There was a lot of talk about hardcore becoming bigger on a mainstream level in 2023 than it ever had in its decades-long history. While I won't get into that debate and its merits and drawbacks, there's no doubt to me that there's so many excellent bands popping up these past few years.
As I do every year (here's last year's list), I wanted to take a moment and highlight 12 Newer Hardcore Bands to Check Out in 2024 displaying many different flavors of our scene.
Here's to a happy and healthy new year, and new hardcore music!
-Carlos
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Apex Predator
Of the bands listed here, I might be pushing it a bit with Apex Predator since they've been together in some form since 2021, but their activity has picked up considerably in the last year or so. I caught them live for the first time at Tied Down fest in Detroit over the summer and they more than impressed.
The Washington state outfit specializes in a metallic hardcore strain that is neanderthal-like in its approach. There's no room for nuance in Apex Predator's world. Instead, you get an endless blitzkrieg of fast riffing, meathead mosh parts, and gruff vocals, and I mean that with the highest compliments.
Their debut album, Jesus Wept, just dropped and it's a nasty thing. Again, that's a compliment.
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Balmora
"A lot of Connecticut bands are to thank for our sound, including Laid 2 Rest, Nientara, and Invocation of Nehek," Balmora vocalist Senti told me last year on this very site about their sound. Outside of Connecticut, we're directly inspired by bands like It Dies Today, Atreyu, Dissection, The Black Dahlia Murder, Prayer for Cleansing, and From Here On."
From the first time I heard their With Thorns of Glass and Petals of Grief EP, I was instantly hooked. Jay and Danny from the band whip the kind of classy and techy guitar riffs that never overstay their welcome, peppering the arrangements to keep your attention throughout. Listening on headphones, you can hear how they truly play off of each other, creating a hyper-melodic yet ideal bed of sonics for Senti to overlay his screechy vocal lines. It's a beautiful thing.
If one of the bigger metal indie labels doesn't snatch Balmora up in the next year, I'd be very surprised.
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Big Boy
Though they've began as a side project a few years back (the band features musicians from Sunami, Eightfold Path) , 2023 proved that Big Boy was ready to get to business. Their 5-song Spring Promo 2023 got all kinds of love when it came out, and they began bringing their live show to big crowds outside of their San Jose, California homebase.
Big Boy's no-bullshit, groove-driven hardcore hit the some of the best festivals in the States last year including Tied Down and Sound and Fury, and their pre-show for the latter's went over in a huge way in the packed venue. At the actual fest, they dealt with the clueless security there in a cool way (watch here).
If Big Boy release a record in 2024 and keep spreading their Bay Area gospel on tour, I can't see them not blowing up even more than they have already.
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Cosmic Joke
Los Angeles hardcore 'n' rollers Cosmic Joke made an instant fan of this writer after hearing their 2021 demo, but it was their performance opening for Praise at a small venue in town that truly pushed them over the edge for me.
Their sound doesn't land anywhere near the beatdown side of things, but if you love hooky melodic parts in your hardcore punk, Cosmic Joke got that shit on lock.
Here's what vocalist Mac Miller told me about their stylistic direction: "Morgan, Vince, and I wanted to start a band that took heavy influence from '80s Los Angeles/Orange County hardcore (Bad Religion, Adolescents, Circle Jerks, Descendents) as we felt it was under represented in today’s scene."
The Cosmic Joke LP will be out later this year via HardLore Records/Triple B Records.
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Destiny Bond
There's a certain hardcore classicism to Destiny Bond's sound that renders their style timeless in a certain regard.
Starting with Cloe Madonna's punky (and clear) vocal booth attack to guitarists Amos Helvey and Emily Armitage's new wavey-flourishings to the rock-steady rhythm section of bassist Rio Wolf and drummer Adam Croft, it's crystal clear that the Denver band spent a lot time truly crafting the anthems that appeared on their 2023 Be My Vengeance album.
Time will tell if Destiny Bond favor the more melodic aspects of their sound in the future, or kick up the hardcore punk elements of their DNA, but either way interesting things will happen.
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Giallo
"Musically, I think we would agree on Void and Deep Wound. I write lyrics about my favorite giallo films and killing people."
How does that not get your attention? That's what Giallo singer Jake VanKempen told me about his band when I spoke with him around the time of their 2022 EP. Jake isn't full of shit. Giallo's rough and tumble sound is rooted in classic '80s hardcore in its directness, and there's no metallic or beatdown parts to be found anywhere in their songs. Power violence heads will also find a lot to be psyched on in terms of the speed quotient.
"We’re currently planning a tour for March and putting out a new 7” EP later this year," Jake just told me via email, so don't sleep on this Minneapolis menace in 2024.
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Gray State
For those of you who read No Echo on a regular basis, you probably already know how much I have a soft spot for the H8000 sound. First profiled on the site when their "Flames of Efficiency" track dropped, Gray State is a Finnish band fellow fans of Arkangel and Congress will lap up like ice-cold water on a hot summer day.
Gray State are gearing up to release their sophomore album, Under the Wheels of Progress, via The Coming Strife Records and Genet Records, which you can sample a few tracks below.
In a short message from the band, they told me they have "a lot of shows planned in Finland during the spring, maybe a Euro tour later down the year. We just want to play live as much as possible."
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Juice
Juice is one of the latest bands to join the WAR Records roster, the Los Angeles-based label behind one of last year's finest hardcore records, World I Hate's Years of Lead. I got an advance listen to the Vancouver, B.C.'s forthcoming debut record for the label, Victim of the Psychic War, and within a few minutes I was all in.
Andrew from WAR Records described Juice to me in the vein of Ekulu and Iron Age, and I also hear hints of Spirit Crusher and Best Wishes-era Cro-Mags. There's melody to go around but it's a tough sound that these Cannucks are whipping up.
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Rejoice
It's been fun following Rejoice's progression from their 2021 Damnation No Longer Hurts EP to today. The Columbus, Ohio band debut album comes out this month and is called All of Heaven's Luck. Listeners who dig some Integrity-like riffing and black metal touches in their metallic hardcore need to hit this pre-order link ASAP.
"When you grow up religious and move away from it, you realize that many people weaponize their religion," said Rejoice vocalist vocalist Nathan Snitchler in a 2021 No Echo feature, and his disdain carries on through the songs on All of Heaven's Luck.
On Delayed Gratification Records' page for the album, they promise the album's lyrics include themes about "covering capitalism's destruction of the Earth as we know it, the uber-wealthy's parasitic tendencies that are changing the Earth, and the common person's demise due to those aforementioned uber-wealthy."
That's definitely hate fuel right there.
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Scarab
Featuring the savage vocals of Tyler Mullen (ex-Year of the Knife), Scarab also includes guitarist Lennon Livesay within their ranks, a dude that has played in some of the better hardcore bands of the last decade or so, including Blistered, Ecostrike, Seed of Pain, and Envision.
Scarab's Seeking Chaos and Revenge After Betrayal EP came out late in 2023 and showcased the Philly band's penchant for brutal arrangements that rarely let up in the speed department and often open up to breakdown parts with nothing but teeth snarling at you.
Seeking Chaos and Revenge After Betrayal is one mean-spirited motherfucker of a record.
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Velocity
Bloomington, Indiana fast hardcore crew Velocity (talk about a fitting name!) was previously featured on the site in August when they dropped their debut demo. The quartet aren't attempting to reinvent the (hardcore) wheel with what they're doing, instead focusing on powerful speedy verses and stomping breakdown parts made for maximum crowd interaction.
"We're planning a small Midwest tour for this spring with a friend band and playing some small Midwest fests," Velocity vocalist Betsy told me a few days ago via email.
New music will also be worked on, so let's definitely keep our ears out for this young outfit.
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Wreckage
Easily my favorite newer hardcore band in recent memory, Wreckage's Our Time EP landed on my 12 Best Hardcore Records of 2023 list on the site just last week.
The Connecticut group's spirited and propulsive songwriting and performance style drips with authenticity. This isn't a band chasing any trends in the scene, instead playing from the gut and letting the cards fall where they may.
If this were 1989, Wreckage would have been snatched up by a label like Revelation Records and Our Time would have gone on to be considered every bit a classic as that label's hollowed early discography. If there's any justice in the hardcore world, more people will find out about Wreckage in 2024, and we'll all be blessed by a proper full-length from the guys.
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2024 Hardcore Releases Spotify Playlist
Tagged: apex predator, balmora, big boy, cosmic joke, destiny bond, giallo, gray state, juice, rejoice, scarab, velocity, wreckage
