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

Selenites - Jeder Für Sich Und Gott Gegen Alle

 listen to Voleurs by Selenites

Selenites (website) is a quirky band from France, that delivers face-melting Post-hardcore with Post-metal build-ups. which basically boils down to up to 6min songs that are 3/4th chaotic hardcore madness and 1/4th epic and breathtaking downtempo music. so, as they pound the 9 sounds into your ear, to the point where it oozes out the other 40 minutes later, there really is no time for regaining one's breath. yet before you know it, this record has reached its end and leaves you with the urge to play it all over. there are a handful of bands that play this model of eclectic music, but I feel each of them stands out in either the chaotic uptempo parts, or the downtempo ones. this band absolutely NAILS both.

Last fm tags as post-metal, post-hardcore, french, post metal,hardcore

click the image above to support this band

Finisterre - BItter Songs

 listen to drama in 3 akten by Finisterre

GOD-DAMN! I was introduced to this band through their split with Alpinist, which was both bands' first release, after I had seen Alpinist live a few times. I was so caught up with that band that I kind of looked passed these guys, until we booked them for a show and they completely blew me away. I mean 'like a hurricane passing through a straw' -blowing me away. this is the sequal to the aforementioned split and almost undermines it by the exponential growth they've shown since that release. hair-raising and profound metallic punk dealing with highly contemporary political and more introvert issues, hollered variably by a female and male vocalist. must hear! must see!
Last fm tags as: neocrust, crust, dark hardcore

click the image above to buy it online!

Iron Hand - Demo + Usurper Divine

 listen to Product Endorsement by Iron Hand

Iron Hand (website) is a Crust band from the US. they display brilliant melodies in their metallic riffs which top off this crust punk sound. they have a demo out, since 2008, on tape and recently brought a new one-song EP Usurper Divine and maybe the fact that the demo is on a tape, could be the reason they haven't been noticed on a large scale. because this band's sound hits like an avalanche of bricks and makes you feel sorry when it's over much too soon.

another landmark in how awesome rebellion sounds.

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

click the image above to contact the band, and support them any way you can

Take Courage - Winter Sessions

 listen to Me Without You by Take Courage

Emo Hardcore bands, eat your heart out. Take Courage (Myspace) lashes out with the most profound and sincerely passionate hardcore attitude. landing devastating hooks, one after the other. this band's sound is like a dove colliding head-on with a concorde in full flight, only in timewarp-like slow motion. nevermind that, this band just has the sound of an epic band's atmosphere compressed in short hardcore songs or the calamitous ambience of hyper-fast screamo songs lengthened a bit to last over 2mins... or maybe a compromise between both.
Last fm tags as hardcore, punk, kent, rage, ukhc

click the image above to check their record label's store and maybe their video below

Path Of No Return - The Absinthe Dreams

 listen to the song Missile Blues by Path Of No Return

Long forgotten, Swedish band Path Of No Return (Myspace) brough a lot to the table that would turn plenty of heads nowadays. in the recent explosion of Metalcore/Post-hardcore bands that turned to this melodic aproach, which I embraced, this album brings tracks that could have taken the crown by storm. and signing to Burning Heart/Epitaph should have only helped. but as it goes, favorable artists don't necessarily get the attention from as many people. Path Of No Return creates very interresting ambiences, in which I recognised what once appealed to me in bands like Architects and For The Fallen Dreams. but I now believe those bands could have learned a thing or two from these guys.

this album shouldn't be to hard to find in record stores (it was released through Epitaph). but isn't available through the band.

Endbringer - Empoison The Harvest

 listen to  Omega by Endbringer

Neocrust is a label I've always found to be such a clumsy stamp to stick on bands. I always favor crust bands with more profound melody or an epic soundscape. so I find it a bit troubling that these both styles, despite being both very distinct, are burdened with this label. enter the German band Endbringer (myspace), bringing a sound that hovers in between these apparent styles of metalpunk. from mid- to downtempo elements as seen by sludgy metalpunk acts, to mid- to uptempo atmospheres not unlike their fellow countrymen Alpinist or some other dark hardcore (I abstain from referring to them as neocrust) bands. this hair-raising act could bring a breath of fresh air to a socially and politically indifferent hardcore scene, with the crustpunk scene's anarcho ethics.

Last fm tags as hardcore, neocrust, germany, essen, german

click the awesome picture above to buy merch or records from this band

outside the box on sunday

every sunday you can find something entirely different, here. cause whoever you are, you should not confine yourself to the music coming out of a single musicscene, no matter how assorted it is on itself. others are as well. get into it!

 listen to Fall of Cherry Blossom in Long Shadows of Light by Boduf Songs

Boduf Songs makes some of the most haunting music my ears have ever experienced. I got to know this band live and it immediately piqued my interrest in them/him (it's more a one-man project), not declining an ounce ever since. this record brings dark and atmospheric folk music, usually consisting out of acoustic instruments and low whispering vocals, with occasional electronic noise (litterally noise) or other instrumentation to add to the aforementioned atmosphere.

Last Fm tags as: folk, singer-songwriter, experimental, slowcore, acoustic

buy his stuff directly from his record label, here, and support them!