…

Hailing majestic and mysterious from Melbourne, Australia is the one-man riff cyclone Rebel Wizard. Gifted life by its mastermind B. Nekrasov, Rebel Wizard is a lovingly crafted project combining the sweeping grandeur of NWOBHM with the black metal lukewarm fuzz. The results have yielded a septuplicate of EPs and pair of LPs since 2013, each a showcase for Nekrasov’s dizzying technicality and unique vision.

Released this past August on Prosthetic Records, Voluptuous Worship of Rapture and Response, Rebel Wizard second album, is Rebel Wizard’s most towering, challenging monument yet. Voluptuous Worship… is every bit as decadent as title implies, fillings its 45 minutes with sumptuous riffs, croaking malice and addictive songwriting.

…

…

“Mother Nature, Oh My Sweet Mistress, Showed Me the Other Worlds and It Was Just Fallacy,” the album’s sixth track, is as indulgent as its sprawling name. Today we have the pleasure of premiering the track’s accompanying video, a five-minute meditation exemplary of Nekrasov’s self-branded “Heavy Negative Wizard Metal.” Amid the guitars’ torrential croon and the lo-fi snarls, we find a rain flecked lens affixed to a phantasmal and hooded Nekrasov issuing his palpable malevolence in tandem with seemingly mundane activities. As a visual pairing highlighting the human and mystical aspects of Rebel Wizard’s dualistic tones, “Mother Nature…” is a standout amongst Nekrasov’s larger discography.

…

Voluptuous Worship of Rapture and Response is available now from Prosthetic Records.

…

Support Invisible Oranges on Patreon.

…

…

…

Honorable Mentions

Safe and Sound – Only in Death

USA (New Age Records)

I’m going to start this off by being a broken record by way of saying “go vegan.” What with the whole planet literally dying because of actual cow shit, perhaps this is a preaching you’ll consider. If not, Safe and Sound’s debut album makes a way stronger case than I ever could. Thoughtful, provocative and elementally angry, Only in Death is a spry funeral dirge for a flailing world, a crusading Captain Planet of hardcore that’s as moving as it is movement-inspiring.

Pig Destroyer – Head Cage

USA (Relapse)

This one has almost flew under my radar a few times. Not because it isn’t as impressive as Pig Destroyer’s previous albums, what with it being among their most daring in their two decades. The likely culprit is the calculated pace that these grind legends release their material, what with Head Cage being their first since 2012. The furious pace that dominated their discography until this point gives way to midtempo delivered sucker punches. Their songwriting hasn’t been this catchy since Phantom Limb, my personal favorite, nor has their sound been this brutal since their seminal Prowler in the Yard. The results hew closer to hardcore than their usual grindcore, but like everything the band has ever done, said results are genre eluding and ever-impressive.

CANDY – Good to Feel

USA (Triple-B Records)

Have you ever mused about what a post-apocalyptic world sounds like? Rest assured that it would fall somewhere between the metal-meets-bone crunching of a Mad Max action sequence and Candy’s debut album. The sum of all slums depicted on its cover should give its doomsday leanings away, but if you’re ignorant to visual storytelling, then Candy has such sights to show you. Good to Feel hits every hardcore benchmark from Infest to Integrity, all while retaining a unique focus throughout, creating one of the year’s most ambitious punk records.

Of Feather and Bone – Bestial Hymns of Perversion

USA (Profound Lore)

This trio has continually impressed since I happened upon their Bandcamp by sheer happenstance years back. At that point, they were an already vicious grindcore outfit, dishing out killing blow after killing blow with their EPs, split, and debut LP, Embrace the Wretched Flesh. Since 2016, Of Feather and Bone has been metamorphosing into something darker, heavier and downright monstrous. The result is a dizzying murder spree of grimy, blistering death metal swelling with misanthropy-drenched riffs, skeleton-rattling blasts, and soul-quaking roars. Every bit as perverse as its title declares, this is a bleak, unapologetic masterpiece.

A Needle Under the Nail – The Third Impact

USA

The glorious metalcore stylings of the late-1990s to mid-2000s has been making a vengeful, magnificent comeback over the last few years. Pages worth of these bands’ quality releases could be drafted alone, but that would undermine the distinct gem that is South Florida’s A Needle Under the Nail. To be fair, any art that references Neon Genesis Evangelion is going to catch my senses, but ANUN already had my attention with their 2017 demo. Their lovingly-crafted odes to Martyr A.D. and early Poison the Well aside, ANUN’s second EP is entirely their own, possessed of the same creative song structure that made their demo so special. The Third Impact shines in its immediacy, wherein it eschews the sample-heaviness of its predecessor in favor of panicked melodies, nimble yet exacting breakdowns and double the beatings. Take notice all thee casuals.

Portrayal of Guilt – Let Pain Be Your Guide

USA (Holy Roar Records)

I’ll be honest here, I had no idea Portrayal of Guilt existed until a few months ago. This discovery led me to one of the hardest working bands in recent memory, with their brief existence yielding five releases in just under two years. Yes, any artist can do that, sure, but rarely is it of this high quality. Their singles, EPs, and splits are all brimming with screamo that is reverent of the genre’s heyday without being derivative, a feat accomplished only by contemporaries Slow Fire Pistol and WristMeetRazor. Their debut LP took me by surprise, threw me to the floor then stomped on my head until I realized I’d been remiss in sleeping on Portrayal of Guilt thus far. Reminiscent of the bone-breaking sorrow of Neil Perry, this Texan quartet holds your interest like a prolonged strangling, syphoning all your senses into a giddy tunnel vision that’s only misstep is in ending too soon.

Heavens Die – Unnoticed and Unmissed

USA

I’m a sucker for immense, earth-splitting breakdowns, and Heavens Die are master smiths at forging such bone-breaking delights, though their downtuned and downtrodden metalcore is not so simple. Their second EP, released at the end of November, is infectiously written, laden with sweeping hooks, roiling breakdowns and a palpable world-weariness. These five tracks take cues from 3750-era The Acacia Strain, Grimlock, and a dash of Crowbar by augmenting its most barbarous passages with potent melodies, crafting a towering sound that is equally poignant and ruthless.

Vein – Errorzone

USA (Closed Casket Activities)

Few bands paint so effortlessly with so broad a palette as Vein does, with their schizophrenic metalcore drawing influence from myriad artists, namely those whose prominence was felt in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Shreds of Slipknot’s self-titled, Deftones’ eccentric non-nu-metal, Thursday’s seminal Full Collapse, and Jeromes Dream’s artful cacophony are found throughout Errorzone’s engaging though overbusy span. Vein shines not in their debut’s easily parsed, broader strokes, however, but with how fluent they are in each inspiration, splicing and recombining them into cutting-edge, virulent new forms.

Thou – Magus

USA (Sacred Bones)

Thou owned 2018, let’s make that clear. demonstrating their skills as jacks of all trades, masters of many, any best of list could be half-populated by their releases alone. Between the barbed grunge of Rhea Sylvia to the acoustic beauties found on Inconsolable, Thou bared their creative teeth for all to see this year. Each of these releases, among them also the shapeless drone of The House Primordial and their split with Ragana, were substantive, but in truth were but previews for the main event that is Magus. Thou infuses the signature elegant heft of Heathen, their until now undisputed masterwork, with the ambitious experimentation found on their sprawling 2018 output. A dash of sludge with a pinch of grunge here or a sprinkling of noise over molten doom there; it all flows with grace and foreboding.

Cult Leader – A Patient Man

Magus stood atop my generating list for months, that was until Cult Leader released “I Am Healed,” the first single from their second album, a track possessed of a bloodlust I had not yet heard this year. Then came the brooding, existential “To: Achyls” and its accompanying video, the sounds and images of which I found almost overwhelmingly moving. When my greedy ears finally consumed the collection in totality, I found my expectations were exceeded; like Lightless Walk before it, A Patient Man is perfect (hyperbolic, I know). Achingly lyricised across caustic bursts of venomous crust and baritone death rock elegies, A Patient Man is 2018’s heaviest, most affecting release.

…

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.

…

Become an Invisible Oranges patron.

…

At 30 years, many bands become cliches, lose relevance or simply flicker out long before such a benchmark. Integrity hasn’t suffered such a fate, on the contrary in fact. As the shape shifting brainchild of founding member Dwid Hellion, Integrity has assumed innumerable forms, including their classic metallic hardcore back catalog. In celebration of the band’s 30th anniversary, I spoke to Dwid himself about the many stages of their vast career, dream collaborations, Dwid’s love of The Rolling Stones’ Sticky Fingers, and more. Read on for our conversation…

Howling, for the Nightmare Shall Consume, the Integrity name’s newest form, was among my favorite 2017 albums and has become an overall favorite of your discography. To start, how has the album’s wider reception been, and how do you all consider its place within Integrity’s vast catalog?

Thank you. That is very kind of you to say. I am humbled and grateful for the enormous positive response that Howling, . . . has received. Dom [Romeo] and I worked long and hard to create an album that we would love to listen to. We have been fortunate that others also have been enjoying the album.

Never ones to shy away from experimentation, Howling… featured several interesting tracks that strayed heavy from typical Integrity fare, namely “7 Reece Mews,” “String Up My Teeth” and “Viselle De Drac.” Much of this experimentation meshed with surprising ease (“String Up My Teeth”), leading to one of the album’s most entertaining tracks. What were among the inspirations that led to these tracks’ creations?

“7 Reece Mews” was intended to be something like an epic ballad, something cinematic that conveyed emotion. “String Up My Teeth” employs some majestic gospel vocals courtesy of Monique Harcum. “Viselle De Drac” was the most experimental and is a stereophonic fairy tale, each speaker channel tells a conflicting story simultaneously.

What is everyone’s favorite track(s) among your new material, including your just-released split with the almighty Krieg? My personal favorite was your “Deathly Fighter” cover, insane shredding throughout!

I do not know if I have a favorite, I like the songs and that is why they were included. Each song offers its own merit for me, so I am unable to choose one above the rest. Glad to hear that you enjoy, “Deathly Fighter.” On that song, I sang in Japanese, that was quite a challenge to accomplish.

Are there any other tracks from the Japanese heavy music scenes, past or present, that you would like to cover?

I have covered Randy Uchida Group and ZOUO in the past, I seem to connect with certain Japanese bands more than most. I think I may have reached the point where I have covered enough Japanese songs. But, you never know!

On the split, its artwork and Howling… appear as part of a thematic series, and is among my favorite of Integrity’s visual gallery. Said art has a Gustav Dore vibe about it, was this intentional and how do these visuals tie in thematically with this stylistic era of the band?

For Howling and the new split LP with Krieg, I used a collage style which was rooted in the use of Victorian era illustrations. Some of the imagery is sourced from Dore, the rest is from a variety of sources. Often times that style of engraving is attributed to Dore. The album writing began with a storyboard and those illustrations inspired the songwriting.

I would say that this aesthetic approach will continue for a while, as it is part of how and what we are writing at the moment. When it no longer serves its purpose, a new visual direction will be invoked.

With such a storied history, there’s a trove of questions I want to ask, but first among them is what is your favorite release or collection among Integrity’s discography?

The next album is always my favorite album. That is why I continue to move forward, because I look forward to the next recording and what it will reveal to me.

If there was one album you could record, which would it be and of course, why?

That is an interesting question. I suppose I would have to say, Rolling Stones’ Sticky Fingers is a near perfect album. I love its diversity, and yet it still flows as a cohesive album and does not feel like a compilation. That or Motley Crue’s Shout at the Devil.

Though the list is exhaustive, from 1988 until now, what bands have you enjoyed playing with most?

My side project, Vermapyre played a festival with G.I.S.M. and that was a dream come true. Over the years, Integrity has toured and performed alongside many great bands and as many great people. It would be impossible to narrow that down to one group.

Are there any artists that are no longer active that you would’ve like to have worked with? Are there any current artists that you would work with and why?

I would have loved/would love to work with Bobby Byrd, Danzig, Randy Uchida, Streisand, Marion Raven, Lee Hazlewood. Jim Steinman would be an inspiring producer to work with.

With many bands planning entire tours around playing one nostalgic and/or influential album live, would that be an option Integrity would ever explore? Of the band’s arguably three most beloved releases, Those Who Fear Tomorrow, Systems Overload and Humanity is the Devil, which would you play live? Of those three, which is your favorite?

I have not been asked to do that, I guess it could be possible, it has never crossed my mind and all of those albums have passed landmark anniversary dates already, so I do not know if that would have the same marketing appeal. I do not have favorites, I enjoy all of my albums.

There has been a cult of personality that has surrounded you and the Integrity name itself for decades now. Much of this is cultivated by the intriguing imagery, much of it coming from the Process Church and featuring Charles Manson. Is there any imagery used in the band’s history you would omit now? Or any imagery and themes you had planned but abandoned in favor of the final product?

No. Every aesthetic approach for INTEG had a specific purpose and intention.

What is the intent and purpose for Integrity’s aesthetic?

Expression. Conveying the mood and emotion of the music. Offering visual stimulation for the observers imagination when listening to the music.

Coming from a movement like hardcore where ideals and music are firmly hand-in-hand, how has your mindset in relation to that sentiment shifted from when you started the band as Die Hard way back when? Is there any aspect of the band that you have ensured would endure time and all its wears?

When I was in Die Hard, I was a kid. Only one song from that period of my life was good enough to travel along, “Judgement Day.” INTEG lyrics focus on personal ideals, torment and philosophies. As it related to who I am as a person, it does not become dated for me. INTEG is not a hardcore band, it has aspects of hardcore and many other variations of music within it, but it is definitely not hardcore.

Out of Integrity’s more recent discography, which song best represents the band in its current iteration?

I do not think one song embodies what INTEG is about. It is the accumulative sum of all songs that define where it was and where it will be is always a variable.

What does the Integrity name mean to you now, 30 years on?

The same as it always has. It is an esoteric diary of my life and my creative mind.

As I mentioned before, Integrity’s momentum is almost unprecedented. With that being said, done and obvious, where do you see Integrity in the near future? How do you see yourself finally laying the Integrity name to rest?

I have no immediate intention of retiring, I have many more albums inside my mind. My future plans are to make the concepts of each album more involved and to share more visuals with the music and lyrics. I also will be increasing the dramatic elements and pushing the boundaries between what I would like to listen to, and what is deemed acceptable at the moment to include on a heavy metal album.

…

[Editor’s Note: Yes, we’re a bit late on this anniversary (one month to be precise, today is July 17th, 2018 and Unhallowed released on June 17th, 2003) — it was a scheduling error on our part. This minor blunder shouldn’t detract from our appreciation of this jamming ol’ album, however. Enjoy the lookback.]

…

I’m going to be honest with you by way of offering an initial warning (and empty apology) regarding my thoughts on The Black Dahlia Murder‘s debut album Unhallowed. This anniversary piece is going to be biased, and I’m going to lavish every ounce of hyperbolic praise I can muster on this majestic beasty. You’re probably going to be annoyed with how much I love this album — I dare say I prefer it to their rarely questioned magnum opus Nocturnal. I may even mention Unhallowed, with all its metalcore trappings, in the same breath as “deathcore.” Like the band itself, you may take or leave this, or love it outright.

…

…

Though released two years earlier, I snapped up Unhallowed from The Black Dahlia Murder’s merch table at Ozzfest 2005. At the time, you could find me in the standard metalcore kid regalia of the era: a black As I Lay Dying shirt that was just snug enough to outline my 18-year-old twinktastic physique, complimented by cut-off camo shorts and some brand of puffy skate shoe. At the time, I thought Unhallowed was among the most brutal shit I’d hear, though mere days later, I found Miasma to be way meaner, and, years after, Nocturnal more technically astute.

These three albums combined have endured my ever-shifting tastes, my twenties, and now into my thirties. They are classics through and through, but if I had to shoot two in the head and pick one to survive, it’d be Unhallowed. This was when almost every metalcore band that found its way on Headbanger’s Ball took shameless inspiration from Gothenburg-leaning melodic death metal or just aped Cannibal Corpse’s aesthetic. These approaches had all the opportunity to have varying results, but in retrospect most were consumable, gateway metal entertainment. To wit, it was at the behest of mid-aughts The Black Dahlia Murder interviews that I first threw myself into the voids offered by Slaughter of the Soul or Storm of the Light’s Bane.

Unhallowed was never meant to be the grand ode to the Great Ones that would be Nocturnal. Unhallowed was a barring of fangs, a bloodlust howl issued from a Detroit-based quintet barely two years into spawning. Not as raw as their debut What A Horrible Night to Have a Curse EP or as polished as later material (save for Everblack, production-wise), its ten songs crackle with malice with each passing second.

…

…

The titular opening, featuring a laboriously-breathing void complimented by chilling narrations lifted from Butchering the Human Carcass for Human Consumption, set the tone for the bleeding tongue-in-cheek humor that has since permeated The Black Dahlia Murder’s collective persona. It’s the segueing of that void into “Funeral Thirst” that is Unhallowed‘s defining moment: the militant cadence surging into the skull whirling chuggery leaping into breathless blast beats. It is all still much to behold. The band’s two enduring members, guitarist Brian Eschbach and vocalist Trevor Strnad, were already operating at full power here. Eschbach’s melodeath gunfire stabs electric through the drums’ pummel before arcing with moonlit splendor to the wail of his solo. Strnad issues his verbose gore through every manner of screech, growl and audible scowl; a lyrical and dramatic talent he’s since further perfected.

“Elder Misanthropy” is a creature of serrated melody, a twisting mass shifting between a metalcore and death metal song with maddening delight. It dares you to run amok to its roiling current or dance to its fleeting, hook-laden two-step passages. Pause or flee at your own risk. “The Blackest Incarnation” best exemplifies the album at large, stuffing its five minutes with blast beats, soaring riffs, malevolent intent, dueling melodies, and climax upon climax. “Closed Casket Requiem” is their perfect metalcore to death metal hybridization, contorting from an oozing mosher into circle pitting cyclone with masterful alchemy. It’s one of those tracks where the “The Black Dahlia Murder is deathcore” troll-bait stems from, and while the jab is at best insincere, there have been worse labels slung at metalcore-leaning bands.

It’s been 17 years and eight albums into their never-ending tour of a career, and the Black Dahlia Murder is as tenured and renowned as the bands from which they once took inspiration. Few modern metal acts have enjoyed such momentum so early, much of it propelled by the pairing of band’s lovable cult of personality with the double homicide that is Unhallowed and Miasma. The subsequent headlining tours, hordes of insatiable Blast Fiends, and seven albums owe their successes and existences to Unhallowed.

Sure, this can be said of any inaugural album of a successful band, but no debut I’ve yet heard possesses the same youthful, feral intensity found here. So, bow all ye hearts cold and blue, to the perfection, this murder divine, the elder misanthrope that is Unhallowed.

…

Become an Invisible Oranges patron.

…

…

Every once in a while a band comes my way in the most serendipitous fashion possible. Dying Wish came via recommendation from a friend new to the Portland, Oregon area. Following a few listens of their debut Finding Peace in the Darkness, released under the name Trust Issues, I fell for their uncompromising, bone-crunching brand of hardcore.

During the span of this interview exchange, Dying Wish released their 2018 demo, the first release under their new moniker. The demo’s three tracks show the band pushing themselves into from heavy territory into the oft-unvisited realms of joyous, unflinching violence. Dying Wish is mean as fuck, but thankfully Emma and Pedro, their vocalist and guitarist, respectively, were a delight to speak with.

…

…

How did Dying Wish come into being? Where any of you a part of other previous or current projects?

Emma: Jeff, Pedro and I all grew up together. We went to metal shows and shared interest in various “Warped Tour bands” in middle school and as we got older we all got into the hardcore scene together. In 2016, I had been wanting to get more involved in the scene and start a band. At the time the only people I felt comfortable playing music with in Portland was Jeff and Pedro. They had both played in another NW metalcore band called Funerals.

Was there clear intent that went into forming Dying Wish, a mission or goal, if you will?

Emma: I would actually say we had the opposite of a mission or goal in mind. We literally had zero idea what were doing when we started. I guess you could say we are all pretty embarrassed about our demo and that motivated us to change our sound that developed into Finding Peace in the Darkness. Even still we are trying to find a balance between all of our ideas and polish our sound, which explains why we changed the band name to Dying Wish.

With the first official Dying Wish release now available, what inspirations contributed into these three songs?

Emma: Deciding on the new band name was not easy, especially because we wanted something that was going to encompass our future progression (we felt that the name Trust Issues was not a fair indicator of our style and purpose). We tossed around ideas for a month and Dying Wish was one of the first that we always came back to. We’re all very happy with the change and the reaction to it.

As a band we are constantly trying to outdo ourselves, and that was the main source of inspiration for these new songs. We’re all fairly young still and with each release we are learning. I think the current status of hardcore and the bands that are thriving are inspiring us as well. We’re watching how hard bands like Year Of The Knife and Sanction are working, and they absolutely deserve all the payoff. Those bands are a couple examples of musicians who have amazing drive and they motivate us to work harder.

You released your debut as Trust Issues, Finding Peace in the Darkness, last May and its four songs pack a wallop. One of its standout qualities are the lyrics. If you would, please expand on the EP’s themes.

Emma: Had a lot of people reaching out to me once they heard “Suffering” from the EP and asking if I was okay [laughs]. I have been in an ongoing fight with anxiety since I could remember. I even have had the same recurring nightmares since I was in grade school. “Suffering” is a song that I wrote when I was at a breaking point. It was inspired by an actual suicide note I had starting writing to my mom. I’m so thankful to have music and connect with people who tell me they relate to that song and how I’m feeling, even if it’s just a handful of people. “Cursed” and “Abandoned” are both written about people I hate. I cut them off for different reasons and never had a chance to tell them to their face how badly they had hurt me and others around them. Those songs are basically my way of telling them to fuck off.

Of the three tracks from the new Dying Wish, which is your favorite and why?

Emma: I think we can all agree that “Mercenary Consequence” is our favorite song on the new release. Lyrically and musically it’s the best thing we’ve ever put out.

Are there any specific artists that have influenced your music, in addition to any writers or writings that have influenced your lyricism?

Pedro: In the beginning, Jeff and I really wanted to make something that sounded like Hatebreed, Integrity, and even Earth Crisis. Like we said before, at the time we were still trying to find our sound and trying to perfect our instruments as well. It took awhile before we honestly knew what we were doing (still kind of don’t, to be honest) but our influences and ideas changed the more we played shows, toured, and wrote music. Personally, bands like Eighteen Visions, AFI, Martyr A.D. really impact my writing both musically and lyrically. I’m also a really big nerd when It comes to mid 2000s metalcore bands that would sometimes have music videos on MTV. It Dies Today, As I Lay Dying, Bleeding Through are all bands we all fuck with.

Who did the dark, alluring cover art? Was the final piece intended to accentuate the music itself so well?

Emma: Our friend Gio Gutierrez drew our cover art that was inspired by a photo we had seen on a blog somewhere, but we felt that It would be more appropriate if It was illustrated. It was absolutely intended to fit the music. We wanted a mildly haunting visual that also reflects the sensitivity of the lyrics.

Are there any current and past artists you’d like to play a show or tour with?

Emma: We’ve been lucky enough to play with some of my wishlist bands so far. Vamachara, Year of the Knife, Terror, Vatican, Mortality Rate. I’d be ecstatic to play with any of these bands again in the future. My dream tour would be with Walls of Jericho.

Pedro: I would love to play shows with Vein from Massachusetts or Three Knee Deep from Florida. As far as past artists go, it would be insane to play a show with Kickback but that’s just my wishful thinking.

What were your favorite releases of 2017? What have you been enjoying so far this year?

Emma: My favorite hardcore releases of 2017 were The Infringement of God’s Plan by Sanction, Ache of Eternity by Vatican, Consumed to Ashes by Cast In Blood, Never Had A Choice by Freedom, and Ultimate Disease by Year of the Knife. I spend just as much time listening to hip-hop and R&B as I do listening to hardcore. I recommend everyone give Saturation II and III by Brockhampton a listen if you haven’t yet. My favorite release of the year so far is Despondent by Vamachara.

Pedro: Like Emma said, we listen to a lot of different genres besides hardcore but a few releases that really blew me away last year were Path to Amnesty by xServitudex, The Acrobat by Death of Lovers, and The Demonstration by Drab Majesty. This year so far I can’t stop listening to Despondent by Vamachara and the new Twitching Tongues release Gaining Purpose Through Passionate Hatred. Watchdogs also released an EP called Sanguinary this year that is one of the hardest things to come out of Richmond. Last thing, keep an eye out for Tourniquet from New Jersey.

…

Follow Dying Wish on Bandcamp.

…

Become an Invisible Oranges patron.

…

…

Can anyone believe that 1998 was 20 years ago? I can’t. I’ve now reached an age where I vividly remember two decades in the past. This was the year of that shitty Lost in Space remake starring Gretchen Wieners and that one American Godzilla film we all loved as kids but hate now. That really cool The Phantom Menace trailer debuted, too, fooling us all with with its cinematic witchcraft. Cinema pulled several fast ones on us that year, while pop music was amid the septic renaissance of hetero-challenging boy bands and glitter-sharting pop stars. I remember it well, I was sheltered at the impressionable age of 11, denied access to the punk and metal I would smuggle into my house three years later. I look at the year in punk with longing, wishing I could’ve been there to see the metalcore heyday — where Disembodied’s devilish riffs regularly skulked mosh pits and Satisfaction is the Death of Desire was newly forged steel.

Then, there was Converge, good ol’ god-tier, manic, wonderful, hyper-emotive Converge. A five-piece that included Bane’s Aaron Dalbec and Cave In’s Stephen Brodsky alongside founders Jacob Bannon and Kurt Ballou, Converge was on the precipice of the stylistic tectonic shift that would be Jane Doe. But before that genre- and career-defining classic, the Salem quintet released their first (possibly only) bonafide hardcore album: When Forever Comes Crashing. Their first album Halo in a Haystack was a borderless metalcore debut, while Petitioning the Empty Sky was a fruitful compilation. Both contained quality material, yet they left a vacuum in their creator’s discography for a truly name-defining work. When Forever Comes Crashing is arguably the first true Converge album, the first time they threw all their chaotic structure and unhinged sentiment into one cohesive work, all at once — the first time they were Converge with all discordant engines firing.

…

…

Free from the post-metal experimenting which would define their post-Jane Doe material, When Forever Comes Crashing is rife with metalcore’s trademark savagery, that unmistakable combination of hardcore’s vitriolic passion with metal’s malleable technicality. The style’s horrible attitude is best sampled in the head-crushing opener “My Unsaid Everything” or the legendary-among-fans breakdown in “Conduit.” This is Converge as pure rage, where even the most forlorn songs, like “In Harms Way” and “Lowest Common Denominator” are homicidal meteor strike after homicidal meteor strike. On the latter, the sole repeating lyric “Everything is not okay” is snarled beneath a weight of abrasion and despondency. It’s a hamfisted approach that hits home, a template that would find further life on their next-meanest album, No Heroes.

“Ten Cents” is a timid gem amid all the bombast, a somewhat successful take on second-wave emo (gasp). The song’s inclusion is surprising but not without context, given how Converge has played with bands like Piebald and Thursday. “Ten Cents” is fragile but possesses its own twinkling elegance that has the misfortune of following the monstrous, frenetic offerings “Towing Jehovah” and the title track, both exemplary, razor-sharp Converge tracks. While this marks “Ten Cents” as the album’s sole potential weak point, it was a glimmer of Converge’s adventurous side which they would explore intimately on later albums.

…

…

When Forever Comes Crashing blessed Converge’s live sets with their hardest tracks in the trifecta of “Conduit,” “Letterbomb,” and “Love As Arson.” These define the album and its standing as Converge’s truest hardcore album. “Conduit” hits harder than any hardcore, metalcore, or otherwise song of its day (or maybe any day) with its sustained, panicked breakdown slashing at you like an endless knife attack. Ender “Love As Arson” defined the band’s uplift-from-darkness lyricism, with the gang vocalized “I won’t let this heart stop beating / I will rise again,” affording Converge their own song akin to anthemic classics from the likes of Gorilla Biscuits (“No Reason Why”) and Warzone (“Don’t Forget the Struggle, Don’t Forget the Streets”). Like those tracks did for their respective bands, “Love As Arson” established a coda for Converge, a quintessential track that exemplified the emotional heft that has defined them. Though “Love As Arson” (and much of Converge’s pre-2001 catalog) has been retired from their recent setlists, these songs remain among the most effective of the band’s stirring arsenal, the first ones that stripped the muscles around the human heart bare.

While the rest of 1998 was content with campy remakes and garrish fashion (see every outfit in Jawbreaker, filmed the same year), the underground swelled with seismic beauty, its own affective ugliness, where When Forever Comes Crashing rang with such heartbreaking magnitude, we still feel it decades later.

…

…

It’s been a while since I’ve been able to list and blab about my recent favorite hardcore releases. My year-end list topped off at a good 40 releases, half which were cut for the sake of not wanting to bore everyone to death. There was an immense pile of wholesome, jaw-cracking hardcore, metalcore, or otherwise that was released throughout 2017. While there’s a slim chance you may have missed out on a few, I’ve included five such gems below for the stragglers.

Also, given last year’s output, it is of zero surprise that only a quarter into 2018 there’s already a near dozen solid releases to consume (if not more). Like the 2017 selections, these five cuts I’ve included are brutal, furious, and above all, impassioned. Don’t sleep on these.

— Bruce Hardt-Valenzuela

…

2017 Releases

…

Concealed Blade — S/T

Released in January 2017, Concealed Blade’s debut album is old-school meets new-school without the clichés. Describing the album’s 11 tracks as “fast” and “mean” only does the album some justice, as they’re also monstrously fun — a quality missing from so many newer punk bands.

…

xGnapenstobx — Release of Pain

Released on Christmas, Austin’s Gnapenstob’s Release of Pain EP is a five-song beating of emotive vegan straight-edge metal. Preening their sound from the best aspects of late 1990s metalcore (see Morning Again et al.), the Release of Pain EP is their first release since 2015’s Life Goes, Unfortunately, On, and certainly their best yet.

…

Magnitude — Era of Attrition
Quaking into existence (sorry) this past October, Charlotte-based outfit Magnitude released the pummeling, refreshing Era of Attrition on the heels of April’s self-titled debut. You’d think one year couldn’t handle two releases by this exceptional band, but here we are, waiting for more straight-edge glory.

…

SeeYouSpaceCowboy — Fashion Statements for the Socially Aware
I’ve been kicking myself for sleeping on this band. Like, kicking myself in the face until my teeth pop out. San Diego’s SeeYouSpaceCowboy released their debut EP last June, and while the Cowboy Bebop-inspired name is a nice touch, it’s the spastic, relentless tunes that are the star. Queercore played in the vein of old-school Converge meets Arsonists Get All the Girls, SeeYouSpaceCowboy is metalcore without restraint. This is even further demonstrated on their 2018 split with Second Grade Knife Fight.

…

Trust Issues — Finding Peace in the Darkness
Portland-based Trust Issues are one of the meanest bands out there right now. Just listen to any one of the four tracks off their debut album Finding Peace in the Darkness and you’ll get a decent idea at what they’re capable of. This is another piece, released last May, that I slept on, but glad I woke up to.

…

2018 Releases

…

Chamber — Hatred Softly Spoken

The first of our 2018 releases is fresh off the fryer, released only at the beginning of March. Chamber’s debut is an absolute beast comprising five tracks of dark, unyielding metalcore. Crushing with every panicked riff and megaton breakdown, I can’t wait to see what this Nashville monster has in store next.

…

Crossfire — Demo

Hailing from Tucson, Crossfire debuted this three-song, old-school delight in February. A concise, biting takedown of police brutality and establishment, Crossfire’s demo is a loaded helping of crossover-leaning hardcore punk that you’d be wise to take notice of now, lest you punish yourself later.

…

Nine Eyes – Exhibition 2018

Nine Eyes is nothing new, having pushed out release after release since their 2015 debut, but this small but filling course of metalcore is the most solid reminder of their existence to date. At a mere two songs, this Louisville-based outfit’s newest demo is stuffed with machine gun breakdowns, bombastic riffs, Blade Runner samples and shit-ton for any heavy music fan to chew on.

…

Seed of Pain — Demo

The best kind of Ringworm-worship from south Florida, Seed of Pain dropped this nuke at the beginning of March, and I find myself unable to turn it off. As with much of the music coming out of their area, I look forward to what this band and its members have in store next, but this four song beating of towering riffage and savage intentions will do just fine for now.

…

Watchdogs — Sanguinary

One of this year’s first heavy hitters, Sanguinary is the third release from this Richmond, Virginia brute squad. Brooding in the best possible way, Watchdogs doles out their brand of heaviness with calculated malice not often seen. This is real deal, mean-as-fuck stuff.

…

…

Metalcore isn’t a slur anymore, or at least it never deserved to be. With an influx of younger bands reaping the best from back-catalogs of bands like On Broken Wings, Skycamefalling, and Disembodied, the once-derided style has entered a renaissance all its own, with its standouts not difficult to spot. Broward County, Florida’s Bloodbather swings their music like a battle-axe into naysayer faces, living up to their namesake with flying, crimson colors. This quartet split 2018 from head-to-toe with the release of their second EP: a crushing, virulent seven-song massacre that has been turning heads clean off since its release. I spoke to the band about the Pressure EP and everything that goes into making Bloodbather the real deal.

…

…

How did Bloobather come together?

Jeffrey Georges (vocals): Matt [Stokes] had a couple songs on his hard drive in 2016, basically thought it’d be a fun idea to track over the songs. Ended up writing “Consequence” for fun, posted it on the Internet — plenty of people liked it so we decided to do a whole EP as an Internet project. Then we decided to make it a real band shortly after we got asked to play shows in the area.

Who did you play your first show with?

Georges: It was a Gouge Away record release show actually! The singer asked if we could open up the show cause this band Axis (amazing band by the way) had to drop.

Maddie Champagne (bass): Sam and I’s first show with Bloodbather was at The Ground in Miami when we opened for Whitechapel, Carnifex, Rings of Saturn, and a couple others. Super wild.

Sam Jimenez (drums): Her and I joined earlier this year when Bloodbather’s drummer quit and they parted ways with their bass player.

Gouge Away is amazing (as is Axis). Those are wild line-ups for first shows too. What bands were you all in prior to joining Bloodbather?

Georges: Matt was in Deviant. I was in this deathcore band called Tribe. Sam, before he joined, was in this band Natsuki that he still plays shows with and this is pretty much Maddie’s first band. Matt and I actually bonded cause we would do tours with Tribe, Deviant, and this other band called With Locusts and Liars. We knew each other prior but I think that’s when the chemistry really started musically.

Matt Stokes (guitar/composition): I was in a band called Deviant; Bloodbather was supposed to be my side project at first but quickly became my main.

Champagne: Bloodbather is my first band, but I’ve been a musician forever, so it’s cool to finally be doing something with it with these lovely dudes.

Jimenez: I’m currently playing bass for a local band named Natsuki. I filled in on drums for a different local band and that’s where Jeff first saw me play. He actually didn’t know I was a drummer.

Which bands have been particularly inspiring to each of you as musicians and to you all as band?

Stokes: Nine Inch Nails, Marilyn Manson, and The Cure are my biggest inspirations music- and image-wise; I take from genres non-metal to switch up how we sound to kind of distinguish originality from a genre that can be “repetitive.” Genre-wise, we all love Code Orange, Disembodied, and Martyr AD.

The influence of industrial, goth rock and 1990s/1990s-inspired metalcore is strong throughout your two releases. For bands like Martyr AD and Disembodied, what drew you to their sound?

Georges: When I first heard songs like “Heroin Fingers,” “Anvil Chandelier,” and “Forget Me” by Disembodied, I was pretty much captivated by how they could go from chaotic to agonizing. Martyr AD’s straight chaotic energy drew me in and pretty much inspired me to wanna be in a band like that.

Stokes: The chaotic energy and panic chords drew me in on the first listen.

…

…

If God Only Knew the Rest Were Dead and On Earth as it is in Hell are two of my favorites from that era. Very distinct and dark. On bands with a more theatrical image, such as The Cure and Marilyn Manson, how do you incorporate that image and sound into that of Bloodbather?

Stokes: I think Marilyn Manson specifically brings a sort of shock and constant panic with his sound, also a very strong sense of structure with the songs. The Cure all around sets moods and tones in their songs that are very cohesive in albums, I try to emulate that to the best of my ability. Things like layers and a wide range of synths with heavy guitars mix very well.

Jimenez: I’d like to add, being that those are huge influences for the band, their appearances offered even more shock value or at least something to talk about. As a band none of us are afraid to wear a dress on stage, wear makeup as a guy or crop tops and netted shirts. We’re definitely a band that wants to do whatever the fuck we want. No limitations and we’ve already rose past the judgement.

Champagne: And we’re not afraid to do some crazy makeup. Matt always looks pretty as fuck. Fishnets are a must. Absolutely!

That’s an awesome way to approach your band’s image. Much respect. In addition to Robert Smith and Marilyn Manson and their general goth imagery, what other genres, subcultures and cultures contribute to this fluid imagery?

Stokes: Gothic and early 2000s Emo for me mostly.

Champagne: Most of it comes from goth and emo honestly, and some punk.

Georges: I’ve always enjoyed the the masculine/non-masculine appearances, so I would just keep a balance of both or whatever I’m feeling at the moment.

That’s wicked cool. Which goth and emo albums have influenced your sound the most, or are go-to favorites at least?

Stokes: My Chemical Romance and The Used.

Georges: I really like Echo and the Bunnymen, Bauhaus, and The Cure. Emo, I really like bands such as Taking Back Sunday, Sunny Day Real Estate, and Saosin.

Champagne: Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge by MCR is our entire aesthetic. Just kidding, but for real that album is a huge influence.

…

…

I was actually just listening to that the other day. Excellent album, for sure. You released your EP Pressure at the beginning of the year, and I’ve seen it make some waves already. Considering the addition of new members and the two-year span between Pressure and Justified Murder, how do you all feel the band has progressed?

Jimenez: It’s been incredible.

Champagne: I think we’re getting somewhere. It’s sort of crazy the amount of traction we’ve gained just over the past few weeks alone.

Georges: I think we’ve definitely found our sound for sure with this new release. Along with dedicated members that are able to get along all extremely well with each other and have fun with this music, which, in my opinion is the most important when being in a band.

We’ve also progressed not also musically, but made so many friends through this band and have gotten a lot of positive attention on the internet from people all over. The other day we saw people from Japan tweeting about us it was such an amazing feeling knowing its reached that far.

I never really believed the Justified Murder EP was a good representation of what we are, so I’m extremely glad to have put this record out for people new & old. Also having people from bands like Counterparts, Knocked Loose and Sylar talk about us really helped a lot in putting attention on us and I’m extremely grateful for that.

It’s all well deserved. I’ve been alternating between that and the new Vamachara and Harm’s Way LPs all year so far. With a stable lineup on hand, was there a clear goal when writing and recording, what are the lyrical themes that went into the album?

Georges: We wanted to put out the best possible record we could after having Sam and Maddie join around last summer. Before that we wanted to do basically three songs that sounded cool to Matt and I, which were the first two on the EP (they sounded completely different back then) along with a scrapped song. After their joining we still wanted to make cool mosh music, but now with a theatrical atmosphere and lasting memorable effect on the listener where they come back for more. Which is also why it’s so short, it’s easier to listen and replay an EP than a whole full-length. Especially since we wanted this to be the real representation of the band, we wanted to make the introduction accessible.

Originally the lyrics were supposed to be centered around suicide, while going through a rough time happening in my personal life, but decided to scrap the idea and decided to use it as an outlet for people I dislike from a personal level, people with power that are in politics, hate groups, etc., but yeah, the lyrics on this album I’d say are mostly personal rather than political like the Justified Murder EP.

Is there any new material on the horizon?

Georges: Currently, we’re writing new songs right now!

What is each of your favorite songs off Pressure?

Georges: My favorites are “The Final Request” and “End.”

Champagne: “End” is my favorite. It’s the most fun to play live in my opinion.

Jimenez: Yeah “End” is sick. “The Hunt” is probably my favorite to play live strictly because the groove in the beginning is so fun.

Stokes: “End,” “Pressure,” and “The Final Request.”

Are there plans to put out a physical release for Pressure? Are there any tours in the works?

Georges: Since there’s a lot of people asking for it we’re definitely planning on doing CDs and possibly tapes in the future. We’re considering on doing a tour for this year as well. It’s just been hard since we don’t have a van.

In the event of a tour, are there any bands you’d enjoy playing with?

Stokes: We love Sanction, Boundaries, and Vein!

Georges: Would really like to tour with bands like Knocked Loose, Sanction, Vein, Boundaries, Kaonashi, Buried Dreams, Typecaste, Orthodox, Mercy Blow… there’s so much more as well, but it’d be a huge list. Oh yeah, Vicious Embrace and Year of the Knife as well how could I forget! Incredible bands.

Those are all great bands, I hope that comes to fruition. Going forward, what do you all want to accomplish with Bloodbather?

Jimenez: Honestly, we all have been grinding and struggling on our owns before this band started gaining traction. Personally, I would love to keep this momentum, continue to perform and create a viable living doing what we all love.

Georges: To be the best possible band we can be and to become a staple in the genre of music we play. I’ve always wanted to do something with music since I was young, and I feel like this band can grant those opportunities to us.

Stokes: Always do what we want to do and keep having fun.

Champagne: Yup.

I appreciate all your time! Was there anything else you would all like to add?

Stokes: Go vegan.

Champagne: Yeah, go vegan.

Jimenez: Maddie, go vegan.

Champagne: I’m working on it. Shhhh.

Georges: Being straightedge is powerful, veganism is important, Chipotle is better than Moe’s, and somebody buy us a van please!

…

Follow Bloodbather on Facebook.

…