#10 FAZE Big Upsetter
Hell fucking yes, FAZE is stepping on motherfuckers! Wop, wop, wop, wop, wop! Their Big Upsetter record out on 11 PM Records is an awesome Hardcore Punk party that I never want to end!!! From the very first track, you will realize that this band is on some other shit and that’s why I’m a HUGE FAN!
#9 LATE SHIFT Perception is Reality
HOT off the press I got to turn y’all on to LATE SHIFT! These Hardcore Punk warriors have created one of the sickest releases of 2024 and it’s called Perception is Reality out on Phage Tapes/Damien Records. I can’t every millisecond of this record is an all-out banger!!! On the opening track “Hit the Deck,” the band drags the listener into their sonic hellscape that is filled with Hardcore fire and Powerviolence blood. These humans know how to write songs that are short bursts of disturbed audio fury that is sharper than a Samurai sword! What I love about LATE SHIFT is that they are always on time with their killer fucking breakdowns. If you don’t believe me, just blast their song “New Thing” and you will experience the brilliance of this band for yourself! Blasting BIG TUNES like “Whipping Ass” is equal to putting on your hater blockers because no self-hating is allowed while Perception is Reality is within earshot. Musically, this band never sacrifices melody to get their point across and on the vocal tip, they are spot ON! Don’t be late, it’s time for y’all to tap into LATE SHIFT and get your Hardcore Punk on.
#8 THIRDFACE Ministerial Cafeteria
Rad recognize Rad which why I’m here to tell y’all that the new THIRDFACE record “Ministerial Cafeteria” (out on Exploding In Sound Records)is gnarly AF! I’m beyond impressed how in the pocket the band is now. They are creating Hardcore Punk from a place of raw passion and are totally comfortable in their own creating skin! We have been fans of THIRDFACE from day one and this new album only solidifies our respect for them even more if that is possible!
#7 PUNITIVE DAMAGE Hate Training
In a time when punks need to stand for something, PUNITIVE DAMAGE is standing tall. Their new EP takes inspiration from the Israeli War on Palestine, and calls out the manipulative, pseudo-patriotic, Machiavellian politics at play that aim to spin us into submission to imperialist will. Their title track “Hate Training” takes on the battle between state-sanctioned media and the stories of the people. Everything about this EP seethes with righteous rage and fury, it’s riffs aimed at the war pigs’ jugulars and drums waking the masses up from slumbering through the slaughter. If you’re looking for ballads to distract you from reality, you won’t find them on Hate Training — this is fast, sharp, and takes aim at the heart of fascism like a silver bullet. Read Feature HERE.
#6 BIB BIBLICAL
WTF WTF the new BIB record Biblical out via QCHQ // EVIL GREED rocks harder than a bag of granite!!! Every freaking song on this affair is a Hardcore Punk Anthem straight up and DOWN! The first song, “The Circle,” spits in the face of what society calls normal and I’m down for the party. This band writes songs that crawl under your skin with an intense feral melody that empowers you to say fuck authority! Their vocalist always delivers with the gnarliest snarls in Hardcore Punk. As a unit, BIB has never created a tune that I did not love and makes me want to punch the fuck out of a zionist! “Bitter Mind” is the soundtrack to the way I feel about the world and how POC around the world still have to battle white supremacy on the daily!
#5 GOLPE Subisci. Conformati. Rassegnati.
WTF WTF WTF Hot Damn, GOLPE‘s record Subisci. Conformati. Rassegnati is the fucking bomb and rocks HARD AF! I can’t get enough of this band and with each release they prove why they can’t be fucked with!
#4 PUBLIC ACID Deadly Struggle
I can’t always put my finger on why, but sometimes a record claws it’s way to the top of my most anticipated list for no particular reason other than vibes, a feeling, or just good ol’ hype. None of which have to be negative in my opinion, as long as the record lives up to that hype. Albums like Fortress Britain by STINGRAY, S.C.U.M. by PARANOID, and anything WARTHOG puts out fit this bill and have all become some of my favorite modern raw punk that I return to again and again.
The latest album to reach the top of the pile is PUBLIC ACID’s Deadly Struggle, a beast of a 12″ that checks each and every box and then some. Brutally blackened vocals, riff-heavy guitars, d-beat drumming that hits like a punch to the jaw, and songwriting that is properly fucking GOOD, just like the albums previously mentioned. Also like the previously mentioned albums, the lyrical content here is powerful and cathartic, essentially covering the insanity that is modern society, providing a sort of release-valve for the frustration and anger of seeing the world collapse around us. With all of that in mind, I can’t recommend enough you snag a copy, plug in some headphones, and listen to the track “Ignorance”; a tour de force that is one of the best songs I’ve heard so far this year and a standout track to be sure. All said the takeaway here is that PUBLIC ACID rules. Deadly Struggle is a new classic that they should be super proud of. Now please, come to Chicago so I can hear it live!
Written by Eric.
#3 KLONNS Heaven
On April 23rd, 2020, I wrote about an insanely Sick Japanese Hardcore Punk named KLONNS. Now, almost exactly four years later, I get the chance to write about their off-the-hook album Heaven via Iron Lung Records and Black Hole Records. I knew from the very first moment I heard this band that they created their music from a place that many never reach! Their songs are thick, powerful bursts of Hardcore Punk that will have you saying WTF WTF WTF on repeat — they are that gnarly. Beware, the breakdowns you will encounter on Heaven are straight unhinged pits of all-out feral fury! I dare you to blast their tunes “Realm” and Another” and then tell me that this band does not slap hard AF! I love their electronic Intros and Outros — they add the right amount of audio flavor!
KLONNS are masters at injecting their caustic anthems with what I like to call Sonic Voodoo Madness. This means, in laymen terms, their songs always pack a healthy punch of wild morbid melody that will keep you dancing and head banging at the same time. I can say with certainty that KLONNS Heaven will end up on our EOTY Hardcore Punk list. There is not one weak moment on this album, and I must say that it has been worth the wait. I’m waving the flag of the “NEW WAVE OF JAPANESE HARDCORE” Higher than High!
#2 GAOLED Bestial Hardcore
This co-release with Seattle’s Iron Lung Records truly lives up to its album title, this is absolutely unhinged hardcore! Mixing metallic influences with sludge and punk, this all adds up to an onslaught of nasty noise that worms into your brain and makes you feel ready to smash a wall. Everything from the guitars to the vocals is cranked up to 11, and the searing guitar solos peppered through only intensify the proceedings.
Written by Eric.
#1 S.H.I.T. For A Better World
Quick disclaimer before I dive in here: there are so many stupid puns to make with the band name S.H.I.T. I promise to do my best to avoid them.
Now that that’s out of the way, I’ve got to say, the excitement around this release speaks for itself. When S.H.I.T. announced they were putting out new music via juggernauts Iron Lung Records and La Vida Es Un Mus, I and many others couldn’t have preordered more quickly. The Toronto-based band have been a cult favorite since their inception over ten years ago.
Flawlessly fusing the best parts of Scandinavian punk like ANTI-CIMEX with head-splitting Japanese hardcore from the likes of DISCLOSE and slathering on a healthy amount of UK82 snot, on the brilliantly titled For A Better World S.H.I.T. absolutely rips while intelligently speaking on, or rather yelling about the fucked up state of the world we live in.
Written by Eric — read full feature HERE.
