Ontario's The Vilification are back with their first new material in over 2 years, and today we have the pleasure of bringing you a track from their new EP, "The World Owes You Nothing." Unlike their previous instrumental efforts, the band have returned with the addition of a vocalist and seem to have shed the majority of their "djent" or progressive metal elements in favor of a more raw and aggressive hardcore sound. "Through Iron Sights" showcases the band's new direction and will be sure to please fans of heaviness and gross guitar harmonies a la The Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza, Frontierer, and Fall In Archaea.
*The Vilification are to release their new EP "The World Owes You Nothing" in March of 2018.
Here you will find Spotify playlists using all the available tracks from our 4 compilations andpodcast, which we will update as new songs become available.*
We are proud to present our 4th compilation, Mathcore Index: Volume 4. Artwork by Karl Frandsen, layout by Tamás Bakó, and original logo by Keith Carlson. Special thank you to Willowtip Records.
Chicago has a long history of being a hotbed for underground music, especially in the 1980's with new wave, emo in the 1990's, and now a new generation of screamo, hardcore, mathcore and math rock. One band in particular, Cadence Fox, is certainly no exception, and today we have the pleasure of bringing you an exclusive stream of their first album in almost 4 years, "Masses of Program." The album successfully blends the aforementioned genres with some other daring experiments, including saxophone, heavier parts, and brings influences ranging from Every Time I Die, Fear Before (the March of Flames), Botch to more emotive but similar bands like The Number Twelve Looks Like You and The Fall of Troy. Cadence Fox also features Seb Alvarez of Tweak, meth., Split Tongue, Lower Your Head For the Treatment Machine, et al (his personal discography is another lengthy discussion unto itself),and they have brought us their finest effort yet with "Masses of Program."
We are very proud to present this Mathcore Index exclusive stream of "Haste," the debut EP from Denver's Kenaima, one of the most exciting new bands in mathcore. Kenaima are one of the few bands touting The Dillinger Escape Plan and Converge among in their influences that actually live up to those expectations, and today they have brought us a stellar debut with "Haste." "Lifetime Original Movie," the EP's true opener, blasts it's way into your skull with off-kilter riffs and a staccato attack we all know and love, quickly yielding to "Revenge Fuck," which brings chromatically descending passages, Car Bomb-escque heaviness, and a Mike Patton injected mid-section. "From the Gut," the EP's penultimate track, begins with sickly, disorienting chording and goes off in a number of different directions, but most notably includes some of the EP's heavier moments and some great vocal trade-off. "Rock the Vote," the album's closer, is seemingly a reprise and revisits many of the motifs explored in previous songs before finally lurching to a halt. As I've mentioned previously, there is literally nothing I don't love about Kenaima.
"Florida mathcore force, Arms, released a blistering album back in 2016 called BLACKOUT. The album shows the band following in similar footsteps to that of The Dillinger Escape Plan and Botch. In fact, BLACKOUT was featured on Metal Injection a while back. Arms have begun to gear up for a new album in the future, but before they fully press onward to new music; they have released a video for one of the standout tracks from their most recent effort. "Ceremonial Monster" looks like live-shot footage of the band fed through a nightmarish kaleidoscope. The band's members multiply and converge with the help of top-notch video editing and effects. The video's intensity matches the furious tone of the song itself. It undoubtedly captures the band's energy and builds anticipation for what they have coming up."
It's been nearly 5 years since the release of "A Conundrum on the Coffee Table," the debut EP from Leeds mathcore / progressive metal act, II II II. The band made their triumphant return about 3 weeks ago with a series of short teasers and today we have the pleasure of bringing you "Recline and Fall," the groovy second track from their new album, "Frequency Illusion." The band is well known for their technical, yet catchy approach, which could be compared to Patton-era Dillinger Escape Plan, or the likes of their contemporary U.K tech-metallers in SikTh and Mr. Bungle acolytes, Down I Go, and this song is certainly no exception. II II II skillfully navigates their way through a number of shifting time signitures, while still bringing you something to which you can bob your head, and it does not relent. The band understands the fine line between introducing accessibility while still retaining what I would call a musician's appeal, and consistently bring you roughly 2 minute tracks of mid-tempo grooves and stop-on-a-dime time changes.
*II II II are to release "Frequency Illusion" September 22nd via their Bandcamp.
French hardcore / mathcore act Dead Like Me have returned with their first album in almost 5 years, and today we have the pleasure of premiering a new song from the album. "Á Terre, Amas de Rêves" brings you the very best of the heavier, sludgy elements of later Gaza and Cult Leader, and punishes you with non-stop nostalgia inducing riffs and pull-offs that recall late 90's and early 2000's blueprints laid by the likes of Botch and Converge, but with much darker and more sinister execution.
*Dead Like Me are to release "Á Terre, Amas de Revês" 10/13/17
For the first time in almost 2 years, we have shirts. This a limited run and only 0/50 remain.* If you'd like to help support our podcast, please PayPal us your name, size, and address to:
mathcoreindex@gmail.com
$15 including shipping.
Special thanks to WeNeedMerch.com for being the best provider
If you listened to noise rock in the late 90's and early 2000's, chances are you're already more than familiar with the legendary SKiN GRAFT Records. The label released a staggering number of highly influential albums during this time, including releases from the proto-mathcore act Dazzling Killmen, Japanese jazz/art rock outfit Ruins, extreme noise rockers The Flying Luttenbachers, and of course the infamously crass Arab on Radar. Cheer-Accident, contemporaries and labelmates of such aforementioned acts, were also busy pushing the boundaries of music during this time. Recorded by Steve Albini in 1999, "Salad Days" is the final album to include guitarist Phil Bonnet, who died of brain aneurysm in 1999 (...and was later replaced by Dylan Posa, formerly of The Flying Luttenbachers), and took angular, avant-garde noise rock to new falsetto-powered heights. Complex instrumentation, elongated song structures, art freak outs, calming ambiance, and even short bouts of poppy accessibility make this album far ahead of it's time, and today we have the pleasure of bringing you an exclusive stream of the remastered version of "Salad Days" first track, "Graphic Depression."
*Cheer-Accident are to also release a remastered, official version of "Trading Balloons," the band's 1997 recording session, September 8th via SKiN GRAFT Records.
Bust out your whitebelts: it's MySpace time. Remember the glory days of skinny jeans and abundant breakdowns? That time has returned, my friends. As of late, a new wave "scenegrind" has taken the world by storm, and Black Nail are the cream of the crop. Hailing from Chicago, Illinois, the four piece recall the screamo-injected heaviness and chaos of bands like Me and Him Call It Us, Hayworth and more recently, newer bands like Gif From God, Vein, and SeeYouSpaceCowboy.
*Black Nail are to release a split with Tweak later this year
Like polyrhythms? Like instrumental math metal? Italy's Hibagon are here, and they've brought the weird. Today we have the pleasure of premiering not one but TWO songs from their upcoming album, "Polyposmic," which is to be released May 12th. The first song, "Orogenesis," is a palindromic 3 minute heavy epic with an almost Ravel like attention given to subtle variation in the main riff. The 2nd track, "Lamantino," is based around a Latin groove that starts spooky and gradually crescendos into a chaotic variation of the main motif.
We are proud to finally reveal the artist listing to our third compilation, which is to be released via Bandcamp April 28th. Artwork by Karl Frandsen / Frandsen Art, layout by Tamás Bakó / APBT, and original logo by Keith Carlson / Headbang 'n Buttonmash. Special thank you to SKiN GRAFT Records and Throatruiner Records.
Canada's Slagduster are back with their first new material in over 6 years, and they are groovier than ever. Heaviness and stop on a dime time changes a la Meshuggah, SikTh, and Car Bomb are frequently employed by the band, with the vocals maintaining a Mike DiSalvo-like lower mid-range punch. Their new album, "Deadweight," is slated for a May 5th release, and today we have the privilege of premiering a new song from the album, "Profane Puppet," which is 4 and a half minutes of obnoxiously bouncy riffage garnished with plenty of artificial harmonics, and that's...well, that's just great.
We are proud to finally reveal the artwork for our 3rd compilation, which is to be released April 28th via Bandcamp. Artwork by Karl Frandsen, graphic design by Tamas Bako, and original logo by Keith Carlson. Artist listing soon.
It's almost here! Tomorrow is Complexity Fest 2017, sponsored by Mathcore Index and featuring our friends in Arms in their European debut just days after their signing to Dark Trail Records, Frontierer in their EU mainland debut, Gorod, Obscura, Ihsahn, Humanity's Last Breath, Uneven Structure, and many more!
I hate ranking things I love (especially when it comes to music), and because this year was so exceptionally challenging, I decided to organize my lists based upon pure volume of listens. I also took the time to make a list for unsigned/underground acts, another for signed/major acts (bands that are well known within our scene), and finally 2 smaller lists for EPs and honorable mentions, respectively. Lastly, most of these bands appear on our compilations, so hopefully that doesn't come as a surprise. Allons-i.
Paul Hundeby (also of City of Ifa and City Pro Recordings), the mastermind behind this once one-man project, wrote and recorded all instruments as well handling all engineering and production duties on this powerhouse of a record. I love this record because each song holds truly memorable passages, and I find myself absentmindedly humming the riffs a lot. Arms shared the stage with many notable national touring acts in 2016, and this year they are making their first European appearance along with our friends in Frontierer at Complexity Fest 2017, which is sponsored by Mathcore Index.
"To Cast the First Stone" recalls the chaos of "Solace" while still retaining the heaviness of "Minus the Herd," and, simply put, is a banger. Many thanks to Good Fight Music for allowing them to appear on our second compilation, Mathcore Index: Volume 2.
The perfect band, and a perfect end (allegedly) to their career. I would say music is better now, them having existed, and there is no band more influential in our scene.
Here I have included my Bandcamp review for "Meta," as it still seems the most effective description:
"Absolutely outstanding and incredibly innovative, Car Bomb are one of the most compelling bands in extreme music, and they have truly outdone themselves (again) with "Meta." I could continue heaping praise or add comparisons to other bands, but the fact is: there is no comparison to Car Bomb."
