Veils – Our Enlightment Is Dead

Morality by Veils

Veils (bandcamp) is punk full of angst. Combining elements of modern screamo and modern (dark/melodic/emotional) hardcore music, feauturing female high-pitched and tormented vocals, still with a distinct british accent. The drums and guitars are extremely versatile, elevating all kinds of influences into a stable blend of a very specific signature style. Hard, heartful and melodic, mostly in punk-rock and powerchord strumming with passionate yet harsh singing, and some fitting guest-vocals in Goodtime Boys’ signature style.
Last fm tags as  hardcore, screamo, melodic hardcore, emotional, emo

click the image above to buy the re-release of this record directly from its label

Brain Fever – Brain Fever

the hunt by Brain Fever

LOUD NOISES! Brain Fever (blog) is a screamy and noisy post-hardcore band who’s sound revolves almost entirely around star/stop awkward time-structures and the female vocalist’s frantic and hysterical shouting. The guitars do little other than weep and moan to add an atmosphere of noise and general obnoxious loudness to the epileptic music, while the drums keep the unpredictable instrumentations confined in a neat little package. It’s invigorating to see how this band accomplishes such a broad sound that builds up and breaks down so comprehensively and always in such a short amount of time -the longest ‘song’, by far, is 1 minute 38 seconds(apart from the outro). It’s modern hardcore music elevating their particular influences, of an obsolete style of hardcore, to another level.
Last fm tags as screamo, noise punk, noise, post-hardcore,math

click the image above to buy this record from an online distro, and check that distro out for other stuff (by this band)

Stresscase - Cut Me Off

Lean x Cuisine by Stresscase

Female–fronted powerviolence band Stresscase (bandcamp) is extremely straight forward grinding hardcore punk, expertly crafted to a level that many ‘bigger’ bands in the style could very well be envious of. Clocking in at less than 7 minutes, these five songs chug, thrash straight up pummeling their way through the swamp of powerviolence, supporting words that are clever both lyrically as topically.
Last fm tags as hardcore, hardcore punk, powerviolence, thrash core, female fronted hardcore punk

this was released on Effusion Records

Out Of The Box On Sunday XXX

All the Wolves That I ve Known by Matt Bauer

Sadcore folk music. Matt Bauer (website) makes pitch black music founded on just his voice and banjo-playing. From that point on, this music is built layer after layer of melodramatic gloom in the form of brilliantly orchestrated folk and country music. Matt's voice is incredible in it's trembling and conveying sentiments of sheer melancholy, sometimes accompanied by the equally fragile voice of Jolie Holland, which results in an incredible contrast of duetting male/female voices. I've been sitting on writing a review about this since its release, and would like to mention that this is probably my favorite record released this year.

Last fm tags as folk, singer-songwriter, banjo, alt-country,country 

buy this record directly from its label, via this link here

Ravachol - Great Moments In The Void

Know /Learn by Ravachol

Ravachol (website) is one to watch. Twinkly and painfully clean guitars with screaming/talking female vocals, fluently soaring in between different tempo-changes. This is low-key heartbreaking music, easily as intense as the overproduced flavor of the week emotional band, only comming across much more honest in their own approach. Most likely honoring ancient screamo and emo hardcore bands, only more straight forward than contemporary bands who do this , which then continue to narrow their sound to fit the post-rock oriented or melodic hardcore/post-hardcore scene. This is music for basement or (anywhere in the) house-shows. This is as honest as it gets, and not nearly as fancy as the bands who would claim to be.
Last fm tags as  screamo, real screamo, hardcore, emo, uk

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

My Fictions - I Want Nothing

Torch by My Fictions

Surprising stuff, by hardcore band My Fictions! With a foundation of a brilliant compromise between jet-black dark hard hardcore and passionate melodic hardcore, they fluently incorporate instrumental passages that remind more of heavy post-rock buildups with vocals that remind of Touché Amoré leaning (even) more toward the screamo genre. Instrumentally this is easily as melodic as Defeater and at the same time as dark as Carpathian. I know those are all relatively big names to compare a young band to, and its not like those bands’ influences overshadow this band’s own sound, but the comparisons function more as an orientation, on pin-pointing where their sound is located on the musical map.
Last fm screamo, melodic hardcore, hardcore,emotional, modern hardcore

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

Seven Sisters Of Sleep/Children Of God split

Seven Sisters of Sleep - Almighty Black Talons from Eddie on Vimeo.

Bled Dry from adrian castillo on Vimeo.

An interesting duo to form a split record, Seven Sisters Of Sleep (facebook) and Children Of God both show amazing styles of sludgy down-tempo hardcore music. As dark as much as it is both raw and hard, either bands is quite the match for the other and they compliment one another’s style when both contributing to a single record. Combining droning power-chords and post-rockish tremolo-picking, this music is the emotional equivalent to getting your tooth pulled, strapped to the chair, while you are witnessing your dog getting run over. Seriously, fuck dentists for ‘just doing their job’. GOD!
Last fm tags as hardcore, punk, riot, powerviolence, slowcore, hardcore, sludge, metallic hardcore, doom metal, real metalcore

click the image above to be redirected to a store of the label that carries SSOS and COG records

Out Of The Box On Sunday XXIX

Command Of The Formless by Pale Chalice

BWWWOOOO))))AAAAAHHHHHH
Last fm tags as black metal, usa black metal, usbm, metal,american black metal

Young And In The Way – V. Eternal Depression

The Great Blue Norther by Young And In The Way

This is a band who, on previous releases, reminded a lot of the blackened crust subdivision, with only hints of hardcore music. On this release, Young And In The Way (website) seem to have shed any links to any form of punk music to play an all out blackened metal style of auditory onslaught. From the uptempo crispy but still melodic tremolo-picking guitars to the suicidal atmospheric style of ambience, they pull out all the stops and give a genuine signature touch to all of the above. The growling vocals are straight up nasty and the varying tempos in between songs pulls you back and forth like a bungee-cord.
Last fm tags as crust, hardcore, blackened crust, black metal,sludge

click the image above to buy this record directly from their record label!

Hourvari – 2011 EP

I by Hourvari is half of the EP, so it should give you a good impression

With members from french titans As We Draw as well as Birds In Row, Hourvari (bandcamp) depicts a style of dark music that seems more like the culmination of those projects, in stead of a compromise in between. Trespassing the usual limits of ambient elements in extreme music, this release goes slower, darker and deeper than extreme bands rarely dare to go, with great succes. With droning elements, slowly building up to the point where down-tempo hardcore bands usually start, this is a journey far beyond the confinements that had been set up for a band in that ‘scene’. Moving the touchstone for this style of music miles from where it had rested for a long ass time. Pioneers they are, I tell you!
Last fm tags as post-rock, ambient, post-hardcore, post-metal, french 

check the bandcamp to give them some much deserved support!