post hardcore

Record #923: Blanket – Modern Escapism (2021)

/ Nathaniel FitzGerald

Kids today don’t appreciate how good they’ve got it. Back in my day (groans), it would take hours to download a single song, so you would have to carefully weigh what you were interested in hearing so you could make the most of your download time. If you just discovered a new emo band, you would typically spend your precious time downloading other emo bands, only rarely straying beyond that.

Now, thanks to streaming platforms and high speed internet speeds, you can jump from Sunny Day Real Estate to My Bloody Valentine to Slayer to Body Count to 100 Gecs instantly. The floodgates are open.

One of the most interesting byproducts of this unfettered access to the whole of recorded music is the widespread cross-pollination of scenes and genres. I’ve been around long enough to see how shoegaze, metal, and hardcore have interbred to create heavier shoegaze (or gazier metal?).

I listen to a lot of that sort of stuff, so it takes a bit for me to be impressed anymore. And “impressed” is a weak word for my reaction to Blanket, whose second LP Modern Escapism recently grabbed me by the lapels and demanded my attention.

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Record #919: Khamsin – What’s Left of Life? (2022)

/ Nathaniel FitzGerald

In 2018, I was part of the team organizing Bloodline Fest here in South Bend. While we were talking to idle threat about playing, they asked if there was a space for their friends Khamsin, who they were touring with. And boy am I glad there was. They looked to be fresh out of high school, but as soon as they started playing, it brought me back to my own teenage years, playing a brand of introspective post-hardcore reminiscent of As Cities Burn, Brand New, mewithoutYou, and Beggars-era Thrice.

As strong as that initial performance was though, it barely scratched the surface of what they would achieve on their debut full-length, What’s Left of Life? Those same influences are present, but not derivative as much as an accent in their own voice. And they use that voice to tell a story of grief and loss that’s as raw as it is tender.

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Record #895: Dead Poetic – Four Wall Blackmail (2002)

/ Nathaniel FitzGerald

I still have a clear memory of the day I bought this CD. I was in ninth grade, and my stepdad took me to the mall to buy me some new music—a purpose that I almost certainly overstepped. Among the CDs I plucked from the wall display were The Moon Is Down, Crash Rickshaw’s self titled, and Four Wall Blackmail, the debut from Dead Poetic.

As clearly as I remember that day, though, I can’t remember what it was that made me pick this record up. I had a habit of scouring record labels’ websites in those days, so I certainly had seen the band featured. I don’t remember if I heard a single on a comp or seen a music video.

But I do remember that the first time I remember seeing the term “emocore” was in a review for this record. Obviously, this is hardly the first album that could be described as such—it missed that mark by over a decade. But in my personal journey, this served as an entry point to the idea that the heartfelt melodies of emo and the powerful frenzy of hardcore could exist side by side—an idea that would inform much of my musical tastes as a teenager.

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Record #884: He Is Legend – I Am Hollywood (2004)

/ Nathaniel FitzGerald

2004 was a different time, man. Asymmetrical haircuts were flatironed in the front and hairsprayed in the back for maximum volume. Lopsided liprings and bandanas (or, briefly, surgical masks) were must-have accessories for off-center t-shirts and jeans that couldn’t be tighter if they were painted on. It all looked ridiculous in public, of course, but it didn’t matter: it was all constructed to look best from the MySpace Angle™, which was the ultimate arbiter of clout.

I Am Hollywood probably isn’t the Most Scene record of that era, but its chaotic genre-hopping and anything-goes grab bag of pop culture references is perhaps the most emblematic record for the hyperactive attention deficit of the early 2000s scene.

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Record #880: Blindside – Silence (2002)

/ Nathaniel FitzGerald / 1 Comment

I’ll admit it right now—when Sweden’s Blindside first captured the attention of America’s disaffected youth (groups) with A Thought Crushed My Mind, I wasn’t that impressed. I had several friends who were absolutely obsessed (particularly with the manic refrain of “I’M A VAMPIRE!” from “King of the Closet”) but it didn’t do anything for me. Which is odd, considering that 1) they were the undisputed third member of a trinity that also included Project 86 and P.O.D.—two of the bands that got me to care about music in the first place—and 2) I most certainly wouldn’t have “known better.”

But a few years later, while watching the skateboarding film Grind, I was entranced by a band performing during a competition scene. I did some digging and realized that this was the same Blindside that did the goofy vampire song. Everything about it entranced me. I even asked my amateur stylist girlfriend for the lead singer’s haircut (we didn’t quite get it). I tracked down a copy of both Silence and the following album About a Burning Fire and wore them out. And I’m not afraid to confess that I rebought CD copies of each as recently as last year.

And I’ll further own up to the fact that I spent exactly zero seconds deliberating over this reissue—bizarre new cover art aside. And though I expected to enjoy “Pitiful” and a couple other tracks and cringe through the deep cuts, I found it far more consistent than I remembered it being.

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Record #872: idle threat – Blurred Visions (2021)

/ Nathaniel FitzGerald

Across the last several years, it’s been almost impossible to have any presence in the Midwestern DIY scene without running into Idle Threat. The Nashville post-hardcore outfit has been the dictionary definition of workhorses, playing every small festival I’ve been to (or organized), and even organizing their own.

And for years, they’ve done this all as an entirely independent band. Then, fate moved the hands of justice, and they were added to the iconic Tooth & Nail Records (alongside fellow indie workhorses Salt Creek and Valleyheart).

That deal brought about Blurred Visions, the long-awaited debut full-length. While it’s obvious that they had some additional funds, it retains all of the passion and earnestness of their early EPs without ever getting unfocused with the longer running time.

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Record #858: Cave In – Heavy Pendulum (2022)

/ Nathaniel FitzGerald

Cave In have often been described as chameleons. However, those tree-dwelling lizards can really only change their color, which is a poor analog for the Boston quartet’s sonic shapeshifting abilities. They’re more like some sort of Lovecraftian cephalopod, changing its color, shape, and size at will. From the brutal metalcore of their early records to the soaring space rock of Antenna, Cave In has thrived on reinventing themselves.

But on Heavy Pendulum, they somehow manage to fit every facet of their career into a single—albeit massive—record. They follow all of their seemingly contradictory instincts to their breaking points, creating what might be the most Cave In-y Cave In record of all time.

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Record #856: Glassing – Light and Death (2017)

/ Nathaniel FitzGerald

Sometimes, a band that hasn’t impressed you releases an album that finally gets your attention. And sometimes, that album ends up working as a key for the rest of their discography.

I have been aware of Glassing longer than I’ve been a fan. It’s probably been two or three years since I first saw the Holy Fawn folks gushing about them on social media, rushed to see what the fuss was about, and quickly filed them in the “not for me” category. A few months ago, Twin Dream made me fall in love with the Austin trio, but my affection has been largely reserved for that album alone.

But I don’t listen on repeat very often, even to albums as monstrously lovely as Twin Dream, so I started to explore their earlier records. And as luck would have it, their third album shifted my perspective enough that the same songs that once seemed too abrasive and acerbic for me to enjoy are now hitting me just as strongly.

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Record #855: A Hope For Home – In Abstraction (2011)

/ Nathaniel FitzGerald


On 4/20 this past year, I was working on a joke article for Tuned Up called “Blaze It and Praise It: The Stoner-iest Christian(ish) Albums Ever Released.” While brainstorming in the staff Discord, one of the other writers mentioned that A Hope For Home’s last record was basically just a sludge metal record. I hadn’t heard it, so in the spirit of doing good research, I put it on.

In about ten minutes, I was scouring Discogs for a copy, yadda yadda yadda, and here we are.

In Abstraction isn’t just “basically a sludge metal record.” It’s a rich blend of sludge heaviness, post rock atmosphere, and post-hardcore energy that is still fresh.

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Record #848: Glassing – Twin Dream (2021)

/ Nathaniel FitzGerald / 1 Comment

Kevin Shields of My Bloody Valentine famously adheres to the theory that when a person is subjected to high volume noise for a long enough time, they enter a zen-like state. The harsh tones and oppressive volumes transform into an almost comforting embrace, like being covered in a blanket of snow after an avalanche.

Experimental Austin metallurgists Glassing are masters of this sort of alchemy, manipulating abrasive tones to create songs that are somehow staggeringly gorgeous. While I recoiled at my early, brief brushes with the band, I was encouraged to give Twin Dream a more earnest listen.

It became one of my favorite records.

Read more at ayearofvinyl.com #glassing #postmetal #doomgaze #blackmetal #blackgaze #sludgemetal #vinyl

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