Shadowtalkers

By Ryan Germ Gallows is one of the weirdest hardcore bands of all time. They weren’t super out there and doing extremely different shit like bands such as Ink & Dagger, Refused, Converge, and Coalesce, but they made a name for themselves adding slightly metallic elements into the classic 80’s hardcore formula. Frontman Frank Carter’s energy was the heartbeat of that band and his raw and unfiltered vocal style reminiscent of Justin Pearson pushed them to heights rarely seen for hardcore bands, and all of a sudden poof. No one talks about them anymore after Frank left in 2011 (atleast to the extent that a band of their influence should be talked about), and I believe that’s a disservice because the music they put out wasn’t lame ass mallcore it was real ass hardcore punk. Gallows formed in 2005 (technically 04 but they didn’t play or have the name until 2005) and dropped a demo titled “2005”. It was ok, but not GREAT. The only standout is a song titled The Ballad Of… but the only rea...

By Ryan Germ and Scott Danshaw   The 90’s. Definitely THE most diverse time period in hardcore. You had bands pioneering beatdown like Kickback and Bulldoze, bands in the youth crew revival like Ten Yard Fight and Floorpunch, bands laying the base for the melodic hardcore style that would become prevalent in the 00’s like Kid Dynamite and Bane, and bands doing whatever the fuck like Ink & Dagger and Refused. What records did we pick from this era? Well that’s what you’re here for so without further ado here’s our top 5 90’s HC records. Scotty D’s List: Refused - The Shape of Punk To Come: This is hands down the most important punk/hardcore record ever. Such a major step forward creatively for Refused and a major departure from the more straightforward hardcore on their earlier records. Incorporating techno samples and interludes they took what Ink & Dagger started exploring on their self titled record and expanded on it. No other record has done as much for pushing punk to ...

By Ryan Germ and Scott Danshaw The 80’s were a fun time, right? Considering how we both weren’t alive for the 80’s we don’t know a damn thing about if that’s true! But we know one thing and that is that the hardcore scene that decade laid the foundation for everything that came after. Enough talk, here’s our top 5 80’s HC albums Scotty D’s List: Germ- G.I.: Arguably one of the first bands to be considered hardcore punk and although this record dropped in 79 it laid the foundation for everything to come after it. The songs are short, fast, & carry more aggression than most can even handle. The sloppy back to basics chaotic approach makes this a perfect pick for my top 5. Youth Brigade (DC)- Possible EP: The better of the two youth brigade’s. Again another record that is short fast and just cool as fuck. From the first track “It’s about time that we had a change” and it’s fuzzed out bass intro to the pair of songs titled “No song” & “No Song pt. 2” this is proof they are the most...

By Ryan Germ   Alright fine, I’ll talk about this record despite me wanting to get this out on NYE so the technicality of “the year isn’t over, how can you have a definitive AOTY” is out of the way. But with them signing to legendary label Season Of Mist which represented such legendary names including Mayhem, Abbath, Saint Vitus, and The Dillinger Escape Plan, I think I can change plans and talk about this a tad earlier than expected. As mentioned this release is hands down my AOTY by a country mile, so strap in to hear me gush about the greatest release of 2025 coming from this “Glam Slam” trio from Wilkes-Barre. The record starts with a very slow atmospheric opener titled Devils In Command. Sludgey instrumentals over samples and hypnotic leads? Sign me up. The intro leads straight into song 2, Her Majesty. In my opinion this song is the hardest song written by a cat (sorry Wicked Pussycat off Danzig 777) as this song was written about frontman/guitar wizard Andy Saba’s late cat,...

By Ryan Germ and Scott Danshaw It’s Thursday, you know what that means (don’t sue me AEW) we’re back with another edition of Top 5 Thursday. This time top 5 breakdowns. Caveman riffs so good. Scotty D’s List:  1. Kids Like Us - Gator Smash: “WELCOME TO THE SOUTH!”. This is the quintessential breakdown for me. That lead in with the bass, that dirty southern rock sound blended with hardcore, and not to forget the fuckin’ slide guitar solo. What the fuck. Pure fucking genius. 2. Everytime I Die - I Been Gone A Long Time: Okay they’ve made pretty much every list I’ve made this far and there’s a reason for that; they’re the best band to ever do it. Not the most brutal of breakdowns but the cowbell leading in makes me wanna move. They have better breakdowns sure but this one gets me ready and makes me wanna flip & dive into the crowd like I’m Austin from Haywire 3. Comeback Kid - Wake The Dead: What a punk as fuck song. You cannot even tell me that the breakdown with the ...

By Ryan Germ Tis the season for spinkicks and dark riffs am I right? Today I’m gonna give a long winded album spotlight on one of the most underrated hardcore records. Prone Mortal Form by Only Living Witness, and yes the reason I decided to kick off our December with this album is because of the closing track. Deal with it. The record kicks off with quite possibly one of my favorite riffs    in the title track. It’s dirty, fuzzy, and heavy. But also melodic which only gets pushed further by frontman Jonah Jenkins vocals. The riff mostly stays the same throughout the song but it’s played in slightly different variations. It follows a pretty basic verse chorus verse chorus format but this record proves sometimes you don’t need all this fancy writing shit in your lyrics. Just expert instrumentals. The next song, Root sounds a bit more classic than the title track. The main riff is a nice southern metal riff that doesn’t overstay its welcome more than it needs to. Around 1:50 the...