Watch a GLASSJAW video
Ok, so not a lot happens in the video for ‘My Conscience Weighs a Ton’ but, y’know, it’s Glassjaw.
Read moreListen to HOLY+GOLD
Holy+Gold is what happens when former members of Norma Jean and The Chariot realise just how much they have left in the tank. This is itchy, scratchy, squirming post-hardcore that wants to get in your head and under your skin and try to prove it’s the best thing the men behind it have ever done. Killer.
Read more#MODERATEROCKRECOMMENDS- July 2018
At odds with the scorching summer weather over my head, things got dark and heavy in July’s ModerateRock Recommends Spotify playlist. American gloom, French hardcore, and Irish sludge all helped to lower the tone. There was some light in the darkness though- Strawberry Girls gave tribute to George Michael, and that Soft Science track has been on my mind all […]
Read moreRONGEUR- ‘An Asphyxiating Embrace’
Rarely has a record been so appropriately titled. ‘An Asphyxiating Embrace’ truly does want to crush the life out of you. Rongeur’s debut album is made of hulking hardcore, slow-shifting sludge, and blackened metal and the Norwegian trio don’t seem to care what bits they bang you over the head with next. At its best it’s propulsive, compelling stuff but […]
Read moreNIGHT VERSES- ‘From the Gallery of Sleep’
Fortune favours the bold, right? If there’s any truth to that then Night Verses are due to prosper. With Doug Robinson, the band had a rare frontman equipped with a voice full of power and passion. But for their fourth album, the New York outfit have chosen to move ahead without him. And what a move it proves to be. […]
Read moreBIRDS IN ROW- ‘We Already Lost the World’
This is how you do it. Birds in Row have been great for a while now but this, the French outfit’s second full-length, is something else. From the grungy, ominous introduction of ‘We Count So We Don’t Have to Listen’ to the final ferocious roar of of ‘Fossils’, the band have taken their hardcore punk blueprint and expertly expanded it, […]
Read moreHOPESFALL- ‘Arbiter’
Hopesfall were one of the better bands to emerge from the mid-2000s post-hardcore gold rush. They possessed the requisite style and sound to ascend with the scene but always had something… more. Their grungy, shifting riffs were reminiscent of Hum or The Smashing Pumpkins rather than just another metal band and their abstract, Deftonesian lyrics seemed to look anywhere but […]
Read moreListen to CRIMINAL BODY
What do you get when former members of Jungbluth amplify insistent post-punk sonics with every hardcore trick they ever learned under a latter-day Blood Brothers aesthetic? The compelling cut, thrust and rumble of Criminal Body of course. Into it.
Read moreSECRET CUTTER- ‘Quantum Eraser’
Holy Roar are on a hell of a roll in 2018. And not content with releasing new scene-stealing material by Svalbard, Møl, and Modern Rituals, alongside a potential album of the year by Rolo Tomassi, they’ve now ushered another Secret Cutter record into the world. Whether the world will accept it is another matter entirely- this is relentless, abrasive rage […]
Read more#MODERATEROCKRECOMMENDS- June 2018
June’s ModerateRock Recommends playlist runs (ran?) from glitchy electronica to hyperactive hardcore to post-rock noodling. Variety is the spice of life and all that! I hope you find something to love. ONEOHTRIX POINT NEVER- ‘Warning’ I AM WAITING FOR YOU LAST SUMMER- ‘Better Days’ 1099- ‘Tundra’ ETERNITY FOREVER- ‘Fantasy’ EL TEN ELEVEN- ‘Phenomenal Problems’ THE GET UP KIDS- ‘Maybe’ CULTURE […]
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