King Me: 'Checkered Past'

King Me - 'Checkered Past'

Midwest band King Me have recently released their debut 6 track EP Checkered Past on the record label Foxclaw Records. This record has a solid metallic edge to it and takes all kinds of influences from bands such as Cro-Mags, No Warning and a hell of a lot more. Every track on this release has a gritty, fast and heavy sound with old school sounding grooves and chugging guitar riffs with raw screaming vocals to go alongside this. King Me are a breath of fresh air in the Midwest hardcore scene and basically ‘cut the crap’ if so to speak. There is a lot of influence from other bands in their songs and their style is not clear cut which I enjoy but nonetheless keep the rawness flowing with raspy vocals, gritty lyrics and harsh sounding instrumentals.

The first track Restless Night starts with a flurry of fast, melodic instrumentals with strong lead guitar chords which adds a bit of variation for an introduction track. Closed Casket follows this and brings back the more traditional hardcore sound and style with some heavy guitar riffs and cutting bass parts. The vocals from Richie are rasp and as angry as they come. The themes present in all tracks are very bleak and include growing up, tragedies of death, regrets, the nonstop struggle of life and adulthood. The amount of passion, aggression and soul that comes out of these songs is just incredible. No Gods, No Handouts sounds very Blood for Blood style and the beauty of this EP is that every song has a different feel to it.

Alive in Death is another fantastic track and contains ferocious strumming and smashing drums and is a short but sweet 14 seconds long and soon drops into the next track Bloodsucker which seems a bit heavier. The vocals are shouted in a deeper tone on this track and it sounds a lot more aggressive than the other tracks. There is an exceptional catchy bassline towards the end that soon transitions back into a metallic hardcore sound. This EP is definitely worth investing in and it’s cool that each song has a different influence in it, this record contains a lot of sub-genres and various elements of hardcore. So if you like hardcore, metal or anything heavy then this is for you. Make sure you give it a listen!

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Knuckledust 7" Release Show

If you're about London or know about this show already then you don't want to be missing this! Knuckeldust are releasing their new record tonight at Birthdays (near Dalston). Everytime I have seen Knuckledust they put on an amazing performance and the atmosphere is always on point too! I'm sure tonight will be no exception, especially with Bun Dem Out and Dead Man's Chest supporting. Doors are at 7ish and tickets are only 8 quid. Don't sleep on this. Band details below:

Knuckledust: North London heavy Hardcore on the reputable Rucktion Records

Bun Dem Out: Beatdown style hardcore from London that features members of Knuckledust and TrenchHead and are also signed to Rucktion Records

Dead Man's Chest: Brutal and dark straight edge hardcore full of anger, hate and power. Just what you need on a Friday night!

Expire: 'Pretty Low'

Expire - 'Pretty Low'

I’ve been waiting for this for a quite a while now and I have to admit it was more than worth the wait to listen to it! Yet again Expire have smashed it and created another fantastic, powerful record. Pretty Low features 11 brand new tracks which are a little longer on track lengths than their usual material which is a bonus. I’d love to end the review here and just state that you need to listen to this now, however that would be a little silly of me as I need to describe how great this record is. Easily one of the strongest releases of the year. Each track is equally as heavy as the next and Expire keep to their trend of dark, gloomy and bleak lyrics.

I can’t fault a single track and the vocals are equally as raw and shredding as their previous releases (possibly even more so), Josh has some serious throaty screams which complements the heaviness of the instrumentals. The introduction track Pretty Low sets the tone for the record, the down tuned guitars kick in with meaty riffs and the drums crashing alongside this. This is definitely a record to play loud, Just Don’t and Fiction keep the rapid tempo going throughout. One listen and I’m hooked. I particularly like the part in Just Don’t where it slows and you can hear the chunky bass line, so catchy!

Gravity is one of the most mosh-worthy songs on the record and has a heavy breakdown going on towards the end. Nobody starts soon after this and has a frenzy of smashing drum rhythms and more chugging riffs that kick you in the face. There’s some really entertaining and energetic 2 step style riffs towards the mid-end of this track and is also evident in Old Habits. From here onwards, through tracks like Forgetting, Rejection and Second Face they really show the true rawness and darkness of Expire. I think the second half of the record will capture the listeners more as it just seems to take all the anger from the first half and multiply it by a million. The vocals are fantastic and really show off the dark side of this band and makes you want to lose your mind.

Pretty Low is the birth of a monster and takes all the best bits of hardcore that people want to hear, combining it with metallic elements but not to the point of it becoming a metal record. Expire have progressed a hell of an amount since their demo released in 2009. I didn’t think they could get any angrier and heavier than Pendulum Swings but they have exceeded that expectation and have produced a record of full of viciousness, anger and rawness. Order it now because I think you’re gonna love it!

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