Hardcore & Metalcore Albums Worth Hearing This Week #001
Not reviews! Just the hardcore and metalcore that landed on our radar at 305HxC this week!
Contention — Nuclear Summer EP — metallic hardcore, Tampa
Tampa straight-edge metallic hardcore monster Contention surprise-dropped Nuclear Summer after teasing physical copies at Sound and Fury. It’s two new tracks, “Second Sun” and “Blank Stare," followed by a series of covers from The Swarm, all packed into about five minutes of apocalyptic metallic hardcore.
God’s Hate — Won’t Be Disgraced EP — hardcore, surprise three-track release
God’s Hate returned from hiatus with a surprise Sound and Fury appearance and immediately followed it with Won’t Be Disgraced. The three-song EP closes with a cover of Harm’s Way’s “Warriors Will Reign,” turned into a genuinely heavy tribute to late Harm’s Way guitarist Bo Lueders.
AXTY — The Pain Made Me Who I Am — Brazilian metalcore/deathcore
Brazilian metalcore/deathcore band AXTY delivers 12 tracks built around the idea of turning pain and adversity into growth. Expect down-tuned heaviness, screamed vocals, big melodic cleans, and a modern metalcore sound that freely crosses into deathcore territory.
End of Dayz — Nothing But Hate — Seattle hardcore
Seattle’s End of Dayz dropped the new Nothing But Hate LP this week, adding another full-length dose of Northwest hardcore to an already stacked release week. The title also reaches back to one of the band’s earliest songs, first released on 2020’s The Demonstration
DBloc — Where the Weak Are Killed and Eaten — Detroit beatdown/metallic hardcore
Detroit’s D BLOC comes in with an 11-track, 28-minute full-length on Collyde Records. The record includes appearances from Knuckledust and Chaos Must Bow and sits squarely in the beatdown/metallic-hardcore end of this week’s release pile.
Tiger Splitter — Raw Approach EP — Texas hardcore/crossover; 5 tracks and features from Judiciary, Ozone, Ivy League TX, etc
Lubbock’s Tiger Splitter packed Raw Approach into five tracks and loaded every one with a guest appearance. Judiciary, Ozone, Ivy League TX, Mongrel TX and Gorred all turn up across a 16-minute hardcore/crossover release that looks built for anyone who wants riffs without much wasted time.
Hard To Handle — Get It Over With EP — Paris hardcore
Paris hardcore outfit Hard To Handle joins this week’s release stack with Get It Over With. If part of the point of THE ZINE is digging beyond the same handful of American bands every week, this is exactly the kind of international hardcore release worth putting on the radar.
B.D.R — Reaper Syndrome EP — California hardcore
Tehachapi, California’s B.D.R. follows up their earlier material with Reaper Syndrome, released through Indecision Records. Their previous work pulled from the lineage of bands like Carry On, Striking Distance and In Control, so this is another one for anyone keeping tabs on newer California hardcore.