Category: Hardcore
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Scream ‘Still Screaming’ (1983)
Scream’s debut album Still Screaming cemented their place as one of the most vital voices in the D.C. hardcore punk scene alongside legends like Minor Threat, Bad Brains, and Government Issue. The 80’s were a time when the city was becoming a hotbed for raw, politically charged music. Known for their blend of speed, aggression,…
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Saosin ‘Translating The Name’ (2003)
When Saosin dropped Translating the Name in 2003 I was just getting into post-hardcore scene. And holy shit did this album hit like an earthquake. I remember listening to this 15-minute EP almost non-stop with my friends riding around in my buddy Mark’s white Jeep or Nick’s pickup truck. It basically became our gateway to…
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Modern Color ‘From The Leaves of Your Garden’ (2020)
I’m seeing Thrice live for the first time in like 20 odd years later this year (November 21st, circle the date) and stumbled upon Modern Color since they’ll be opening the show for them. And hot damn did Thrice ever pick a banger of a young band to open up for them in Modern Color.…
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Alexisonfire ‘Watch Out!’ (2004)
Alexisonfire was a defining band in the post-hardcore scene for me during my high school years. I loved (and still love) their melodic meets murderous dual vocal approach. George Pettit’s raw, aggressive screams pair perfectly with Dallas Green’s soaring clean vocals that creates a powerful contrast that feels so damn grandiose and epic every time…
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Hüsker Dü ‘Zen Arcade’ (1984)
In the canon of American underground hardcore music few bands have cast a shadow as long and as quietly commanding as Hüsker Dü. These dudes basically wrote the playbook for hardcore punk becoming commercially viable, transitioning into a more alternative-focused band in the 80’s based off the sheer strength of the songwriting from guitarist/vocalist Bob…
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Related to Strangers ‘GHOST’ (2025)
Today we cover the creative process behind the debut album of my band Related to Strangers. You’ll get an inside look at what the songs are about and the process we took to write the album. Hope you enjoy.
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Thrice ‘The Artist in the Ambulance’ (2003)
To say this The Artist in the Ambulance is one of my favorite albums of all-time might be an understatement. This is one of the best post-hardcore heavy rock albums of all time. Today we explore why.
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Turnstile ‘Step 2 Rhythm’ (2013)
Formed in Baltimore by veterans of the local hardcore circuit Turnstile came up playing packed basements and DIY shows and developed a pretty devoted cult following for the energy they brought live. Their debut EP captures that early energy, featuring raw breakdowns, gang vocals, and a sense of self-expression that feels less like aggression and…
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Militarie Gun ‘Life Under The Gun’ (2023)
Music had always been a lifeline for Militarie Gun frontman Ian Shelton. Growing up in a small Washington town, Shelton was drawn to the raw intensity of hardcore punk as an outlet for pent-up frustrations (a love affair I can certainly understand). After years of honing his craft in other bands, most notably as the…
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Underoath ‘Define The Great Line’ (2006)
After the success of They’re Only Chasing Safety Underoath had a choice to make when recording their follow up album— double down on the polished pop screamo sound that made that album a cult classic, or further explore some of the metalcore aspects littering that album. They chose the latter and they were decisive, as…
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Knocked Loose ‘You Won’t Go Before You’re Supposed To’ (2024)
American hardcore music is kind of having a moment as of late, and Knocked Loose’s third album You Won’t Go Before You’re Supposed To is a good representation of what it’s all about– thick as all hell, with a mixture of post-hardcore screams from mid-aughts heavyweights like Underoath and the rhythm section of industrial metal…
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Fucked Up ‘David Comes To Life’ (2011)
The words “rock opera” and “hardcore punk” usually don’t go together for obvious reasons– rock operas are typically self-indulgent affairs with highly detailed musical accompaniment that unveils the story over a protracted period of time, while hardcore punk is raw and emotionally charged that attempts to get to the point quickly. Marrying the two together…
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Casey ‘How To Disappear’ (2024)
Casey’s 2024 album How To Disappear marked a return for the Welsh based five piece after a five year hiatus where there future was uncertain. The band broke up in 2019 after lead singer Tom Weaver suffered severe health complications, reuniting a few years later once they realized they collectively had more to say. The…
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Hail the Sun ‘Wake’ (2014)
If you mistake Hail the Sun for an Anthony Green project like Circa Survive or Saosin you’re not alone– upon first hearing “Rolling Out the Red Carpet” I thought I’d stumbled upon one of his many side projects. Lead singer Donovan Melero is a dead ringer for Green vocally (always a good thing) and the…
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From First to Last ‘Dear Diary, My Teen Angst Has A Body Count’ (2004)
Long before Skrillex was an EDM god winning Grammy awards hand over first and playing to festivals with 100K ravers in attendance he was known as Sonny Moore, the frontman of emo rock outfit from First To Last who played to a mere 100 raving lunatics in small dingy rock clubs. I was one of…
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Thrice ‘Identity Crisis’ (2001)
If there’s one band who I’ve truly grown up with throughout the course of my life, enjoying every single one of their permutations and watching as their sonic evolution mirrored that of my own tastes, it is undoubtedly Thrice. Their career is one of epic scope, from their early SoCal skate punk meets Bay Area…
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As Cities Burn ‘Son I Loved You At Your Darkest’ (2005)
Emo and its tangential offshoots have long been a love of mine (as anyone who has been reading my thoughts on music over the past year and a half have known), and As Cities Burn is one of those deep cut albums which has long cemented itself as a cult-classic personal favorite. There’s a bit…
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Every Time I Die ‘Radical’ (2021)
Any time I’m looking for a shot of straight adrenaline to get the juices flowin’ there’s few bands I’ll turn to more regularly than Every Time I Die. Their 2007 album The Big Dirty is a personal favorite of mine (“We’rewolf” being the best song in their entire discography in my opinion), but despite that…
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Fear Before the March of Flames ‘Odd How People Shake’ (2003)
Fear Before the March of Flames is the kind of band that parents around the United States heard playing from bedrooms 20 years ago and collectively were like “this doesn’t even sound like music, this is just noise” and for the first time in forever they were probably right. They’re the definition of that teenage…
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Chiodos ‘All’s Well That Ends Well’ (2005)
Chiodos’ 2005 All’s Well That Ends Well is a deep cut for anyone who was a hardcore screamo fan in the mid aughts (guilty as charged!). This was one of those bands that was so damn weird and unique but it all just seemed to work. Lead vocalist Craig Owens pushed his vocal range to…
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Underoath ‘They’re Only Chasing Safety’ (2004)
Three albums into their career Underoath was at somewhat of a cross roads. Their first three records had received limited commercial success, and following the departure of then lead vocalist and band co-founder Dallas Taylor (who went on to form the excellent Southern heavy metal band Maylene and the Sons of Disaster), they had to…
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Turnstile ‘GLOW ON’ (2021)
Turnstile’s 2021 album GLOW ON was somewhat of a defining moment for hardcore music in that it broke down a lot of barriers for the genre commercially. This was an album that made multiple mainstream “Best Of” lists for album of the year (not just rock album, album album), charted at #30 on the Billboard…
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Suicidal Tendencies ‘Lights…Camera…Revolution’ (1990)
We’ve established that we love a good album opener here at Music of Matthew dot com, and Suicidal Tendencies kicks off Lights…Camera…Revolution with one helluva opener in “You Can’t Bring Me Down”. It has all of the elements that make thrash metal great– moody delay guitars, huge fuzzy melodic guitar solos, an absolutely ripping rhythm…
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Black Flag ‘Damaged’ (1981)
Damaged by Black Flag is the hardcore album that started it all. Henry Rollins’ testosterone-soaked lead vocals, Greg Ginn’s subtly attentive songwriting, Julio Roberto Valverde Valencia’s aggressive drumming, and the rhythm section of Chuck Dukowski and Dez Cadena punch you right in the gut and leave you keeled over wheezing for oxygen. It feels perfectly…
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Thursday ‘War All The Time’ (2003)
Compared to their mid-2000’s emo contemporaries, Thursday always felt mature beyond their years. Their subject matter wasn’t about shallow yearnings of lost love or feelings of victimhood that sort of defined the genre as a whole. They focused their energy toward discussing the horrors of war, frustrations of the working class, complexities in relationships, and…
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He Is Legend ‘I Am Hollywood’ (2004)
I remember seeing He Is Legend live with From First To Last shortly after this album was released and being absolutely floored by the energy they brought to their live show. I’ve always been a sucker for southern rock metal and all the epic guitar-driven lead parts that come along with that genre, and this…
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