ALBUM REVIEW: Knuckle Puck – Losing What We Love


 

Hailed as one of the most consistent and influential pop-Punk bands of the last decade, Chicago quintet Knuckle Puck have upped their game with their fourth full-length record, Losing What We Love (Pure Noise Records). The album pushes the band’s envelope while simultaneously pulling from the oldest songwriting tricks they are known and loved for.

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ALBUM REVIEW: Code Orange – The Above


 

The hope for a band to “return to their roots” is a phrase that has been thrown around so much in modern music, it has begun to lose its meaning. As with the roots of a tree, a band’s roots are always there, securing the foundation of their sound, no matter how many different directions it may branch out into.

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ALBUM REVIEW: Conquer Divide – Slow Burn


 

Hailing from the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada, Metalcore quintet Conquer Divide has come back together in Atlanta to record their long-awaited second full-length album, Slow Burn (Mascot Records). Slow Burn presents a balanced, cohesive collection of songs while also throwing the frequent curveball – ones that don’t throw the direction off track, but rather launch it forward into expanded territories.

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ALBUM REVIEW: Polaris – Fatalism


 

One of the fastest-rising bands in modern metalcore, Australian group Polaris shows their musical ancestors how it’s done with their third album, Fatalism (SharpTone Records). As they break through the scene, the quartet continuously grows with their refinement of the genre, pulling off a sense of timelessness for a style that some of their peers have fallen under the radar trying to keep alive.

 

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ALBUM REVIEW: Holding Absence – The Noble Art Of Self-Destruction


 

If you had to book a show for an audience of half-Pop fans and half-Metalheads with the promise that no one would walk out, it would seem like an impossible task. But book Welsh band Holding Absence for a show like this, and everyone’s jaws will be on the floor before the first song finishes.

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ALBUM REVIEW: Movements – RUCKUS


 

Ever since their debut album, Feel Something, blew up in 2017, the massive surge of dedicated fans have held Southern California post-hardcore and emo band Movements to a high standard when it comes to follow-up material. As the group grows older, their music continues to grow with them, as made evident with their 2020 release No Good Left To Give, and now their third full-length album, RUCKUS! (Fearless Records). While the band is no longer the same sad boys they started out as, there are still pieces of their old selves mixed into their new, matured evolution, with RUCKUS! about to elicit a peculiar balance of dancing, moshing, and crying.

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ALBUM REVIEW: Skindred – Smile


 

Beloved Newport, UK quartet Skindred have returned to show off more of their eclectic musical expertise with their new album Smile (Earache Records). The album title was inspired by the reactions the band has received from large and small crowds alike throughout their career in live performances.

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ALBUM REVIEW: James And The Cold Gun – James And The Cold Gun – Loosgroove Records


 

With how common it has become for strong artists to get watered down by overproduction, it is refreshing to hear some raw, straightforward garage rock made solely for the love of music. Cardiff-based quintet James And The Cold Gun recorded their self-titled debut album (Loosegroove Records) from their very own garage, bringing an astute balance of polish and roughness – in other words, pure rock n’ roll.

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EP REVIEW: PLAIINS – Puppet – self-released


 

It’s not every day you come across a band with members from Hong Kong, Israel, and Germany, giving them such universally diverse perspectives as the shameless genre-benders of PLAIINS – let alone ones with the musical chemistry to create an EP like Puppet (Self-Released). Through a seamless blend of punk, indie, hardcore, and alternative rock, the multicultural trio uses their range of experiences to oppose political issues from around the globe. Thus, making them lyrically relatable across nations, as well as sonically appealing to indie and punk fans alike.Continue reading


ALBUM REVIEW: Trophy Eyes – Suicide And Sunshine


 

Five years and a near-breakup since their last full-length record, Australian rock outfit Trophy Eyes have fortunately returned for the foreseeable future. The long-awaited fourth album, Suicide And Sunshine (Hopeless Records) has reinforced the connection shared between the four-piece band. In the process, they made their most vocally, musically, and emotionally diverse collection of songs yet.

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