From Facedown Records: Today we are happy to finally announce the release of the highly anticipated War of Ages album Arise and Conquer! War of Ages’ collaboration with Tim Lambesis has produced incredible results and now you can hear the album in its entirety. See the Facedown website for more information on where to pick up a copy of Arise… Read more »
Label: Kill Normal Records Released: July 1, 2008 There are angry bands and then there are really angry bands. They and the Children are the latter. Their latest offering, Home, cuts right to the chase, brimming over with outright rage from the very start. The intensity level is so high in fact that it’s quite a shock that the whole… Read more »
Label: Facedown Records Released: May 27, 2008 The metallic hardcore that Means offer on To Keep Me From Sinking has had a lot of practitioners over the last two decades or so and as expected, some do it better than others. The better bands are either tighter, more intense or occasionally even more creative. Means can compete with the best… Read more »
Label: Facedown Records Released: June 24, 2008 Can’t Fight Robots, the debut album from Arkansas’ Take It Back, finds a good mix between crunch and melody. It draws heavily on bands that defined the punk rock of the 90s like Pennywise and (ironically) Bad Religion and thickens that sound up with more hardcore tendencies. The vocals have a gritty power… Read more »
Label: Goodfellow Records Released: April 29, 2008 There are two kinds of anger: one based on love and one based on hate. I’ve always found myself more attracted to the former. New Model Army’s fury on “I Love the World” has always seemed both fuller and deeper than something along the lines of the Circle Jerks’ “World Up My Ass.”… Read more »
Label: 24 Hour Service Station Released: December 7, 2007 What happens when Fugazi meets Black Sabbath? History. Okay, so time will tell if History the band actually makes history, but there’s no denying that the potential is there. Their album, Ghosts in the City, isn’t just the result of these influences slapped together in some random fashion, but a natural… Read more »
I recently had a chance to interview Joe Michelizzi, singer for up and coming Maryland hardcore band Bad Habit. For a band that’s been together only a short time, their demo was pretty exciting (and even had a touch of the silly). So, here’s what Joe had to say: RnRnMN: How long have you been together? Joe: We haven’t been… Read more »
Label: Released: October 9, 2007 A Wilhelm Scream doesn’t exactly break down all the walls on Career Suicide, but they do manage to put forth a solid album that isn’t the same old fare over and over again. The album is largely a metally hardcore affair, but its layered sound (particularly the guitar parts) gives it far greater dimension than… Read more »
Label: self-released Released: Like many great punk records, this one’s almost over before it starts. While this isn’t quite great, it does cover all the hardcore bases: fast, loud, aggressive. The four song demo clocks in at just 5:39, but it lets up very little over that time. Bad Habit draws a lot from Minor Threat with just a slightly… Read more »
Label: 316 Productions Released: 2007 At their best, Seizure Crypt is a rehash of 80s New York hardcore, wavering between its earlier thin punk and later more metallic veins. Those high points are energetic, aggressive songs with the typical trappings of the genre: unbridled speed alternating with slow churning grooves, metallic riffs, growls, infectious anger. Both “The Deadend” and “Thankless”… Read more »