Young Poor & Angry Press

The long awaited album from now hardcore/metal staples This Is Hell was released today. The album isn’t a vast departure from their previous work. The only drastic thing that’s different is the quickness of the songs. Singer Travis Reilly is on point with the quick fire vocals that seem to line up with the slow breakdowns of the album. Though this is definitely a much faster This Is Hell than we have heard in the past.

What sets this apart as well is lyrics that you can sing along to. Bloodlines is definitely a track that could see a lot of sing-alongs when performed live. The heavy breakdown on the track syncs great with the brutal lyrics, but the best part was the straight 80s metal guitar solo. The band seems to master the build up and slowdown with all instrumental Eagle of Justice which sounds like it was ripped from the Iron Maiden playbook. What was impressive was the end of the track syncs beautifully with The Death of World Class so much this could almost be mistaken for a concept album.

The biggest beef that I personally had with This Is Hell in the past is I didn’t believe the angst. Not to say the music wasn’t good, which it was. In the past Travis seemed angry, but it was hard to buy. In this album songs like The Search and Bloodlines are so tough and honest that it blows the listener away. This isn’t the same This Is Hell, more a better version with more heart and soul. Not since the Indecision/Most Precious Blood have hardcore listeners heard lyrics with actual simile and metaphors in lyrics. There is nothing wrong with basic tough guy hardcore, but if that’s what you’re looking for you’re not going to find it with This Is Hell, this band is thinking man’s harcore pure and simple.

Ruiner stepped into hardcore with their emotional, honest style of music: throat-thrashing vocals, raw energy and fast paced aggression. With their latest release “Hell Is Empty”, Ruiner stepped into the ring with mid-paced, dynamic song-writing that really shows the evolution since their prior release two years ago.

While Ruiner might have changed their pace, the aggression is ever so apparent. With tracks such as: “I’m Out”, “Meat” & “Solitary”, you can really feel the emotion as Rob Sullivan (Vocalist) pours his angst into every song. This album demonstrates the ability that Ruiner possesses, and definitely proves they are able to write slower, yet more intricate hardcore. “Hell Is Empty” is one of my top 10 albums of 2009. Give it a listen.

When listening to Grizz Rock the word prolific comes to mind. The kicker is when you ask the average kid on the street they don’t know who this MC is. They can tell you who he’s worked with probably. MCs like Queen Latifah, G-Fella and his crew the Ruff Ryders (DMX and Swizz Beats.) The fact that they know is a shame because Grizz Rock has released one of the best pure hip-hop/rap albums out this year.

The album is a gripping chronicle of life’s ups and downs. It’s music that no matter if you come from the mean streets of Brooklyn or Los Angeles or the suburbs of Virgina you can relate to. The last album in this genre I made that comparison to was The Eminem Show, and that’s saying something. Grizz Rock combines the his evident love of hardcore with his smooth verses in songs like Knocking on Heavens Door and Regret My Decisions. One of the most clever tracks in my opinion is Darkness which Grizz blares through each verse like a tommy gun and is backed with thick hardcore guitars and drums in the background. The album Mental Abuse breaks genre boundary lines in a way that appeals to those who are devotees of the Ruff Ryders style and the thumping aggression of 90s era NYHC. Then there are songs like Just Another Day that remind me so much of the stuff I used to bump in high school that I can’t help but feel nostalgic in the best possible way.

I defy anyone to listen to Grizz’s album and not nod your head along with it the first time and by the fifth you’ll have the overwhelming desire to memorize every rhyme he throws out. If Grizz Rock is the future of the rap game than give me a time machine because I’m ready to fast forward to when he blows up. Buy this album here.

Recently I had my twenty-seventh birthday. For some this is considered still being young, but in the scene I’m now considered middle age. Maybe it’s because the longevity for your average scene kid is only a few years. Most come in, stay for awhile and then move on to other things like fraternities or golfing with friends and forget all about their professed love for the scene. What I’ve noticed over the years is there are certain people who stick around. These people all seem to share the same sense of morals and values despite some of their major differences.

I have a good friend named Laura aka Laura Galaxy. Laura loves guns, she’s got a big tattoo of a confederate flag (no she is not racist, she’s friends with me isn’t she?), believes Jesus Christ is her lord and savior, regularly attends church and hates Hayley Williams from Paramore with a passion. Laura and I couldn’t be more different. I really don’t like guns (although I’m a pretty good shot), I’m a Jew (and an atheist but that’s for another editorial…) and I think that Paramore is pretty damn good and have all their albums.

The big thing Laura and I have in common is the scene (I hate to even use that word because it’s been co-opted by media to portray a group of teenage hipsters who purchase their street cred from a Hot Topic and get their musical tastes from Myspace friends lists.) We both love punk and hardcore. While Laura may worship at a Church she, like me, also finds comfort and acceptance in going to see her favorite hardcore band play. While I disagree with her stances politically (Laura knows very well that I think that the concept of Christianity is retarded, but she loves me anyhow. I know Laura thinks that me being a liberal is pure insanity, but she smiles and listens when I talk about Barack Obama) we both have hatred for intolerance and racism. We accept each others differences because that’s what we’ve learned from the hardcore scene. We’ve found family and friendship here, we’ve built memories here and will have stories to tell our kids. This scene is our home, a part of our value system, and a tie that binds us together as a collective. As Sham 69 once said “If the kids are united, we will never be divided.”

It’s been now fifteen years since I heard my first punk and hardcore albums. Fifteen years since I started my love affair with this scene. The scene’s face has changed over the years. Ska was huge, then punk, and now it seems hardcore and metal are taking center stage. The kids seem so much younger than they were before (and maybe they are, it’s hard to tell because anyone under the age of 21 looks the same to me now) and the styles of clothing have changed. The one thing that hasn’t are people like Laura and myself. While we might wear nice clothing to work for important meetings, we might have big world issues we feel passionately about, but we still always find solace and comfort in a good hardcore or punk album. The one thing we’ve both learned in our lifetime in this scene is that growing up doesn’t necessarily mean growing out of the things you love, it’s adding more things to that list.