The Armed

From: Detroit, Michigan

Genre: Hardcore, Punk Rock

For Fans Of: Some ultimately pissed off music that retains a certain undeniable catchieness and groove.

My first exposure to The Armed was simple. Kurt Ballou, the guitar player for Converge and recording mastermind at God City, shared their new video for their song "Paradise Day" off their new album, Untitled. Being the massive Converge fan I am with the massive respect for Kurt Ballou I had, I decided to check out the music video, and boy was I ever pleasantly surprised. "Paradise Day" hit like a semi truck right out of the gate, but more in the way of one that kept running you over, never giving you time to catch your breath in between each repetition. Oddly enough as well, it had an immediate ear worm chorus, causing me to sing "ALLLL ON MY OWN, I'M SORRY, I'M SORRY" repeatedly through out the course of my day. Needless to say, I was not only impressed by my first taste of The Armed, but completely in love.

Luckily, the LP that "Paradise Day" came off, managed to retain the raw amount of energy and passion, as well as strange knack for melody, that "Paradise Day" originally showed. From the very beginning of Untitled, straight through the end, The Armed pour out their souls into one of the most beautifully pissed off, spine shivering records I've heard in a long time. However, The Armed never allow their pure and utter rage distract them from the fact that melody needs to be heard and appreciated. This is one of the first hardcore records in a long time that I have heard in a long time and have been able to sing along to on only the second or third time through. Songs like "Forever Scum" and "Paradise Day" (which, honestly, is my new ring tone), show The Armed's unique ability to craft a chorus with strong melodic tendencies in a scene currently over obsessed with "how low can we tune and how stupid heavy can our breakdowns be?".

What's also interesting is to me is that The Armed do not list themselves as a hardcore band anywhere, but rather, simply just as a punk rock band. Perhaps this mindset is what allows them to avoid breakdown worship and set themselves apart from their peers. However, I like to think they list themselves as a punk band due to the common saying "Never trust a hardcore kid who didn't listen to punk first". (This paragraph was entirely to try and squeeze in that joke).

Anyways, if isn't readily apparent, I really, really enjoy The Armed, and think that most of you will too. Besides, it can't possibly hurt to check them out, especially since their discography is free on bandcamp. Seriously one of my favorite bands in awhile.

Free Tunes: https://thearmed.bandcamp.com/album/untitled

Towers

From: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Genre: Mathcore/Screamo/Sludge/Post hardcore
For Fans Of: Heavy Heavy Low Low, The Number 12 Looks Like You

Towers plays a variety of genres sort of smashed together, to make some incredibly interesting, and intricate, extreme music that never really feels to disappoint. They display more than enough technical skill and utilize many of the key factors of "mathcore" bands, but at the same time play with the fury of emoviolence, but often at a sludgey, slow speed. The result is a discography that is constantly throwing the listener through a loop and wondering just where the hell a lot of the songs are going. One of my absolute favorite parts about this band is those unnerving, odd parts usually set between where the vocals kick in, that really set the mood for the song to come. They never fail to make you wish the song would just begin, but also force you to wonder if the song will actually build off that repetition or simply evolve in some other completely different way.

Free Tunes: http://towers.bandcamp.com/album/full-circle-cd-lp-cassette