Tag: hardcore

August 25, 2023

Song of the Day: Chalice - Lacerate

This band released one devastatingly heavy album in 1999 for indie upstart Takehold Records, and then like so many other metalcore bands, disappeared after only one album and one split (with fellow-Floridians Set Apart) never to be heard from again. A few members turned up elsewhere–some in the mysterious metal band Yeti, while drummer Nathan Warshowsky served as a studio drum tech for artists as diverse as Forever Changed, Underoath, Day of Fire, and even Paramore. Deathmask Grin came out just as metalcore as a genre was really taking off, and it was a significant contribution to the genre musically, despite it being heard by so few people.… Continued →

August 20, 2023

Plead The Widow's Cause "Pain Split" Getting Vinyl Treatment

A really cool up and coming melodic hardcore band called Plead The Widow’s Cause have just announced that their album “Pain Split” will be getting the vinyl treatment through Resuscitation Records. Pre-orders go live on August 25th and will release on October 27th. If you haven’t heard this band yet, do yourself a favor and pull them up on your favorite digital network and give their songs a whirl, you certainly won’t regret that decision.… Continued →

August 6, 2023

With Honor Obliterate the Masses With Energetic and Hard Hitting New Songs

With Honor is a band that I don’t believe we’ve shared much from in the past nor do they fit the typical definitions of an “IVM” related band but that isn’t important because their new songs absolutely rule. Sometimes it’s rare for a band to reemerge from a long absence and come back as hard hitting and emotionally connecting as a hardcore punk band like With Honor. Check out 3 new songs right now from their upcoming full length “Boundless” which will drop on Pure Noise Records on September 8th.… Continued →

August 1, 2023

Stretch Arm Strong "A Revolution Transmission" Gets The The Vinyl Re-Release Treatment

Stretch Arm Strong’s now classic album “A Revolution Transmission” is getting the vinyl re-release treatment courtesy of Iodine Recordings. You can pre-order on their website here (sorry I was late on posting and several are sold out) and SmartPunk also has a limited pressing in a different exclusive color available right here. This classic album was a turning point for the band and took them on a wild ride. What’s your favorite song?… Continued →

July 30, 2023

xDoulosx - Birth Pains (Feat. Jon Davenport of Cultist)

Newly signed to Rottweiler Records, the hardcore band xDoulosx out of Southern California just dropped their label debut titled “Birth Pains” and it is available on all digital networks now. Check out the title track featuring Jon Davenport of Cultist, below. This is heavy, raw, and strikes me with that classic hardcore rhythmic sound. If you don’t know who this band is yet, you will know soon enough, and they will be your new favorite heavy hardcore band.… Continued →

July 26, 2023

Debtor Have Returned and Are Finishing Up a New EP

Spirit Filled Melodic Hardcore band – DEBTOR, are back in action and ready to throwdown with the best of them. The band has been in the studio off and on ever since the covid epidemic began but they just announced that tracking for their new EP has finished! Word on the streets is that we might just get new DEBTOR music here in 2023! Who else is excited for more music from this mighty band? Make sure to follow them on Instagram here: [at]debtorhcContinued →

July 8, 2023

Introducing: Generation Gone

For this special Saturday in July I thought I’d share another really great project with you this time from a group called “Generation Gone“. They are a melodic hardcore punk band out of Southern California featuring a heavy, hard hitting sound that is melodic at times and furious all the time. The music is loud but the production is above all the rest (makes sense since the famous producer Paul Miner has his hands on producing these tunes). Songs about life and frustration, about Faith and resolution, about coming to grips with who you are and what you believe.… Continued →

June 30, 2023

June 16, 2023

Teeth For Eyes Unleash Debut EP

The new punk band called Teeth For Eyes, just launched their debut EP as a band and it’s up on their bandcamp page right here (or stream it below this post). The band features members of Crux, Empty Tomb, Citron, Cicero, Godspeed, Pollywog, and Govt Hate Mail. It’s an excellent debut recording and a perfect representation of a diverse set of sounds that quite honestly defy standard definitions. Listen for yourself and get ready to hit those “follow” buttons for @teethforeyes (instagram).… Continued →

June 2, 2023

Song of the Day: Lovelorn - Feather

This was one of those ‘one and done’ bands, meaning they only released one album as Lovelorn. However, they were connected directly and indirectly to a number of other projects. Vocalist Jayson Holmes had been in metalcore band Eso-Charis, and later formed The Handshake Murders (who mostly recorded on secular labels). Corey Putman (Eso-Charis, Norma Jean) and Arthur Green (Eso-Charis, Living Sacrifice) also made appearances on the album. The album is a wonderfully strange concoction of emo-core, hardcore, indie rock and math rock–almost like Roadside Monument meets Coalesce, but with bits of Karate thrown in just because.… Continued →

June 1, 2023

Focused Reunite for a LIVE show and 30th Anniversary Celebration of 'Bow', soon

Those classic Spirit Filled Hardcore OGs known as FOCUSED, are reuniting FINALLY for a show (or shows) this fall or in 2024 (heck, do both!). They have announced there will also be an appearance by a 90’s Spirit Filled Hardcore Legend so my hopes are high that it is one of my faves. We are coming up on the 30th anniversary of both their debut record “Bow” and the launch of Tooth & Nail Records, which actually began right here in Orange County, California almost 3 decades ago.… Continued →

May 26, 2023

Cultist - Suffering By My Own Hand (Feat. Jeremy Schaeffer of Earth Growns)

Check out the new song titled “Suffering By My Own Hand” by a new band that defines the word “Heavy” – Cultist. The songs features none other than Jeremy Schaeffer of another really heavy band deserving of recognition, Earth Groans. The band’s new album “Slow Suicide” and Facedown Records debut will release on July 21st 2023. Check out the song below. Pre-order right here in several different merch options.… Continued →

May 5, 2023

Song of the Day: Dodgin' Bullets - Knife To Your Heart

Since the genre first emerged in the early 1980s, hardcore (originally hardcore punk) has splintered into dozens of sub-sub-subgenres including melodic hardcore, beatdown, old school hardcore, new school/chugga chugga, d-beat, crust punk/crustcore, metalcore, emocore, and so forth. By and large my favorite artists have generally been those who kept closest to the genre’s origins, even if they took those beginnings in new directions. The old slogan (which I’ve often quoted here on this site) “loud, fast rules!” is apropos here. In the late 90s/early 00s a revival of the style emerged, sometimes referred to as “tough guy hardcore.”… Continued →

March 22, 2023

Indie Vision Music x Tooth and Nail Records - I'm Your Biggest Fan 2 (21 Years Ago)

A word document popped up in my Dropbox while I was searching for old files. It showed that the tentative line up for the “I’m Your Biggest Fan 2” compilation that I assembled for Tooth & Nail Records on March 11th 2002, 21 years ago. A couple bands had to be swapped for a couple reasons but the final lineup is pretty close to what I had planned out. I have created a little collage video with a couple song samples from the compilation through YouTube which you can view below.… Continued →

February 24, 2023

Song of the Day: Seasons in the Field - Eternity

Hailing from the tri-state area of West Virginia/Pennsylvania/Ohio,this metalcore band only released one cassette demo and one split CD with emocore band Pensive. What is interesting about that split–that is, besides being a spectacular release from two very good and rather unique bands–is that both bands featured members that would soon after go on to join the more well-known Zao. Pensive featured Brett Detar and Martin Lunn, as well as other members who joined Detar’s later band The Juliana Theory. Seasons in the Field featured Russ Cogdell on guitar, and future Zao screamer Dan Weyandt.… Continued →

December 25, 2022

Indie Vision Music Most Wanted Band Reunions of 2023

Merry Christmas, Friends! I’m going to type up some thoughts on bands that should most definitely reunite in 2023 to 1) Play an anniversary set, 2) Re-Release a classic album on either vinyl, tape, or cd with bonus features (and band commentary) and 3) Throw some new and/or unreleased tracks at us that we most definitely need to hear. Thoughts and ideas can be found below…. Oh, and Tim Taber if you’re reading this, I hope you’ll consider the words below and incorporate them into future plans with Transparent Productions here in Orange County and Southern California in general.… Continued →

December 21, 2022

December 12, 2022

Blindside Silence Gets Vinyl Treatment and We Dropped the Ball

In other sad news today, I must report that we are so incredibly late in posting news about the Blindside “Silence” vinyl that the band posted about a couple weeks back and it looks like the only option left is black vinyl. It’ll sound amazing regardless but the other colors are also killer. I’m very rude because I must admit I took part in splurging on this when it went up and unfortunately I lost complete track of time with the IVM news cycle. I’m sorry friends.… Continued →

December 9, 2022

Song of the Day: Embraced - Hold My Hand

Embraced was a short-lived hardcore band from Florida, active in the early 2000s. I was able to catch the band live a couple of times at local gigs and mini-festivals, and enjoyed their shows. I always liked their semi-melodic take on hardcore (I mean, they were from Florida, after all!) They were clearly playing HC, but with hints of emo and indie rock at times. Perhaps in a similar vein to Bloodshed, Beloved, and Underoath, but with their own take on it. The band only released one mini-album, the 7-song An Orchestrated Failure, in 2002 for Theory 8 Records (who also an album by The Goodbye Letter and an early split with Copeland and Pacifico, among others).… Continued →

November 27, 2022

Training For Utopia Reunite for Furnace Fest 2023

The mighty Training For Utopia have reunited for a special set at Furnace Fest 2023. This will be an explosive day without a doubt. Between Ryan and Don Clark, everything from your favorite album artwork, critically acclaimed band projects, and even indie hits you didn’t know they were a part of were comprised of these two men. More info can be found at Furnace Fest right here or on Facebook here. You can now follow them on Instagram @tfutopia Continued →

November 23, 2022

September 9, 2022

Song of the Day: Torn in Two - Plastic Dreams for Shining Rings

There was a lot of hype surrounding this band when they were first signed by Facedown Records, in large part based on the fact they had three vocalists. While the hype, and sadly also the band, were short-lived (they only released one full-length and one 3-way split album), they definitely generated a healthy buzz in their short existence. And for good reason too. Soli Deo Gloria (roughly translated as “to the glory of God alone”) dropped in 2001, and stylistically the album shows its age. Torn in Two were building off of the heavy, metallic, chugga-chugga or “new school” style hardcore of the 1990s, and adding more metallic leads and riffs without ever fully crossing over into metalcore.… Continued →

August 28, 2022

GratitudeTX Are a Band To Watch

A fairly new band on the scene goes by the name of GratitudeTX, have just released their new EP “Deathless Voices” back in April of this year. This is self-described “Spirit Filled Hardcore” band is exactly the kind of HEAVY music many of you are looking for without needing knee braces and a walker. These guys are the real deal and their sound is as ferocious as it is passionate and without a doubt – a band on a mission to spread hope. Check out the band’s new ep out now on all digital networks.… Continued →

August 22, 2022

July 30, 2022

New Feel Good Anthems Spotify Playlist

So Indie Vision Music is on a roll with new Spotify playlists. For those that use Spotify, we are using this as an opportunity to spread the word about new music and artists we think you should be listening to. A mix of indie and larger artists as well as everything in between. All styles represented throughout these various playlists. This new one I just created is called “New Feel Good Anthems” and it is just that. Perfect for those summer drives and introspective quiet moments.… Continued →

July 18, 2022

July 7, 2022