SUBJECTS - SUBJECTS

 

A quality hardcore offering from Richmond, Virginia that feels right at home on Youth Attack. I hear elements of YOUTH OF TODAY, some 2010s hardcore like BLOOD PRESSURE. Catchy and full of vitriol, a nice melding of styles that feels familiar, straightforward, no-bullshit but arresting in execution, like slipping into a warm bath with exposed electrical wiring.

Fav tracks: Idle Hands, Need Another

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ACID CASUALTIES - FLAGS ARE FALSE

The inimitable Iron Lung Records brings us one of 2025's best pure hardcore punk LPs with New Jersey's ACID CASUALTIES. They've been a little enigmatic despite also being based in the tri-state area, I guess due to logistical constraints limiting their activity over the past few years both in terms of playing local gigs and writing/recording. So this one sort of came out of nowhere for me. In terms of the actual sound, it is pretty much just straight up unadulterated 80s USHC at its most vicious and frantic, as you'd expect for a band taking its name from a KORO song, but I also hear a bit of Swedish influence in some of the riffs. "Derelict Dog" comes to mind in that regard. There aren't any bands I can think of in the region doing this style of hardcore this well, and it's right up my alley, so I'm pretty siked about this record and (hopefully) getting to see them play more shows around here too.

Fav tracks: Derelict Dog, Acid Casualty

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NISEMONO - S/T LP (2025)

 

Man this band absolutely rips. 偽者 (NISEMONO) has been around for a bit now, having released their demo in 2021, but they've only recently started playing shows since all the members are now local. I believe last week at the Broadway with MERCY and OXIDO was just their second show. Great gig - this three-piece scorched the place with ripping TOTALITAR worship, a style that in my opinion seemed more heavily in vogue 5-10 years ago but these days doesn't have as many bands doing it at this level. AJAX in particular feels like a strong reference point in that regard. 

Each member absolutely shreds their respective instrument and their live sound has an intensity that goes well beyond what you think a three piece format should allow. The riffs are very creative and very memorable, and watching his hands race up and down the fretboard was dizzying. So is the drumming, very tight, creative, but powerful and not overplayed. The mixing on this record is also pretty on point. I definitely slept on this LP when it came out last year but it has been on repeat lately, and every time it ends I want to play it back immediately. One of my favorite Toxic State releases in recent memory. 

Fav track: 右翼反対 (Uyoku Hantai)

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DAUNTING NIGHTMARE - BLOODSHOT

 

DAUNTING NIGHTMARE's latest and final release is out now on Sex Fiend Abomination. The way this band sounds and the way this release was recorded evokes in my mind visions of a deranged goon rampaging in a dank, gloomy sewer - large gray bricks caked with grime and dirt, rusty iron grates dripping filthy rainwater. A toxic browned liquid. Banished to roam beneath the city's streets spiraling further into madness and deluded venomous rage. What small, fine bands of light manage to penetrate from the world above extend toward this brutish centrifuge seem to cower and flee, retreating back into the false from which they came. This is your reality now. This is the final reality.

Fav tracks: Remains, Bloodshot

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AYUCABA - OPERACIÓN MASACRE

 

The basic gist of AYUCABA is that they are a Barcelona-based band (albeit with I believe 2/5ths from Bogota) sharing members with bands anyone up to speed with international hardcore punk should be familiar with - MURO, INYECCION, FARMACO, among others. That alone should pique your interest. They interestingly had a lineup change recently that involved swapping their bassist and singer, and this is their first release since then. I have not listened to any of their prior releases (think it might just be a demo?) but that in itself is an interesting move that I don't hear of happening too often.

The label, Metadona Records, encapsulates their sound well with their release description - metallic UK hardcore of the 1980s like BROKEN BONES and early Japanese hardcore that drew heavily from MOTORHEAD like THE EXECUTE or THE CLAY. If you have more of a capital H predisposition, you might hear a rawer, more stripped-down INTEGRITY sans breakdowns. That set of influences is obviously not too far out of the realm of what you hear from some other current bands but the execution here really sets AYUCABA apart from anything else I've heard recently in this vein.

This release as a full length LP works shockingly well. It is very faithful to its roots, definitely wears its influences on its sleeves, but at the same time has more than enough individuality and intention in its songwriting and structure to warrant a longer format. They step right into the shoes of punks who in an earlier era blended a rabid musical intensity with an appreciation for the heavy metal of their day, and as a result pushed both genres forward in ways that are easy to take for granted in 2025. Especially on side two, melodies and soloing raise the stakes without diverting the record into boring interludes that you immediately skip after your first listen, and never approach overindulgence or a lack of economy. The production is authentically raw, maybe thin in certain respects but more notably very clear. The vocals are scathing and venomous while sounding just a little distant, all of which together nails an eighties vibe and a live feel that I don't think you hear in contemporary LPs very often.  

Fav tracks: Cocaina, Sistema = Siniestro, Oxido

FFO: BROKEN BONES, THE CLAY, INTEGRITY

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TOP DOLLAR - OBJECTS OF MISFORTUNE

 

It has been longer than usual since my last post due to work obligations. TOP DOLLAR hasn't played outside of their home base of NYC much, but it feels like everyone who comes through and plays with them has something to say about how blown away they were, or how they were one of the best bands they saw on tour. TD plays rippingly fast, straightforward and catchy but highly dynamic hardcore. They aren't trying to revolutionize anything, and they aren't LARPing as some particular 80's or 90's band either. They write really good, unpretentious songs that draw from myriad types and eras of US hardcore and that shift in unpredictable directions, build up and break down, and boil over with relentless energy. There's a wide universe out there of stale, musically cut-and-paste bands out there, and Objects of Misfortune cuts right through it all without any navel-gazing or affectation. An extremely hard balance to strike but one that seems to come completely natural to these guys. I've been listening to this record about ten times a day for weeks now and it's definitely up there for one of my favorite things to come out in 2025. 

Fav tracks: Constant Desire, Distanced

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BLACK DOG - SEWN INTO CONFUSION

 

BLACK DOG's Overthrow EP was one of my favorite releases of 2023, and the d-beat sonic onslaught continues with Sewn Into Confusion. No band right now currently is pushing this style of hardcore to this extreme. With Overthrow, a boisterous tape hiss completely drenched everything except the drums in a way that I don't think I had ever heard before. This recording is markedly different; that wall of white noise is gone, the riffs are more up front, and the violence of the actual bass and guitar distortion is kicked up another notch. It's a bit more of normal presentation but still really abrasive, and I like that the vocals still sound like they are being howled out of a dark, desolate cavern. I don't think any band uses negative space as punctuation as well as this Nova Scotia three-piece - they pick their spots for these short, hard mid-track breaks, the tracks end abruptly and completely, and then they again hit you with an avalanche of bricks. Without a doubt, one of the current bands I most want to see live.

FFO: Disclose, Physique, Gloom

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