I’ve been falling in love with hardcore all over again during this quarantine. I’m going to post about it over the next few days. Thank you for your time.

This is probably the earliest Hardcore record I truly love. I didn’t hear it until like 10 years after it came out and didn’t appreciate it until a couple years after that, but it’s a record that aged very well, and its influence is extremely apparent/cannot be denied.

1994’s Scratch the Surface was the first Sick of it All record I heard, and it’s probably the one they’ll be best remembered for. But 1997’s Built to Last is their finest work. Wall to wall bangers. “Us vs. Them” is an iconic hardcore anthem: https://open.spotify.com/track/1LlqAjCNDj3kpiB0qv0kKV?si=DocGSnTcSWW4OzQk6KDq3g

They would get pigeonholed into rap-rock/nu-metal today, but back when Downset got started in the early 90s, their style was simply a fresh brand of L.A. hardcore. They influenced a bunch of stuff that ain’t great, but I can’t stress how good this was when it came out. Still is.

Without Unbroken, there’s no booming Southern California hardcore scene at the turn of the century. Some of their later material was a little more easily digestible, but it’s hard to deny the groundwork Life. Love. Regret. laid for the eventual explosion of metallic hardcore.

This is the best hardcore record ever to come out of SLC, in my opinion. Clear, Lifeless, and Pushing Up Daisies are close runners up. Great production for its time, flawless drum and guitar work, underrated vocals, and a hell of a live show. Let me know if you want a copy.

“It’s your money or your life; I choose life.”

Overflow’s “React” is the best record no one has heard of. Take it back to the late ‘90s, posicore style. This record had such an effect on how I viewed the world.

Ok, we have reached the “we’re in business, folks” point of this thread. This album was a game changer in every way possible. Hardcore does not evolve—and, in my opinion, for the better—without Cave In’s Until Your Heart Stops. Go listen to it right now. https://open.spotify.com/album/4YHeAezLR6VFqsui3k5QlX?si=hdnIShvhQie3vzE9N7ujdQ