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 fun-as-hell deathcore to "hardgore deathmetal"
Apex Predator
RIYL Hatebreed, Pain of Truth, Never Ending Game
WHY YOU SHOULD CARE Apex Predator went from just another pandemic-born demo project to one of the most promising new bands in hardcore. Their late-2023 gem of a debut, Jesus Wept, is a wickedly heavy slab of misanthropic spin-kick fuel that's somehow also one of the catchiest hardcore LPs in recent memory.
Imagine if the spirit-dying croaks of Crowbar were hollered atop barbaric hardcore screeds that're crafted with a scholarly knowledge of the book of Hatebreed — powerful, inspiring, bludgeoning and more tuneful than they have any right to be.
QUOTE "The music, lyrical themes and imagery are very much in lockstep," vocalist Casey Shaw says of Apex Predator's overarching goal. "A hatred and violent approach for this hard and ugly world, and overcoming the opposition in whatever form that takes and at all costs. Bite the hand that keeps you down with no remorse."
Post Profit
RIYL Deftones, Glassjaw, Coheed and Cambria
WHY YOU SHOULD CARE Texas is a hotbed for all types of heavy music right now (hardcore, death metal, shoegaze, etc.) and Longview quartet Post Profit are tapping into that energy with a distinct sound of their own.
Blurring the belt-it-out post-hardcore power of Glassjaw and early Circa Survive with grungy riffage and flecks of groovy metal that channel Deftones and Incubus in equal measure, Post Profit's 2023 EP, Self Defeater, is a powerful, catchy gut-punch. Northlane singer Marcus Bridge counts himself among their fans, and so do we.
QUOTE "One of our goals for Self Defeater was to create something more energetic, punchy and 'in your face' than we thought our debut full-length album was," the band tell us. "We wanted to show everyone a slightly different side to our sound, and include some heavier elements in our music.
"In our opinion, it's the perfect bridge between our debut full length, and our next full-length record that we are currently writing."
Thus Spoke Zarathustra
RIYL Emmure, Suicide Silence, Psycho-Frame
WHY YOU SHOULD CARE A new wave of old-school deathcore is upon us, and Thus Spoke Zarathustra are leading the charge alongside Psycho-Frame and Tracheotomy.
Originally conceived as vocalist Andy Reynolds' bedroom solo project (and yes, he named it after the Nietzsche novel), the Maryland quartet have since dropped a couple hellaciously chuggy EPs on hardcore/metalcore upstarts Ephyra Records.
Needlessly long song titles ("Artery Recordings Could Never"), sophomoric humor and idiotically fun breakdowns abound in Thus Spoke's output so far, and they plan to keep the '08 mesh short merch vibes going strong in 2024.
QUOTE "I wasn't around for the Myspace era," Reynolds says. "But my cousins were who showed me bands like Emmure, Through the Eyes of the Dead and All Shall Perish. That era of music made me feel really special and nostalgic in a good way, so I wanted to give a shot at making something authentic to that sound."
Upon Stone
RIYL At the Gates, In Flames, Children of Bodom
WHY YOU SHOULD CARE Upon Stone have a very straightforward artistic goal: bring back the classic melodeath sound pioneered by At the Gates, In Flames and other Gothenburg greats in the 1990s.
While their hard-charging debut, Dead Mother Moon (out January 19th via Century Media), certainly achieves their specific vision, it's not mere hero worship. Upon Stone include members of California hardcore bands Vamachara, Momentum and Hands of God, and the players bring a certain energy to the music that feels uniquely fresh.
Plus, Shadows Fall frontman Brian Fair — himself a career-long torch-bearer of melodeath — makes a killer guest appearance on "Paradise Failed."
QUOTE "To us, melodeath gives the best of both worlds," the band say. "Both brutal and beautiful, visceral and ornate. We want to carve out our own corner of this incredible sub-genre and style and do so with full respect of the sound and aesthetic.
"There are so many incredible bands and records within melodeath, and for Upon Stone to be a part of that bloodline is an incredible opportunity we don't take lightly."
Corpse Pile
RIYL Dying Fetus, Internal Bleeding, 200 Stab Wounds
WHY YOU SHOULD CARE Maggot Stomp Records have a rep for launching bands who make death metal for hardcore audiences, and their latest signees Corpse Pile wear that badge prouder than most.
Their forthcoming EP, Hardgore Deathmetal, is an ode to mosh-able DM that's putrid, brutal and sometimes straight-up wordless. All the focus is on the gnarsty grooves and the feral vocals, and song titles like "Every Dog Gets Put Down" and "Fuck Your Life" speak for themselves.
QUOTE "The funny thing... is that [sometimes] there aren't really lyrics," says vocalist Jason Frazier. "Some of the songs have full lyrics, some have a line or two and some have absolutely none. When it comes to death metal, the lyrics aren't all that intelligible in the first place so I kinda figured I just wouldn't waste time writing them.
"This isn't to say the songs don't have any messages or meanings. They're just applied more abstractly through stage banter, liner note and just being about our shit on and offstage. Most of us lean pretty far left so you'll see topics like arming the working class, gentrification and queer liberation all on this release."
