Back catalogue: Punk/Hardcore

Review: Originally forming in 1982, Agnostic Front were one of the pioneers of New York City hardcore punk and they've left an indelible mark on the scene and movement ever since. Inspired by their dilapidated surroundings of Lower East Side Manhattan, then blighted by poverty, drugs, violence, and high levels of urban decay, the ugliness around them would help to chart a venomous new course for the sonic potential of hardcore as an urgent, abrasive form of catharsis. This incendiary compilation offers up recordings which date back to the very start of their career, including demos of cuts that would eventually appear on their 1983 debut United Blood 7", while also featuring other recordings from the period that were left unissued at the time; some of the material would later be included on 1995's Raw & Unleased CD, though several of these tracks are making their wax debut. If you're eager for more homeschooling, the band were featured as part of Showtime's The Godfathers of Hardcore documentary in 2017, while frontman Roger Miret's autobiography offers insightful and frightening lore to an already clearly tumultuous yet integral time in punk history.

Review: Formed in 1982, New York City hardcore pioneers Agnostic Front left a defining impact on the burgeoning scene with their unmatched ferocity and sonic abrasion as well as their intimidating attitude and skinhead aesthetic, which would lead to them incorrectly being perceived by some as racists or neo-Nazis. Coming up in the rundown streets of Lower East Side Manhattan, surrounded by urban decay in an area battling severe poverty, drugs, and violence, they channelled their anger into a new breed of punk that would serve as both a rallying cry for the less fortunate as well as an urgent, abrasive form of catharsis. This blistering compilation contains recordings dating back to the very beginning of their career, featuring demos of tracks that would eventually appear on their 1983 debut United Blood 7", while also offering other recordings from this period originally left unissued at the time; some of these would later be included on the 1995 Raw & Unleased CD, though several of these cuts have never been made available on wax until now. The band would later be featured as part of Showtime's The Godfathers of Hardcore documentary from 2017, while frontman Roger Miret's autobiography provides a deeply insightful yet frightening firsthand account of an already clearly tumultuous yet integral time in punk history.

Review: Originally released in 2012, Daybreaker would serve as the fifth full-length from Brighton progressive metalcore heavyweights Architects, following an identity crisis after 2011's more streamlined post-hardcore effort The Here & Now. While in the decade since, the band have gone on to become one of Britain's most successful heavy music exports, finally managing to balance their heftier proclivities with mainstream appeal, the material here strikes a curious retrospective balance between their mathcore origins, the increasingly vast melodious experimentations, as well as their first forays into embracing elements of nuanced electronica. Conceptually marking their arrival to politically driven messaging, with the now even more timely and oppressively hefty 'These Colours Don't Run' tackling US political division while 'Devil's Island' lambasts the London riots of 2011, the album is also noted for its guest features including Drew York of Stray From The Path on 'Outsider Heart', and Oli Sykes of Bring Me The Horizon on the standout 'Even If You Win, You're Still A Rat'.