Here at Revolver, we pride ourselves in living on the cutting edge of heavy music, from metal and hardcore to industrial and hip-hop, and we try to keep you on the front line, too, by giving you a deep look at the innovative noisemakers poised to shape the sound and the scene. To that end, we've rounded up a handful of musicians who, we think, are on the rise across several different genres. From brain-zapping industrial to bone-snapping metalcore, here are five artists you'll want to get on now.
End It
RIYL Madball, Trapped Under Ice, Leeway
WHY YOU SHOULD CARE Baltimore's End It are making hardcore that's rooted in the genre's East Coast traditions — springy grooves, hefty riffs, ferocious vocals with a rap-tinged flow, and ferociously smack-talkin' attitude — but isn't indebted to one band or scene in particular. Their superb pair of EPs, 2020's One Way Track and this year's Unpleasant Living, are brimming with hooky one-liners and fist-swingin' mosh parts that pack more personality and nuance into one-minute song runtimes than most bands can muster across an entire full-length.
QUOTE "We just want to give the people the real fucking deal," says guitarist Ray Lee. "We'll tell a dad joke onstage after singing a song about beating a man lifeless because life goes in every direction like that. From a music perspective, we really focus on the idea of songwriting more than, 'Will kids mosh to this?' It's important to have parts kids can dance to, of course, but at the end of the day, too many bands sacrifice good songwriting in the name of adding an extra breakdown."
Phobophilic
RIYL Death, Blood Incantation, Carcass
WHY YOU SHOULD CARE Phobophilic currently occupy a sort of band's band status in modern death metal, and it's easy to hear why. The Fargo group, whose debut LP arrives this fall via Prosthetic Records, are exceptionally tight musicians and gifted songwriters who channel the gurgly glee of the Maggot Stomp wave, but add a distinct, Death-influenced spritz of technical melody into their structures that really makes them stand out. Heavy and ugly can only go so far, and Phobophilic are here to extend a hand full of ear-wormy riffs and jazz-inflected musicality.
QUOTE The band get their moniker from the Cryptopsy song "Phobophile" — "It means love of fear or friend of fear," says guitarist Josh Poer — and that mentality translates into their bold approach to creativity. "Above all, we want to create dynamic and thought-provoking death metal," Poer says. "In the last couple years, there have been a lot of bands leaning into a simpler, stripped-down approach. We're heavily inspired by the old-school bands who were pushing boundaries in the genre and want to do the same."
Contention
RIYL Earth Crisis, Strife, Magnitude
WHY YOU SHOULD CARE Contention spawned from guitarist Josh Howell's desire to start a "true metalcore" band with straight-edge players, and from the very first note of their 2022 promo, Summer Offensive, it's clear that they've succeeded. The Florida band are denizens of the Nineties sound pioneered by Earth Crisis and Strife — chuggy, lead-filled metallic hardcore with emphatic, catchy vocals — and the level of energy and passion in their performances, from the tasty riffing and bone-snapping breakdowns to the harried vocals, make them worthy torch-bearers of that beloved sound.
QUOTE "The world is a smoldering mess and our music is a reflection of that," says vocalist Cosmo Vidussi. "Violent imagery and chaotic music seem a natural response to an increasingly violent and chaotic world." All of that plays out on Summer Offensive, with lyrical themes of "societal collapse, apocalyptic anxieties, advocating for self and surviving," and album art picturing a city crumbling in a blaze of destruction.
Black Magnet
RIYL Nine Inch Nails, Godflesh, Code Orange
WHY YOU SHOULD CARE Beginning as the one-man project of James Hammontree and recently expanding into a three-piece, Black Magnet are an uncompromising force of heavily metallic machine music. New album, Body Prophecy, sits squarely in the industrial genre, but amidst the clanging atmosphere and clattering beats are gnashing guitars with the destructive capacity of an electric fence built from razor wire. Tapping influences ranging from Skinny Puppy and Godflesh to Alice in Chains and Nineties Memphis rap, Black Magnet are actively building upon industrial's legacy rather than just rehashing it.
QUOTE "Mainly, I wanted to bring a larger focus to the guitar and just better songwriting in general," Hammontree says of this project. "Aside from a few obvious bands, the industrial genre as a whole seems so polluted with aesthetics over quality." Deeply personal lyrics are also a focus. "After being in and out of the hospital a few years ago I was left with new physical and mental sensations I had never experienced," he explains. "The focus of my life became figuring out how to cope and overcome the trauma and use it for useful action. Our bodies contain stories, Body Prophecy is mine."
Strange Joy
RIYL Title Fight, Drug Church, Touché Amoré
WHY YOU SHOULD CARE Melodic hardcore is coming back in a big way right now, but no one's doing it quite like Strange Joy. Based in Texas and formed in the summer of 2021, the quintet's newly released 5 Tracks EP features propulsive, emotionally spiky, scream-along-worthy hardcore rippers that are doused with shoegazy guitar effects that give them an extra layer of atmospheric texture. Raggedly catchy like Title Fight but brawny and quirky like Drug Church, Strange Joy are a trip.
QUOTE "Our biggest musical influences range from Seaweed and Fucked Up to Drug Church and Bib," the group says. "Bands that show off that high energy, can play mixed bill shows, and are just super fun to watch live." As for their lyrics, frontman Jonah Castillo offers a unique perspective for a young hardcore band. "A lot of my inspiration came from being a new parent," he says, "and this new love I found in my son Desmond, while also forcing me to address some of the things from my childhood, as well."
