Distorted Sound Magazine • 11th July 2024

EP REVIEW: Held In Contempt - Doubt - Distorted Sound Magazine

DOUBT are just a small part of the larger Baltimore hardcore scene rejuvenation as it rears its head once again since its last biggest hitters TRAPPED UNDER ICE came up. Although they may be a small part, they sure have a big bite, proving it on their debut EP Held In Contempt. Recorded at Corpus Studios in New York, who’ve recorded bands like SHOW ME THE BODY for a long time and more recently MSPAINT and SYMBIOTE ATL — it is clear DOUBT were only interested in pulling out the big guns for their...

Distorted Sound Magazine • 5th July 2024

EP REVIEW: Da Trifecta - Hold My Own - Distorted Sound Magazine

Seemingly insignificant moments can often be momentous, especially in a perfect storm such as hardcore where it’s as fertile as it has ever been. An unassuming three-track EP might not seem like much at first glance, but HOLD MY OWN’s latest offering Da Trifecta – a collaboration release between DAZE, Triple B Records and Streets Of Hate – is one that will make you blink twice at it. 

Not only is the EP a collaboration between labels, but HOLD MY OWN recruit the help of SPEED’s Jem Siow, Taylor...

Distorted Sound Magazine • 2nd July 2024

EP REVIEW: Discharge(d) - Slugcrust - Distorted Sound Magazine

Grindcore isn’t exactly something easy to be introduced to; a combination of horribly overwhelming riffs and guttural screams summoned from the deepest depths of the stomach, you’ll be met with grimy and disgusting sonic textures that give everything a plague-like quality — especially the slower stuff. If you’re still interested, a good place to start might be something like SLUGCRUST’s new EP Discharge(d). 

Is it daunting? Absolutely. A little bit scary at first? Of course it is. Should that p...

Distorted Sound Magazine • 23rd June 2024

Divided: Baby Steps Toward World Domination - Distorted Sound Magazine

The making and run up to the release of the debut album from DIVIDED, Light Will Shine, was full of nervous anticipation, but the West Flanders based post-metal outfit delivered a visceral and cathartic record that certainly achieved one thing: relief. Down to the screams, a combination of clattering drums that rub up against groaning riffs, the record results in something akin to a sonic sigh of relief.

“The first thing I felt was relief, because we were all kind of stressed out, I think that...

Distorted Sound Magazine • 23rd June 2024

ALBUM REVIEW: Dark Ageism - Other Half - Distorted Sound Magazine

For some embracing punk a actually is a phase, something to momentarily appease and redirect the jaded complexities growing inside oneself, usually within your teen years. But if something sticks, and hopefully it does, you’ll find it’s like trying to get hot gum from the bottom of your shoe. OTHER HALF’s new record Dark Ageism is a product of that sticky gum, folding, stretching, morphing until suddenly you’ve released your third album in this band that perhaps you didn’t expect to be able to b...

Distorted Sound Magazine • 11th June 2024

ALBUM REVIEW: Rebuild Repeat - Hockey Dad - Distorted Sound Magazine

Indie dreamboat this, indie rock darlings that, forget it and everything you thought you knew about HOCKEY DAD. Yes, they are still an indie band and abide by the genre rules, without pushing the borders of it all too much, but their new offering Rebuild Repeat is a spiritual reset for the Australian duo. They make one thing clear through the sonics of the record: whilst they’ve been gone they’ve also matured a lot, settling for just enough to make their most cohesive work yet. 

More than anyth...

Distorted Sound Magazine • 6th June 2024

EP REVIEW: Mi Amigo Slow Joy - Slow Joy - Distorted Sound Magazine

Judging the credibility of an artist on an algorithmic decision alone is difficult; there are so many things that make a song “TikTok-able”, more than the song itself, does it fit within a trend, does the visual content tint the lens of the song? SLOW JOY (Esteban Flores) is one of those artists whose popularity began to soar on TikTok, seemingly not because of manipulation of the platform, but because there’s an audience out there that relishes in slightly brooding, at times romantic, alt-rock...

Distorted Sound Magazine • 31st May 2024

ALBUM REVIEW: Hold My Hand, God Damn It - Gaffa Tape Sandy - Distorted Sound Magazine

GAFFA TAPE SANDY have been around for almost a decade and now they’re arguably at their best yet. Back stronger than ever, after being cut short by lockdowns and infighting within the band, they’re fully formed and coming to terms with their circumstances in their new offering Hold My Hand, God Damn It. It’s a garage rock record at its core but one that keeps pop and indie constitutions in mind to help pull on the heart strings and give the album some serious moveability. 

After the pandemic, t...

Distorted Sound Magazine • 16th May 2024

ALBUM REVIEW: All You Embrace — One Step Closer - Distorted Sound Magazine

Babe, wake up! New emotional hardcore just dropped, we can pit, and be sad! What more do you want? Emo blends in to hardcore like butter melting on toast, and hardcore loves itself some melody, this couldn’t have worked out better for ONE STEP CLOSER. The Pennsylvanian outfit’s second outing All You Embrace sees them explore the close relationship between the two genres whilst delivering on their endless ability to make wallowing about teen growing pains punchy and memorable. 

It’s the perfect...

Distorted Sound Magazine • 26th April 2024

ALBUM REVIEW: Tear 'Em To Bits - AWOL - Distorted Sound Magazine

AWOL came together as a need to release; after a lengthy and strict lockdown period in Australia, the Melbourne five-piece began making muscle popping hardcore that could break its way through the toughest of walls. At the time, it was easy to be labelled a lockdown band, and it still is, but instead of spewing unhelpful tracks around lockdowns itself, like the majority of unsuccessful pandemic ballads, AWOL focused on what they had festering already, and it’s turned into magnificent aggression...