hardcore punk

Photo by BrxanText by Cosmo Lee Mat Arluck, guitarist for Sweet Cobra, recently passed away from cancer. He had battled the disease for several years (full story here, tribute site here). People’s memories of him have been overwhelmingly positive. Those include mine. I saw Sweet Cobra this year one cold night in Chicago. They engulfed […]

Screenshot from live videoReview by Casey Boland Bands have been reuniting at an alarming rate. It’s not a matter of who is back together so much as who is not. That Cave In returned is no surprise. The band entered its hiatus amicably, with members appearing on one another’s projects. With continued interest in the […]

Photo by bikepunkmorganReview by Francesco Ferorelli I’ve seen crossover thrashers Atakke a few times over the past three years. Even when they were rougher around the edges, it was clear they were promising. With two 7″s in as many years, Atakke are in no rush. That patience serves them well on Avalanche (Mountains of Madness, […]

Europeans usually get the short end of the stick when it comes to hardcore. Though the Continent wins in the realms of philosophy, politics, healthcare, and social welfare, European hardcore has only recently begun besting its American counterpart. While Scandinavian D-beaters tend to garner the Yankee accolades, Belgium’s Rise and Fall are sure to share […]

No band defines modern hardcore punk more than Converge. Creatively combining the style’s best elements (instrumental precision, brute force, sweaty live shows), the band has been revered for nearly two decades. The Massachusetts institution evolved from the Slayer-worship thrash of its early ’90s material to the grisly ferocity of 2001’s Jane Doe. More cohesive than […]

This quote by Black Flag drummer Bill Stevenson from We Owe You Nothing (Punk Planet: The Collected Interviews) has stuck with me: We also had a very confrontational stage vibe. I’m not saying we brought [violence] upon ourselves, it just wasn’t an inviting setting. There was a wall up and we were trying to play […]

Given their storied pedigree, it’s no surprise that Doomriders revel in the metal. Comprised of equal parts Converge, Disappearer, Cave In and Cast Iron Hike, the band continues the New England tradition of sharpening hardcore’s metal edge. Darkness Come Alive (Deathwish, Inc., 2009) demonstrates how impressive the band has become at molding rock and metal […]

Jacob Bannon of ConvergePhoto by [charlie cravero] The list of upcoming October metal releases is now up. As always, it’s a work in progress. (Please submit corrections and additions in the comments box.) According to metal-archives.com, new releases average about 10 a day. There’s no way I can capture all that, so hopefully I’ve gotten […]

Burning Fight (Revelation, 2009), by Chicago-area hardcore punk veteran Brian Peterson, features dozens of recollections and analyses of mid to late ’90s hardcore. The book is something of a defiant response to American Hardcore, whose author Steven Blush pronounced the death of hardcore by 1986. This reflects the common process wherein aging members of a […]