Gulch

Gulch are a five-piece hardcore band from Santa Cruz, California that have been around since at least 2016, thought its members have been active in tons of local bands prior. They came together to create some of the most unhinged and unpredictable hardcore in recent years, taking on a blend of metallic hardcore and death metal influence to create chaos in its purest form. Burning Desire To Draw Last Breath is a virtually perfect EP, and a good jumping off point to get into one of the most explosive bands around. From the looks of their live shows, they are front runners in setting the bar for hardcore this decade, so I am more than pumped to see what they do next. Enjoy.

Demolition Of Human Construct (2017)

1. Lie, Deny, Sanctify

2. Eco-terror

3. Monolith

Burning Desire To Draw Last Breath (2018)

1. Contemplate/Enact

2. Flesh Pursuit

3. Burning Desire To Draw Last Breath

4. R.S.A.

5. E.P.T.S.

6. Gruel For The Beast

2019 Promo (2019)

1. Cries of Pleasure, Heavenly Pain

2. Self-Inflicted Mental Terror

Impenetrable Cerebral Fortress (2020)

1. Impenetrable Cerebral Fortress

2. Cries Of Pleasure, Heavenly Pain

3. Self-Inflicted Mental Terror

4. Lie, Deny, Sanctify

5. Fucking Towards Salvation

6. All Falls Down The Well

7. Shallow Reflective Pools of Guilt

8. Sin In My Heart

Sunami/Gulch (2021)

1. Sunami - Step Up

2. Sunami - Die Slow

3. Gulch - Bolt Swallower

4. Gulch - Accelerator

Bandcamp

Rise And Fall

Rise And Fall were a four-piece hardcore band from Ghent, Belgium that began in 2002 and have been inactive since 2012. They put out four full-lengths in their time, three of which were through Deathwish Inc. Additionally, they put out a split (below as bonus tracks on Hellmouth), an EP and a live album (which was from their 2012 record release show). They also put out a demo which I unfortunately do not have. Sonically, they took influence from metallic hardcore and crust punk, and would appeal to fans of bands such as Trap Them, Tragedy, Integrity, and Converge. With their four flawless albums, they are one of most consistent and essential hardcore acts to come out in the past 20 years or so, and I cannot recommend them enough. Enjoy.

Hellmouth (2004)

1. When They Come Down

2. Bottom Feeder

3. Hellmouth

4. As The City Burns

5. Where Ghosts Roam

6. Collapse

7. Tongue Tied

8. Turn And Run

9. Give And Take

10. Running Out Of Time

11. Kingdom of Heaven

Into Oblivion (2005)

1. Forked Tongue

2. Failure Is As Failure Does

3. The Noose

4. Live In Sin

5. The Void

6. Into Oblivion

7. Stakes is High

8. To Hell And Back

9. Lost Among The Lost

10. Ruins

Clawing (2007)

1. Clawing

2. Bottom Feeder

3. Them Bones (Alice In Chains cover)

Our Circle Is Vicious (2009)

1. Soul Slayer

2. Built On Graves

3. Harm's Way

4. It's A Long Way Down

5. To The Bottom

6. In Circles

7. Het Oof Van De Storm

8. Stillborn

9. Present Tense

10. Knowing

Deceiver b/w Sinking in Sin (2011)

1. Deceiver

2. Sinking in Sin

Faith (2012)

1. A Hammer And Nails

2. Deceiver

3. The Gallows Await

4. Burning At Both Ends

5. Things Are Different Now

6. Breathe

7. Hidden Hands

8. Escapism

9. Dead Weight

10. Faith / Fate

Alive In Sin (2019)

1. Dead Weight

2. Bottom Feeder

3. Into Oblivion

4. Failure Is As Failure Does

5. Breathe

6. It's A Long Way Down

7. Hidden Hands

8. The Noose

9. The Gallows Await

10. Deceiver

11. Forked Tongues

12. In Circles

13. Faith / Fate

Bandcamp

Deathwish

Spurn

Spurn are a four-piece hardcore/grindcore band from Calgary, Alberta that have been around since 2015. Their debut LP, Comfort In Nothing, was released in 2016, and absolutely rips. The band play this noisy blend of grindcore and metallic hardcore, with elements of death metal in the mix. They utilize very technical, chunky riffs, blast beats, and some guttural, throat-shredding vocals. Lyrically, they tend to focus on sociopolitical subjects. If early Dillinger Escape Plan were really into grind, this would be it. It's a fantastic full-length spanning a ton of extreme genres, and I highly recommend it. Apparently there is a follow-up in the works, which is something to look forward to. Enjoy.

Demo (2015)

1. Spoiled Failures

2. Newsfeed

Comfort In Nothing (2016)

1. Spoiled Failures

2. Comfort In Nothing

3. News Feed

4. Reproduction

5. Obsolete

6. Quota To Meet

7. No Next Time

8. Old Man

9. No Safety

10. Refugees

At The Precipice Of Excitation (2019)

1. Clapping Seals

2. Gioblastoma

3. Lepa Radic

4. Confusing Ignorance For Innocence

5. Eating The Rich For Self Defense

6. The Eleventh Hour

7. Looking Past Your Own Nose

8. Pushing The Flat Earthers Off The Earth

9. Hoist That Rag (Tom Waits cover)

Bandcamp

Facebook

Dead Like Me

Dead Like Me are a four-piece hardcore band from Pau, France that formed in 2010. The band pulls from some incredible sources of influence, mainly metallic hardcore in the vein of the Relapse Records roster, most notably The Dillinger Escape Plan, in addition to bands like Coalesce and Converge, among others. The technical riffs, off-kilter rhythms, and brutally guttural vocals are all trademarks of this sound. They also incorporate hints of sludge metal to drag listeners through the mud of their bone-chilling chaos. A 6-song LP was released earlier this month, and I can't recommend it enough for fans of older hardcore with a modern edge. Enjoy.

Poussière, c'est tout. [single] (2011)

1. Poussière, c'est tout.

Dead Like Me (2011)

1. Toi et le monde

2. Absolescence

Me And Gerda Are Both Dead Like You (2012)

1. Le fils du pire des prédateurs - Clair

2. Le fils du pire des prédateurs - Obscur

3. Chien de nuit

Note: Split with Gerda, Dead Like Me tracks only

À Terre, Amas De Rêves (2017)

1. Seulement des corps entassés

2. À vomir des doutes et des plaintes

3. Les cerbères d'un temple oublié

4. Refléter le vide et son contraire

5. Nos corps s'épuisent et se déchirent

6. À terre, amas de rêves

Facebook

Bandcamp