(Andy Synn shares his thoughts on one of his most anticipated albums of the year)
What’s the difference between Metal and Hardcore?
Some people, of course, see the two as entirely separate things… and refuse to have anything to do with the other one… but the truth is that Metal, Hardcore, Punk, Grind, etc, have always existed as part of a greater continuum – not a linear spectrum, by any means, but a complex, interwoven web of inputs and influences, constructions and perceptions – that doesn’t necessarily divide the genres into neatly defined little niches.
Take Alabama’s No Cure, for example, who are most definitely a Hardcore band – they even describe themselves as “the world’s most evil straight-edge band” – but who aren’t afraid of acknowledging that, in their own way, bands like Sepultura, Machine Head, and Dying Fetus have had almost as much impact and influence on their sound as the likes of Earth Crisis, Hatebreed, and The Acacia Strain.
So it’s more than fitting that their new album, set for release this Friday, has a little bit of all those bands in it, while still being defiantly its own thing.