2025 was quite the year for metalcore, with many stalwarts such as Bleeding Through, Employed to Serve, and Killswitch Engage releasing new albums. This gateway sub-genre never goes away, but to say that it can become stale is an understatement. 2026 could very well be a banner year again if my inbox full of metalcore releases is an indicator, and Survivalist hopes to not only be part of it, but to stand out.

When it comes to standard metalcore proceedings, “Radio Bleed” comes to mind. It has a galloping, melodic death metal riff, as well as a call-and-response chorus. At around the two-minute mark, there’s a deathcore breakdown tease, which never really comes to fruition.

Later in the album, “Weaponized God Complex” starts with clean singing with virtually no musical accompaniment. The main riff is bouncy and commonplace for the genre. The chorus is easily the best on the album, but around the three-minute mark, the vocal variety appears in the form of pig squeals. The ending of the song steps firmly into deathcore territory. I know the difference between metalcore and deathcore is often a battle of semantics, so one could conceivably consider it either way.

The very next track, “Speak Up (Louder) starts with some rapped vocals, reminding me slightly of Peelingflesh, who have taken the mantle on including hip hop/rap into their filthy slamming. That becomes rapping in growls, which can be pretentious, but aren’t in this case. The song then turns directly into deathcore for a minute, then back to blurring the lines between both sub-genres. The samples used remind me also of Peelingflesh. The chugging and double bass flourishes work well within this context as well.

The previous track mentioned seems to mark a turn into heavier proceedings, which is around the halfway point. It’s not jarring by any means, but seems as though the band members told each other to stop fucking around. That modus operandi continues, and it’s not as if the first half of the album isn’t good; it’s just that the second half is better.

The final track, “How Do I Stop Thinking About Death,” is a quiet closer with mostly clean vocals. This is the song to which all the women who inexplicably are wearing cowboy hats with Bud Light or Corona on them illuminate the area with their cell phones and/or lighters. It’s only after three minutes that growled vocals make an appearance, which give way quickly to more cleans, accompanied by another one of those bouncy metalcore riffs. The harsher vocals make another appearance just before the song, and therefore the album ends.

The verdict is in if you like metalcore. It’s not my first genre of choice these days, but who doesn’t enjoy a silky hook once in a while mixed with a little ass-dragging heaviness? I think metalcore these days is more geared to the mainstream, and this fits the bill. Not only that, but it’s an exemplary example of doing the genre right. There are no unexpected left turns, but that’s being petty. Not everyone needs to experiment and reinvent the wheel. Metalcore is not going anywhere, and you’d be hard-pressed to unearth a finer platter than what Survivalist serves.

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