Dear Hollowâs Mathcore Madness [Things You Might Have Missed 2024]
By Dear Hollow
The equation above is AMGâs freakishly rigid and completely objective algorithm for scoring albums and determining quality. We incorporate statistics and abstract algebra, which I understand are very complicated maths, in order to get you the highest quality extreme music this side of the Hudson or Atlantic or Yangtze or wherever the hell you are. The trouble is, you bastards donât listen to math (i.e. âhurr durr, Wilderun is so much better than this shit.â).1 So I listen to math because Iâm a contributing citizen and patriot â I listen to mathcore for you. I wade through the cesspools of skronk and sass â RYM and Reddit â for the best of the best. I do it for the, like, three of you who dig it and the, like, eight billion of you who tell teens to turn it off before shuffling back inside for a bowl of Great Grains. What I do is super mathematical so you know itâs super serious. Mathcore is about as unlistenable and scathing as it is a total sellout â so you can offend nearly everyone who hears it. Random rhythms, migraine-inducing tempo shifts, painful squeals, no sense of melody or counting, vocals a la cheese grater to the throat â itâs skronk. So enjoy my bounties, you three. The rest of you can fuck right off.
Commence panic chords!!
Better Lovers // Highly Irresponsible â Last yearâs barnstormer debut EP God Made Me an Animal set one hell of a precedent for Buffaloâs Better Lovers, and their debut full-length does not disappoint. Yes, itâs a revenge album against Keith Buckleyâs lesser rival project Many Eyes, but Highly Irresponsible is soooo much more than petty Every Time I Die drama. Amplifying every facet of their sound, you get more manic barks and charismatic croons from legendary former The Dillinger Escape Plan vocalist Greg Puciato, more chunky riffage from Fit for an Autopsyâs Will Putney, and more of a southern fried good time from three-fifths of the defunct-and-dramatic Every Time I Die.2 While unafraid to embrace hooky rock sensibilities (âDeliver Us from Life,â âAt), the punky, bluesy, and sleazy all-out assaults of tempo-abusing insanity (âA White Horse Covered in Blood,â âLove As An Act of Rebellionâ) collide with fret-squealing riff fests of the highest caliber (âLie Between the Lines,â âFuture Myopiaâ) in an insanely catchy, dynamic, stupid heavy, and stupid fun album with legendary status awaiting.
Frontierer // The Skull Burned Wearing Hell Like a Life Vest As the Night Wept â Look, I get that itâs a thirteen-minute EP released super late 2024, but, câmon, itâs fucking Frontierer. Somehow seeming more punishing than usual across its four tracks, thick-ass slogs hit like sledgehammers to the temple â translating well across its more frantic moments and slower menace â while rhythms attack with the ferocity and doomed inevitability of a swarm of locusts and vocalist Chad Kapper spits blood, vitriol, and insanity into the mic. Channeling the glacial suffocation that coursed through Oxidized, it doesnât matter if the tempo is more upbeat and energetic (âAs the Night Weptâ) or if itâs content sludging in its own muck (âWearing Hellâ), or indulging in both (âThe Skull Burnedâ), the vibrant dissonance swirls in dizzyingly mechanical intensity and the down-tuned riffs smother with ruthless arrhythmic beatdown chugs. While comparable to Ion Dissonance, Car Bomb, and this yearâs Weston Super Maim in emphasis on down-tuned mathcore punishment, Frontierer remains one of the genre frontrunners and trendsetters by a significant margin â in a short thirteen minutes.
The God Awful Truth // All That Dark & All That Cold â Denton, Texasâ The God Awful Truth is likely everything love or hate about mathcore. Dissonance spilling sloppily across its shaky breakdowns, deathcore gut-punches, vocal attacks as insane as the squawking panic chords that paint the background like Jackson Pollock on too much crack, and rhythms jolting about like a toddler on a go-cart. Alongside these traditional The Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza-isms (âHail Paimon,â âStreet Ratâ), there is a lighthearted banter guided by vocalist Jordan LaFerneyâs cowboy vocals and resulting poppy rhythms, punky tempos, and loose grind-esque composition (âSymbology,â âSlicked Back,â âBad Toothâ), though the menacing still manages to punch through when least expected (âThe Rainmaker,â âOmelette du Fromageâ). Itâs brutal whiplash of an album, not a semblance of traditional melody to be found, with deathcore breakdowns acting more as the punchline of a song-long joke. Youâll get a headache, but youâll have fun along the way.
meth. / See You Next Tuesday // Asymmetrics â Mathcore and noisecore have a lot in common, namely unlistenable blasting. Your favorite Michigan deathcore/mathcore darlings See You Next Tuesday teams up with Chicago noisemongers meth. for Asymmetrics, more a collaborative experiment than a split. Each band records three songs, then shares only the drum tracks with the other, who records another song over that drum track. Toss in guest spots from The Red Chordâs Guy Kozowyk and Memphis-based sludgecore act Nights Like These, and all elements practically topple under Asymmetricsâ blazing intensity and immense weight. CUNTâs influence in relentless blasters (âThe First Steps of Suffering,â âSyntax Errorâ) and blasting deathcore chug-and-squeal-fests (âBreaking Under the Weight of the Heaviest Burden,â âTomb of Woeâ) collide with meth.âs more ominous slow burns (âSuccumb,â âGuest,â âWilling Participantâ) in a surprisingly well-rounded package, all wrapped up in a tidy â and fuckinâ noisy â twenty-seven minutes. Itâs the best of both worlds!
Utopia // Shame â A breed of technical metal recalling the fretboard-frying abilities of The Human Abstract or Scale the Summit, this UK-based group (including prolific bassist Arran McSporran of Virvum) balances a jazzy warmth and lush atmosphere to balance out the Dillinger rhythmic attack and Psyopus-inspired shredding, made further vicious by vocalist Chris Reeseâs attack of frantic fries, manic shrieks, and ghastly roars. From intense attacks of intensity and brutality (âShame,â âSocial Contractsâ), wonkier exposes of dissonant motifs and jagged rhythms (âNever Argue With an Idiot,â âThe Gift of Failureâ), and lush vistas of warm fretless bass and jazzy chords (âSun Damage,â âZither,â âMoving Gently Towards the Graveâ), the dark themes of shame and morbidity are offset by a truly transcendent atmosphere that ties Shame together into something beyond mathcore.
Missouri Executive Order 44 // Salt Sermon â Absolutely unhinged mathgrind with a religious theme both belying and echoing their LDS missionary aesthetic (short-sleeved white button-ups, ties, shorts, and bicycle helmets) and ominous black masks, anonymous Independence collective Missouri Executive Order 44 approaches a morbid history of religious intolerance with the goal of utter annihilation. Cramming eleven songs into a mere sixteen minutes like blasters Sectioned or Fawn Limbs, you can expect it to hit hard and fast, complete with unhinged mathy meltdowns that spill across the face of concrete rhythm, meatheaded powerviolence chugs (âChristian Pornography,â âThey Built a Bass Pro Shop in Our Zionâ), surprisingly groovy riffs (âThe Unbuckling,â âSeven is a Holy Numberâ), tied together with vocalist Jaromâs cult leader shrieks and sinner wails, alongside wickedly distorted Mormon spoken word and gospel samples. Posing no stance of their own aside from the dethroning of tyranny, Salt Sermon stands with all its tragedy and iconoclasm, both utterly devastating and utterly enticing.
Shiverboard // Hacksaw Morissette â Aside from the silly genius of the album name, New Yorkâs Shiverboard eludes easy definition. Most consistently planted in grind, art-punk, screamo, and mathcore sensibilities, Hacksaw Morissette deals with fifteen tracks that feel like a shotgun blast. Punk is a common thread coursed through this tapestry of asininity, ranging from Sex Pistols-with-animalistic-snarls (âAll Black Snoopy,â âStain Removerâ), complete collapses into noisecore (âCryptic Bismuth,â âChastity Jeansâ), over-the-top deathcore blares (âChainsaw Fruit Punch,â âAngelina Shit Tonâ), math rock and Midwest emo musings straight outta Delta Sleep or American Football (title track, âDrug Test,â âThe Garbage Stork,â âVitamins of Darknessâ), and complete grind and mathcore meltdowns (âIf I Canât Have Love I Want Power,â âTorrential Drencherâ) â thereâs something for everyone aboard Hacksaw Morissette. With just enough dynamic to keep things interesting but not too much experimentation to throw listeners (thanks to the tasteful brevity), Shiverboard could stand to throw some more my way.
Traveller // Broken Home â Sometimes bumping mathcore is just an excuse to include djent, and Germanyâs Traveller falls into this category. Utilizing Erraâs Impulse-era formula, Architectsâ melodic sensibilities, a touch of Northlaneâs ethereal moments, and a DIY grit whose âloud and ouchyâ weight is sure to be divisive. Guided by ferocious roars, sporadic cleans, and âthicc thicclyâ breakdowns galore it often emulates that mid-2000s metalcore that recalls a djentier Feed Her to the Sharks (âNever Cared (2002),â âMismatch,â âLimboâ). Other times, it incorporates a groove and technicality that recalls the shenanigans of last yearâs MouthBreather, making it a curb-stomping affair with an edge of the menacing melodies and ethereal keys (âAcheron,â âOrpheusâ). Traveller is more djent and less mathcore, sure, but (1) youâre getting a lot more with Broken Home and (2) thatâs why itâs at the end of this list.
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