There are plenty of metalcore revival records to choose from this year, but Wounded Touch's Vivid Depiction of Collapse remains among the best. The band already wear their influences on their sleeve, but their inspirations go a lot deeper than the cursory Norma Jean comparisons suggest. So much so that this alleged metalcore connoisseur hadn't even heard of any of the below bands, (besides ALOL). I am, however, swiftly making up for lost time since Wounded Touch had the courtesy to lay down a history lesson on my ass.
Nick Holland (vocals)
A Life Once Lost – Hunter (2005)
I feel like, when A Life One Lost are discussed now, a lot of the time their latter half material is what is referenced: stoning sludge riffs and relenting pace; but to me this record is their defining sound. The track “Vulture” is what I hope is edited into any footage of me throwing hands with someone, because it’s still one of the most angry and ferocious songs I can think of. This record does not get the justice it deserves when people talk about mathcore or techy metalcore in the 2000s. It’s got some of the meanest mosh bits of that era and is still my litmus test for headbanging riffs. Robert’s vocals on this album were a huge influence for me especially for my higher register screams on this newest record of ours and the last. I cannot recommend it enough. If the end of “With Pitiless Blows” doesn’t make you grind your teeth and fantasize about beating your co-worker’s ass, you’re not alive.
Elysia – Lion of Judas (2008)
We didn’t deserve this record from Elysia. These guys seemed to have outgrown their deathcore sound by the time their debut record Masochist (2006) had blown up and this album sounds like what was more in the direction of what they wanted to be playing. Kurt Ballou produced it and took a band from their MySpace-era sound and helped them create a nasty, fuzzed out hardcore record that stood above a lot of the albums that influenced it. It feels in hindsight like fans of their older material at the time weren’t ready for a more mature sound, and I think that’s what hurt this record the most, even though to me it’s one of the most consistent and well produced hardcore records of the 2000s. Songs like the opener “Lack of Culture” make me wish I was rushing the stage to steal the mic before stage diving. I really wish there was live footage of this album’s material but I don’t remember them touring on it very much. For me and a lot of the guys in the band, this often forgotten Ferret release remains in constant rotation to this day.
Martyr A.D. – On Earth As It Is In Hell (2004)
I was late to the game with Martyr A.D., because I completely missed The Human Condition In Twelve Fractions (2001) when it came out (I was in fifth grade, alright!) and instead I discovered these guys on a Victory Records sampler that featured just three songs: one from A Perfect Murder, “The Sadist Nation” by Darkest Hour, and the Martyr AD song “American Hollow” off this album. I listened to that sampler over and over until I finally got this CD and then I listened to that until it was unusable. It’s a precise, mean, and bleak metal album that felt very ahead of its time when I listen back now. The song titles, the samples, the lyrics, all of it still influences my idea of a complete record to this day and I’m glad it forced me to explore the rest of their catalogue because The Human Condition In Twelve Fractions is also such an important album. The song “The Serpent and the Flower” is a certified chair thrower and makes its way into every heavy playlist of mine.
Advent – Remove the Earth (2008)
I remember the first time I heard Advent, my buddy said “okay, I’m going to show you the Christian Converge.” In regards to this record, he hit the nail on the head and I place it side by side with all the big mathcore bands of the late 90s, even though it came out about a decade later than that. Their later material moved more into some more straight forward mosh but this album still retains so much of a frantic, chaotic nature before going into some of the most ass beating mosh sections. Joe’s vocal production on this album is still something I’m chasing after and have never quite been able to match. From beginning to end, I can’t skip a single track on this one and I usually start it over as soon as it ends. They’re already a bit of an under the radar band in the grand scheme of things and this now seems to be their least referenced material, but it will always be something that hit me at an incredibly formative period and is now coded into my musical DNA. The song “Set Apart” is one of my all time favorite songs, not just for heavy music, but period. I cannot imagine how I would approach aggressive music now had I never heard this album.