Ceremony - ZOO

ZOO is the fourth full-length from modern hardcore punk legends Ceremony, and their first release on Matador records. They've certainly evolved a lot over the years (both image and sound wise), and ZOO continues this trend by blending elements of 78' punk and modern rock. Ceremony once cited their influences as being Pink Floyd, Tom Waits, Joy Division, Suicidal Tendencies: this album showcases the former's influences.

This album is probably the most different sounding Ceremony release to date, a lot of it being because of the production. I honestly thought it was someone other than Ross Farrar on vocals when I first heard 'Citizen,' because the production makes his vocals sound THAT different. However, if you YouTube live performances of songs on this album, it sounds more like their older material. Songwriting-wise, it's similar to Rohnert Park, in that you have some fast stuff, but a lot more slower material on here. I haven't listened to the album too many times through yet, but so far, I'm actually not a big fan of the slower songs on the album. The faster tunes (like the aforementioned Citizen) are fantastic, and worth getting the album (or downloading it) for them alone.

While Rohnert Park perhaps hinted at the band one day returning to the hardcore punk sound they first created on Ruined EP, ZOO cements that they're definitely headed in a new direction. The slower material is a bit of a disappointment to me, but if they continue with the classic punk sounding stuff, their fifth album should be amazing!

ARTIST: CEREMONY

ALBUM: ZOO

GENRE: HARDCORE PUNK

PURCHASE

A.N.S. - Pressure Cracks

A.N.S. is a crossover thrash band from Irving, Texas, USA. They've been around for quite a while, going through a line-up, name change and several releases before their 2009 full-length, Pressure Cracks. While it doesn't necessarily oush the limits of punk as a genre, it's a great mix of old-school 80s and crossover thrash metal: think early Black Flag, D.R.I., and Poison Idea.

I think my favorite thing about this release is that it manages to both be catchy and fast, as well as build a chilling atmosphere that you generally only hear on older punk records. The other thing I'm fond of here is that even though it has 2000-era production, it doesn't cheapen the sound of the record/music at all/make it sound incredibly fake. Overall, some great music here! Enjoy.

ARTIST: A.N.S.

ALBUM: PRESSURE CRACKS

GENRE: CROSSOVER THRASH

MEDIAFIRE
PURCHASE 

Crucial Unit - These Colors Get The Runs

Another blast from the past for me, these guys were one of the first vinyl 7"s I ever picked up as a kid. Active from the late 90s to early 2000s, these guys churned out some vicious-as-fuck crossover thrash. Some of the BEST vocals I've ever heard in a crossover thrash/hardcore punk outfit: they sound like something you'd be more likely to hear in a grind outfit. They are closer to crossover than they are to grind, but they're extremely fast, and if they were a bit faster/more chaotic, I'd consider them to be grind. Even still, this is a wicked band with an awesome sense of humour. It's too bad they're not around anymore, but always better to quit while you're ahead!

ARTIST: CRUCIAL UNIT

ALBUM: THESE COLORS GET THE RUNS

GENRE: HARDCORE PUNK/CROSSOVER THRASH

MEDIAFIRE

Ceremony - Rohnert Park

Ceremony are really similar to Fucked Up in terms of musical progression -- they went from short, fast heavy-hitting hardcore to a much longer "punk rock opera" style album in the course of 4 years. And similar to Fucked Up, they're a band I've liked and admired for a long time, and Rohnert Park is no exception.

Be forewarned that this album is EXTREMELY different from Violence Violence-era Ceremony. The best comparison I can make musically is a halfway point between Hidden World and Chemistry of Common Life in terms of speed/song structure. Only Ceremony wrote it instead of Fucked Up. The first half of the album is a lot stronger than the latter half in my opinion, but check out the link below and find out for yourself!

ARTIST: CEREMONY

ALBUM: ROHNERT PARK

GENRE: HARDCORE PUNK

MEDIAFIRE

N.O.T.A. - 1985 LP

N.O.T.A or None Of The Above were an American hardcore band that existed from the early 80s to the late 90s. Not a lot of information on this band -- and I'm not particularly familiar with their discography -- but their 1985 LP is some wicked hardcore. Is it anything groundbreaking? Nope. But it doesn't need to be. Just a bunch of pissed off kids writing some angry songs about cops and breaking shit and breaking cops' shit.

Having said this, I certainly wouldn't classify it as generic (or at least not the boring type of generic). If you like the American hardcore sound, you'll like this. And if you don't, perhaps try getting into some Black Flag or Agnostic Front before giving this a spin.

ARTIST: N.O.T.A (NONE OF THE ABOVE)

ALBUM: S/T LP

GENRE: HARDCORE PUNK

MEDIAFIRE

OFF! - First Four Eps

Yes, I know this band is super mainstream. But honestly...it's well deserved. I grew up on Circle Jerks and Black Flag, and while this album definitely isn't either one of those bands, it has the same raw energy that both of those pioneering bands had. And to have that kind of energy where the average age of the band members is nearly 50? That's fucking impressive.

Even if you don't like the music, their first "album" -- which is actually a compilation of their first four 7"s -- is evidence that Keith Morris is talented as fuck. He's described OFF! as a band that picks up where Black Flag left off: that's a pretty spot-on description of this album. I usually loathe "supergroups," because I find that they tend to breed arrogance (well yeah, of course it's going to be awesome, it's got members of Band XY and Z in it etc.) but I really don't find that with OFF! At all.

Buuuuut....I'm also a huge sucker for noisy, angry music. So the download link is below where you can decide for yourself.

ARTIST: OFF!

ALBUM: FIRST FOUR EPS

GENRE: HARDCORE PUNK

MEDIAFIRE