Shadowtalkers

By Ryan Germ   I’ve been racking my brain for a minute looking for the next album to review. Numerous rough drafts have been started and deleted and put on hold recently and I didn’t really know what to write about until I saw 3 words sprawled out on my Instagram feed posted by the official Ink & Dagger fan page. “Devil children unite”. Those words called to me like it was the PAHC version of the fuckin Bat Signal. Now if you saw my story, you would know that this was supposed to drop sometime on Friday, February 20th. At the time of writing it’s 6:30 pm Sunday the 22nd and this probably won’t even be up until the 23rd (oops). But to be fair to me I’ve been sick as hell in my room passed out for 3 days, so I don’t know what to tell you chief. Well, actually, I do know what to tell you if you’re out of the loop on the almighty Ink & Dagger. Basically guitar vampire Don DeVore and charismatic frontman Sean Patrick McCabe (of Frail and Crud Is A Cult respectively) joined force...

By Ryan Germ   There are few bands more polarizing in hardcore than Angel Du$t, and I’ll be the first to admit that some AD records have missed for me. However this has been one of my most anticipated releases of 2026 ever since they dropped their The Beat over the summer. So enough pussy footing around, let’s get into AD’s new record Cold 2 The Touch. The first track, Pain Is A Must starts the record off with a nice little fill before the main riff comes in, I immediately got vibes of their track Squeeze with the main riff and some whispered vocals, then Justice does some of his signature screams. There’s some harmonies reminiscent of Thin Lizzy over his yells capping off with a callout of “pain is a must, Angel Du$t” before going into a two step part on the toms. Some more leads begin the second verse which is more of the same as the first before there’s a side to side part into a bigger two step part which goes into a super moshy part over the whispery vocals. Pretty strong open...

  By Ryan Germ I normally don’t cover newer releases, but this was sent to me and I took a listen and found this track to be quite enjoyable. So many of you (especially yall from NJ and PA who read this) might be wondering “who in the blue hell is Crimson Hues”, which is a good question. Bursting onto the scene in 2025 with their debut EP We Fade To Grey, Crimson Hues is a Bay Area metalcore act featuring Antonio on vox, Nikky on guitar, Jonathan on bass, and Elhannen on drums. Now if you know me you know that I like to stroke my neckbeard and make a major distinction between metalcore and metallic hardcore, so you might be buckling up for something akin to the mainstream metalcore from 2007, but Crimson Hues fits snug in the middle between the hardcore side of metalcore and the more mainstream side. The riffs and breakdowns on their debut EP are more akin to the Throwdown and 18 Visions side of metalcore, whilst the vocals are closer to the Bullet For My Valentine and Killswitch E...

By Ryan Germ When I say the words “naughty youth crew” you probably think     1 of 2 things, either you think “oh hell yeah” or “what the fuck is a naughty youth crew”. If you fall into that latter category let me educate you. Wrong Answer was a band hailing from Philly, they lasted for about 8 years and broke up before releasing a full length, leaving this compilation as a parting gift. I don’t know how, but they’ve maintained a huge following 10+ years after breaking up. Well, actually, I do know how. The songs bang hard as fuck. They’re riffy, loud, fast, and punk. That last bullet is what I think hardcore has been missing as of late. So with any further ado let’s bust it into this spotlight. The record starts with a Berserk sample on The World Is Empty for all the anime fans out there. It’s followed up with a riff that is just fuckin’ godly. The drums come in and it’s just made for swinging, their vocalist Justin screams “bust it” to go into a two step part and it’s one of...

By Ryan Germ   When you think “evil hardcore” who do you think of? Some out there might say Cold As Life, some may say Madball, some could even say Cro-Mags if they’re old as dirt. But I’m gonna assume 90% of you reading said Kickback, because that’s the fucking truth. Before they dropped this record in 2000, they dropped a really good debut in Cornered in 1995 that sounded like a more metallic Killing Time at points, then they switched gears and dropped Forever War in 1997 which is a front to back banger and if you haven’t listened to it and claim to be a “HC kid” I’m gonna call you a poser. But after releasing what many would consider to be their magnum opus in Forever War, they turned around and made a record that was so evil it made Forever War seem like PBS Kids. Ladies and gentlemen I present to you my favorite Kickback album: Les 150 Passions Meurtrieres. The records opener Will To Power begins with heavy feedback for 35 seconds before building anticipation with a couple chu...

  By Ryan Germ God do I love this record. I was probably in 7th grade? Maybe early 8th grade when I first listened to this. I credit End It and NAILS for being the 2 bands that got me into the modern side of hardcore but I’d be damned if I didn’t include this record as one of the things that also helped clue me in on hardcore post 2005. Before hearing this record I knew Ceremony as an indie garage punk band because of GTA V (shoutout Vinewood Blvd Radio) and then my dad showed me Violence Violence and this record which made my perception completely 180 on them. It took the best elements of 80’s hardcore, made it heavier, and shoved in some post hardcore bleakness for good measure. So what are we waiting for? Let’s get into this shit. The record opens up with the very slow Into The Wayside Part I. Now despite this not being as upbeat as the intro to say New Direction by Gorilla Biscuits, I’d say this is like the 2010’s version of that intro as it’s generational. It can make multiple...

By Ryan Germ, Photo by Unknown   In the underground fight scene KOTS is THE organization to fight for. With its rep for brutal fights while also hosting real skillful fighters like Brian Hooi and French Viking it has already cemented itself as the most dangerous fight club in the world. Today I got to interview the man who embodies KOTS, “The American Bloodaxe” Eric Olsen. Shadowtalkers: Why are you into hardcore/punk/metal? Bloodaxe: I like the way it sounds.. it resonates with me.  S: What are your Mt Rushmore Hardcore records? B: Neglect/Ten Times Worse/Bad Luck 13/Blood For Blood  S: What’s your favorite punk, metal, or hardcore show you’ve been to? B: Ten Times Worse for hardcore. Dimmu Borger for metal. S: What was your first encounter with martial arts? B: Wrestling. Age 5 S: How did you break into the bare knuckle boxing scene? B: I FB messaged Freeman Dove of ubbad/bkb in 2015. I was first American fighting bk in UK. Since John Sullivan in 1890s. S: How does figh...