Px-Pain-Denying the Consequences
(8 Ball Records, 2005)

Somewhere in between European metalcore and Slipknot, Px-Pain is a very heavy band that definitely has a style that is rather uncommon these days. You can of course expect a large number of burly breakdowns and rhythmic sections. The Slipknot influence comes across in a few sections, and it is a fairly obvious influence. So it might be tough to call these guys original, but the music is bludgeoning enough to make you forget.

Take the chugging nature of heavier European hardcore, add in some rhythmic chunky riffs reminiscent of modern US metal and you have Px-Pain. Wrap it in an amazingly heavy production and you have an album that is hard to pass up on.

Last Call/Cheech-New York Vs. Boston
(Stupid White Boy, 2005)

Last Call and Cheech are two bands that seem to be very underrated. Last Call is one of the few bands that has that vintage vibe when hardcore just started to get the metal influence, and it began to border on being thrash. Of course Last Call does have a bit of a modern edge as well, but all of the trends and lame quirks of most modern bands are definitely not present here. This is 100% hardcore played by a bunch of guys who know where the genre started and fully embrace that.

Cheech is altogether a faster band then Last Call, but they are pretty much just as heavy. Fast, heavy riffs, topped with shouted vocals and simple drum beats is what you can expect from Cheech. They don’t really change the formula much, but they do throw in a few slower sections and some amazing back up vocals.

These are two of the best bands modern hardcore has to offer, so do yourself a favour and check this out ASAP.

Quell-One Man’s Struggle With the English Language
(Goodfellow Records, 2005)

Quell aren’t what you would call an extremely original band, but the band’s vicious assault of screaming, manic riffing and melody is hard to not be impressed by. Think along the lines of a more melodic Dillinger Escape Plan. Maybe a cross between Alexisonfire and Dillinger Escape Plan would be a good starting point. They have the discordance and strange rhythms, but there is also a lot of melody to be found here. Not really in the form of clean vocals though. They have long passages of clean guitar riffs that have a much more spacey type of vibe to them. Overall it makes from a very dynamic album. There isn’t much to latch onto here at times, yet the moments that are memorable are extremely memorable. Most other moments will make your head spin, but you’ll like it, trust me.

Fans of Alexisonfire, and Fear Before the March of Flames will definitely be into this one.

Born from Pain-In Love with The End
(Metal Blade, 2005)

To call this record amazing, just simply wouldn’t cut it. Born From Pain have been doing this for years, and now an album on Metal Blade means that they are definitely reaching people with their heavy hardcore sound. To be honest, they sound a lot like Hatebreed. But Born from Pain is a lot less metal sounding. They are just as heavy, if not heavier, but the breakdowns are less chuggy here, and in general even the most metallic moments are still rooted in hardcore.

There are quite a few surprising moments on here, like a few doom influenced passages and a few killer guitar solos. The last album from these guys was amazing, but this simply blows that record away. When you consider that the record before this wasn’t even released that long ago, it’s hard to believe they wrote an album this good that quickly.

In Due Time-Final Showdown
(Strike First Records, 2005)

In Due Time is the musical equivalent of sour milk. No, they aren’t smelly, but damn are they chunky. This is one of the most rhythmic hardcore albums I’ve ever heard, and the band has a style that is extremely powerful, and much more midpaced then you’d expect from a hardcore band. It definitely gives the band an old school flavour and it’s nice to see a band not worrying about being technical, or even being the heaviest band ever. This is heavy, but there is definitely still a lot of feeling and you will never confuse this for a metal record, this is definitely a hardcore album.

A few spots of melody really help the band keep the songs interesting. Basically all they do is throw in a few riffs with octave chords and it makes all the difference. Vocals also sometimes switch to a more spoken style, which serves as a nice contrast from the usual burly vocal approach of the band.

Strike First has definitely released many quality albums, and this one just might be the best one so far.