Celeste - Pessimiste(s) (remastered 2010)

 listen to Diluons nos souvenirs d'enfance by Celeste

Celeste (Facebook page) is an eclectic band that rose from the ashes of french Screamo masters Mihai Edrisch. they play a coherent mix of diverse influences, from screamo to post-metal to downtempo black metal and a broad-minded range of hardcore music. they have released 4 albums which always had the most incredible artwork, and recently remastered and then repressed the first of those releases. when you place their records alongside eachother, their individual sounds are also very coherent. maybe not enough variation for some, but I'd prefer a straight forward decent band over a band that juggles between beneath average and above average songs any day.
on another note, I would like to mention that this band is probably the coolest band I've ever seen live. they have this gimmick, in which they make the room pitch black, use a stroboscope, an overabundance of smoke from a fog machine and a faint miner light attached to their foreheads. when you add that up you get the eeriest and most alien visual display.  it's the raddest thing ever, especially in combination with this pitch black music.
Last fm tags as screamo, sludge, post-hardcore, black metal, french

click the image above to order records or merch directly from the band!

for this certain release, check the site of denovali records

Reason To Care - Dear Liv Ivy

 listen to Dreary Fall by Reason To Care

Once again: melodic hardcore out of Germany. Reason To Care (Myspace) must have seriously gotten picked on as kids, or something, because the emotions oozing out this record are raw as heck. the overall product is a pitch-black mass of soundscapes, through variating between crushing guitars and  heartbreaking minor-chord melodies with tormented vocals or playing those elements in sync. you can feel the pressure build simultaneous with the tempo of the songs as you get swept back and forth, alongside it.

Last fm tags as melodic hardcore, hardcore, hardcore punk, old school hardcore, german

click the image above to buy merch directly from the band!

Former Thieves - The Great And Alleged Great

 listen to Control and Illusion by Former Thieves, as a preview to this record

does anyone remember The Minor Times? they had more than revived my hope for the metalcore genre. because of that band, they were soaring high.

Former Thieves seem to be influenced by that very band, as they display similar sounding metallic grooves with a hint of structural chaos, topical lyrics and heartfelt elements in songs. they have a new album coming out, of which what I heard is another step forward for them. the guitars have a souther rock -like feel to their sound but play hardcore structures and the voice is so full of angst which makes for a really sweet mix of metal and post-hardcore with a progressive hardcore attitude.

Last fm tags as hardcore, heavy, punk, blues, american hardcore

support this band by buying their merch via the link in the image above

Oathbreaker - self titled

 listen to Mirror by Oatbreaker with additional vocals by Black Haven

Some exciting news for this band (wether you like them or not (especially if you're from Belgium like they are. let alone the same city)). hardcore band Oathbreaker (Facebook page) made lift-off like a rocket, signing to Thirty Days of Night Records just around the time of their very first show and blew away anyone paying attention with this EP, that they  released on that label. the pummeling metal incorporated with the rawest of punk supported by a ton of groove makes for some sweet  addition to the metallic hardcore punk acts, like quite a few masterfully play on the Deathwish label.
Last fm tags as hardcore, metalcore, chaotic hardcore, female vocalists, h8000

click here to order this album from their former label, or look out on Deathwish Records for pre-orders of their debut FULL album with, among others, the song in the video above.

Ictus - Compilation

 listen to Hambrientos De Un Sol Distinto by Ictus

Ictus (Myspace) was a Spanish crust band that piqued my interest in the genre altogether. combining melodic metal with hardcore punk structures and crust punk ethics, they sounded unlike anything ever before and inspired a whole new breed of bands to the genre, who have ever since tried to succeed at creating such a layered (which is also quite rare or extremely progressive for crust bands) yet harmonic sound. when you strip it down, this may just be some damn good and extremly (progressive-)political metalcore with some lengthy build-ups smoothly transcending into blast-beat metalpunk. hopping back and forth between high-pitched screams and guttural low belching, I probably couldn't understand a word even if I knew spanish, but I read the translations to these lyrics, somewhere sometime, and it was some tought-provoking excellence. 

Last fm tags as neocrust, crust, hardcore, dark hardcore, metalcore

too underground. no merch on the internet. lol.

Departures - Escaping Air

 listen to The View From Below by departures

Hardcore band Departures (Myspace) is a bunch of Scottish dudes taking a swing for a different approach at the passionate and melodic breed of punk music. I especially appreciate their uptempo songs, that they rush through sounding like More Than Life running for their life, from an actual hardcore band or a Twister or something.

Last fm tags as: hardcore, under 2000 listeners, metal, rock, punk but consider there are apparently 2 hardcore bands with this name. one American and this one

keep an eye out for their next release. coming very very soon! somewhere. until then, click the above image to get these songs in the form of a split with the band Atlantic Heart

outside the box on sunday II

listen to kill a petty bourgeoisie's lovers & liars

To Kill a Petty Bourgeoisie (Myspace) was the supporting band, when I saw Boduf Songs live. I was there to see them, because their electronic noise with angelic vocals  was recommended to me, by someone who prophesized it was right up my alley and that person was right. since then, I can not imagine anyone feeling any different about this. the overal sound is fragile like a soap bubble, kind of like gloomy pop vocals barely looming over the sound of melodic pulsing tv static. this is as eerie as well as beautiful as electronic music gets.
Last fm tags as:  experimental, shoegaze, noise, electronic,post-rock 

buy this album directly from their record label, by clicking here