CHILDREN OF GAIA.

The "City of Drizzle" (Sao Paulo) in Brazil is known for many things - great food & beautiful people being among those - but a vegan hardline metallic sXe band as well? Indeed.

Children of Gaia held it down for the better part of a decade with their dark & brooding take on the militant metalcore sound. Lots of heavy chugga-chugga, shit-tons of bottomless-pit breakdows, and a fury of deep-throated vocal anguish.
Their version of "thug core" is unique in that the leads (if you can call them that) aren't full of pick squeals and such - they keep it dark at all times. Good stuff if you have a soft spot for the old-school metallic beat-down HC…



Children of Gaia - I Pray to Watch You Bleed

Link in comments.

ABNEGATION.

Honestly, there's not much I can tell you about Erie, PA other than it was a railroad hub in the early days and then evolved into a steel-mill town.
Also, it's not too far from Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Cleveland or NYC.

This brings us to Abngeation - Erie's hardline sXe crew whose sounds was an amalgamation of all those flavors of the bands from the aforementioned towns.
While they may get lumped in w/ the militant hardline thing, their sound evolved in to one that included many elements of thrash/speed metal, as well as eventually becoming sludgy, dark & heavy.

These guys were unique in delivery, but sadly, they packed it in after five years while the rest of the world is stuck with ear-turds like Earth Crisis & Hatebreed...





Abnegation - Verses of the Bleeding

Link removed 12.10.2010 due to leeching via Punks & Skins.com. At least ask me before you just go ahead & hotlink / cut & paste 100% of my post content, ya fucks...

RAID.

While I always felt that the vegan sXe thing was taken, oh, "just a bit too seriously", I gotta admit some of those bands fucking rocked, and Tennessee's Raid were pretty bad-ass at the whole jud-jud/breakdown/pick squeal/gang vocal thing.
This record is definitely a lost gem of the first-generation Hardline era - check it out if you like this kind of stuff. It ain't perfect - there are some corny-ass vocal moments on here - but overall the level of thick-neck / meat-head old-school metal 'core ranks highly.
I appreciate the sentiment - er - "level of caring", but overall I wonder if these guys actually feel this way now that they are in their late twenties / early thirties. Anyways, there ain't nothin' wrong with livin' your life for you, now is there?

Make your own decision on the issues presented to you here, but let it be known that this record is chock-full of some serious beatdown 'core!


Raid - Above The Law

Link in comments.

GATHER.

While I can easily say I was never a real fan of the hardline movement in HC - I can respect what you feel, bro, so respect mine too - there is something about this Bay Area female-fronted / sXe / vegan crew that compels me.

Call me a dick if you want, but I'm not really a fan of female vocalists in heavy music. Eva Genie, on the other hand, can seriously belt it out in a throat-shredding fashion that doesn't sound contrived or wimpy, and while they may not be the most original (the sub-genre itself is musically limited in many ways but is very enjoyable when done properly), they create a powerful dynamic that works well - especially with the choice of segue samples, etc.

They may not have been the greatest musicians, but the passion is what drove this band, and one can only wonder what they would sound like if they stayed together.

It's fucking hardcore, ya know? Love it or leave it.



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Gather - Beyond the Ruins



*This is my last post until next week - not that I've been that prolific in the posting department the past few months*

I'm heading up to Seattle (for a long "romant-ick" weekend w/ the lil lady) to visit some old friends, sk8 a bit, possibly see Blaine Accüsed's band TOE TAG & eat a burger from his restaurant, maybe buy some used CD's, definitely eat some good food & drink some good beer, buy a bunch of shit I don't need, drive around in the (new) Dodge Charger I rented, swim in the hotel pool, etc. A well-needed break is coming my way!