This is going to take some beating. Few albums this year in any genre have enraptured me as much as Foundation’s first proper full-length, When the Smoke Clears. I don’t know what’s in the water at Bridge 9 (because they certainly aint smoking anything), but since they started investing in the heavier side of hardcore, […]

Like death metal, if you’re into metallic hardcore, you’ve been pretty spoiled this year, what with various amazing comebacks (Earth Crisis, Kickback, Merauder), the underground churning out a plentiful amount of high quality releases (a lot you will probably not know) and even the genre’s principal mainstream standard bearer (yes, Hatebreed) coming back with a […]

It is a good thing my opinion of Soul Control’s choice of band name is not the same as that of its debut full-length on Bridge Nine, Cycles. If that were the case, I would be ripping the album to shreds. As it turns out, I just find Cycles to be a decent enough album […]

One of the greatest genre-defining hardcore bands of all time, Agnostic Front, has changed the face of music throughout their 25 year long career. The two records that started it all, United Blood and Victim in Pain, are legendary NYHC releases and some of the most sought after pieces of vinyl for record collectors. Finally, […]

One of the most influential melodic hardcore bands of our time, Strike Anywhere, has found a new home at Bridge Nine Records, as announced today by the label. Bridge Nine owner Chris Wrenn said, “We’re really excited about working with such an established and hard working band as Strike Anywhere. I’ve wanted to work with […]

First off, I’m generally not a writer who spends half the review on an albums packaging or artwork, but Defeater’s Travel’s and its multi panel, digipack gatefold packaging emblazoned with no frills, grainy and real, black and white photos is simply superb and a welcome change to the usual over the top colors of the urban […]

Round 3 with Bridge 9, and yet again evidence that the palette within their roster is expanding ever further as a release of this ilk would have been unthinkable in the label’s formative phase. Even more unthinkable would be that the label would even consider releasing a record by a band that has artwork like […]

As with Ruiner’s newest release, Selective Wreckage, (its all in the title) serves as a collection of lost and missing recordings, accumulated onto one piece of yummy plastic which nullifies the need to hunt down 7 inches, tapes and whatever other formats this tunes originally appeared on. So again, as stated, Bridge 9 has really, […]

The most annoying thing about hardcore, is when the really, really, really good bands implode, be it musically or literally, there is nothing more infuriating, upsetting and just downright disheartening. On the upside, there are always new bands itching to replace their fallen peers and carry on pushing on that sound, it may not be […]

I hate to break up all the metal here of late, but here’s some impassioned, intelligent hardcore for fans of Killing the Dream, Have Heart, Dead Hearts and Passion. Laced with political angst, Verse’s third album is a collective of confrontational hymns and personal struggles delivered with a sense of melancholy amid the expected power […]

Much like label mates Verse, Boston’s Have Heart play a form of modern melodic hardcore, but where Verse came across as more introspective and varied, Have Heart, while still emotional and honest, have a more expected, tighter and angrier, typical hardcore delivery, though still impassioned and honest. More traditionally based around rousing power chords and layered […]

After a debut EP (which was subsequently re-issued shortly thereafter), here is the debut full length from Boston hardcore outfit, Death Before Dishonor and while not really delivering anything new to the genre, the more classic East Coast approach replaces the burly, more Hatebreed-ish sounds of the EP. With more of an emphasis on punky […]