Tag: Post-Hardcore
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Basement ‘Colourmeinkindness’ (2012)
One of my favorite moments each week is my Saturday morning run. It’s a time for self reflection and “me” time after a hectic week of work and family, alongside a much-needed shot of exercise-induced adrenaline. It’s also a really great time for me to listen to some new music. Today’s album was Basement’s Colourmeinkindness,…
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Story Of The Year ‘Page Avenue’ (2003)
Every millennial knows “Until The Day I Die”, but not many (including myself until this week) are super familiar with their entire album Page Avenue. Which is a shame cause holy hot damn does this entire album MF’ing rip. The dueling guitars of Ryan Phillips and Philip Sneed go so damn hard sometimes it’s easy…
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Town Portal ‘The Occident’ (2015)
I got into Town Portal via Thrice drummer Riley Breckenridge’s running playlist and I gotta say, it’s a vibe. These dudes are from Copenhagen and have long thrived on the fringes of instrumental rock, building a sound that pits Meshuggah-level polymeters against jazz-like playfulness and the noisy melodicism of ’90s post-hardcore. The Occident is a…
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Nova Charisma ‘Metropolitan’ (2024)
Nova Charisma began in 2019 as a creative outlet for vocalist Donovan Melero (of Hail The Sun fame) and guitarist Sergio Medina, both known for their work in the progressive post-hardcore scene. While their main bands emphasized complex, layered arrangements, Nova Charisma aimed to explore a more accessible and direct songwriting approach. Between 2019 and…
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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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Fiddlehead ‘Between the Richness’ (2021)
Between the Richness explores the stickiness of trauma without ever getting lost and succumbing to the overbearing weight of grief. A blast of hardcore energy filtered through the melodic shine of ‘90s alternative and the heart-on-sleeve intensity of emo from the mid-80’s.
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Bayside ‘Bayside’ (2005)
Bayside is part of a rare breed of bands from the mid-aughts who despite being really good 20 years ago might be even better today. Their 2024 album There Are Worse Things Than Being Alive is an absolute banger, rivaled in stature only by their second album Bayside which we’ll be covering today. All the…
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Coheed and Cambria ‘In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3’ (2003)
Coheed and Cambria blend progressive rock, post-hardcore, and a deep love for sci-fi storytelling. Their albums follow The Amory Wars, a sprawling space opera written by lead singer and frontman Claudio Sanchez. In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3 is no exception, packed with soaring melodies, intricate guitar work, and dramatic, theatrical vocals. It’s ambitious,…
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Casey ‘Love Is Not Enough’ (2016)
I dearly loved Casey’s 2024 comeback album How To Disappear, and their debut album Love Is Not Enough from 2016 is equally special albeit in an entirely different way that harkens back to one of my favorite albums from the mid-2000’s. Imagine for a moment two brothers separated at birth, adopted and raised by two…
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Sunny Day Real Estate ‘Diary’ (1994)
Diary came during a time when grunge dominated the airwaves but despite the fact Sunny Day Real Estate was based in grunge’s birthplace of Seattle their unique blend of post-hardcore and emo rock was able to cut through the noise (it also didn’t hurt that frontman Jeremy Enigk could channel the hell out of Kurt…
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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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At the Drive-In ‘Relationship of Command’ (2000)
At The Drive-In’s Relationship of Command stands as a watershed moment in the post-hardcore genre, blending frenetic energy with intricate lyrical depth. Released in 2000, the album captures the raw intensity of the band’s sound, characterized by Omar Rodríguez-López’s frenetic guitar work and Cedric Bixler-Zavala’s impassioned vocal delivery. Tracks like “One Armed Scissor” and “Pattern…
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Refused ‘The Shape of Punk To Come’ (1998)
When you look at the history and development of punk rock music it’s easy to reference some of the most iconic albums throughout it’s forty year run– there is of course what I refer to as The Holy Trinity of Punk Albums (Ramones self-titled debut, The Clash’s London Calling, and Sex Pistols’ Never Mind The…
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The Fall of Troy ‘Doppelganger’ (2006)
The Fall of Troy was an underground favorite of mine during high school– their innovative blend of post-hardcore, math rock, and progressive metal was a dynamic addition to my musical repertoire that coincided with my love for post-hardcore bands like Underoath. Doppelganger is by far their best album in my eyes, and features all the…
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Drug Church ‘Hygiene’ (2022)
I’ve been on a bit of an intense running kick this year, logging about 15 miles a week, and am constantly on the lookout for a perfect album to serve as the soundtrack for my 5K’s which I’m clocking in at around a 25 minute average. I popped on Drug Church’s Hygiene Friday morning at…
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Pianos Become The Teeth ‘Keep You’ (2014)
I first heard Pianos Become The Teeth a few months ago and was immediately taken by their sound. It’s moody, somber, introspective, and brooding in a way that reminded me a lot of some of my favorite albums of all-time– the dark storytelling and enunciation of Jesse Lacey on Brand New’s The Devil & God…
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The Jesus Lizard ‘Goat’ (1991)
With their second album Goat the noise-rock band The Jesus Lizard—fronted by the enigmatic David Yow and featuring guitarist Duane Denison, bassist David Wm Sims, and drummer Mac McNeilly—began crafting a unique sound that combined elements of punk, noise, and avant-garde. Their aggressive, visceral approach was further refined with the release of Goat, showcasing their…
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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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Hot Water Music ‘Caution’ (2002)
It’s hard to fully explain how much I respect the hell out of Hot Water Music. This is a band that formed in 1994 and is still at it today with the majority of band members pushing 50 years old. That’s a hard task to do in the music business, let alone one as unrelentingly…
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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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Circa Survive ‘On Letting Go’ (2007)
When former Saosin lead singer Anthony Green left Saosin to form a new project in the mid-2000’s it was soul-crushing to 15 year old me. I was an avid fan of their 2003 EP Translating The Name and couldn’t imagine a world in which they wouldn’t be making music together. It all worked out in…
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Touché Amoré ‘Stage Four’ (2016)
One thing I’ve always loved about American post-hardcore is the genre’s willingness to tackle difficult subject matter head-on. Cancer kills almost 10 million people per year worldwide, and yet it’s rare to find songs (let alone entire albums) which directly reference the disease and detail the visceral impact it has on the families and friends…
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Title Fight ‘Shed’ (2011)
Released 8 years after their official formation, Title Fight’s debut album Shed takes all the things that made the early aughts a haven for post-hardcore bands and cranks them up to 11. Featuring heavy electric guitars that delight in dissonance, gravelly lead vocals that sit buried in the mix, and a heavy rhythm section that…
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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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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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Pierce The Veil ‘Collide With The Sky’ (2012)
Pierce The Veil’s third studio album Collide With The Sky saw the band take their brand of post-hardcore and screamo to new heights, incorporating power pop hooks and massive arrangements into their torrent of guitar hooks. This album has everything that’s fun about the emo genre– high pitched vocals, massive drums, and abrupt dynamic changes…
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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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Minutemen ‘Double Nickels on the Dime’ (1984)
Double Nickels on the Dime is a massive album comprised of 45 songs. Yes, you read that correctly. And as you’d expect with such a prolific output it covers a wide range of influences from hardcore punk to jazz to funk. The best way I can describe them to people unfamiliar with their material is…
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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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