LLNN - Unmaker (2021)

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Danish post-hardcore and sludge outfit, LLNN, are trying to get back to what they accomplished on one of the better releases in 2018 (among good company) with their new full-length, Unmaker. LLNN draw from a wide well of musical influences, pulling from their ambient soundscapes that serve to maintain an atmosphere, almost lulling and mollifying the listener before an inevitable wave of crushing metallic hardcore (with a prominently post-hardcore angle) and sludge berate the ear canals. It's forward thinking, but not wholly unique, but it's a welcomed breath of fresh air in a overcrowded palette of other bands trying to do the same thing and falling short. We only have two songs to go by now, until it releases in September, but I remain optimistic. 

LLNN - Unmaker (bandcamp)

Rorcal & Earthflesh - Witch Coven (2021)

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Collaborations don't always pay off, and more often than not I find myself indifferent to the attempt, which maybe has more to do with how I am a fatalist contrarian with no cause and no guiding star rather than the material itself. In this case, I'm for it. Much like when Merzbow teamed up with Full of Hell a few years back, the absolutely raw and grating ambient soundscapes of Earthflesh lend an even thicker layer of density to Rorcal's already crushing mixture of Doom, sludge and post-hardcore. The output is a two-track release running 30 minutes in length and it's worth your time if you're looking for something to assault your auditory senses with great heft. 

Rorcal & Earthflesh - Witch Coven (bandcamp)

Khuda - Molasses Constricts The Clinostat (2014)

Khuda play a super honed in take on psychedelic post-rock with elements of math-rock, post-hardcore and shoegaze. It has the atmosphere of Kokomo, the quirky time signatures of Khann, and a more atmospheric, slightly funky take on something Cloudkicker would dredge up with the slightly bleak, yet uplifting elements of Explosions In The Sky.



As per usual, if you would like to listen to it but can afford the price on Bandcamp, email me and I'll get it to you as soon as I can.

Khuda Bandcamp

The Broderick - Free To Rot, Free Of Sin (2012)

Let's cut through the shit, you're not going to like this album if you don't like any form of hardcore. Not the, youth of today, x'ed up fists and sing-a-longs type hardcore, OR the crossed arms stance tough guy hardcore, BUT the kind of hardcore that doesn't fear coalescing and mingling with other genres.

Free To Rot, Free Of Sin adventures between a sludgy landscape ensconced in a furiously angry post-hardcore niche, hard hitting and dynamic! Here's an album that is deserving of more praise than it so far has received, it hasn't been under the scalpel so to speak, but I cut this fucker up, and all I could find is some emotionally charged fast and furious jams that are competent enough to be melodic and crushing in one fell swoop. 

The Broderick - Free To Rot, Free Of Sin (Zippyshare)

Zozobra - Savage Masters (2013)

What is 15 minutes long, sludgy, frantically paced and devoid of staleness? If you said your sex life, congratulations, you're a fucking idiot liar. Get your head out of your ass and into some Zozobra, because they have released Savage Monsters! Full of slimy sewer sludge and post-hardcore beat down, this short and furious album is mixed in a rather upfront "what you hear is what you get" type way, not a lot of trickery going on. Sure it's tiny in length (like your penis), but it packs a fucking punch (unlike your penis).


Savage Masters (Zippyshare)
Zozobra Bandcamp

Khann - Erode (2011)

The un-bastardized child of post-hardcore, borrowing and infusing elements of early 90's screamo, Mastodon-esque passages with the drone of Kylesa and intensity/oddities of The Number Twelve Looks Like You.

erode

Engineer - The Dregs (2007)

 

A feral slab of post-hardcore and sludge in unison. It doesn't exactly bring anything new to the table, but it is quite content and good at brutalizing your ear drums for a solid 35 minutes. Think of a more aggressive Crowbar. Though not to discredit Engineer when I say they don't necessarily bring anything new, they do however hoist a lot of talent and execute this shit with furious anger.

The Dregs

Shai Hulud - That Within Blood Ill-Tempered (2003)

"Brothers and sisters, the time has come for each and everyone of you to decide, whether you are going to be the problem or you are going to be the solution!' Well actually, the time has come for each and everyone of you to decide whether you are going to download this link or not. I realize it is my duty to persuade you into doing so. So I will way this...

Holy motherfucking Jesus's god-damned shriveled dick nailed to a cross that is infested with termites! Here is what happens when you mix metal riffing, hardcore influence and an overall post-hardcore song structure with borderline pretentious yet misanthropic lyrics. Brimming, nay, overflowing with melodic passages and visceral presence.

"There is a time for fighting and there is a time for singing. Now you teach us to sing."