EXCLUSIVE PREMIERE: Needle Play - "Doomster Baby"

Needle Play are a mathcore band based out of Boston, Massachusetts. Formed in late 2017, the band was originally featured on episode 23 of our podcast before seeing a slight lineup change with the addition of pianist Jonathan Jasperse and vocalist Tyler Tremblay, bassist and backing vocalist of MouthBreather, who both add exciting new energy to this already promising project. Tremblay's time in MouthBreather has obviously paid off, and it's clear by this raw vocal performance that he is equally comfortable with the role of front-man. Needle Play also further play to their already jazzcore leaning tenancies with the addition of piano accompaniment, and today we have the pleasure of bringing you the first single from their debut album, "Cruel Spring," which certainly highlights that. Fans of mathcore stalwarts, The Number Twelve Looks You, and next-gen mathcore darlings, like NoiSays, which also feature abundant jazzy interludes and off the wall time changes, will be all over this.

"Cruel Spring" is out April 9th via Bandcamp

EXCLUSIVE PREMIERE: Steaksauce Mustache - "Dance Cops"

If you couldn't tell by the name, Steaksauce Mustache don't take shit too seriously. The band have been bringing their special brand of humor to the PNW for the past 5 odd years, quickly growing a reputation for zany live shows with off-the-wall antics:

Now Steaksauce have returned with what is more or less their 3rd full-length effort via Silent Pendulum Records (The Number Twelve Looks Like You, Dead Empires, et al), and they are not fucking around. I mean, they are but er...well, you know what I mean. The band channels all the best elements of hardcore / mathcore acts like Every Time I Die, The Chariot, and The Dillinger Escape Plan, all with their signature hilarious gusto, and today we have the pleasure of you bringing the first single from their new album, "Superwoke." "Dance Cops" lives up to its name, starting off with an infectious 2-step and quickly moving into the chaotic space the band most often occupies. Also, there's abundant use of the whammy pedal, and who doesn't love that?

"Superwoke" is out March 15th via Silent Pendulum Records.

EXCLUSIVE PREMIERE: Freighter - “Psychic Reading ‘94”

My heart jumps a little each time I discover a new chaotic, technical, or progressive act coming out of California, especially when it's coming out of the Bay Area. Although Freighter were originally conceived in Wisconsin in 2006, the band has since relocated to San Francisco, and today we have the pleasure of bringing you their first single in 11 years, "Psychic Reading '94." The band plays a blend of progressive metal and mathcore akin to SikTh, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Protest the Hero, and Cleric, with stop on dime changes, unhinged rhythms, and angular riffage, so y'all should eat this shit up.

"The Den" drops this spring via Bandcamp.

EXCLUSIVE PREMIERE: Doom Shrugs - "The Clairolfactant and the Flatulent Ghost"

Weird is the operative word to describe New Zealand's Doom Shrugs. This is weird and wonderful stuff. This is math rock with a fast and loose feel, so to speak, with off-kilter, nauseating rhythms and a number of improvised sections. Clean guitar tones and tight percussion drive this album, but there are sparse sections of shouted vocals as well. "The Clairolfactant and the Flatulent Ghost" is thought provoking in how it flaunts the normal conventions of music, recalling the math rock zaniness of bands like Hella and the jazz injected improvisational madness of John Zorn and his associated projects. This editor had an almost an identical experience to the first time I heard Horse Torso, especially given that this is obviously supposed to be music that makes you feel uncomfortable. It's very fidgety. Funnily enough, this album's vibe could be described by one of the song titles: "I Feel Overwhelming Joy, Please End My Miserable Life."

Doom Shrugs - "The Clairolfactant and the Flatulent Ghost," out 9/7/18.

EXCLUSIVE PREMIERE: The Sound That Ends Creation - "Roses and Thorns and Dead Unicorns"

Chris Dearing, the mastermind behind Texas mathcore / grind project, The Sound That Ends Creation, has come a long way. After releasing "Fitting Through the Crawlspace Between Rhyme and Reason" less than a year ago and appearing on Mathcore Index: Volume 4, TSTEC is back with his 3rd full-length, and it sees some of best work from the solo artist yet. With artwork done by Connie Sgarbossa of SeeYouSpaceCowboy, one can almost assume what kind of music one is going to encounter here, but the album also briefly broaches some electronic elements and includes a small saxophone feature. "Roses and Thorns and Dead Unicorns" is immediately reminiscent of the glory days of MySpace, and with it's cut-out art aesthetics, harsh vocals, art-grind freak outs, and abundant audio samples (Trailer Park Boys fans, rejoice), all that's missing is that white belt hanging in your closet.

"Roses and Thorns and Dead Unicorns" drops June 30th 2018 on Bandcamp.

EXCLUSIVE PREMIERE: NoiSays - “Anime On YouTube” / “A Cold Loophe”

Mathcore Index Presents:: NoiSays - “Anime On YouTube” / “A Cold Loophe”

EXCLUSIVE PREMIERE: Snakehound - "Imitation Crown"

You may remember Kansas City's Snakehound from the video premiere we did earlier this month, and today we have the pleasure of bringing you an early stream of their new album, "Imitation Crown." Snakehound are a brand new band, but have already made waves in the online community with series of singles showcasing high-energy metalcore with earwig riffs and pull-offs aplenty. The album begins with the moshy "Dignified Rats," and as the band doesn't skip on the vicious hardcore riffs and breakdowns, it only gets better from there." "Gypsy Danger" playfully dials it back only momentarily before launching into "Guillotine del Toro," which aside from "Timberline" may very well be the best representation of the band's sound; Snakehound bring the energy of Converge with the technicality of Botch, and combine it with the groove and heaviness of their disciples in Every Time I Die, Norma Jean and The Chariot, and "Guillotine del Toro" is a delightful exhibition of these influences. "Snakes for Legs" is as off-kilter as the name suggests, and brings some sickly, chromatically descending diminished chords a la Daughters, but doesn't linger there for long, as it soon gives way to feedback and harmonics, which fades perfectly into “Timberline," the video of which being the aforementioned premiere. The record then has it's only moment of respite with the brief interlude, “28:06:42:12," before jumping back into the action with the albums first single "Autumn Driver," our first taste of what Snakehound had to offer. The next track, "Northern Viper," is seemingly ironically titled as it most features mostly southern rock riffs, but the band soon resumes a more serious assault with “Hornets for Hands" and "Bitter Tempest," which boast a few of the more technically impressive sequences on the album. The album's finisher, "Five Eyes," finally brings it to it's conclusion with a lurching, feedback riddled anthem.
Pre-order "Imitation Crown" now on Bandcamp.

EXCLUSIVE PREMIERE: goner. - “goner.”

In recent years the metal and hardcore scenes, including their respective aesthetics, have become hopelessly intermingled. Along with their similar social, political, and anti-religious themes, the sounds of blast beats and breakdowns, circle pits and 2 steps, growling and shouting, now all exist happily under one larger umbrella, despite some waging a tireless war of classification, e.g., "that's not metal," or my personal favorite, "that's not grindcore," an expression I often hear pertaining to Myspace era bands. Goner are one such example of this current amalgamation that spring to mind. Hailing from Syracuse, New York, also home of legendary Ed Gein, it's no surprise that the three piece is somewhat genre defying, and given the rise of bands like Nails, End, Helpless, and other HM2 driven metallic hardcore and grind, Goner have picked a perfect time to carve out their niche in an ever evolving scene. "My Experience Has Molded Me Into the Failure You See Before You" begins the EP with fast and vicious riffing, and with the exception of one HUGE whammy breakdown in "The Great Deceiver" (the mixing by Outlier Sound / Pedram Valiani of Frontierer and Sectioned should be extremely evident here), the self-titled EP scarcely relents until the conclusion of "Caretaker."

Preorder the debut EP from goner. here.

EXCLUSIVE PREMIERE: Snakehound - “Timberline”

Mathcore Index Presents: Snakehound - “Timberline”

EXCLUSIVE PREMIERE: Sense Offender - "I"

There has a been a huge wave of technical and filthy hardcore bands emerging from the UK in the past few years: Frontierer, Sectioned, Helpless, Leeched, Dark Habits, Bed of Wasps, and Gendo Ikari to name a few, and Sense Offender are certainly no exception either. Given the band features a member of another similar, more established act, Geist, Sense Offender already have a correspondingly established hardcore pedigree and know exactly which buttons to push. However, where Geist and Sense Offender diverge is the more acute sense of hopelessness and despair of the latter. Sense Offender have trimmed the fat in favor of more dissonant passages that are alternatingly more driving and heavy, pulsating and mesmerizing, in a way that recalls the misanthropic stylings of Cult Leader or their former manifestation, Gaza. The EP's first track is a sample laced feedback loop that is the setup for the EP's true opener, "Prophet-Less," which launches an assault of odd-timed chording before a turn-on-a-dime change into it's big d-beat riff, quickly back into dissonance (where this release most happily dwells), and finally wrapping up with a hypnotic, slower riff, illustrating the band does know how to occasionally let off the gas and exercise dynamics."Starving Pigs," the EP's single, boasts an off-kilter, pulling middle section which draws with the force of a black hole. "Anointed with Seizures" begins with punishing riffs that are a trademark of this release, before giving way to a clean interlude, though band does not tarry here long, as the song quickly launches back into it usually attack before the eventual throbbing fadeout of "Weigh My Pieces." If this EP is any indication of the musical direction this band is headed, Sense Offender are a band to watch. 

EXCLUSIVE PREMIERE: False Accusations - "Living (Without a Sense of Love)"

Mathcore Index Presents: False Accusations - "Living (Without a Sense of Love)"

EXCLUSIVE PREMIERE: Aberrant Phase - "End Is Near"

While recently perusing the mathcore tag on Bandcamp, I discovered a great band from my very own city of which I had not yet heard. Given the dearth of such music in the Bay Area, I was astonished to discover a band of like-minded musicians who weren't playing black metal or crust. Aberrant Phase are that band, and after quickly getting in touch with the members, today we have the pleasure of bringing you an exclusive stream of their new EP, "End is Near." The semi-eponymous first track is not unlike The Dillinger Escape Plan's ballad "One of Us Is the Killer," the tremulant vocals guiding the soft instrumentation into the final breakdown's crescendo. The EP then kicks into a higher gear with "Dementia" and "Ghost Farm," finally slowing to a lurch for the finale of "Storms," all of which are reminiscent of "Jane Doe" era Converge, and throughout this record (and moreover their whole discography) there is an air of the 90's and early 2000's that very much recalls other seminal bands such as Botch and Cave In, the proto-mathcore / "math rock before the twinkles" band, Dazzling Killmen, or even their contemporaries in Seizures or Fero Lux.

tl;dr: if you remember the word "noisecore," this will probably be your new jam.

Aberrant Phase are to release their new EP, "End is Near," February 27th.

EXCLUSIVE PREMIERE: Telos - "Helios"

Mathcore Index Presents: Telos - "Helios"

EXCLUSIVE PREMIERE: Juan Bond - "Porky"

Mathcore Index Presents: Juan Bond - "Porky"

EXCLUSIVE PREMIERE: The Vilification - "Through Iron Sights"

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.

EXCLUSIVE PREMIERE: Cadence Fox - "Masses of Program"

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."

*"Masses of Program" is out today on Bandcamp.

EXCLUSIVE PREMIERE: Kenaima - "Haste"

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.

*"Haste" is out 10/7/17 via Kenaima's Bandcamp.

   

EXCLUSIVE PREMIERE: II II II - "Recline and Fall"

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.

EXCLUSIVE PREMIERE: Dead Like Me - "À Terre, Amas De Rêves"

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

EXCLUSIVE PREMIERE: Cheer-Accident - "Graphic Depression" (remastered)

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.