There's Something in the Water We're Drinking
I’m overwhelmed. So much good music dropped this week it feels suspicious. Like something's in the water. Let’s start with a story about my first car.
In 2009 my stepdad handed me the keys to his ’96 Dodge Dakota—2.5L engine, stick shift, single cab. No frills, no gas-guzzling V6. Just what you need, nothing you don’t. I beat the hell out of it as a hyper 16-year-old drifting backroads but it kept running well past 200k miles. I attribute this to its simple build—fewer features, fashion over function.
Hardcore feels the same way: no frills, just music you can act reckless to.
Not following me? Listen to Feel the Pain’s World in Two or Bloodshed’s new demo to see what I mean. Want more metal in the mix? Play Justice For the Damned’s Stay Relentless or Outta Pocket’s Your Last Breath.
In that same vein, death metal’s staying power shows no signs of fading. Texas crushers Tribal Gaze prove it with “Beyond Recognition.” It's classic, crunchy death metal built for headbanging. Their new album Inveighing Brilliance drops Oct 17 on Nuclear Blast. Still need riffs? The Acacia Strain’s “Holy Moonlight” pushes their evolution deeper into sludgy, breakdown-heavy death metal. No complaints here.
I'll admit I've ignored Lorna Shore since they blew up in 2022. The TikTok virality made them a spectacle and I couldn’t find much space to appreciate them beyond that. But “Prison of Flesh" has changed my mind. It’s a massive, cinematic blackened death metal triumph. This band could’ve cashed in on gimmicks, but they’re clearly more than a flash in the pan.
Speaking of spectacle, modern metalcore bands fall victim to it all the time. In particular, the use of watered down industrial elements never lands how it should. Bands like Wage War flirt with it but lack the abrasiveness. King Yosef’s new album Spire of Fear doesn't though. It’s grimy, grating, the kind of thing that scares normies. Imagine Harm’s Way going full industrial—that’s Spire of Fear.
Enough heavy—time for a palate cleanse. DRAIN went pop-punk on “Who's Having Fun?” No surprise: it’s a sonic leap, but the same playful spirit that’s always made them click (and what else do you expect from an Epitaph band?). Fleshwater, fresh off touring with Deftones, remind us why they’re every hardcore band’s favorite alt-rock band with “Last Escape.” Militarie Gun keep climbing with “B A D I D E A”—a fun, catchy post-hardcore anthem for fans of Spiritual Cramp and Angel Du$t. And Pile just dropped Sunshines and Balance Beams. A 42-minute post-hardcore epic packed with winding structures, swelling dynamics, and raw emotion. Perfect for a quiet Saturday night at home.
That’s the week. What’d I miss?
PS - I just realized I missed a new Modern Life is War song, "Bloodsport." But do I really need to say anything? It's Modern Life is fucking War.
