A little bit of everything on the docket this time around for a big month of RTCC-goodness. We cover new releases stretching the boundaries of noise rock, metalcore, mathcore, screamo, grind, deathcore, and a few bands showing why “blackened” is one of my favourite -core prefixes. Featuring The Callous Daoboys, halfmass, fallfiftyfeet, Meatwound, TELOS, Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Othiel, and more!
We don’t typically give a lot of attention to singles, but there’s a couple of new ones I want to use this intro space to highlight this time around. Did you know that The World is a Beautiful Place and I am no Longer Afraid to Die isn’t really an emo band anymore? The singles they put out last year were borderline progressive post-metal, and with their latest single “Beware the Centrist” they’ve forayed into their most metalcore, or metallic hardcore sound yet.
Fans of late 00s deathcore may remember the relatively obscure Mexican project known as Here Comes the Kraken. They put out a somewhat forgettable comeback album back in 2019 that experimented more with nu-metal, but have reemerged with a return to their roots with some blistering melodic deathcore that fans of Thus Spoke Zarathustra may want to check out. Some of the atmospheric elements here are even reminiscent of older Fallujah. Check out the new single “AMEN I: Genesis”.
And finally, one of 2023’s breakout metalcore acts Johnny Booth are back with a new track “Get Well Soon” following up the excellent Moments Elsewhere, and they haven’t missed a beat. A relentless barrage of djent-fused mathcore broken up by a unique clean vocal-driven middle section that feels oddly mature for this style. Looking forward to hopefully a new full-length coming soon, you can also catch them this summer on tour with We are the Romans, Currents, and After the Burial.
And with that, let's get to it.
-TB
The Wall of Death
Halfmass - Ten-Gallon Heart (everything)
I’m rarely dumbfounded by the sheer sonic scope of an album. When I am, it’s albums like The Shape of Punk to Come by Refused and the criminally underrated Feelantropico by Akersborg. These genre-eclectic albums don’t generally sound jarring. Rather, the bands behind them establish a stylistic locus, and the experimentation and exploration are always rooted in and return to that position. In the case of Refused and Akersborg, that starting point is hardcore. Bands that engage in these musical antics while still having a clearly defined stylistic foundation can cleverly weave a variety of genres, instrumentation, and/or compositional approaches into a single song while still sounding like the same band. It’s a rare feat that a band can pull off a rollercoaster of musical exploration while still retaining a core sound. Even while not quite hitting the mark in that respect, Ten-Gallon Heart by Halfmass comes remarkably close - but perhaps only because it’s more genre-agnostic than genre-eclectic.
Despite the wide swath of fluently composed sounds, it’s difficult to say with certainty where many of Halfmass’s influences originate. One could conceivably identify The Armed, Cursive, Model/Actriz, and Pink Floyd as being some of them. The outro of “consequence,” for example, is quite reminiscent of Pink Floyd’s “Time.” Other than that, there is very little that can be described as being lifted too directly from any of their potential influences. It seems that even when there is a clear reference to another band’s influence, Halfmass can deftly apply their own twist. To say nothing of the scope and artistry of the album as a whole, this in itself is a noteworthy accomplishment for such a young band on their debut.
Within the span of an individual track, the band can jump from genre to genre with relative ease. Even with the wild twists and turns, such as the midsection of “dragway AD,” there is a throughline that the listener can follow. Halfmass are only able to accomplish this because of thoughtful compositional choices that bridge such disparate parts together. Most other bands that attempt such sharp turns within a song simply do not have the compositional proficiency to pull it off while also having the capacity to maintain a song’s logical coherence.
Many of the individual songs take wildly unpredictable journeys, but there are also drastic differences in the styles the band engages in from song to song. And that relates to the lone complaint I have about this album: I often forget that I’m listening to the same band. I have now listened to Ten-Gallon Heart at least half a dozen times, and I think nearly every instance had me second-guessing whether I was still listening to the same album. This is emphasized by
multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Marshall Pruitt's ability to employ a wide swath of vocal styles depending on the needs of a particular song. Is sounding so different from song to song necessarily a bad thing? It does demonstrate the breadth and depth of Halfmass’s musical skill and knowledge. But, to a certain extent, it sometimes sounds as if the band hasn’t quite found their “stylistic locus” yet, as I described in the introduction. However, considering this is Halfmass’s debut release, one could reasonably predict that that will come with time, although that element would be developing in the opposite direction it did for bands like Refused and Akersborg.
I realize that I’ve shared very few specifics of how Ten-Gallon Heart actually sounds. In part, that’s because there is just so much happening on this album that it’s extremely difficult to analyze on a granular level. Rather than have me ramble on anymore, just give a listen to one of the most adventurous and impressive albums of the decade thus far.
-JD
The Callous Daoboys - I Don't Want to See You in Heaven (mathcore, alt-metalcore)
The Callous Daoboys. That’s it, that’s the review.
Okay fine, this cheeky Atlanta six-piece have broken out of the niche confines of internet mathcore circles by crafting their most eclectic and accessible album to date, while not totally abandoning their avant-garde and mathcore credentials. There’s elements of pop-punk, post-hardcore, even jazz-pop throughout, all providing a bit more digestibility and a reprieve from the frenetic and potentially overwhelming nature of mathcore songwriting and instrumentation. The result is what could be considered one of the best entry-level mathcore albums you can find, and from exploring the abhorrent lands of places like the metalcore subreddit, it seems to be a great stepping stone for those less exposed to the genre.
As someone who got into them prior to their debut back in 2019, I’ve been a little hesitant towards this shift towards a more approachable sound. While there is more straight-forward instrumentation, a lot of that in simple terms comes down to an increased frequency of vocalist Carson Pace utilizing his clean singing voice. This was something that I thought worked well in small doses on their last album Celebrity Therapist, but admittedly I was apprehensive about how well they'd work as anything other than to provide some contrast from the screaming. But wow did he prove me wrong. They fully embraced this newfound confidence in singing to the point where there's an entirely clean pop-rock Fall Out Boy-esque banger in single “Lemon” which should be on some of the Spotify Summer Heat-Seekers playlists. “Body Horror for Birds” is another successfully ambitious adventure into a different sort of “clean” sound on this album, pulling off this sultry, loungy jazz-pop vibe, highlighted by a stellar guest vocal feature from 1ST VOWS, who will quickly get stuck in your head. The fact that these two tracks are lined up back-to-back right in the middle of the album makes them feel like an intentional extended interlude of sorts, but certainly not one that I go out of my way to skip.
While I’ve talked a lot about the poppier elements here, damn does this thing still ever get heavy. This picks up right off after the aforementioned lighter section with some of their most chaotic riffing and song-writing to date proving their mathcore credentials. Huge breakdowns, squealing dissonant laser guitars, arf arfs. Even the anthemic catchier songs like “Distracted by the Mona Lisa” have this level of creative technicality that just feels innately “mathcore”. It’s on tracks like this and “Two-Headed Trout” where these two sides of the Daoboys come together where they seem to really be connecting with the audience. It’s punishingly heavy, imaginative, borderline incomprehensible, but still quirky and fun. The chorus ear-worm “I’ll swim upstream again, Show you all the hooks in my mouth” is certainly one of the catchiest hooks on the album. But there should still be enough technicality and experimentation to keep the diehard math-fans satisfied.
Given these colliding styles, this album could easily have been a disjointed mess. Maybe touring with Rolo Tomassi let their song-writing acumen rub off on them, as despite these wild genre swings the album feels weirdly cohesive, and charming. They seem to have really embraced who they are and what they want to write. This isn’t a mathcore album trying to sound like Dillinger or Botch, and the levity and lighter moments don’t feel forced or like they’re “selling out”. This is just the Callous Daoboys staying true to themselves, making a fun, endearing, summery album. I Don’t Want to See You in Heaven is capped off with one of their most ambitious, and certainly longest tracks to date, in the nearly 12-minute closer “III. Country Song in Reverse”. Further showing their range and eclecticism, this song is a rewarding journey through jazzy-breaks, a Bjork interpolation, synth-laden breakdowns, post-hardcore, all-coming to an explosive head with a cathartic post-metal climax. A memorable ending for a memorable album, from a band who has truly found themselves.
The Crowdkillers
Meatwound – Macho (noise rock/hardcore/industrial)
Among the many excellent noise rock and noise rock-adjacent albums that have been released so far this year, Macho by Meatwound is yet another standout. Coming a full six years after their last full-length, 2019’s Culero, Macho is a sign that much has changed creatively for the sludgy noise rock foursome during that time.
Macho was recorded and mixed by Ryan Boesch, who has worked with The Foo Fighters, Melvins, and Helmet. As one might imagine with that information, the album’s production is pristine while still maintaining the grittier and noisier elements of the band’s previous work. This works particularly well for Macho, as the band explores more experimental territory that adds layers to their hostile sound. This is immediately clear on opener “Compressed Hell,” which starts with a pulsating, minimalist 9/8 phrase programmed to sound like a synthesizer. Various elements, such as sporadic fills from drummer Dimitri “Demeatree” Stoyanov, are added until the full band comes crashing in together around the one-minute mark. Album halfway point “Frank Stallone” is yet another experimental track that seems to be far outside what the band has offered before. The repeating programmed beat on that track is ominous but oddly understated for such a raucous band. One might be fooled into thinking this is the “breather” track, but the hissing guitars that pierce through the mix at the halfway mark say otherwise.
This is not to say that Meatwound veers too far off into the weeds of experimentation. The band’s swampy, grimy foundation of noise rock and hardcore is still most prominent throughout the album, particularly on tracks such as “Mount Vermin” and closer “Exodus MF.” Even with the experimentation, the songs themselves are structurally straightforward, often simply alternating between A and B sections with slight variations. However, there is enough variety in stylistic approaches, from noise/industrial (“Barking Dog as a Plot Device”) to sludgy hardcore (“Europa”), to keep any fan of extreme music deeply engaged.
-JD
Psudoku - Psudoktrination (experimental grindcore/space grind)
Psudoku is the long-running solo project of Captain Roger (a.k.a. Shuttle Mission Specialist Roger), who performs guitar, bass, and synthesizer, and also programs drums. The band’s website describes the project as a “futuristic progressive 1970s grindcore band from Norway” and claims the band transports “its recorded material using time travel, from a parallel universe where grind was developed from prog rock instead of hardcore punk and thrash metal.” After a six-year absence, it seems Captain Roger was finally able to start the time travel machine again to deliver more space grind to the masses.
Listening to Psudoku is often the aural equivalent of playing a space-themed science fiction video game at the point that things go terribly awry. Specifically, the band’s music conjures the moment your character’s spacecraft is critically damaged, creating a severe decompression event that leads to a supersonic outflow. Your fellow crew members are subsequently sucked out into space as their insides boil. All the while, alarms are blaring and red emergency lights are flashing as you try to figure out your next move. The havoc and terror that ensue in such moments are perfectly encapsulated in most of Psudoku’s music, all while being wrapped in the influence of 8-bit and 16-bit video game OSTs. This unique approach to grindcore is continued on Psudoktrination.
Even though the above description may sound slightly unsettling, the music on Psudoktrination is inherently playful in a demented way, much like Melt-Banana applies their characteristic quirkiness and lightheartedness to otherwise intense music. The bright, effervescent quality of “neW-hAbITabLE-pLaNET-diScOvEreD-TheN-iGnoRed,” for example, engenders emotions verging on ecstatic elation. Nevertheless, this is not a candy-coated mission for second-rate space grind cadets. The brisk tempos and complex arrangements ensure that only highly trained senior space grind officers would be able to manage this unpredictable and potentially dangerous mission.
Before proceeding, you would do well to remember that in space, no one can hear you scream. But the delay-drenched grunts of Shuttle Mission Specialist Roger are heard loud and clear on Psudoktrination, an excellent release from one of the most forward-thinking grindcore projects around today. Roger that, Captain Roger. Roger that.
-JD
fallfiftyfeet – Counterfeit Reflections (hardcore, metalcore)
It seems that most music in my core-ner of the world is reshaping what “core” even connotes. There’s been amalgams of subgenres in years past, but pairings are becoming more and more daring, i.e. Snooze, For Your Health, Callous Daoboys, etc. No longer are there clear, solid pillars of influence, rather a practice of seamlessly blending everything I love into something even more sultry. I’ll go ahead and call them underdogs just because I’m so late to this album, but Counterfeit Recollections from the West Virginians fallfiftyfeet is a cornucopeiac (for my fellow Polachek fans) revelation. This is the first album in a long time under the metalcore/hardcore umbrella where the guitar performance alone secured my attention. The writing just oozes core renaissance. Guitar duties, handled by Anthony Buck and James Becca, draw from spacious shoegaze, breakdowns of the 2000s (but not in that like overdone cheesy way), disarray in the like of Ion Dissonance (“Still Collide”), and even shreddy moments (hello pinch harmonics). “Disarrangement” is a masterclass in finesse, allowing vocal hooks the room to breathe and then promptly stealing the spotlight with a woozying riff to finish. Starting with a quick tribute to 90s alt/grunge, “Best Revenge” is a highlight reel of those soaring moments in the Moon Tooth discography coupled with an essence of Underoath in their prime. In its simplest distillation, Counterfeit Recollections is equal parts catchy and clobbering but fallfiftyfeet hardly concocted anything straightforward here.
-JF
Godot – Fever Songs (mathcore, noise-sludge)
It’s always satisfying when an album scratches an itch you didn’t even know you had. Texan quartet, Godot, mix sludgy noisecore with tortured emotional undertones to create a soundtrack of anguish and dejection. Admittedly, it may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I was more than happy to drink it’s caustic brew by the pint. Fever Songs isn’t just unpredictable; it’s verging on unhinged. While immediately reminding me of old school noisecore bands like Ed Gein, Gaza and The Locust there is also a modern edge running through everything they do, including nods to new idols like Euclid C Finder or Chat Pile (especially on “Reprobative” which could easily pass as a Cool World demo). Their focus on society’s struggles with love and relationships feels relevant, relatable and fragile all at the same time. So, if you’re not mentally prepared to go on a journey through the emotions of a bad break up, you might want to sit this one out.
The first few moments of opener “The Lakes Bloated Mistress Eventually Resurfaced” consist of a quick rattle of hi-hat followed by an acidic scream of “WHYYYYY????”. It sets everything up nicely for a tumultuous unravelling of self-esteem, trust and beliefs. Godot mix everything up to the point where your head spins, throwing in pinched harmonics, staccato breakdowns, blast beats, semi-acoustic interludes, and more. “Repetitive Strain” is a personal highlight which starts in a more serene place before building up and then unceremoniously crashing back down again. The striking lyrics of “How can I finally love myself, when I have yet to breathe?” feel pertinent and desolate, matching the unstable delivery of the music. Godot are on to something here and the fact that this is their debut full length makes Fever Songs even more impressive.
-PK
Svarta Havet – Manen ska lysa din vag (blackened post-hardcore, blackgaze)
Sometimes an album perfectly matches your mood or state of mind, and everything just clicks into place like a beautiful 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle. This is exactly what happened with me and Svarta Havet’s latest opus, Månen ska lysa din väg. I’m currently struggling with sleep, or lack of it, which can leave me in a foggy place and somewhat removed from reality. This newfound state has influenced the music I’m able to enjoy or even tolerate (my already high filter is now turned up to 11). Yet, the Finnish quartet (whose name translates to Black Sea) have fashioned a take on blackened post-hardcore that has been complimenting my hazy perspective by swathing me in its dark shroud.
There are clear influences from bands such as Oathbreaker, Portrayal of Guilt and Dawn Ray’d, but there are also some welcome doom and noise rock leanings which help the songs breathe. Opener “Gom Dig” roams freely from black metal fury to galloping noise rock before it finally ends with a beguiling piano passage. “Alla Sover” is an updated version of a track from their 2018 Demo but now lasts two minutes longer, with the ending now being an epically caustic doom-laden fanfare. New drummer, Jara, showcases her full arsenal, switching comfortably from intense blasting to minimalist pounding, often within the same track, as is the case on “Djur”. Closer “Ditte Rike” (possibly my favourite track on the album) has a distinct blackgaze edge, with the music almost feeling too dreamy for Lotta’s venomous vocal delivery. This stark juxtaposition thrives and possibly hints at where the band could be heading in the future. There is an ethereal quality to the whole album that manages keep the listener enveloped in its miasma. Svarta Havet don’t fit easily into any pigeonholes, instead they are happy to meld genre’s together, performing alchemy with ease and looking disparagingly at any purists saying, “That’s not allowed!”.
-PK
TELOS – What They Built (blackened hardcore, mathcore)
It’s going to be very difficult not to make this piece sound like a eulogy, as What They Built is sadly the last ever release from Danish blackened hardcore heroes TELOS. The best bands often go out on a high, knowing when to bow out with dignity rather than peter out with a whimper. 2023’s full length Delude was one of my favourite albums of that year, and one of the best blackened hardcore albums in recent memory. It’s dark, brooding charms had me hooked from the get-go and if you’re a fan of fellow Danes Hexis, LLNN, EYES (who share vocalist Viktor Kaas) or Converge you should check it out immediately. This new four track EP not only picks up the baton from that stellar full length but somehow manages to turn up the intensity. TELOS have an unerring knack of knowing when to release you from their chokehold just before you pass out, and while they continue that act of mercy here, they now seem slightly less willing. There is a sludgy, nastiness present which we’ve only had glimpses of before, but now its unleashed I can’t help but want more (yes, I know that’s not going to happen). The opening riff from the title track is utter filth and reminds me of something The Abominable Iron Sloth or Will Haven would’ve concocted in their heyday. The cruelty continues on second offering “an eschatology”, but this time they batter you with a wall of noise straight from the off, before sculpting something more angular. The middle riff is so sharp you’ll do well to stay keep all your fingers by the time it’s finished. There is an air of a band unleashing all that they’ve got left in the tank, one final big fuck off hurrah. It is a crying shame to be losing a band of TELOS’s calibre, but this is a fitting and unrelenting sign off.
-PK
Thus Spoke Zarathustra - I’m Done With Self-Care, It’s Time for Others’ Harm (melodic deathcore, nostalgia-core)
Thus Spoke Zarathustra’s new album I’m Done With Self-Care, It’s Time for Others’ Harm is an unabashed love-letter to a very specific breed of 00's deathcore, all the way down to the album and song-titles. Namely, the more melodic variety that I wouldn’t knock someone for calling metalcore, as it draws pretty blatant influence from the 90's-00's Gothenburg melodic death metal scene most associated with At the Gates. To stop beating around the bush, this is basically As Blood Runs Black - Allegiance 2.0. There's even some riffs and breakdowns such as in "Gage Lanza 2 : Return Of The Red Hammer" that are almost note-for-note from that album, to the point where it just has to be a homage. However throughout the album are some notable seemingly-intentional lyrical nods to bands like All Shall Perish and The Acacia Strain. This is the sort of band and genre that can sometimes benefit from not taking themselves too seriously, we've seen that going back to all the over the top audio samples, “being on that 2008 shit” etc, so I'm open to letting some tongue-in-cheek things like this slide.
Now, I’ve wrestled a little with myself around how much praise to give an album that is deliberately derivative, and borderline a tribute album. And I fully understand people having a sentiment of “I’d rather just listen to those OG albums than a re-hashed version of them in 2025.” But there's something to be said for the how few deathcore albums in the past decade actually sound like this. And while there has been an up-tick in that myspace-revival sound, few of them actually manage to pull it off on the level of their inspirations - which despite some of the obvious inspirations bore on their sleeves, to me TSZ has been able to do in an authentic nature.
-TB
Othiel - World's Fastest Car (screamo, post-hardcore)
It hasn’t been as relentlessly rewarding of a year for screamo/skramz as 2024 was, but in the past two months the levees have began to break. Notably, April delivered the sassy Canadian violence of Emma Goldman’s standout release all you are is we, which even got on Fantano’s radar. There's also a recent impressive debut from Chicago-based Valatie, but it's the recent 2nd full-length from Othiel via our friends at Zegema Beach Records which has personally staked a claim for screamo album of the year. I was loosely familiar with their 2023 debut, which evidently I definitely need to revisit, but the cheekily named in great screamo fashion World's Fastest Car has grabbed a hold of me and won't let go in a way that few albums can.
I love when a screamo album has levels, and layers to it. Sure there's some fantastic albums that just do one thing at 110% and are amazing for it, but when some kind of dynamic constrast can come into play, the whole package often feels elevated. In the case of World's Fastest Car, it's the shift between these abrasive, razor sharp distorted panic chords and hardcore riffs, a visceral vocal deliveries over cathartic post-rock build-ups, and genuinely memorable melodic sections. Dynamic shifts in tempo and heaviness have it feeling sometimes like a metalcore album in the vein of early Norma Jean disguised as a screamo album, that flows into emotional melodic sections reminscent of Touche Amore. The range, adaptability, and power of this genre is on display here in a way that doesn't sacrifice it's core values, proving the emotional human element is still paramount to what makes screamo great, and that's present here in spades.
-TB
Melting - You Exist Because We Allow It (beatdown metalcore, deathcore)
While this style of beatdown, downtempo-whatever metalcore/deathcore that’s not too far removed from hardcore is not something I’m super versed with, once in a while a release in this style will seemingly nail all of the aspects that that go into this brutality-driven subgenre and make for a great little listening experience. I say little, as this is the debut EP from the Aussie-based Melting, and honestly, the 19-minute run-time feels pretty spot-on from what I want from this style of music. Comparisons could be made here to bands like Bodysnatcher, or even Knocked Loose in it's very in-your-face delivery, tone, and unsettling ambience in between their heavy chugging. The vocals aren't quite as unique and polarizing, fitting more firmly in the gristly metalcore territory, but fit the violent oppression of You Exist Because We Allow It perfectly. I came for the artwork, but stayed for the masochistic ass-beating it delivered.
-TB
The Circle Pit (Best of the Rest)
A Minute To Die For – A Minute To Die For (metalcore)
Acres – The Host (metalcore, alt-metal)
Agonize - Highest Form (metallic hardcore)
Anatomy of a Murder - Love Like Misanthropy (mathcore)
Andthecanaryfell - As the Ice Melts (blackened screamo, metalcore)
Aørist – Afterlife (djethcore)
Bleed – Bleed (alt rock, Deftones)
Bury Tomorrow – Will You Haunt Me, With That Same Patience (metalcore)
Bymyside - Insieme Ricostruire (post-hardcore, screamo)
Cascadent – Telemetry (progressive post-hardcore)
Chepang - Jhyappa (review here) (grindcore) (review here)
Death Before Dishonor – Nowhere Bound (hardcore, metalcore)
DISAPPOINTER - DISAPPOINTER (screamo)
Firmament - A New World If You Can Take It (progressive post-hardcore)
Full of Hell – Broken Sword Rotten Shield (blackened crust-grind)
Gutrectomy - Angst (brutal deathcore, beatdown)
Hellth – The Glitch (deathcore)
In Gloom – True Violence and All the Terror That Comes With It In (break/deathcore)
King Parrot – A Young Person’s Guide To King Parrot (death/grindcore)
Larcenia Roe – Extraction (brutal deathcore)
Mares of Thrace – The Loss (sludge, noise rock)
Novelists – Coda (pop metalcore)
Pridian – Venetan Dark (djent-core)
Shearling – Motherfucker, I am Both: "Amen" and "Hallelujah"... (horse-butt noise rock)
Sold Soul - Just Like That, I Disappear Entirely (progressive deathcore)
Stolen Gun – Demo 2025 (grind/deathcore)
Valatie - Dragged Through the Garden (screamo, metalcore)
Wounded Touch - A Vivid Depiction of Collapse (metallic hardcore) (review here)
XIAO - CONTROL (hardcore punk, powerviolence)
Your Spirit Dies – My Gnawing Pains Will Never Rest (metalcore, groove thrash)