heavy sound with the music sounding organic and lively; a well-produced rawness, if you will.

The band are quite melodic with their riffing. Typically the rhythm guitar lays down a firm, heavy foundation whilst the lead guitar adds colour and flavour over the top. Some of the riffs are quite inventive and the band gives a passionate performance.

The music is of the d-beat Crust variety but is not purely limited to this. The drums power the songs as the guitars make their melodic massacres. This style of music has its roots in the past in bands like Discharge, but a more modern point of reference would be Kvelertak I suppose.

Vocally we have savage shouts that sound hoarse and desperately urgent. It’s as if the singer can’t quite wait to blurt out what his message is, but he feels so disgusted by whatever he’s talking about that he can’t help but just shout it at the top of his lungs. It all adds a refreshing energy to the tracks. Thinking about it, he reminds me of the singer of At The Gates/Lock Up/etc., only deeper and a bit harsher.

Occupying that rarest of spaces where harshness and melodics meet, Martyrdöd have produced an enjoyable album that takes the Crust template, adds a little bit of Metal to it and then vomits vitriol and poisonous invective over everything.

Listen loud and let Martyrdöd shake your world.

I Will Tear This World Apart – IWTTWA (Review)

I Will Tear This World Apart are from Norway and play modern Metal.

The band rage and tear their way through these 9 tracks, concentrating on keeping things heavy and groovy while providing a memorable basis for a good old fashioned headbang.

I hear snippets of Earth Crisis, Hatebreed and even a bit of Sick Of It All in places, so these should serve as starting reference points.

This release boasts a state-of-the-art sound that accentuates every piece of aggression that the band throw out.

The singer is angry and there are no niceties here that might otherwise see the band straying into the dreaded commercial pastures. Instead, we get modern Metal played with passion and fire with elements of both Thrash/Melodic Death Metal and modern Hardcore vying for top position, all the time watched over by the Metal Gods who like things just plain heavy.

The majority of the songs hover around the three minute mark; long enough to make their mark but not long enough to lose interest in what they’re doing.

I Will Tear This World Apart successfully combine the trappings of Metalcore with the song know-how of Thrash and the aggression of Hardcore.

An enjoyable romp through the mosh pit.

Idols Plague – Nursery Crimes (Review)

Idols Plague are from the US and play Hardcore.

This is short and to the point; 14 minutes of energetic, stripped down Punk. It may be a short EP but it captures the attention quickly and wastes no time in displaying its wares.

It’s heavy, nasty and all of the things that Hardcore should be. The songs are a blur of speed and groove with the band knowing when to put the foot on the accelerator and when to ease off; they really exploit the groove-laden riffs in this manner.

The band mix a few different styles with their Hardcore, as there is a strong rust element to their sound but also a bit of Classic Grindcore, more Modern Hardcore and even the odd hint of Crossover Thrash.

The songs are surprisingly catchy, both vocally and riff-wise. The vocals are suitably unhinged and desperate-sounding, as if he’s screaming and shouting for his very life. They’re timelessly Hardcore in that they flit between sounding Old-School and sounding Modern, ultimately performing equally well no matter how he employs his lungs.

The band are loose and underground enough to sound very natural, with nothing forced or contrived. This, coupled with the songwriting, means that this release sounds very fresh. The merging of the different styles into the Crust Punk sound adds a deeper shade of murk to a band that’s essentially song-focused, really bringing home the quality of the tracks and impressing with their vitality and longevity.

Rolling through a town near you like a freight train, I give you Idols Plague. Listen loud.

Ultramantis Black – Ultramantis Black (Review)

From the US, Ultramantis Black play Hardcore Metal.

The first thing to take in is the album cover, which is very striking. There’s something about it which appeals to me greatly.

Ultramantis Black is a wrestler in his day job, so to speak, and it seems he’s decided to have a stab at some angular, angry Hardcore. I’m glad he has as this is 13 minutes of testosterone and fury.

Reference points? Luddite Clone, Deadguy, the Dillinger Escape Plan, Converge, Burnt by the Sun, Association Area – abrasive, inventive, atypical and full of rage.

Vocally he has a thin, piercing semi-shriek that’s buried low in the mix and sounds Punk as fuck. It’s different to what I was expecting and a welcome surprise. The best way I can think to describe it is a snarl, pure and simple.

The vocals being lower in the mix allows the music to take centre stage, and it’s strong enough to do this. For a man who is probably used to being the centre of attention it’s a brave and confident move, but the band of assorted miscreants he has assembled to spread his message know their stuff so it’s an understandable one.

The songs twist and turn, rage and subdue, burn and fade and then it’s over. 13 minutes is not a long time. Alternatively, 13 minutes is a very long time in a choke hold, which this is the aural equivalent of.

Repeated spins show this release to be an ungentle grower, as the guitar riffs become more familiar and the unexpected song directions become easier to navigate.

I have a long-running soft spot for this kind of music stemming from a period years and years ago when I was absolutely obsessed with it. I still love it now and it’s always great to hear it done so well.

You can see why a label as prestigious as Relapse snapped this up – this is right up their street and is of the highest quality, especially for a début release.

Give this a whirl and prepare to be floored.

Favourite Track: Sentience. The mid-paced highly emotive main riff brings me out in goosebumps.

Lockersludge – Drawing Lessons (Review)

Lockersludge are from the UK and play Metal with Hardcore/Sludge influences.

This is an interesting merger of some different styles, all wrapped up in a Metal package.

Combining the rawkus nature of Old-School Hardcore with a Sludge influence the band do well in not instantly sounding like anyone else.

The tracks bound along with this unusual melding of styles and remind of 90’s Century Media acts like My Own Victim and Gurd with a bit of a non-Southern Eyehategod feel to some of the riffs. It’s quite a nostalgic feeling that Lockersludge give me and I find myself liking this band a great deal.

The vocals are belligerent and melodic at the same time. Again there is a curious mixing of styles; essentially based in Hardcore-land, they nonetheless display melodic sensibilities as well as hints at a more Sludge background.

Lockersludge are bravely and wisely forging their own path through today’s over-saturated musical waters and I’ve found this release highly competent and highly enjoyable.

Oh, and they also have a song called The Beard of Doom. Win.

Check them out.

Teeph – Solid Jobs (Review)

Teeph are from the US and play Hardcore Metal.

This is heavy stuff, in the style of Botch, early Cave In, Knut, Zao, et al. This style hit its biggest point in the late 90’s/early 00’s and Teeph sound like they would have fit in just right back then.

Solid Jobs burns with a refined anger and a timeless appeal of pure heaviosity. The songs are impressive and gather influences from a range of sources, merging them into a cohesive whole.

As well as the loud and heavy parts they also know enough about their genre to add in slower, more introspective sections so that they use light and shade to maximum effect.

Teeph also show a bit of a Sludge influence to some of their riffs, greatly enhancing their songs. There is even the odd Stoner riff detectable, such as at the end of Marijuana Chaos.

Vocally the shouting is strong and deeply satisfying; the singer rages and snarls and really hits the spot.

This kind of music takes me back and it’s great to hear a band do it so well. This is an outstanding EP – it’s like listening to an old favourite for the first time.

Highly recommended.

Hard Charger – Chrome Lord (Review)

Hard Charger are from Canada and play Crossover/Thrash Metal.

Thrash Metal raped by Punk. Or the other way around? Who cares; either way this is raw, underground and Metal.

The songs are short and full of confidence and have an Old-School Hardcore feel to them whilst also having sufficient metal licks to keep the mosh-crowd happy.

This reminds me of a more Hardcore-influenced Brujeria more than anything else actually. There’s something about the vocals; the fact I keep thinking the singer’s going to start shouting La Ley de Plomo at any given point.

Regardless, this is a decent listen and unlike a lot of bands who play this genre it’s slanted more to the Hardcore side than the Thrash side, which, as much as I love Thrash, works in the band’s favour.

Some of the tracks have a more rock and roll feeling to them as well, adding a cocksure swagger to the proceedings which shows that the band know how to have a good time. The solos are a welcome addition also.

A band to watch out for. A couple of refinements here and there, as well as upgrading to a fuller, bigger sound and their next release will be a monster.

Tombs – Savage Gold (Review)

Tombs are a Metal band from the US and this is their third album.

They play a style of underground Metal that mixes Classic Metal riffs with influences from Death Metal, Hardcore and Sludge. The result is Tombs.

Another way of looking at it is to imagine a band like Doomriders only have them violated by Death Metal and covered by Sludge Metal; a rocking sensibility that’s as heavy and nasty as can be. Again, the result is Tombs.

Not many bands are playing this mix of styles; apart from Tombs there are only a handful of others, including the great Serpent Eater.

The band open with Thanatos; it has a curious sound mixing Doom-laden Post-Metal riffage with prime blast beats and throat-straining vocals. The rest of the album is equally impressive and takes aspects of these differing genre styles in lesser or greater extents to create a varied, interesting and very satisfying release.

The sound is immense and as heavy as Hell. All of the instruments are clear and identifiable and the entire recording is as sharp as a knife.

A real sense of horror and evil pervades the roots of this album; this manifests itself in the actual songs sometimes as blatant misanthropy and hatred, and others as a more nuanced disgust.

There’s a lot of longevity in this album. Start your descent into the Tombs now.

Flesh Born – Han (Review)

Coming from the US Flesh Born are set to unleash their latest EP on the world.

This is screaming Hardcore with a Black Metal feel; dark and Blackened moods with sharp riffs all packaged in very short songs designed to pierce the minds of the weak.

The Blackened riffs are layered with high pitched screams while the Hardcore sensibility keeps things from veering to far into Black Metal territory and ensures the tracks last only as long as they need to.

Eight tracks, 11 minutes; this was never going to be pretty. Having said that though Flash Born do find time for less abrasive and more emotive riffs in their arsenal of pain.

Even with the short length of the songs the band make ample room for some slower riffs with the guitars lazily spreading misery and hardship like a virus. The aptly named Gloom is a perfect example of the art of Blackened Doom, cut short.

If you haven’t encountered Flesh Born before this is an enjoyable introduction to them. If they ever get around to releasing a full album it will be really interesting to see what they do with it.

https://www.facebook.com/fleshborn