WAY

What Assails You #5: Mosh Hunger

WAY

It’s been a while since I’ve sat down to dish about hardcore’s up-and-comers, bands I’ve slept on, or just artists best paid attention to. You may have missed me or maybe not, who knows; either way, there’s a wealth of hardcore, metalcore, or otherwise that’s been making moves this year. The speed with which words move is like lightning, so many of you beloved readers may be familiar with these bands. If that’s the case, share these bands with your unknowing friends anyway.

Today, I offer eight bands that offer myriad options for your mosh-hungry pallette, stateside and some abroad. Don’t worry readers, this isn’t a screamo-focused listamabob masquerading as hardcore (winking emoji). Screamo is awesome, by the way. I’m rambling, but there’s something for anyone who isn’t a Nazi below. Happy music soul searching.

Forward to Eden

Germany’s Forward to Eden have fighting the good fight for a few years now, mercilessly belting out release after release of vegan straight edge metalcore. Hamfisted in the best ways, Forward to Eden released their first proper full-length A Human Artefact earlier this year. A heavy-hearted, desolately melodic six songs, A Human Artefact is among my favorite metalcore releases of 2018. Currently available on vinyl, cassette, CD, and digital formats through Bound by Modern Age Records, Catalyst Records, Heal Records, and the band proper.

God Program

This is a mean one, maybe the meanest band on this list, in all honesty. A quintet from Milford, Connecticut, is a young band creating punishing metalcore befitting seasoned genre bands. Blessing 2018 with their debut demo and a two-song promo, God Program’s music is free of fluff, providing brutish yet overwhelmingly emotive jams that lunge fang-first at your jugular, with no warning growls to speak of. An excellent track to start with is the pulverizing “Dostoyevsky Vs. The Long Island Sound.”

Gulch

Santa Cruz’s Gulch is one of 2018’s wave-makers, with resulting waves being slimy, hundreds of feet high, full of more sharks than a Sharknado, and sounding just as batshit crazy. I’ve yet to see them live, but a casual internet search yields videos displaying a band that goes way harder than many of their peers. Shifting from lowbrow ground stomping to fleet-footed killing sprees, Gulch’s newest EP Burning Desire to Draw Last Breath, released in May through Creator-Destructor Records, is a refreshing hardcore bruiser.

Hands Upon Salvation

The most veteran band on this list, with Yogyakarta, Indonesia’s Hands Upon Salvation unleashing their melodic death metal-inspired metalcore since the early aughts. In that time, the band has released a multitude of demos, EPs, and splits, which is to say nothing of their three full-lengths, which includes this year’s excellent Heresy. Bringing to mind the earlier albums of bands like As I Lay Dying and Through the Eyes of the Dead, Heresy is a towering ten-song monster that is the best place to start if you’re unfamiliar with Hands Upon Salvation’s discography (which I was until now). Available now through Bound by Modern Age Records, Jesuicidal Records and Diorama Records.

Mourning

Worship of the venerable 1990s Belgian H8000 scene is rarely, if ever, a bad thing, and the United Kingdom’s Mourning do it just right. With a discography of two solid demos released between last fall and this summer, Mourning is raw, unrepentant metallic hardcore befitting tastes fond of Congress and Liar. Their newest demo, comprising an apocalyptic track all their own alongside a nasty Neglect cover, was released this year via the Arduous Path Recordings and the band proper.

No Holds Barred

There’s no confusing where Yellow Springs, Ohio’s No Holds Barred stand on both the political and musical spectrums, with their bare bones punk spewing timely anti-fascist mantras at a breathless pace. The five songs within the concisely named Anti-Fascist Army makes it the perfect soundtrack for slapping around Nazis, Proud Boys, and all manner of alt-right dingbats. This EP will also satisfy tastes for old school, straight-to-the-point hardcore punk. Take your pick.

Raw Brigade

To further expand tastes for no-strings-attached hardcore, Bogota, Columbia’s Raw Brigade should satisfy that craving for days. Delivering their snarling music with venomous fervor, Raw Brigade’s best yet comes in the form of this year’s aptly-titled Kicking Your Face, a six-song EP carpet bombing and their fourth release overall. Be sure to explore their previous releases below.

WIMP

Punishing, low-fi, take-no-prisoners queer hardcore from Boston, WIMP is angrier than any band on this list, and it shows with all teeth bared on their debut EP, Vengeance. At five songs completed with a Bikini Kill cover, WIMP’s bleak tone is not meant for everyone, which this trio makes rightfully clear throughout. Uncommonly open in its delivery, Vengeance is a vicious, socially-conscious release that you’d be a fool not to purchase below.

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