Dohrn
Dohrn
Ethospine Noise (2006)
I have a soft spot for those noise punk and grindcore albums that blaze by in ten minutes or less. You know the kind. They're not something you listen to every day, but they are the perfect unrelenting catharsis on those days when you feel like the whole world is against you. Dohrn's self-titled debut is that kind of album. … Read more
Don the Reader
Humanesque
Deathcote (2008)
Don the Reader is a new band to me; I was not aware of them until this album - apparently they have a previous EP that was "rather impressive." The twelve songs that make up this full-length are filled with chaotic and technical metalcore. While listening I could easily hear and pick apart the bits and pieces of the whole. … Read more
Don't Mess With Texas
Los Dias de Junio
Moonlee (2007)
Don't Mess with Texas is my first exposure to any artist from the country of Croatia. Despite reading through their one-sheet, I was a little skeptical of what I might hear - some crazy gypsy folk perhaps? Nevertheless, Los Dias de Junio made its way into my CD player and I was rewarded for my lack of abandoning hope. Los … Read more
Don't Trip
The Root of All Evil
Independent (2008)
Don't Trip is a hardcore band that hails from the Bay Area of California. Northern California has been a hotbed for hardcore bands in recent years, so it's a hard game to jump into. After a self-released demo last year, Don't Trip comes back with the ten-track Root of All Evil. Expanding on the style they performed on the demo, … Read more
Donnybrook
Lions in this Game
Hand of Hope (2005)
Donnybrook take their namesake from a famous festival in Ireland that is notorious for its brawls. So taking that into account, it isn't a surprise that the California outfit plays a variation of tough-guy hardcore. However, on the band's debut full-length, Lions in this Game, Donnybrook attempt to break the stigma that there is nothing more to a tough-guy hardcore … Read more
DOOM
Born Like This
Lex (2009)
Even though he took up the same moniker, all-caps not withstanding, it's unlikely anyone is going to mistake the artist formerly toting metal fingers for the legendary crust band. One decade after the landing of Operation Doomsday, Danielle Dumile re-emerges with a modified alter-ego, and perhaps a bruised original ego. The reinvention of MF Doom to DOOM comes after a … Read more
Doomriders
Black Thunder
Deathwish Inc. (2005)
Throughout the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Nazgul have their own musical score. The music that was written for them is dark and operatic; when you hear it, you anticipate awful things to happen. And yet, I feel the choice that was made just wasn't dramatic enough so I took it upon myself to choose new music for … Read more
Doomriders
Darkness Come Alive
Deathwish Inc. (2009)
Doomriders debut effort Black Thunder launched the Boston-based outfit into action with their dark-themed hybrid of punk, metal, and hardcore. Since its release the band has kept busy with a slew of recordings surfacing. There was a live 7" EP released shortly after their debut, two split recordings - with Coliseum and Disfear respectively - spread out over the past … Read more
Doomtree
No Kings
Doomtree (2011)
It’s not hard to find something to say about Doomtree. The 7-headed monster has enough disparate characters that I could fill the proverbial pages here without even addressing No Kings, their second official full-length. The band recently made some internet waves with the mash-up Wugazi project—which is where I’ll start since the opening track, “No Way,” begins with a guitar … Read more
Dope Body
Lifer
Drag City (2014)
On a long enough timeline, all genre descriptors start to lose meaning. Spend enough time hopping through the tags on Bandcamp, and you'll discover that "hardcore" and "post-hardcore" are mired down with mostly those bands who are championed as "emo revival" on the internet. Despite whatever evidence there is to the contrary, give it enough thought and it starts to … Read more
Double Cheese
Thee Black Album
Dirty Water Records (2022)
Royale With Cheese! Brie De Meaux, Pyrénées Sheep Fromage, Comté, Bleu d'Auvergne, Époisses de Bourgogne, Le Chevrot. So much French Cheese and so little time. Nothing like a fine aged cheese that has the aroma of a baby’s shit-filled diaper accented with the smell of unwashed construction worker's feet and top offed with the ripe order of a hippie full-flavored … Read more
Down and Outs
Friday Nights, Monday Mornings
Dead & Gone (2008)
Down and Outs have been shaking things up for going on four years now. Unfortunately, I really didn't start paying attention to the band until last year when they offered up a split 7" with Death is No Glamorous. Despite my ignorance, Down and Outs have amassed a small discography through a variety of releases - both in CD and … Read more
Down to Nothing
Splitting Headache
Thorp (2005)
With their debut, Save it for the Birds, the Richmond, Virginia straightedge outfit turned quite a few heads with their high-octane approach to hardcore. The furious noise assault was teamed with vocalist David Wood's straight-to-the-point lyrical approach - I recall the episode of The Simpson's where everyone 'tells it like it is.' With a combination like that, the recipe for … Read more
Down to Nothing
The Most
Revelation (2007)
Ryan Groat should be presented with some sort of award for the riffs he came up with on The Most, Down to Nothing's third full-length and first for Revelation Records. Seriously, not only are the riffs thundering and inventive, they get stuck in your head for weeks, even months on end. Mr. Groat I award with this Riffy for Most … Read more
Down to Nothing / 50 Lions
Split
6131 (2008)
Richmond meets Melbourne on this split effort. Down to Nothing follows up last year's The Most while 50 Lions follows up an Australian-released full-length of their own. This split features each band contributing three new tracks. Down to Nothing picks things up right where The Most left off. The band's sound has gotten significantly less punk-oriented and more straightforward and … Read more
Down-Stares
Cobras & Matadors
T.Rex Ate My Face (2008)
A couple of years ago, through my involvement with this website, I crossed paths with Down-Stares' independently released album The Watershed. This was an album that pushed me to my limits as a music critic because, as someone who prefers neatly defined genre categories and, even more so, inaccessibility in my music, Down-Stares is a challenge because of its blatant … Read more
Down-Stares
The Watershed
Independent (2006)
There is a parenthetical addition to this album's title that states "This Might Take More Than You Can Brave." Ironically, this statement has turned out to describe all too well my experience with reviewing it. Before I say anything more, I have to level with you guys (not just the readers, but the band as well if they ever happen … Read more
Downfall Of Gaia
Atrophy
Metal Blade (2016)
Downfall of Gaia is a prime example of the underground post-hardcore and post-crust scenes. Starting off in 2008, the band came into the prominence with their debut full-length, Epos, a record that introduced the potential of the band, the elements that would later bloom into making them what they are today. It is no coincidence that Metal Blade snatched them, … Read more
