Metalcore

2021

Album Review: Next Door To Heaven – “Inside” 6.5/10 (Progressive Metalcore)

March 26, 2021 Ellis Heasley

You’ve got to admire the ambition of Next Door To Heaven. The St. Petersburg-based four-piece describes the sound of their new EP, entitled Inside, as “a mixture of metalcore, prog metal, alternative metal, melodic metal and rapcore.” All that seems fair, although the very latter may be a bit of a stretch. Realistically, it’s probably best described as progressive metalcore, kind of in the vein of a band like Spiritbox, albeit with the notable absence of harsh vocals. […]

2020 Albums

Album Review: Intercepting Pattern – The Encounter 8.5 (Jazz Metal)

August 17, 2020 CarcassBOMB

People may be apprehensive when seeing jazz in the genre descriptor for a metal album but Intercepting Pattern manages to overcome many of the failings typical to this style. At first you may suspect it is an instrumental album which is very common for jazzy metal – fortunately there are great vocals on this album and without them it would be more run of the mill. There’s also the use of programming elements such as electronic harmonies or other artificial sounds to accompany the alien like guitar tones. It’s a well written story that plays out in a thoroughly entertaining manner. […]

2020 Albums

Album Review: 156/Silence – Irrational Pull 8 (Metallic Hardcore)

May 22, 2020 CarcassBOMB

They really buried the lead with this one, it starts off much more typical than I would like for metallic hardcore, being closer to what I wanted the new Code Orange to be without adding all that much. About halfway at the track “Lost Visual” however, is an insane sonic moment that gripped me and filled me with shivers, allowing me to appreciate more on repeat listens. With that said, there are a few things for the album as a whole that could have improved it significantly. […]

2020 Albums

Album Review: Body Count – Carnivore 8.5 (Metalcore/Rap)

April 14, 2020 CarcassBOMB

I’ll admit, I’ve listened to a lot of Body Count, as in, I’ve listened to the same album from the 90s a million times and never bothered going further or exploring their discography. So this album opened way fucking harder than I was ready for. I mean, second track around the 2:20 mark I had no choice but the throw-down – do you know how much strain that is for a 30 year old smoker? There’s a lot modern deathcore/metalcore elements that work nicely into the rap/rock dynamic. […]

2020 Albums

Album Review: The Motion Mosaic – Avant-Garbage 9.2 (Mathcore)

February 17, 2020 CarcassBOMB

I’m a huge fan of post hardcore and mathcore, sometimes it even threatens to overcome even my love of metal. This is the second major release from The Motion Mosaic following up their 2016 album Samsara which is well worth a listen but is a very different release, a different part of the bands development. The ideas and experimentation are there but are looser. Now with Avant-Garbage they’ve tightened it up and turned it on it’s head. There’s nothing loose about it, this is a hard hitting yet elegant core album with all the makings of an end of year list candidate. […]

2020 Albums

Album Review: Bodysnatcher – This Heavy Void 8.6 (Deathcore)

February 7, 2020 zaxrecordreviews

My home state, Florida, was a hub for death metal in the early 90s, with legendary bands like Death, Deicide, and Morbid Angel. Over the last decade, there has been a huge uprising of hardcore in the state as well, more specifically that new brand of hardcore that attaches elements of beatdown, metalcore, and deathcore to the sound. Every scene has a leader, a band who’s carrying the torch so to speak, and I thoroughly believe that band is Bodysnatcher here in Florida. […]

Interviews

Interview With Tommy Giles of Between The Buried And Me + Australian Tour 2020

February 4, 2020 CarcassBOMB

Between The Buried And Me have been a huge part of my music rotation since they first endeared themselves to me with Colors in 2007, a progressive metal masterpiece by many peoples admissions. Since then I have eagerly followed their musical journey as they refined their sound and experimented with different themes. I love a themed album and Between The Buried And Me are masters of exactly that, so I’m stoked to announce that not only are they coming to Australia for an east coast tour, but they’re doing so with an ambitious themed double set. Tickets for the shows (Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne) can be purchased here through their official website. […]

2020 Albums

Album Review: L’Homme Absurde – Belong 9.0 (Post Black/Metalcore)

December 9, 2019 CarcassBOMB

I’m in love with this underground russian music scene of post black metal and hardcore hybrids such as the recently release Toluca album. Be it blackened screamo or post black metalcore, it seems the combination is hyper-viable and will become increasingly prevalent globally in no time. Your dad won’t be able to appreciate this one, It feels special like that. Something about being so fucking grim and melodic but at the same time lending itself to actual dancing and moshing. It’s an experience of energy and geography. L’Homme Absurde (The Absurd Man) originally started as solo project and became a band. This is their third LP titled Belong, it releases independently on January 17th. […]

2019 Albums

Album Review: Kublai Khan TX – Absolute 8 (Hardcore)

October 12, 2019 zaxrecordreviews

The latter half of the 2010s has brought a savage strain of hardcore to the masses. It’s metalcore tinged hardcore filled with savage breakdowns, fight riffs, and 2-steps galore. It’s been a very nice evolution to the genre, and popularity is at an all-time high with bands like Knocked Loose raking in huge first week sales and Billboard numbers. A front runner in the genre has been the mighty Kublai Khan, or Kublai Khan TX now (they haven’t spoken out about the inclusion of the TX to my knowledge, but I can assume it’s because of legal troubles with an old speed metal band by the same name). I was super pumped for this album. I’ve seen the band live, met their lead singer, own some of their merch, and jam their stuff on the regular. They did not disappoint my sky-high expectations! […]