Editors Note 1/15/20: This was also posted on Metal Amino. That version has links to the actual videos while this just has pictures of the thumbnails with links below them because Blogger is being annoying for some reason.
What’s up y’all? Today I want to talk about something
I’m really passionate about. Here’s a little bit of background: I didn’t
go out to shows of any kind as a teenager. Let’s just say those years
were not very good to me and leave it at that. I did start going out
last year and have been a regular show-goer since, however. The thing is
a lot of local metal bands in Connecticut aren’t that good. A large portion of
them are just shitkicker dad metal that I’m really not into. Though
there are some great metal bands here (I may make a blog about them
later), there aren’t enough in my area to get me to go out to many local
metal shows. However, I am also an avid hardcore fan and discovered
that Connecticut has a very healthy and growing hardcore scene. I’ve
been a fan of the classic bands of CTHC since I was in my early teens,
but in recent years the scene has been experiencing a resurgence and I
found myself right in the middle of it. So today, I’m going to talk
about some great CTHC bands, old and new, that I feel deserve your
attention.
#NMW
#NMWednesday
Old Bands
100 Demons
Let’s kick things off with one of my personal favorites
in the Connecticut hardcore scene:
100 Demons. Despite being active for more than 20 years, 100 Demons only
have two full lengths in their catalogue that any metalcore fan should
hear. Their debut, In The Eyes Of The Lord, released on Good Fight in
2000, is a metalcore classic and one of my most listened to records. I
first heard this record when I was like 15 and the band’s punishingly
heavy take on hardcore along with the passionate and angry performance
of vocalist Bruce LePage blew me away. Their self-titled record with new
vocalist Pete Morcey was released on Deathwish in 2004 and has a very
Deathwishy sound if you know what I mean. It’s not on the level of their
first but is still leagues above most modern metalcore IMO. Fans of
Merauder and All Out War should find plenty to love about this group.
Death Threat
Originally founded in 1997 by ex-members of Hatebreed,
Death Threat quickly made a name for themselves in the late 90s. The
band utilizes a metallic guitar tone somewhat similar to Hatebreed but
uses a song structure more akin to traditional hardcore and employs some
very unique and different sounding vocals. Unlike Demons, DT have a
decent number of releases to listen to: 4 full lengths and some EPs and
splits. I actually got to see these guys back in November at the 20th
Anniversary show for their debut Last Dayz with the original lineup and
their set was absolutely nuts. It was really something else seeing
people well over a decade my senior mosh like 20-year-olds when DT took
the stage.
Die My Will
Allow me to introduce you to Die My Will, another one of
my favorite CTHC groups and quite possibly one of the most underrated
metalcore bands of all time. The band was active in the mid to late 90s
and played some of the most chaotic, violent, and
mercilessly heavy metalcore of their time. Their output in their short
life
span amounts to two full lengths (if you could call them that), a 7”,
and a split with Piecemeal. For the past 20 years, a rumor has been
going around that says they signed with Equal Vision records and
secretly recorded a full length for the label before they abruptly broke
up in 1999, but nothing had surfaced as of 2019. Though the band has
been mostly forgotten outside of Connecticut, they are adored by many
older hardcore fans and musicians who are still involved in the music.
Apparently, their live shows were fucking insane and left those seeing
them for the first time in awe, but I haven’t been able to find any
footage of them performing. They were also said by many to be some of
the nicest dudes in the scene. If you’re a fan of bands like Turmoil or
Buried Alive then you need to get on this, like now.
Wide Awake
Wide Awake
were a straight edge youth crew band, active in the late 80s. There
isn’t much info out there on the band, but I can tell you that even now, roughly 30 years after their breakup, they are still a local favorite,
especially among Connecticut’s straight edge crowd. Their 25-song
discography is up on Spotify, so definitely give them a listen if you
like Youth of Today.
Hatebreed
You can’t discuss the history of Connecticut Hardcore
without mentioning Hatebreed. Today, Hatebreed are one of the most
well-known metalcore bands in the world, touring internationally on a
regular basis and drawing huge crowds wherever they go. What is less
known about the band is that they got their start in Connecticut’s
hardcore scene. Hatebreed, formed in 1994, were one of the earliest
bands to blend metal and hardcore. They were also among the first
metalcore bands to rise to prominence through their 1996 EP Under the
Knife and 1997 full length Satisfaction is the Death of Desire. The
latter released on Victory Records which, at the time, was home to some
of the biggest bands in hardcore. Even today, Satisfaction is still
considered one of the best, if not the best, release to come out of
Connecticut by those in the scene. Hatebreed’s rise caused a notable
stylistic shift in Connecticut’s hardcore scene. In the 1980s and early
1990s, many of the bands that came out of Connecticut such as Wide Awake
and Cornerstone had a fast youth crew style sound influenced by CT
legends Youth of Today. In the late 1990s however, this changed as most
newer bands in the scene like Death Threat, 100 Demons, and Groundzero
played a heavier, more metallic style. This affinity for metalcore
persisted in Connecticut until the mid-00s. By that point, most of the
old guard had broken up and were replaced by more melodic bands like
Ambitions, With Honor, and Hostage Calm. The heavy sound made a comeback
in the 10s when most of the older bands got back together and a new
crop of heavy bands like Enraged Youth and Laid 2 Rest sprang up. Even
though the scene today has a great deal of variety, heavy hardcore and
metalcore acts like Cast In Blood, Laid 2 Rest, and Steel Grave still
make up a large portion of current bands. Over the ensuing decades,
Hatebreed were able to transcend the hardcore scene and become a
mainstay in the national metal scene without changing their look or
their sound.
New Bands
Intercourse
Fans of wierdo hardcore rejoice because Intercourse are
up there with the best of them! These guys play a bizarre, spazzy, and
chaotic style of punk that’s hard to describe. I would say it’s like a
mix of post-hardcore, noise, and a touch of mathcore but this is really a
band you need to hear for yourself. My friend Dan Romeo knows much more
about these guys than I do since he is pretty close with them so if you
want to know more, read his excellent interview with the band here.
Cast In Blood
If you’re seeking something different when it comes to
metalcore, look no further than Cast In Blood. This band plays very
heavy metalcore with a melodic twist, featuring very good clean vocals
mixed in with typical metalcore yells from frontman and longtime CTHC
veteran Ryan Patrick White of Jagged Visions, Murmur, SYITHAEYFO, and
numerous other bands (who may I add has been going to shows longer than I
have been alive). The band also notably includes Rick Brayall of 100
Demons on guitar and his son Ricky on drums. Don’t let my
description fool you, this isn’t quite At The Gates-core type stuff as
it draws more from hardcore than melodic death metal. Cast in Blood
recently released a split with Foreign Hands and seem to be gaining some
regional popularity, so I’m looking forward to seeing what’s next for
the band.
Restraining Order
Fuck,
this band is awesome. Restraining Order, hailing from CT and Western
Mass, are the local
torchbearers for the classic hardcore sound. If you aren’t into anything
metallic or weird and just want some straightforward, no bullshit, UK82
style hardcore punk, this band is for you. I saw them at Anxious’ EP
release show in November and the place fucking exploded when they
started playing. Oldheads love this band, young kids love this band,
they just fucking rule. Definitely check them out if you like bands
similar to The Rival Mob.
Lift
Formed in 2015, Lift are bringing the 90s back in the
best way possible. Consisting of former members of With Honor and
Ambitions, the group forgoes the predominantly melodic sound of the
aforementioned bands in favor of an intense but eclectic sound strongly
influenced by Snapcase and The Hope Conspiracy. With two EPs under their
belt, the band is currently working on a full length due out later this
year, and I for one can’t wait.
Anxious
If you’re in touch with the current hardcore scene,
you’ve probably heard of Anxious at some point. The band started out in
late 2015, when three high school kids from Southern Connecticut decided
that they wanted to play in a punk band. Over the last few years,
Anxious have built up a loyal and dedicated fanbase in Connecticut. With
their signing to Triple B Records early this year, Anxious were exposed
to a much wider audience and gained a large following throughout the
country. Their music isn’t hardcore in the traditional sense as they
play emotive post-hardcore in the vein of bands like Title Fight, but
make no mistake: these are true hardcore kids who really give a shit
about HC of all styles and bringing new people to shows in Connecticut. A
few months ago, the band switched to a five-piece, adding new drummer
Jonny Camner, moving former drummer Dante Melucci to guitar, and adding
Ryan Savitsky from One Step Closer as a second guitarist while keeping
bassist Sam Walter at his current role. These additions freed up
vocalist Grady Allen to be a true frontman instead of a guitarist and
vocalist. I was at the band’s EP release show on November 30th and
switching to a five-piece was a great move on their part. Grady’s a
fantastic frontman who oozes charisma and confidence. The kid was born
to be on stage. You can watch their set from that night on YouTube
(where you can also see the stage diver who fucking DELETED me at
10:40-10:45, though I am out of frame unfortunately). On a personal
level, I haven’t met Ryan or Sam yet and have only briefly spoken with
Dante once, but I know Jonny and have talked with Grady multiple times
and I only have good things to say about them. Funny story: I bought one
of the show exclusive 7-inch vinyls of Never Better at the release
show, but I don’t have a car so I couldn’t put it anywhere. Grady
actually hid my record for me under a bunch of merch until the end of
the show. It really cool to see him go out of his way to do that for me.
Watch out for these guys, I promise you haven’t heard the last from
them.
Now I’m going to briefly talk about one more Connecticut
band that has had a massive impact on the hardcore scene and me
personally. The last band I’m talking about
in detail will be Enraged Youth who formed at some point in 2013. I
discovered this band in 2014 when I was 16 years old. I found their
debut full length on some Russian hardcore blog and absolutely loved it.
The fact that they were a Connecticut band was just a bonus for me.
Now, the cool thing about this band is that the guys in it were mostly
either my age or a year older yet they were making some of the hardest
music in the state. This was the band that made me realize that
Connecticut Hardcore was still a thing. The ironic thing was before they
formed, it really wasn’t, according to what one of the ex-members told
me. Them and a couple other bands really got the ball rolling and
contributed to the state of the scene today. Enraged Youth existed for a
couple years and broke up around 2016. After the breakup, the group
splintered into a bunch of other bands. Guitarist Justin would join Laid
2 Rest and form a band called Hatred Remains, Bassist Tyler and
Guitarist Ricky would go on to form the (fucking awesome) death metal
band Vomit Forth, currently signed to Maggot Stomp. Ricky also plays
drums in Cast In Blood with his father Rick of 100 Demons fame. Initial
bassist and later vocalist Jon currently plays bass in a little band
called Vein. I met Tyler and Ricky when I saw Vomit Forth in November
and
they were both super cool dudes. I later met Jon and Justin at a show in
New
Haven in early December and they both seem like great guys as well.
Enraged Youth may not be well known at large but the impact the old
members are having is
immense and it’s really cool to see these guys find success.
Of course, there are so many other bands I could talk
about here but I can’t make this blog a thesis, so I’ll list a few more
bands past and present you should check
out depending on your tastes:
Beatdown: Laid 2 Rest, Fight Night, Dead Wrong, Steel Grave.
Metalcore: Jagged Visions, Groundzero, Deadeyesunder, Drowning Room, Sum of All Fears, God Program.
Melodic Hardcore: Voice of Reason, Ambitions, With Honor.
“Hardcore” Hardcore: Follow Through, Signs of Hope, Cornerstone, Zero Hour, Tenfold, Dismay (FFO Burn especially).
Powerviolence: Kidnapped.
Also be on the lookout for new bands Ill Communication and Last Straw. Both bands are releasing demos soon.
I’ll also be linking a CTHC Spotify playlist compiled
by Jay Reason of Voice of Reason and The Distance that has pretty much
every band I talked about and many more. Thanks for reading and I hope
you enjoyed!
