Strife - Witness A Rebirth (2012)

Some bands leave such an impression on fans that, even after two decades, their sound still resonates deep and wide. Southern California’s STRIFE is just such a band, having once again tapped into the energy that has kept listeners interested for 21 years.

Status: Active
Contact: facebook
Rock if you like: Earth Crisis - Snapcase - One King Down

Track listing:
1 -  Torn Apart
2 - Carry The Torch
3 - Show No Mercy
4 - No Apologies
5 - The Distance
6 - Never Look Back
7 - In This Defiance
8 - The Burden
9 - Look Away
10 - Face Your Failures
11 - End Of Days
12 - Life Or Death
*link removed*

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Code Orange Kids - Love Is Love // Return To Dust (2012)

 Love Is Love // Return To Dust is Code Orange Kids' debut album, recorded at God City Studios by Kurt Ballou (Converge). From the first organic stick clicks of opener Flowermouth (The Leech) musical chaos explodes in every direction imaginable. As their tangle of guitars and angular percussion violently lurches about, it's apparent that Code Orange Kids are not concerned with following the predetermined path of any existing sub-genre. The band's dirges effortlessly become staccato bursts in Liars // Trudge and Nothing (The Rat), two songs with so many hairpin turns they are difficult to put into words. While adversely, songs like Colore (Into Nothing) and Calm // Breathe unfurl as beautifully layered musical expanses.

As impressive as these dynamics are, it is Code Orange Kids' untamed heaviness and emotion in the title reference songs Choices (Love Is Love) and Bloom (Return To Dust) that will leave you floored. These two mostrous beasts smear the divisions between art-rock, punk, doom, and noise in a way never heard before. Without a doubt, Love Is Love // Return To Dust is truly impressive, as much a work of art as it is an album. A shining example of the bright future that awaits the world of aggressive music.

Status: Active
Contact: facebook 
              bandcamp
Rock if you like: Full of Hell - Birds In A Row - Loma Prieta

Track listing:
1 - Flowermouth (The Leech)
2 - Around My Neck // On My Head
3 - Sleep (I've Been Slipping)
4 - Liars // Trudge
5 - Colors (Into Nothing)
6 - Nothing (The Rat)
7 - Roots Are Certain // Sky Is Empty
8 - Choices (Love Is Love)
9 - Calm // Breathe
10 - Bloom (Return To Dust)
DL

Early Graves - Red Horse (2012)

On their first album since the tragic death of founding singer Makh Daniels two years ago, Early Graves find a new voice with close friend John Strachan, of the Funeral Pyre, taking over the blood curdling vocal duties. The album features eight face-melting tracks that clock in at just over thirty-two minutes.

Status: Active
Contact: website
Rock if you like: Cursed - His Hero Is Gone - All Pigs Must Die

Track listing:
1 -  Skinwalker
2 - Misery
3 - Days Grow Old
4 - Red Horse
5 - Apocalyptic Nights
6 - Death Obsessed
7 - Pure Hell
8 - Quietus
DL

The Secret - Agnus Dei (2012)

The Secret are one of the heaviest and most extreme bands to ever crawl their way out of Italy. Born and shaped in 2003, The Secret come to life as an output for rage, darkness and negativity. The band comines elements of crust/grind, primitive black metal, dark soundscapes and monolithic riffs to take the listener by the hand through a hallucinated trip towards a foggy and yet invisible tomorrow.

Status: Active

Contact: facebook

Rock if you like: Harlots - Comity -Starkweather

Track listing:
1 - Agnus Dei
2 -  May God Damn All Of Us
3 - Violent Infection
4 - Geometric Power
5 - Post Modern Nihil Est
6 - Daily Life
7 - Love Your Enemy
8 - Vermin Of Dust
9 - Darkness I Became
10 - Heretic Temple
11 - The Bottomless Pit
12 - Obscure Dogma
13 - Seven Billion Graves
DL

Pig Destroyer - Book Burner (2012)

The undisputed kings of grind, Pig Destroyer return with their long awaited new full length Book Burner. Book Burner is a resounding statement of championship, as every element of Pig Destroyer towers above their closest peers - a 32 minute, 19 song knockout punch of cerebral viciousness.

Status: Active
Contact: facebook
Rock if you like: Nasum - Agoraphobic Nosebleed - Napalm Death

Track listing:
1 -  Sis
2 - The American's Head
3 - The Underground Man
4 - Eve
5 - Diplomat
6 - All Seeing Eye
7 - Valley Of The Geysers
8 - Book Burner
9 - Machiavellian
10 - Baltimore Strangler
11 - White Lady
12 - The Bug
13 - Iron Drunk
14 - Burning Palm
15 - Dirty Knife
16 - Totaled
17 - Kamikaze Heart
18 - King Of Clubs
19 - Permanent Funeral
DL

The Tony Danza Tap Dance Extravaganza - Danza IV: The Alpha - The Omega (2012)

After over a decade of creating music, three full lengths, tens of thousands of combined albums sold & hundreds upon hundreds of shows alongside the biggest names in metal and hardcore, The Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza have delivered what will serve as an incredible direct and heavy material to date.

Status: Active
Contact: facebook
Rock if you like: The Red Chord - The Dillinger Escape Plan - The Great Redneck Hope

Track listing:
1 - Behind Those Eyes
2 - You Won't
3 - Rudy X3
4 - The Crossfire
5 - Hold The Line
6 - Death Eater
7 - Canadian Bacon
8 - Paul Bunyan And The Blue Ox
9 - Disconnecting Pt. 1
10 - This Cut Was The Deepest
11 - Disconnecting Pt. 2
12 - The Alpha/ The Omega
13 - Some Things Are Better Left Unsaid
14 - Don't Try This At Home
15 - This Is Forever
DL

Trash Talk - 119 (2012)

Forwards ever, backwards never. In a perfect world, those four words would tell you everything you need to know about Sacrament thrash-punk juggernaut Trash Talk. But in a perfect world, these four furious scions of guitar-wrought destruction wouldn't exist. Lee, Garrett, Spencer, and Sam are fueled by our ugly, and they give it back in spades.

Status: Active
Contact: http://trashtalkhc.com/
Rock if you like: Siege - Outbreak - Lewd Acts

Track listing:
1 -  Eat The Cycle
2 - Exile On Broadway
3 - My Rules
4 - F.E.B.N.
5 - Uncivil Disobedience
6 - Blossom & Burn
7 - Reasons
8 - Fuck Nostalgia
9 - Apathy
10 - Thanks, But No Thanks
11 - Bad Habits
12 - Swinging To Pieces
13 - For The Lesser Good
14 - Dogman
DL

Converge - All We Love We Leave Behind (2012)

Converge have cemented their place in genre they helped create, consistently listed among hard music’s most influential and important bands. Now with their new album All We Love We Leave Behind, Converge continue to build on their devoted base. All We Love We Leave Behind continues that development, while bringing to the foreground the amazing guitar of founding member Kurt Ballou, who is emerging as a true guitar god. With leader Jacob Bannon finding searing melodies amidst the chaos of chords that is their hallmark, All We Love We Leave Behind continues the evolution of this important band.

Status: Active
Contact: http://www.convergecult.com/
Rock if you like: The Dillinger Escape Plan - Curl Up And Die - Botch

Track listing:
1 -  Aimless Arrow
2 - Tresspasses
3 - Tender Abuse
4 - Sadness Comes Home
5 - Empty On The Inside
6 - Sparrow's Fall
7 - A Glacial Place
8 - Vicious Muse
9 - Veins And Veils
10 - Coral Blue
11 - Shame In A Way
12 - Precipice
13 - All We Love We Leave Behind
14 - Predatory Glow
DL

Ashkara - In Absence (2012)

Ashkara are a crust/ dbeat band out of Switzerland that features members of Cwill. In Absence is their 8 track debut that is punishing and heavy as well as melodic technical. Ashkara fucking rule. Make sure you support these guys!

Status: Active
Contact: www.ashkara.org
Rock if you like: Fall of Efrafa - From Ashes Rise - Cwill

Track listing:
1 - Intro
2 - Manifest
3 - Monotony
4 - Bleek Pessimism
5 - Lethargie
6 - Novel
7 - Nine
8 - Burn Our Witches
DL
BUY

Protestant - Reclamation (2012)

songs of fast, bitter Midwestern hardcore punk clocking in under 26 minutes. After a slew of releases over the last few years, this is Protestant throwing down the gauntlet and cutting the shit.

Status: Active

Contact: myspace/protestant

Rock if you like: His Hero Is Gone - From Ashes Rise - Man Is The Bastard

Track listing:
1 - Home
2 - Jan Palach
3 - Reclamation
4 - Unbecoming
5 - Salad Days
DL

The Broderick - Free to Rot, Free of Sin (2012)

After a lengthy period of hibernation that led many to assume they’d long since called it a day, progressive hardcore outfit THE BRODERICK are back with their long-overdue, debut full-length, Free To Rot, Free Of Sin. Taking their time to write and really hone in on the essence of their sound, THE BRODERICK have delivered one of the most challenging heavy releases of 2012.
Status: Active
Contact: http://www.myspace.com/thebroderickhc
Rock if you like: Turmoil - Carpathian - Parallax

Track listing:
1 - Black Lung
2 - Distance
3 - 1950 DA
4 - Drone
5 - Unseen
6 - Low Sky
7 - Brave New World
8 - Savages
9 - Unheard
10 - Diving Bell
DL

Whips/ Chains - Master/ Slave (2012)

Whips/Chains play a brand of heavy, apocalyptic music for the trying times we live in. Unpolished and pure, this massive sounding down-tuned three piece takes influence from bands His Hero Is Gone, Bolt Thrower, and others. Features Ryan Patterson (Coliseum), Ben Sears (Black God), and Will Allard (Xerxes).

Status: Active
Contact: http://whipschains.com/
Rock if you like: Coliseum - His Hero Is Gone - Rise and Fall

Track listing:
1 - Secular Front
2 - Brick and Mortar
3 - Trembling
4 - Master/ Slave
5 - Human Filth
DL

Propagandhi - Failed States (2012)

Canadian “progressive thrash” legends Propagandhi join the Epitaph roster with their new album Failed States, just in time for their politically engaged anthems to form a soundtrack to that magical theatrical production known as the US elections. Failed States is the band’s sixth album, and their second as a fourpiece with the addition of Dave “The Beaver” Guillas on guitar. This has lead to a distinctive thickening and fortifying of the band’s sound, to the point where they now achieve maximum heaviness, in a good way. This is most definitely the best Propagandhi album yet, full of loud, fast, indignant songs that stick in your head.

Status: Active
Contact: http://propagandhi.com/
Rock if you like: NOFX - I Spy - FYP

Track listing:
1 - Note To Self
2 - Failed States
3 - Devil's Creek
4 - Rattan Cane
5 - Hadron Collision
6 - Status Update
7 - Cognitive Suicide
8 - Things I Like
9 - Unscripted Moment
10 - Dark Matters
11 - Lotus Gait
12 - Duplicate Keys Icaro (An Interim Report)
DL

Gaza - No Absolutes In Human Suffering (2012)

Salt Lake City, UT natives Gaza play a form of grindcore mixed with drone-sludgy and mathy hardcore with an unmatched intesity. Gaza also lyrically attack the religious foundation the country continues to rely on. No Absolutes In Human Suffering is their 3rd release. Don't miss the boat on this one.

Status: Active
Contact: Facebook
Rock if you like: Coalesce - Kid Gorgeous - Engineer

Track listing:
1 - Mostly Hair and Bones Now
2 - This We Celebrate
3 - The Truth Weighs Nothing
4 - Not With All The Hope In The World
5 - The Vipers
6 - No Absolutes In Human Suffering
7 - The Crown
8 - When They Beg
9 - Winter In Her Blood
10 - Skull Trophy
11 - Routine And Then Death
DL

Xibalba - Hasta La Muerte (2012)

California's dark hardcore masters, Xibalba, are back. Hasta la Muerte is 11 tracks of some of the heaviest music to come out in years. This is sure to be on everyone's best of 2012 list. Get it here!

Status: Active

Contact: Facebook

Rock if you like: Disembodied - Cursed - Harm's Way

Track listing:

1 - No Serenity

2 - Soledad

3 - Laid to Rest

4 - Burn

5 - Sentenced

6 - The Flood

7 - Hasta La Muerte

8 - Mala Mujer

9 - Stoneheart

10 - Lujuria

11 - Cold

DL

The Locust - Molecular Genetics From The Gold Standards Lab (2012)

Molecular Genetics From the Gold Standard Labs is 44 tracks of hardto-find and out-of-print material from the early years of the Locust. San Diego legends the Locust have been blowing minds since 1994 with their unique mix of grindcore speed and aggression, mathcore complexity, and new wave weirdness. The band quickly earned a reputation for their unique sound and live presentations. In the process they have created a singular body of work, and an important piece of that appears on Molecular Genetics From the Gold Standard Labs, collecting for the first time all of the band’s pre-Epitaph recordings.

Status: Active

Contact: Facebook

Rock if you like: An Albatross - The Great Redneck Hope - Combatwoundedveteran

Track listing:

DL

too many to list... sorry. Enjoy a video instead

Afgrund - The Age of Dumb (2012)

Afgrund is an international grind band(swe/ita/fin) based in Stockholm, Sweden. They play a punishing style of grind that is surely to please the purists and those new to the genre alike. The Age of Dumb is 18 tracks filled with blast beats and shredding guitar work. Get this shit now!

Status: Active

Contact: Facebook

Rock if you like: Leng T'che - Mumakil - Gadget

Track listing:

1 - Life and Death of a Broiler

2 - Living the Nightmare

3 - The Might of a Nation

4 - H.A.A.R.P.Y.

5 - Beaurocrap

6 - Carniwars

7 - Genocide to Glorify

8 - Repaint the Truth

9 - An Aggregation of Misfortune

10 - Discorporate

11 - The War on Drugs

12 - Planet Monsanto

13 - Le Grand Illusion

14 - Nuclear Hazzard

15 - Life Banned

16 - Bullets Are Forever

17 - He Who Plants Sorrow

18 - The Carrier

DL

Split Cranium - Self Titled (2012)

Split Cranium are a D-Beat inspired punk band based out of both the US and Finland. Although at first listen this album may seem a bit more melodic than other D-Beat juggernauts, Split Cranium ultimately add a fresh look to a genre that can be a bit stale at times. Features Aaron Turner of Isis on vocals and guitars.

Status: Active

Contact: bandcamp

Rock if you like: From Ashes Rise - Wolfbrigade - Motorhead

Track listing:

1 - Little Brother

2 - Tiny Me

3 - The Crevice Within

4 - Blossoms From Boils

5 - Sceptres To Rust

6 - Black Binding Plague

7 - Yellow Mountain

8 - Retrace The Circle

DL

Toxic Holocaust split w/ Municipal Waste (2012)

This may be one of the best splits released in the last 10 years. If you like crossover/ thrash you are going to love this. 2 tracks by each band. Get this now!

Status: Active

Contact:

Toxic Holocaust: bandcamp

Municipal Waste: website

Rock if you like: Gama Ray - DRI - Havok

Track listing:

1 - MW - Trapped in the Sites

2 - MW - Mourning Sex

3 - TH - We Bring Em Hell

4 - TH - Alter-ed States

DL

Homewrecker - Worms And Dirt (2012)

Ohio's HOMEWRECKER present their most vicious effort to date! Nine tracks of dark brooding metallic hardcore/powerviolence recorded at the infamous MARS compound. If you like what you hear make sure you pick this one up.

Status: Active

Contact: Bandcamp

Rock if you like: Low Places - Seven Sisters of Sleep - Full of Hell

Tracklisting:

1 - Wreck

2 - Worms and Dirt

3 - Baseborn

4 - Visions of Terror

5 - Chained Hanging Victim

6 - Pipe Dreams

7 - Eyes of Anguish

8 - Charlatan

9 - Beaten Freedom

DL

Seven Sisters Of Sleep - SSOS (2012)

Seven Sisters Of Sleep are back with their most punishing release to date. SSOS chugs through 6 tracks of downtuned sludge with an unwavering heaviness that should be illegal. Check this shit out then buy it.

Status: Active

Contact: website

Rock if you like: Eyehategod - Crowbar - Full of Hell

Track listing:

1 - Sundown

2 - High Priest

3 - Slower Downer

4 - Green Garden of Unrest

5 - Weapons

6 - Almighty Black Talons

DL

Depravation - Demo Tape

One of the dudes in this band emailed me about posting their demo. It's awesome so you should listen to it.

Facebook
Bandcamp
Label

Expire - Pendulum Swings (2012)

Pendulum Swings is full of simple and stripped-down yet super fun and heavy hardcore mixed with Suicidal Tendencies-style trash – a must have for any fan of hardcore. Recorded at Howl Street Recordings in Milwaukee, WI and mastered by Jay Maas of Getaway Recordings (Defeater, Bane, Cruel Hand), this record is sure to be on of the heaviest exports from the Midwest this year.

Status: Active

Contact: facebook

Rock if you like: Terror - Swamp Thing - Trash Talk

Track listing:

1 - Just Fine

2 - Reputation

3 - Spit Out

4 - Dig Deep

5 - Anxiety

6 - Abyss

7 - Bark

8 - Sleep Lost

9 - Pills And A Promise

10 - YDN

11 - Focus

12 - Pendulum Swings

DL

Nomads - Night​.​Owls​/​/​Mayhem​.​Aficionados​/​/​Death​.​Seekers (2012)

This is one of the best EPs we here at the_hive have received in quite a while now. LA's Nomads play vicious, pissed off hardcore punk with many different influences. Judging by the 3 songs on this EP Nomads are on the right track and should be a force not to fuck with in the next few years.

Status: Active

Contact: http://nomadspunk.bandcamp.com/

Rock if you like: Trap Them - From Ashes Rise - His Hero Is Gone

Track listing:

1 - Insomniac

2 - Slaughterhouse

3 - Rot

DL

BANKROBBER - If God Is Love Then Hate Is Real (2012)

Ten songs of heavy, pissed off, hardcore from Denver, CO. Powerful, abrasive and influenced by mid-90s hardcore, features just under 20 minutes of socially conscious anger and rage.

Status: Active

Contact:bankrobber666.bandcamp.com/

Rock if you like: Palehorse - Integrity - Crucified

Track listing:

1 - Decay

2 - Silence

3 - Shattered

4 - Resist

5 - Nothing

6 - Breathless

7 - Downfall

8 - Greed

9 - Control

10 - Extinction

DL

Blighted - Deliberate (2012)

My friend's band just put out their new record. It rules and you should give them money for it. Stream it here and if you like it, buy the record and a shirt here.

Rumour Mill - Demo (2012)

Rumour Mill are a young hardcore band out of St. Albans, UK. RM features members of Your Demise and other various acts from the UK. For the most part Rumour Mill play a brand of hardcore that is straight to the point with a street punk twist. The 6 tracks on their demo are a very interesting look into what RM have to offer.

Status: Active

Contact: facebook

Rock if you like: Blacklisted - Wisdom In Chains - Skarhead

Track listing:

1 - Intro (Absolute Fucking Hell)

2 - Nine Minds

3 - Despiser

4 - Rising Tide

5 - Deep Blue

6 - Crashed

DL

Municipal Waste - The Fatal Feast (2012)

Undisputed masters of the crossover genre, Richmond, Virginia’s Municipal Waste return for their fifth full-length album in their endless quest to bring the fury, bring the laughs and bring the party to obscene new lows. Their hell-bent quest for infectious riffs and never-ending headbanging sessions has finally led them to Nuclear Blast for a debut party-on-disc that won’t soon be forgotten. Tasked with the noble aim of spreading the shred, The Fatal Feast is a more complete album than ever before. More bang, more intensity and a rounder sound make this not only the perfect party record, but also a natural fit for their epically ridiculous live shows.

Status: Active

Contact: http://www.facethewaste.com/

Rock if you like: DRI - Suicidal Tendencies - Toxic Holocaust

Track listing:

1 - Waste In Space (Main Title)

2 - Repossession

3 - New Dead Matters

4 - Unholy Abductor

5 - Idiot Check

6 - Covered In Sick, The Barfer

7 - You're Cut Off

8 - Authority Complex

9 - Standards And Practices

10 - Crushing Chest Wound

11 - The With 21 Faces

12 - Jesus Freaks

13 - The Fatal Feast

14 - 12 Step Program

15 - Eviction Party

16 - Death Tax

17 - Residential Disaster

DL

Black Breath - Sentenced To Life (2012)

Black Breath is a band from the Pacific Northwest who have quickly shredded their way to popularity. With members of Shook Ones, Go It Alone, Blue Monday, Get The Most, and On, they began in 2007 as crossover band with a joking spirit. In 2008, they released a 4-song 12" EP, Razor To Oblivion, which proved their step in a more serious direction, writing riffs that are reminiscent of first-wave thrash, black, and death metal bands such as Celtic Frost and Hellhammer, but maintain a traditional hardcore punk undertone.

Status: Active

Contact: http://blackbreath.com/

Rock if you like: Entombed - Motorhead - Burning Love

Track listing:

1 - Feast Of The Damned

2 - Sentenced To Life

3 - Forced Into Possession

4 - Home Of The Grave

5 - Endless Corpse

6 - Mother Abyss

7 - Of Flesh

8 - Doomed

9 - The Flame

10 - Obey

DL

Exalt - Breach False Minds (2012)

Exalt are a Hardcore band from Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. Exalt seem to blend elements from each of their, very apparent, influences together in a manner that keeps things fresh and inspired. Breach False Minds is the full length debut that is hopefully a sign of good things to come.

Status: Active

Contact: http://exalt.bandcamp.com

Rock if you like: Achilles - Eyelid - Undertow

Track listing:

1 - Loss - Rejoice

2 - Misled

3 - Warmth & Winter

4 - Partisan Eyes

5 - Empty Dreamer - Frail As Feathers

6 - No Son

7 - Serpents At My Feet

8 - Onward

9 - Pray For Release

10 - Rejoice - Loss

DL