Rational Animals - Bock Rock Parade

Rational Animals - Bock Rock Parade

These dudes sound like the perfect blend of Black Flag and Black Sabbath. This came out in the fall on Katorga Works (which is one of the best labels going) and it totally caught me by surprise with it's awesomeness. Bock Rock Parade is a total fucking beast of an album; It's punk, it's hardcore, and it's fucking metal. There is some serious Ginn worship going on here. This is one of the better records I've heard all year. Do yourself a favour, pick this up and play it real fucking loud.

Sacred Love

Sacred Love - Love Songs Demo

Sacred Love - Dividing Lines

Sacred Love are a great hardcore band out of Baltimore, MD. If you dig Bad Brains, Cro-Mags, Burn and Bitter End then give these guys a listen, they'll have you bedroom moshing in no time. The demo is pretty rad but Dividing Lines is where it's at. Youngblood Records (one of my all-time favourite hardcore labels) released the demo 7" and the Dividing Lines 12" EP, so go and buy them both from them.

PULLEY

Pulley - Esteem Driven Engine

Pulley - Sixty Cycle Hum

Pulley - S/T

Pulley - Together Again For The First Time

Pulley - Matters

Pulley - Time Insensitive Material EP

Pulley - The Long And The Short Of It 7"

Fucking Pulley. One of the best melodic hardcore bands to ever grace the earth. Scott Radinsky (Ten Foot Pole) on vocals, Matt Riddle (Face To Face, No Use For A Name) on bass, Jim Cherry (Strung Out) on guitar and Jordan Burns (Strung Out) on Drums. A bona-fide punk rock super group. The line-ups shifted for subsequent releases but Scott Radinsky stuck around on vocals (despite a lucrative MLB career). Every one of these albums totally fucking slays. These guys played a major part in my youth and are definitely one of the 90's best punk bands. Life-changing tunes right here dudes.

MUNG - Vow Of Poverty

MUNG - Vow Of Poverty

Named after Leukorrhea, Mung were a 90's Boston hardcore band. Their first EP, Vow Of Poverty, was released in 1996 on the Bosstones' Big Rig Records label. As far as I know this was Mung's only release and it totally slays. If you like H2O, CIV and American Standard then these six songs are your new favourite jams.

Social Circkle - City Shock

Social Circkle - City Shock

Totally rad hardcore from some dudes who are so punk they don't even give a fuck about spelling. These dudes totally remind me of Cloak/Dagger and that is never a bad thing. Fast punk-influenced hardcore from these Boston dudes. This was released in 09 and I have no idea if this band is even still active, regardless, City Shock is totally killer.

Deep Sleep - Turn Me Off

Deep Sleep - Turn Me Off

Totally awesome Descendents inspired hardcore. If you dig Lion Of Judah, Government Warning or Cloak/Dagger then this shit is for you. Ten songs with tons of melody and interesting guitar lines that breeze by in just thirteen minutes (who do they think they are the Circle Jerks?). My only gripe would be that this album is way too short.

Night Fever - New Blood

Night Fever - New Blood

This is some fucking rocking hardcore out of Copenhagen, Denmark. This sounds a little like Annihilation Time, but mostly these dudes remind me of one of the best hardcore bands of the last ten years: DEAD FUCKING STOP. Eight totally rad old-school bangers that are sure to get your ass moving.

LEATHER

Leather - Anchorite 7"

Leather - Sterile 7"

Leather ride the perfect middle-ground between hardcore and grunge. This is dirty, fuzzy and pissed-off shit. Leather sounds like Pissed Jeans with John Joseph singing. Jade Tree just released the Sterile 7" and it fucking slays so go buy it (Jade Tree needs the money). Sterile is more melodic than Anchorite, but both are equally rad releases that are totally worthy of your precious time.

Masakari - The Profit Feeds

Masakari - The Profit Feeds

Masakari hail from Cleveland, OH and they play a brutal blend of punk and metal. These dudes are really pissed-off with religion and the government (among other things). Basically this band sounds just like Cursed circa the "One" album. Hardcore with just the right amount of grind/crust and d-beat thrown in. If you're a fan of His Hero Is Gone and Tragedy but wished they sounded a bit more like Ringworm then this is the band for you. The best use of sound clips I've heard since the "Intimacy" EP by Light Yourself On Fire. This is one sickeningly heavy album that any fan of Cursed, Early Graves or G.I.S.M. will absolutely love.

BLACK GOD

Black God - S/T

First there was Black Widows, then Black Cross and now Black God. This is the latest collaboration between Rob Pennington (By The Grace Of God, Endpoint) and Ryan Patterson (Coliseum). Along for the ride this time are Nick Thieneman (Young Widows) and Ben Sears (Prideswallower). This was recorded last Halloween in Louisville, KY and it totally fucking slays. Head on over to No Idea Records and buy a copy. According to the band they have already recorded the follow-up 7" but I have no idea when that will be released, hopefully soon. Best hardcore release of the year (so far).

Dear Tonight - We're Not Men

Dear Tonight - We're Not Men

Dear Tonight were a punk/hardcore band from NY who existed from 2001-08. They sounded a lot like Drive Like Jehu, Angel Hair and Ink And Dagger. Lead singer Ryan Duffy used to write for Vice magazine back then as well and was one rad dude (just check out his segment for vbs.tv on donkey fucking) he was most recently seen on the MTV show the Vice Guide To Everything. This band never really toured behind this, as they called it quits immediately after it's release, which is too bad because I think they could have gone far behind it. If you like End Of A Year and Brainworms you will totally dig this album.

Young Ginns

Young Ginns - Anthology

Members of Nation Of Ulysses and Unwound playing Black Flag worship. Their one and only 7" was released by the venerable San Diego punk label Gravity Records (Heroin, Clikatat Ikatowi and Angel Hair). This is their Anthology release which contains the 7" along with various comp and demo tracks. Chaotic fucking hardcore.

Capsule - No Ghost

Capsule - No Ghost

Capsule are a hardcore band from Miami, FL who occupy the perfect middle-ground between Brainworms and Converge with some southern sludge thrown in (i.e. Torche and Kylsea). Heavy as fuck, spastic, melodic and totally fucking rad. This has been getting tons of love all over the place, so if you've been sleeping on this don't as it is the best heavy releases of 2011 so far (and definitely a top ten contender right now). No Ghost will be released this spring by Rorschach Records so pick up a copy, crank it to eleven and bum out all your square neighbours. I can't stress enough how rad this album is, and if you didn't love their last album Blue, fear not, as this one is a little more straight forward (but still fucking heavy as hell).

Cool Cavern

CC - CTLY

This is by far the best thing that I've heard all year. I've really got to hand it to Wes Eisold and crew as they've really knocked it out of the park on this one. Wes has almost single handedly created the album of the year, although he did have a hand on this one from members of Chavez, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Glassjaw. Every song on here is ready for the big time, nine serious bangers that you need in your life right now. From dancey numbers that remind me of New Order to dark synth that could make David Gahan and Martin Gore jealous. The songwriting on this is so good that I bet Wes could write circles around most bands with one hand tied behind his back.

Pedals

RS - Pedals

Walter Schreifels and co. return with a fucking stellar album of alt-rock gems that totally slays. There are some real bangers on here, right now I'm all about the tracks "69 Guns" and "Choose Your Adventure" but the whole thing is really great. As a whole this album is a lot more even than United By Fate, but not necessarily better. I thought that this band was toast a long time ago, so I am beyond stoked by anything that they release.

Aüfspring

Self Titled

Baghdad 7"

Ignition

Smash

Yeah I still dig these dudes' first couple of albums. Great west-coast punk that borrowed heavily from Agent Orange, Bad Religion and especially T.S.O.L. Sure their recent output can eat a bag of dicks, but this shit right here is un-fuck-withable. Try and pretend like you didn't drive Smash into the ground by incessantly playing it over and over again. This shit is just plain rad, its been scientifically proven (like in lab tests and shit). Mr. Brett dug them and you should too. Oh yeah and punk legend Thom Wilson produced all of these releases.

D.R.I. - Crossover

D.R.I. - Crossover

The perfect combination of hardcore and thrash (the genre term "crossover" was coined from the album's title). Some say Dealing With It! is the better album and on certain days I would agree with them, but this album really is fucking killer and one of their best. This was released on Death Records in 1987 and like most of their releases it is the shit.

Beyond Possession - ...Is Beyond Possession

Beyond Possession - ...Is Beyond Possession

Canadian thrash band from Calgary. These guys fucking slay big time. This album is so fucking fast and heavy it will scare the wrinkles off your balls. Jeff Hanneman and James Hetfield were both huge fans of these guys. This came out on the Metal Blade subsidiary Death Records in 1986 and it is definitely a classic. This thing is fucking hardcore, thrash and skate-rock all rolled into one. Crank this shit and go out and slay a bowl (like on a skateboard, not dropping a deuce). This is their only full length release (they recorded demos in 1989 but broke up shortly after).

Corrosion Of Conformity

Corrosion Of Conformity - Animosity

Corrosion Of Conformity - Technocracy EP

Raleigh, North Carolina crossover thrash legends who created an absolutely huge sound for being just three dudes: Mike Dean on vocals/bass, Reed Mullin on drums and Woody Weatherman on guitar. Metal Blade head honcho Brian Slagel signed them to Death Records in 1985 at the urging of Slayers' Jeff Hanneman who had passed along their demo tape. They went to L.A. and recorded five new songs with Bill Metoyer. Those five songs would make up the A side of Animosity, while the demo that got them signed became side B (there is a very noticeable difference in sound quality between the two sides on Animosity). The artwork for Animosity was also done by the legendary Pushead. For the Technocracy EP they added vocalist Simon Bob Sinister who at the time was the vocalist for The Ugly Americans, another great Death Records band (the version of Technocracy here is the re-release with three demos that have Mike Dean singing). After these two releases they went groove metal/hard rock (they still fucking ruled) but could never match the speed and intensity of these two releases.

Sepultura

Sepultura - Beneath The Remains

Sepultura - Arise

Sepultura are perhaps the greatest thing to have ever come out of Brazil (besides Pele and butt implants, natch). They had two rad albums before these and two after, but these two albums are their only truly essential releases. Sepultura seamlessly blend hardcore, death metal and thrash into one pissed-off assault on your eardrums. The band will always be loved and remembered because of these two albums and their radicalness. Max Cavalera has the perfect voice for heavy music, so in your face and aggressive, and on top of that guitarist Andreas Kisser just fucking shreds all over the place. Legendary Florida death metal producer Scott Burns recorded both of these albums (although only Arise was done at his Florida studio, Morrisound) and unlike a lot of his work the drums here don't sound like someone banging away at a typewriter in the least.