I’m excited to finally get around to this record. We promised to give it a spin two weeks ago, but life did life things.

Yeah same here. Appreciate em seeking us out to do a review. And us getting to a review two weeks from being shouted out for one is progress. We’re getting better at this timely(ish) aspect of drinkscussing

Which needs a reminder of: non-alcoholic drinks are drinks too! Not tonight for us, but in general.

~ Anger and Acceptance ~

Oh I love this if Bad Religion was a hardcore band sound they’ve got in the riffs.

SOIA vibes off the bat vocally

Ha, I was thinking Good Clean Fun. Man, I miss Good Clean Fun.

Barely listened to em so no frame of reference

So much melody. I’m very hit and miss on hardcore, but this is exactly what convinces me I do like hardcore.

SEMI-BREAKDOWN

I sorta drifted a bit during the bridge to that (think I wasn’t sure if that was the song)

~ Make Your Own ~

I dug that a lot

It’s been a long, long time since I listened to a hardcore band that reminded me of why I love hardcore, and I think this is it. This is what I needed.

Yeah, this is the style of hardcore that I enjoy a ton

Big As Friends Rust vibes in this song.

So far this is excellent

I can picture that as well

BREAKDOWN ™️

But with melody!

I love melody.

Solo here is fantastic

Also digging the message in this song.

The acknowledgment that it’s easy to fall for what people tell you, and that it’s okay to feel like that, but you should still question everything and make your own way

~ Purpose ~

Okay, this song really reminds me of Don’t Call Me I Won’t Call You by Kill Your Idols.

Very good shoutalong part here.

I’m imagining small sweaty venues. Stagedives. People pushing each other around, but not hardcore dancing with karate chops.

Yes, stagediving and fingerpointing and no ninja shit

Liked the first two songs a little more, I think

“I take the anger, frustration, remorse, regret, and fear and just release it all” has been exactly what drew me to this sound when I was young.

I think this song is more classic hardcore, less melody, more straightforward. I get it.

~ Knelt Before ~

Makes sense. Just a bit outside of my sweet spot hah

Ooh, there’s almost a pop-punk chorus happening here. Shouty hardcore verses with a poppy chorus.

Nice juxtaposition

This part’s real nice

Yeah, this is so catchy!

Melodies on this track are excellent

~ I Think It’s Best If You Just Leave Me Alone ~

I’m officially fascinated by this record and how they explore every corner of hardcore. This one almost comes closer to the sound bands like Madball and Terror have.

Strikes me as a very straight-ahead hardcore track. Shortest track we’ve come across so far as well, was waiting for another part to the song haha

~ Firewatch ~

Every corner. This reminds me of Shelter.

Also uber-melodic, this one

When the shouting gives to melody.

Listening to see where this song goes next

Ahhhh

Don’t you love this instrumental break that just feels very dark in a good way, and then guitar solos tell the story?

Yeah, this works

Outro. Not break.

~ Choices ~

Digging this open

Oh absolutely! Here we get more of a punk rock song. The opener gave it away, but this verse solidified it

Damn, getting hit with ALL THE POSITIVITY

I know! I almost want to start making good life decisions

almost

good life decision: drinkscussing this album

“I could do what I want, or I could do what’s right”

Ruminated on that line too

I absolutely hope I do right by the people around me – I want to be a positive force for others.

Guitar work on this album up to this point has been something, meant in glowing terms

~ For All The Kids ~

::2-stepping intensifies::

Gang vox here are rad: relatable. Feeling spotted on this outro.

For a while, I was that kid in the room without friends. I found a bit of companionship in the hardcore world – went without drugs for a while, not really calling myself straight edge, just on the edges.

But it wasn’t all that it seemed like for me. It was so much pretending to fit in and social pressure.

Eventually I found my own way, one that does include alcohol – but even now, I will reach out to anyone who looks alone, offer them a drink, and remind them that a soda or water count as well.

Basically, take care of those around you. Reach out. Be nice.

I mean, feeling like a loner, an outcast and finding this scene…always reaffirming to hear that in song.

And yeah, that would be a part where I could visualize myself fingerpointing and piling on towards the mic

~ Today ~

It feels like one of the more emotional tracks

Yeah. Has that heartwringer feel

…a great song to sing along to when the chorus hits

It feels like one of those days where everything seems against you, and you realize you need to break out of that.

I mean, you said it earlier about packed basements

So you do a thing. Anything. Literally you just get out and tell yourself, fuck it, I’m over this routine and need to break it.

The way out is through. Always has been. /astronaut meme

Yep! Packed basement are the best though.

Absofuckinlutely

~ 生きる しか ない (Live with Myself) ~

Japanese, in case you’re wondering

Ah, thanks

That’s as far as I get, I recognize the characters as Japanese.

Musically, this fits in just fine with what we’ve heard so far.

Absolutely! One of the more melodic sing instead of shout tracks.

I am curious what brought them to do a song in Japanese.

Likewise!

It reminds me of INVSN their Swedish songs, but mostly in the “I love these songs but have no clue what this means, but I’ll try and sing along anyway and am now butchering a language”

~ My Legacy ~

Closing track.

It’s hardcore so I’m expecting a very positive we’re all in this together tier song

Buildup is very much Last Track On A Hardcore Album

Spoken Word Hardcore.

They hadn’t explored this corner yet so I shouldn’t have been surprised that this would be left for this song!

Really like the foreboding riffage on this song

“Cause you’re the write of your story, in control in the end”

Man, this sounds like Verse (that album Aggression, I’m thinking about in particular). Or that just me?

Nah, I think I got what you mean there!

Phew haha

Okay I am so sending a link to this record to all my friends who like hardcore, because I’ve never seen a band try everything there is in the genre in one record and get away with it at the same time.

Yeah, admittedly well out of the loop of most hardcore (fair bit of the newer stuff, be it more beatdown/breakdown oriented or stuff that just seems loud for its own sake without deference to songwriting) but this was overall an excellent record


The friends we sent it to dug it as well. Give it a listen and throw money at it here: https://kneltbefore.bandcamp.com/album/be-nice

Leave a Reply