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JUNE DUG UP FROM THE GRAVE

It's been a busy month gentlemen. I've been meaning to make this post for a literal 2 weeks, but thanks to school projects and starting a job I've had a hard time keeping up. I had my death metal deep dive this month so this post is going to be specifically metal focused, getting kind of tired of core. LESSGO

1. Welding Torture

Slam might not be everyone's cup of tea. By that I mean like 97% of Earth's population, and an especially smaller amount listens to older slam. But this shit is so sick. It doesn't really have the trademark slow bulldozing chugs of more contemporary stuff, and even the production sounds like it's still analogue. Instrumentally the EP sounds like it borrows a lot more from just straight up brutal death metal, especially with the way the bass is in the arrangement. That clacky placky type of tone isn't something modern slam is known for (even if imo it would sound way sicker if it was). Speaking of, the production is just absolutely awesome. Compared to the super fried digital stuff that was coming out at nearly the same time as this (not that it's bad) this sticks out very much. What early slam and brutal death metal really nailed was the super bright non compressed drums, it's such a cool and unique sound that I wish was done more. If you like angry but somewhat technical heavy shit this is your band. Awesome EP.

2. Carnivorous Voracity

Those song names are threateningly long. Carnivorous Voracity is a band I wanted to exist, and I finally found out they did. This EP in specific is basically the perfect intersection between slam, deathcore and techdeath. It's fucking INSANE. The vocals are INSANE. The guitarwork, is INSANE. The bass drops are SILLY AS FUCK. It's one of those cases where a band gives you exactly what you expect them to and want from them and it's so absolutely satisfying. While the production isn't really the best, I think the musicianship suffices. The technicality these guys play with is absolutely ferocious and the vocalist was doing growl gymnastics way before it was cool. His lows are so aggressive and present that you just can't not acknowledge it. And then as an aside the guitars do pinch harmonics every second bar and it basically becomes a precisely calculated cacophony. I love bands that sound extremely chaotic but actually hold it together really tightly. Effectively, this band RIPS.

3. Coathanger Abortion

Everything I said about the last band except times 200. It's seriously shocking how talented the musicians in the subgenre are considering the fact most of the songs and entire albums these bands put out are about killing people in different ways, especially women. The production on this album is really dark and reverby, thankfully not in an Incantation type of way. It's like if sonically Leprosy was on amphetamines and had gone through puberty three times in a row. The way they play choppy chugs makes them sound like a giant collective meat grinder. Only downside with them is that the songs are sometimes agregiously long, but I guess that comes with the territory and tendency that metal people have to overdo things (jus an observation, not an insult i swear). This specific sound to me is just mesmerising, it's really interesting to hear genres at the end of their creative peak and how they try and experiment and innovate. It's always so different from how it used to be at the start and the mid period and from whatever subgenre takes off afterwards, and in the case of brutal death metal the innovation was becoming heavy as fuck.

That does it from me on this post. Hopefully I have the time to do another one this month. New Cannibal Corpse is also good, check that out too.

[bulletholemagazine]

JUNE MAJOR RELEASES I (ONE AND ONLY)

Been a hot minute! I got sick and forgot what it meant to be productive, so now I'm here again. This is the only major releases post I plan on doing this month since I want to cover newer and older more obscure bands. Started this blog for that reason. I don't wanna become yet another music review page. Sorry if I sound a bit dry and cynical. Let's go.

1. Humanity's Last Breath - Instill

If the last song was impressive, this one is fucking insane. The ultra precise breakdowns, the whaling whammy pedal tremolos, the choir part in the middle, this just sounds like nothing else I've ever heard any band do before, and I hardly ever get to say that about anything I listen to. They've taken thall and laced it with some swedish fuckery and now whatever this new album is going to sound like is for sure going to make some waves. Extremely hyped, finally something unique and remarkably produced, just sounds fucking huge. And it doesn't need reverb to do that! Looking at you, the one half of modern death metal.

2. Mugshot - Left in the Wake

I haven't ever had the opportunity to say this - I love Mugshot. This band is just hard. It's nothing groundbreaking but it absolutely pounds ass, and sometimes you just NEED ignorant moschcore. They never cease to deliver something that sounds pissed. This song is no exception. I'm glad they're letting the guitarist (guy with the higher voice) scream a bit more, he's got really cool vocals. Their main guy's fucking killing it as well, imo one of the most unique vocalists in hardcore rn. Can't state much more than the fact I love these guys and you should listen to them NOW.

3. Knocked Loose - Upon Loss Singles

FIRE. STRAIGHT FUCKING FIRE. OH MY GOD. SECOND SONG HAS THE LIEGE OF INVERACITY BREAKDOWN. FUCK THIS BAND IS GOOD.

It's got the chunky production, it has the chugs, it's got the style and sexy looking vinyls. GO. NOW. LISTEN.

I don't have anything to add to this :p bye

[bulletholemagazine]

MAY MAJOR RELEASES III

LAST DAY OF THE MONTH LAST POST BAYBEEE LETS GET RIGHT INTO IT

1. Unearth - The Wretched; The Ruinous

Melodeath and melodic metalcore have just recently started to click for me and this album came out at the exact right time, and I love absolutely every bit of it. The cover is absolutely PERFECT - there's been a lot of albums trying to emulate that ornate style of 2000s album covers and it looks like it can only be done right by the bands that were actually there. Now we just need the organic-y collage Trustkill style of album covers to also come back. Anyway, Unearth continues the trend I've noticed recently of bands delivering exactly what you'd expect from them, and doing it good. FUUUCK the riffs are juicy on this, and it feels like they've been listening to how current bands do it too cause there's some more fresh sounding chugs here and there. Production goes raw, tracklist is nonstop solid, overall a solid album to spend your time with.

2. Johnny Booth - Full Tilt

I've been a fan of these guys for almost a year now and these two songs have been a VERY different. VERY. Johnny Booth does the anthemic + heavy + catchy hardcore sound better than everyone else, except maybe Beartooth (hint hint) and the like. And now, they've pulled this nasty mathcore type spin on their typical sound with a bunch of electronic noises also included. It's like Omerta for millenials. Production is very raucous in comparison to everything else coming out as well, extremely fat guitar tone and way quieter drums than you'd expect, very non standard but still great sounding and interesting. The songs themselves are obviously catchy as hell, they wouldn't be if it wasn't Johnny Booth. I'm really interested to see whatever next they release, it looks like they might be going a completely new direction.

3. Beartooth - Sunshine!

Probably the best thing released this month!!! I was always familiar with Beartooth and Caleb Shomo's stuff (Attack Attack rules) but I was never exactly interested in listening to them regularly. However this song blew my fucking mind. It's basically updated easycore with the shrill pitchshifted guitar tone of current metalcore but with the same mood of a song you'd hear on Punk goes Pop. Not a lot of bands do the abrupt switch from clean parts to heavy parts good so it's nice to hear someone who's been cut out for that do it well. Insanely catchy + insanely heavy breakdown.

THE END IS COMING. of may that is huehuehue

That does it for me for this month. Unfortunately I didn't get to cover much underground stuff because I got really busy with some things IRL, so I'll reserve June primarily for obscure bands and make like one post for major drops. The video I have on Admiral Angry is delayed since I realised I have to rewrite a large part of the script, but hopefully I'll get to reworking that soon enough. Toodles.

[bulletholemagazine]

MAY MAJOR RELEASES II

Long awaited, postponed cause some shit was going down. Here's my second of three posts covering new shit LESSGO

1. The Acacia Strain - STEP INTO THE LIGHT

This is the fucking shit. From the singles the band had posted I was already hyped to hell and they delivered exactly what I was expecting. It's nasty as hell, it's grimy, it's present and it HITS. If this isn't a statement in favor of the older bands and the oldschool style still living on, I don't know what is. Just hoping everyone else takes notes and we actually return to making bangers like on this album, and not highly produced piles of garbage. Besides me gatekeeping like that, this album is absolutely stellar. Perfect ratio between chugs and blasts, and the features are great too. The song with Sunami's vocalist is really fun, got me revisiting it a few times. Also, FLOURISHING is an amazing opener. Overall, a stellar album that delivers. Hyped to see what's next.

2. Kublai Khan TX - Theory of Mind

This band doesn't miss. Matt Honeycutt is barking his ass off as usual, the riffs are massive, drumming is incredibly intricate, exactly what you want from a song of theirs. I feel like it's been a trend this month for bands to deliver exactly what fans expect and them doing it well. ESPECIALLY here with that end breakdown, sweet mama. This song just goes crazy, you can only imagine what the entirety of the next EP or Album is going to be like. One interesting thing I've noticed happening is that a lot of bands are turning to this really weird, scooped sounding guitar tone. Acacia Strain has it, new Beartooth (wink wink spoilers wink) has it, and even Kublai Khan now. I wonder if it's cause everyone is using pitched guitars now and the effect does that or if it's something else entirely. Either way and regardless, this song is choice shit. Can't wait for whatever else they release.

3. Cattle Decapitation - Terrasite

I remember hearing We Eat Our Young when it dropped and I instantly had high hopes for this album. Being up front, I'm not a fan of Travis Ryan's tunnel throat singing. I think as a growl it's awesome but it doesn't work for me when it's melodic. Even despite that, the music on this album is great enough for me to overlook it. FUUUUCK this album is good!!!! Again diving into more old school heavy hardcore territory, but combined with sort of a more modern atmospheric symphonic-y kind of approach. Unlike a lot of other bands, I think Cattle Decap nailed the combination of those two. It's an incredibly moody, heavy and well produced record. I love the drum sound especially. God, I'm not even too big of a fan but I'm just so glad this album is here and it's GOOD.

That's all for this post, kind of breezing by these cause I'm way behind schedule, had to deal with IRL stuff. Tune in next time when I may or may not cover an extra release compared to the usual three. RIP Tina Turner, new Sleep Token is mid.

[bulletholemagazine]

MAY MAJOR RELEASES I

It's the start of the month everybody (or it was when i started writing this lmao) We already got some shit and it is GOOD. Depending on how much more stuff comes out, I might make a second or even a third post like this, we'll see. For now, here's what's come out just in these two weeks that I think is cool. AS IM FUCKING SPEAKING ACACIA STRAIN DROPPED THEIR ALBUM HOLY FUCK IM DEF MAKING ANOTHER POST

1. DRAIN - LIVING PROOF

Three years since the last time DRAIN had released an album. In this time, they had signed to a new label and only in the last few months did we start getting singles. Some people were worried it was taking so long, would the new album live up to California Cursed or would be a colossal letdown? LIVING PROOF fucking rips, that's the truth of it. It branches out of the formula and everything it does lands. There's these death metally parts during the breakdowns, there's drum breaks, there's a closed hihat part, there's a Descendants cover and there's a fucking dark trap song. And it's all pulled off perfectly to fit the album's energy. Crazy variety and experimentation in comparison to CC, and it all works. The mix is also amazing which helps even more. I'm just like, satisfied. I love how this album turned out. Also the intermission track has the heaviest breakdown on the whole record lmao.

2. Thus Spoke Zarathustra - Act Like You Don't Know

MySpace deathcore is back mf. At least in this current form! Thus Spoke Zarathustra have been on my radar for a bit, along with Tracheotomy and Razel Got Her Wings. All three play a refreshed take on shit you would've heard in 2008 and honestly, even though it's nothing exactly new, it's a breath of fresh air in the current scene. I should make a post alone on how generic this stuff has become, but until the underground stops pumping out bands as good as these guys, we should be okay. Musically the album is a lot like a less heavy (and less mysogynist) I Declare War - variety of chugs plus melodeath riffs. The features at the back half of the album are awesome as well, having songs with the two bands I mentioned above among others. My only criticism is that an authentic myspace band puts the mosh riff front and center and at the very start, while in most of the songs on the record it comes in a bit later. Otherwise, stellar traditional deathcore. Hyped to see how these guys will follow this up.

3. Humanity's Last Breath - Labyrinthian

Oh fuck yea. I remember hearing a preview of a new HLB song somewhere and being really unimpressed with the riff, so I wasn't expecting much going into this. However I got completely thrown off - this shit bangs. I love this bizzare direction they're evolving in, it's really cinematic and elaborate but it's also catchy and doesn't waste it's time or lean into the ambiences too much. Either this or dumbed down thall grooves is what I've been wanting from them, and they delivered. It's a seriously well done song, I can only imagine what the whole album is gonna be like. This is shit you can read books to.

That concludes it for the first of two (if not three) posts on major stuff that's getting released this month. Afterwards I'll be covering some more old shit and maybe a few newer bands with less pull. Catch you on the next one.

[bulletholemagazine]

NUCLEARSILO - Void (Fellsilent Cover)

MY SHIT DROPPED GO LISTEN TO IT

[bulletholemagazine]

PSA: REALLY HEAVY BREAKDOWNS

Admittedly a more in between type of post, but I thought I'd list three breakdowns I really enjoy because of how googoo banana they get. If the 4 people reading this are interested I might make this a routine thing.

1. The Burning Wind - Kin

The Burning Wind are a mathcore band that started doing the insanely heavy scronky sound a few years before it got popular, a lot like another band I covered previously (Yüth Forever). The last thing they put out was this EP in 2019. Kin, is, the third song on it. Holy fucking shit. Just listen to it. Go ahead. It's 2 minutes. There's not a single riff that activates my neurons more than that breakdown.

2. Tower of Rome - Girls That Smoke Gross Me Out To The Max

This is so old school I grew a pair of afflicition jeans while listening to it. Insanely underrated band from that really shreddy early deathcore sound, similar to Brazen Bull and Cloacal Kiss. The gang vocals are an amazing touch that tells you EXACTLY when this is from. And then after the main riff the song is literally just a breakdown, much like the last one. Its not necessarily slow and punishing, but it's in such meatheaded rhythm that it makes you want to throw some shit. Peak shitty deathcore. Sounds exactly like you'd want it to, nothing more nothing less. Uncompromisingly heavy.

3. The Chariot - David De La Hoz

WOW. WOWWWWW. For a long time I knew this band just for being under Norma Jean's Fans Also Like selection, and I think I'd heard one of their songs before but I had no clear memory. Even confused them with Maylene And The Sons of Disaster for a long time, just cause I was so unfamiliar. Then I recently checked this song out and when the breakdown hit at about 4 minutes in I lost my shit. The definition of a low 000 dumb as fuck slow open e riff. Hits you in the face like.... something rather unsavory. I absolutely love this and need to listen to more of them.

Thank you for putting up with me. I have a cover of a Fellsilent song coming out tomorrow. Stay tuned and goodnight.

[bulletholemagazine]

APRIL DUG UP FROM THE GRAVE

That title sounds really wrong. Anyway, second to last day of April, time for me to routinely show you people some old bands.

1. The Heartland

DUUUUUUUUDE. I was listening through a bunch of late 2000s mathcore bands when I pressed play on this and the main riff made me lose my shit. It's so bizarrely menacing sounding and only made me want to see what else this band had done. This first album is strictly in deathcore territory, although this is probably the heaviest song on it. The rest of the stuff is weirdly melodic and serene sounding, but melodic not as in As I Lay Dying or As Blood Runs Black. It's almost post metal-ish with the types of tones and the song lengths it touches upon, really interesting and memorable little experience. What I've listened to from their second album sounds to me like they tried to assimilate into the more mainstream mathcore/metalcore type of sound, something like The Fall Of Troy meets Pierce The Veil plus an even more raunchier hardcore sensibility than those two bands. They also incorporate clean singing in it. I haven't researched The Heartland at all, but it looks to me as if they did deathcore very well, once Suicide Silence took off they realised it got way harder to break through and they tried to get more accessible, failing in the process. Really unfortunate, because I like the ideas they put on display. You can only wonder where they could've gone if they got popular.

2. Aftershock

Surprise, it's Killswitch Engage!!! Aftershock is one of two bands that split only for the musicians in it to form the legendary KSE, along with members of Overcast. It's a PROFOUNDLY heavier band, and the song I put in particular caught me because it sounds kind of djenty, not something you'd be used to in 2001. Owes a lot more to mathcore and death metal adjacent stuff, doesn't have much if any melodeath tinges. I originally had no idea that this band was part of KSE lore, I just really liked the riffs and added them to a few playlists. Goes to show that even now, without having to know where the two guitarists from this band would end up, you can appreciate the music they made prior. Respect.

3. Deaden

Took some time for me to cover an actual metal band. Deaden are, I believe, brutal death metal. Except holy shit is it way nastier than you'd expect. They're part of that weird little enclave of bands in the late 90s and early 2000s that weren't exactly slam, but were still heavy as shit. Dehumanized, Eternal Suffering and Sepsism type beat. It teeters the line of early deathcore sometimes, very unpredictable tempo changes and blasting, even some parts that you could confidently call breakdowns. Convergent evolution in metal and hardcore is really a thing apparently. Regardless, when I heard it the first time, this shit wowed me. The drum sound is INCREDIBLY aggressive and bright, the guitars are very dirty and smudged up, its the musical equivalent of a really large dog barking at you. Visceral. ....So sad that everything else they did besides this album sounds like shit.

That does it from me on this post. The Admiral Angry video is REALLY close to done, I had to rerecord all the audio lmao. I've also made the album cover for my second release, not sure when it's going to be done but hopefully it will be in the next month or two, we'll see. Toodles.

[bulletholemagazine]

5 posts!

AYYYY

[bulletholemagazine]

APRIL MUSIC FINDS

The essence of these types of posts is I'm going to talk about bands that aren't necessarily old enough to put in my "Dug Up From The Grave" ones, but definitely aren't recent enough to put in my New Releases posts too. Stuff thats about 5 years old at most but I think still deserves a mention. Here it goes.

1. Burst Synapse

I go absolutely ape for this kind of shit. Burst Synapse is a solo grindcore/industrial metal project with what sounds like a bit of mathcore thrown in? Either way it sounds abrasive and pissed as fuck and I'm here for it. Anything featured on the Big Money Cybergrind compilations is completely out of pocket, surprised people haven't caught onto it considering for how long it's been a thing. As I mentioned in the last post (read it if you haven't), this stuff is in the same ballpark as Hitbox, ergo early metalcore soaked in cybergrind and other harsh electronic genres, creating a heavy and experimental mess. That being said, the guy that runs this is an instagram twink. Doesn't get any better than that. Hope he releases something new soon, he's really carved out his own unique sound.

2. Yüth Forever

Isn't that literally how scottish people would say "youth forever"? These guys come from the Traitors sort of downtempo groovy as fuck school of deathcore, but they also have all the weird whammy wizardry that numetalcore bands do now. Their sound is pretty ahead of its time in terms of that, and it's even more satisfying considering how catchy their songs are. Seriously, this and their 2013 album are absolute JUICE. No offense to any of the newer bands that do this style, but I feel like Yüth Forever gets right what most of them get wrong - catchyness before production and absurd ass breakdowns. Almost all of their songs that I've listened to are extremely memorable and hooky and I think that's fundamentally missing from the current Darko US clone number #4023 type of stuff that's going on. Sad that they stopped releasing after 2016, if they continued going right now they would've been popping off and respected as innovators, alongside literally every Joshua Travis project.

3. Serling

Holy fucking shit. This is the culmination of almost 7 years of endless djent memes and absurdly low tuned deathcore. Serling is a mathcore duo with only a guitarist and drummer, and their gimmick (besides being tuned to bulldozer engine frequencies) is that all their music is based around the Twilight Zone. Adds a pretty haunting tinge to their writing if you ask me, although they'll probably eventually have to drop it since there's only so much you could say about one show. Regardless, their music is INSANE. It combines all the best tropes of deathcore and mathcore and it just becomes this insane and crushing sound. What especially helps is their vocalist's highs are extremely unique, in that they sound like cries for help more than anything else. It's really sick and harrowing when you listen the first time. These guys have influenced my own music a lot, I can only be excited for whatever next they put out.

Thanks for reading! Make sure to check out all three bands I mentioned if my corny ass descriptions interest you in them. Otherwise, I've got a video on the band Admiral Angry coming out soon on Youtube, and a Fellsilent cover I did for Nuclearsilo that's supposed to drop May 6th, after spamming amuse records support emails for a month since the first time it got denied release :((((. Gimme a follow if you liked any of this and want to see what else I'll be doing/have done, peace.

[bulletholemagazine]

APRIL/MARCH NEW RELEASES

I'm gonna be catching up with stuff from late last month and also things that have already been released recently. New Metallica kinda mid.

1. PSYCHO-FRAME - 24 HOURS LEFT

I listened to this on a Joshua Travis stream (gorf squad assemble), and it just completely fucks. With the rise of AI in music, production value and the expectancy of fans, I feel like bands are just going to go on an upward trajectory of getting better and better, and if this isn't an example of that idk what is. Super stellar and fat sounding deathcore, very old school inspired, but still with a more neo-sensibility. It's nothing too inventive or experimental, but it's extremely nasty and well done, which is always something I can appreciate. I feel like people are also starting to get tired of the symphonic + downtempo sound, and bands like this (along with Mantikore, Tracheotomy and Thus Spoke Zaratusthra) are a breath of fresh air. In conclusion, uber swag.

2. Hitbox - Grief Inheritance

Hitbox is a band that's been on my radar for a bit. I like finding bands that play in a style that's similar to what I do (e.g. DISCONSOLATE, Burst Synapse - both bands I should cover sometime), that being very grimy and metalcore ish cybergrind. These guys r silly, they have jams, the songs are short, what more else would you want from a band like this??? Also I've been trying to get in their discord for almost a month now, I'll get it eventually. Hyped for what else they've got coming, not much else to say really besides it's really catchy and novel, plus 2000s nostalgia is awesome and I support

3. Glass Casket - Let Them Go

OHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGOD!!! The thing I least expected is a band like THIS to have a new release this year. Glass Casket are early deathcore legends known for an incredibly technical and nasty style, and they haven't had anything new since 2006. ALMOST 20 YEARS GODDAMN. This new song sounds almost like a more mathcore influenced version of the new Cattle Decap stuff, also without the horrible clean singing (sorry Travis). Very juicy and a very natural evolution of the sound they've adopted honestly - it's fresh, but it's also nothing too unfamiliar. Great riffs too. Extremely excited for what the full album will be like.

That does it for this post, I'm gonna try and make a bit more than last month's this time, maybe covering a bit more older bands, or covering recent, but not freshly new releases - like, up to 2 or so years old. Respect to the 3 people who read this. \m/

[bulletholemagazine]

MARCH/FEBRUARY DUG UP FROM THE GRAVE

The jist of these types of posts is I'll be sending older bands I've discovered recently. Enjoy!

1. Stampin' Ground

Stampin' Ground were a UK band. Not that you'd tell, this sounds like Slayer on amphetamines and NYHC combined. I don't remember exactly how I found them, but I know it was this song and I know I was going monkey over it. It's so absurdly fast and the breakdown hits perfectly. Thrash wasn't dead in the 90's apparently, metalheads just don't know where to look. Their first three albums (one in 1998, one in 2000, and one in 2003 which I'll talk about in a bit) are very straightforward crossover thrash + earth crisis kind of moshy hardcore parts (all tuned to an e flat because of course it is) and their last album gets a bit bouncier and more hxc-leaning. At the time the new wave of american metal was getting its kickstart and I imagine the band was having some internal problems, so they split up after that and haven't done anything since. Now, the 2003 is interesting, since it's a split with the fucking NORTHSIDE KINGS of all bands. Y'know, the band whose singer is famous for punching Glenn Danzig? And the band with song titles such as "Giving emo kids something to really cry about" and "Fuck The Middle East"? Admittedly not a good look for them, but they're brits so I don't even know if they had any idea of what they were getting themselves into with this. Alas, they made some good music and dipped. Next.

2. Concealment

I found these guys through Starkweather's Spotify page. They had a split together and it interested me enough to see who these guys are. And GODDAYUMMMMM THIS SHIT IS GOOD!!!!!! Techdeathy mathcore that hits extremely hard and doesn't spare a single chug or dissonant chord. Their material's just been uploaded to Spotify 3 years ago, their first release was in 2007 and their second album dropped in 2010. The band is still active apparently, as their neat lil facebook page would suggest. Wonder if they'll ever put out anything else. Also, apparently they were (or still are, idk) signed to Total Dissonance Worship, which when I found that out it instantly clicked. If you aren't familiar, that label has put out stuff like Ion Dissonance and Plebeian Grandstand (Thinking of making a video on my YT about them, maybe for Trustkill as well). I think you could make a solid case for this being early deathcore considering that.

3. Left To Vanish

FUCK DOES THIS GO. Left To Vanish are a Philadelphia metalcore/deathcore band that started alllll the way back in 2001 IN HIGHSCHOOL, and as far as I can find their earliest release was in 2005, back during the days of logos-in-impact-font-core. Very ahead of their time, kind of in the same vain as A Life Once Lost in that regard. They then were making music until 2009, but broke up only to reunite in 2016, which makes them the only band still putting out stuff actively. Their latest EP is extremely good(they have a song with jesse leach on it!!!), they've sort of moved on from this firstwavey sound into something more contemporary and it's pretty amazing how well they've managed to adjust, considering a lot of the old school deathcore bands couldn't. Go show the guys some love and listen to their stuff, they absolutely deserve it. If you like Animosity and early Suicide Silence their 2007/2008 era stuff perfectly fits in that style of deathcore.

Thanks for reading!!! That'll probably do it for the zine posts this month, unless something else really interesting comes out while march still isn't over. I might still do another new releases post for other smaller bands (and for the 2 people reading this). Besides that, I'm still working on music and I'm trying to find time to record videos for the YT channel. Stay tuned :3

[bulletholemagazine]

MARCH/FEBRUARY MAJOR NEW RELEASES

1. The Acacia Strain - FRESH BONES

Oh my god, this band is heavy again. This and the previous single UNINTENDED GRAVES sound like they're outtakes from 3750. If this is what the first two singles are like I can't imagine what the rest of the album will be. The Acacia Strain have been on a long run of more atmospheric and somber albums since DL left, which of course isn't bad, but it also isn't their strength exactly. What is though, is THIS. THE FUCKING BREAKDOWN AT THE END OF THIS. HOLY FUUUUUUCK. Need I say more? Go listen to it. Go support them. First time they've been great in a really long time.

2. Suicide Silence - Remember... You Must Die

I'd like to preface this by saying that it's sort of a trend that deathcore bands are going back to the OG Myspace sound and even the one before that (the more hardcore/mathcore influenced type of dxc, ergo Glass Casket, Ion Dissonance). I think it's awesome. I'm a massive fan of both of those styles and I think they hold up perfectly. This album doesn't do it for me. I know the guys just got out of a horrible situation and they're healthy together, but Become The Hunter was just better. I don't know what the process was exactly behind it, but there's less memorable riffs, the production's down a notch, and Eddie sounds weaker. Flat out, it's just a lesser release to me and a bit of a dissapoint. I feel like the guys could do so much better, seeing especially as they're literally the bridging between the old-school and myspace sound. I want them to write something exciting, not No Time To Bleed part 2. That said, there's a few good song, but the past album and the previous singles still clear them. I am let down and blueballed.

3. DRAIN - FTS(KYS)

Ass on the cover, 10/10. Jokes aside, since DRAIN had signed to Epitaph, we only had Watch You Burn for the longest time. Now however, they came out with this song and another one called Evil Finds Light, and I think it's safe to say these guys haven't let up. Although I think so far the tracks as energetic and sporadic as was the case with California Cursed, that's not necessarily a bad thing. There's lots of bounce, way more creative drumwork, production is a slight bit better, guitars sound even chunkier!!! Feels like a natural followup to making something so pissed off and fast, plus touring and doing shows relentlessly for the last three years, ALSO considering that their vocalist is in Gulch. Taking it a bit slower and making something maybe a bit less agro is the perfect step forward for these guys. Though you never know, maybe they have album cuts that rip at a faster tempo. We'll have to wait and see.

That does it from me on this post. Thank you for reading! Next time I'm covering old bands I've discovered that I think are worth talking about, and after that I'll talk about a few other new releases that caught my attention. Toodles.

[bulletholemagazine]

MARCH/FEBRUARY NEW RELEASES I (FIRST POST!!!)

I'm gonna start the zine off straight to the point, I planned on having an introductory post but I don't really see the reason in making one, so here we go. This is some stuff that got released this month and the month before, maybe even earlier, but it's stuff from this year. The next post will be a follow up to this with a bunch of old stuff I discovered recently that I think is worth talking about.

1. 30round - Pushing Daisies

You press play and that riff hits you like a MOTHERFUCKER. Absolute bulldozer of a song. I love that modern metalcore tropes are sort of starting to seep into hardcore, and this song using the pitchshifter effect is exhibit A of that. Nothing else gets me going like those digitech SCREEs between the chugs. The breakdown at the end was already great, but then you hear the MLG horn sample blare over the guitars and it just makes the song even better. As an aside, from listening to what these guys have done before on Spotify, it seems like this might be their best song yet, both production and writing wise. The track sounds and is played amazingly, the vocals are raw as fuck which I personally appreciate more than clean, mediated screaming like in a lot of modern metalcore. Overall, fat as fuck riffs, slamming drum work, pissed off vocals, weird noises and a great breakdown. What moee do you need? Stoked to see what the guys release next.

2. Surfaced - Sacrifice

Sometimes you just need that caveman, ignorant 90's style of hardcore. And Surfaced provides. It's these guys' first release and they already sound better than 50% of what's on Hardcore Worldwide (no shade thrown on the bands there obviously, but y'know). Surprisingly nasty and catchy riffs, and probably the most perfect vocals for a band like this. Again with the rawness thing, the vocalist actually sounds pissed and earnest. It hits even more when it hits these sort of death metal-y type parts. There's a bree on one of the songs!!! What more could you ask for!!! The arrangements themselves are perfect for getting your inner chimp out in the pit - perfect hooks, perfect breakdown placement, no time wasted, just angry as fuck genuine hardcore. While the production isn't as good as the previous band's, the writing counters it. Go give these guys a listen and follow them they deserve way more than the 500 monthlies they've got.

3. .gif from god - Digital Red

Is it "gif from god" or "DOT gif from god"? Why is mathcore like this? In any case, this band's been on my radar for a while. Their 2019 album is exactly the type of music I wanted to listen to when I first found mathcore - calculated assaults. Like, I'm gonna sledgehammer your ass, but I'll be precise about it. I don't know how to exactly put it, but their riffs sound more modern and not like discordant dillinger worship, which very much sets them apart in a great way from a lot of other bands that do this style now and just default to writing you'd hear from a Relapse metalcore band in the early 2000's. Extremely versatile and tasteful vocals - great, powerful highs, juicy growls and the several variations of those tow that the vocalist does change it up just enouth to where it stays interesting (this release ALSO features pig squeals >:) ). Compared to their previous release, it has a slightly muddier sound, but only very slightly. The dodgeball snare compensates anyway. Godbless drummers that tune their snares absurdly high. Writing wise, I'd say this EP's probably the nastiest thing they've done yet, it's like if The Number Twelve Looks Like You and early Cryptopsy had a baby. Absurdly heavy, catchy, crazy guitar work, cool little electronic interlude, and most importantly, it doesn't take itself too seriously. New school mathcore bands, take notes.

Thanks for reading! Make sure to supoort all the bands I talked abt if you liked them. I'll be posting a part II to this post very soon, featuring Acacia Strain, Drain and Buzzoven, among other things. Gimme a follow so you know what I'm doing!!!

Also, I dropped my first EP yesterday. If you like Darko and Ten56 you'll really like it, give it a listen too.