Album review by William Dibble, images provided by The Arson Choir In the last five years, the hardcore scene has truly exploded. Many bands have found unique sounds or niches to fill, and many more found other things to differentiate them. Genre-leaders Converge and Zao consistently produce powerful tracks with amazing instrumental work and fantastic vocals.... Continue Reading →

Review by William Dibble, images provided by Downfall 2012 Houston, Texas, is perhaps most famous for being the site of NASA control. We all know the phrase “Houston, we have a problem” so well that it has become part of our national daily lexicon for when something has gone wrong. Houstin-based metal outfit Downfall 2012 hopes... Continue Reading →

Written by William Dibble Many of the bands we cover are locals from North Carolina or all over the southeast. We recently covered Shatterproof, a folksy punk band from New Mexico, and today, our journey takes us far across oceans and mountainscapes to the distant Helsinki, Finland. Despite what some conspiracy theorists claim, Finland does,... Continue Reading →

Written by William Dibble Nobody can deny that the internet has revolutionized music. The number of independent artists out there is exploding, and shows no signs of stopping. The question becomes, with this influx of new artists, how does one stand out? How does a band differentiate themselves from the competition? Shatterproof has certainly figured... Continue Reading →

Written by William Dibble Hardcore was founded as an unabashedly angry genre of music. It was a bunch of people getting together and screaming at their microphones, featuring bands like Hatebreed and Converge (depending on who you ask). Phoenix natives Ded launch a new album today, Mis-An-Thrope, and it is a solid belt notch on... Continue Reading →

Review written by William Dibble Art, by definition, is an intensely personal creation. It is a direct channel into the mind of its creator, and deathcore is no exception (we erroneously referred to Codex Obscura as death metal in a prior review). Miira is a self-recorded, self-mixed, self-produced album by one person, which makes its... Continue Reading →

Written by William Dibble The genre of technical metalcore is booming. Within the last five to ten years, numerous new bands have hit the scene, each bringing a bit of a different take on the genre. Forthteller’s EP, Nihilist, released on July 7th of this year. Relatively new to the scene, they brought out an... Continue Reading →

Review by William Dibble Punk rock has a long and storied tradition of political bands, messages, and stunts. The genre also has a long history of being a worldwide phenomenon, with punk bands springing up wherever rock music could be found. Barb Wire Dolls, from Greece, are no exception to those traditions. Founded in 2010,... Continue Reading →