I was still able to crank out around 800 reviews by October of 2005, but at that point burnout conquered, and I announced the death of mass quantity in-depth reviews. By the following month, I had already started posting about new music in the "blahg"—which had prior focused solely on aged gems—so... maybe I had a little more steam in the tank than I thought? Beginning to ask myself questions like "Am I ever really going to listen to a band like Splatterhouse when Carcass' Symphonies of Sickness exists?" eventually led to some very regrettable CD purges, though, as will be mentioned below. Omitted from this list are highlights from prior-mentioned favorites such as Arsis, The Dying Light, Opeth, Terror, To What End?; as well as a slew of notable reissues from Black Army Jacket, Bold, Converge, Judge, Misery, Neglect, Shai Hulud, Undertow, Wrecking Crew, etc. Here's a semi-synopsis of Aversionline v2.0 circa 2005.
Some of What I Loved the Most...
Agents of Man, Count Your Blessings (Century Media)
For those uninitiated, the band plays an incredibly melodic yet heavy form of metallic hardcore that is among the most unique and individual-sounding material out there right now... Every song is a keeper and there are just so many amazingly memorable compositions that I really do find it hard to believe. I'm so incredibly impressed by these guys, so I'm stunned that they haven't started to gain more attention... This is without question among the best releases of the year...
Agents of Man was cited in the 2001 rewind, and you're damn right they're back again so that I can heap praise upon their lone full-length. One of my all-time favorite bands, and one of only two 10/10 reviews I wrote in 2005. It pains me that they never achieved the wider success that they deserved, and I'll remain forever hoping that their final, yet-to-be-released recordings will eventually see the light one day...
Allegiance, Overlooked (Rivalry Records)
...chock full of fast-paced hardcore and shitloads of hard-as-nails mosh parts with thrashy metallic picking patterns that sort of take the hard-nosed NYHC groove of the mid-'90s and add some energy to the pacing to keep things from sounding like a mid-paced stomp, instead tying everything more to the classic late-'80s old school sound but with a heavier set of production values and more pissed off attitude with song structures that spice things up just enough to sound current and fresh...
One of the absolute best when it comes to 2000s hardcore. Incredible album that—at least for me—eclipses the rest of their recordings and completely holds up. So many ripping tracks. A #1 was tough to pick between "Just Let Go" and "Found My Niche."
Analena, Carbon Based (Moonlee Records)
Their approach is one rooted in screamo/indie rock kind of stuff, but it's definitely more diverse and intriguing than most of what those classifications would indicate... The music is all over the place from jangly chords and softer clean passages to frantic discordance, intense melodies, and a little bit of added heaviness as well. The most important thing to focus on, though, is that the songwriting is fucking excellent... I don't even listen to that much of this stuff and I'm flipping out over this, I love it. Buy this now.
Love this band and still spin this disc on a fairly regular basis to this day (as well as its follow-up, Inconstantinopolis). Very possibly my utmost favorite "screamo" release ever.
Armor for Sleep, What to Do When You Are Dead (Equal Vision)
11 tracks of moody emo that's in more of the tried and true style with just the right blend of catchiness and melody with faint heaviness, clean guitars and laidback atmospheres, and excellent singing vocals with tons of smooth harmonies... They balance the simplistic song structures and catchy choruses with lots of layered riffing and dynamics... I really fucking like this band. They're just excellent songwriters... Seriously, this band ought to be on the road to getting huge... I've listened to this disc a million times and counting...
The golden age of chunky, hard-hitting "emo," and for my money What to Do When You Are Dead would have to be in contention for best-in-class. Hooks for days. A classic.
Crowbar, Lifesblood for the Downtrodden (Candlelight)
Despite having been kicking ass for more than 15 fucking years and pioneering his own brand of slow, sludgy, and massively intense heaviness, Kirk Windstein hasn't lost an ounce of fucking steam—in fact, I'd say his writing skills have been increasingly on point over the last 10 years of the band's existence... You'll be hard-pressed to find much out there that's this heavy while still coming off as emotional and gutwrenchingly melodic. This is heartfelt shit, man. No doubt.
Fucking legendary. Heaviness incarnate, in more ways than one. If you don't enjoy Crowbar, please move along. I don't wanna hear it. You're wrong.
Darkest Hour, Undoing Ruin (Victory Records)
Is this Darkest Hour's best record to date? Without question. Are they branching out and pushing for a more significant degree of power and quality out of their songwriting? Yes, they are, and that's absolutely apparent on this album. Hell, I'd easily go so far as to say that a handful of these songs are pointing to much bigger and better things from these guys... The next step in the natural development of a band that's been getting better with each subsequent record over the course of several years.
I was already a fan at this point and felt that Darkest Hour was above the fray in terms of the sheer volume of metalcore bands leaning into the melodic Swedish influences, but Undoing Ruin was certainly demonstrative proof that they had more to offer.
Go it Alone, The Only Blood Between Us (Rivalry Records)
This is killer hardcore from Canada with fairly unique yelling vocals that have a dry, raspy midrange edge; while the music combines a modern take on the old school formula with a little added heaviness and some emphatic melody that really carries a lot of power... This is exactly what hardcore needs, because every time I get tired of the same old same old, it takes bands like this to up the ante just enough to really kick things in the ass and offer a different perspective... This is the best hardcore record I've heard all year.
As with Allegiance above, one of the finest hardcore releases of its era. Rivalry Records was pretty damn unstoppable during this timeframe.
Jesu, Jesu (Hydra Head)
A monumental 74+ minute journey into absolute brooding perfection. The tracks revolve around slow, repetitive arrangements with lengthy instrumental passages and shitloads of layering, allowing things to rise and fall slowly over time with a great balance of sheer heaviness, incredible melodies, and a general atmosphere that is truly some of Broadrick's most emotionally wrenching work to date... Without question this is going to be one of the best releases of 2005. Justin Broadrick is a fucking genius...
Even though Jesu was just mentioned last month in the 2004 rewind, I had to repeat 'em 'cause this was the only other 10/10 review I penned throughout 2005. Phenomenal album.
On a Dead Machine, On a Dead Machine (Smith 7 Records)
This band should absolutely be on a major label, or least an indie that's flirting with that mainstream base, because these guys are great songwriters that could easily succeed in that realm. Their style is one that's really hard to categorize. Equal parts heavy and laidback, exhibiting a balance of smooth singing and fierce screaming, I could cite a pretty even blend of influences from emo and indie rock to post-hardcore, metal, and a more polished sort of modern hard rock influence... Be on the lookout for these guys...
I'll never understand why great music is just not enough to make a band catch on and gain the exposure that they deserve. I had been screaming about On a Dead Machine for at least two years by this point, having been so impressed by their first two demos, and felt so strongly that they should—and would—eventually break out a bit. They didn't. Still stings.
Propagandhi, Potemkin City Limits (Fat Wreck Chords)
Propagandhi is still one of the greatest bands to have ever eaten, slept, and shit on the planet—all the while stopping to progressively thrash from time to time. And while fairly far from as immediately infectious as their other full-lengths, Potemkin City Limits is immediately defined as the trio's most technical and diverse outing to date, so give it some time to sink in, because that's what it requires... I'll follow them through to the end. They've never missed the mark. Never. I love this fucking band.
This was actually the last thorough, full-length review that I wrote before drastically scaling back to the "blahg" format. I was recently reminded just how much I love Propagandhi, and their just-released new album is currently the best thing I've heard in 2025. They've still never missed the mark...
Ramallah, Kill a Celebrity (Thorp Records)
I'm no ass-kisser, but Rob Lind is a fucking genius... Seriously, everything this guy puts his fucking name on kicks ass, but in recent years he's really hit his stride both in terms of memorable songwriting and in terms of nailing down some of the crispest and most powerful recordings I've ever heard... If you liked the first Ramallah EP, you should damn sure dig this. Rob Lind should never have to work a shitty day job again. He's got too much talent flowing through his veins to waste that kind of time...
Rob Lind = still a fucking genius. After disappearing for another stretch, he's been teasing some new musical activity lately, and I'm eager to discover what will result...
Whiskey Rebels, Create or Die (GMM Records)
Holy shit, these guys crank out some raging punk that rocks hard and has a heavy edge with shitloads of energy, a good balance of melody, and infectiously memorable songwriting that immediately grabs my attention and definitely holds on for the duration of the disc... I simply can't do this disc justice with a review. I mean, shit, these guys deserve way, way, way more attention. If Rancid can sell a million god damn records I see no reason why these cats couldn't do it with songs like these.
For two decades now, every single time I listen to the title track from Create or Die—and that number has been many—I completely flip out, get chills, scream along, sometimes cry... it's insane. Great, great album, but that title track in particular is fucking monumental. Really special.
Other Stuff That Got Me Hyped...
Black Noise Cannon, Unsaved: The Reality of the Silent War (Soultheft)
Black Noise Cannon formed years ago from the ashes of the almighty Christdriver, who I've always viewed as a criminally underrated outfit that should appeal to any fan of generally cold, bleak, pulsing metal with light smatterings of industrial textures... [This picks] up right where Christdriver left off, but takes things into far more of an experimental realm. Hell, the disc runs nearly an hour and contains only three tracks, so do the math!
To be honest, I dig Christdriver so much that I've rarely gone back to Black Noise Cannon over the years. I really need to give this album a complete revisit sometime soon.
Buried Inside, Chronoclast: Selected Essays on Time-Reckoning and Auto-Cannibalism (Relapse)
Expect 40 minutes of punishing metallic hardcore comparable to a blend of commonly bonded acts like Neurosis, Isis, Burst, and Tantrum, to name but a few noteworthy companions to this style of material... I'm disappointed that I didn't find out about them in their pre-Relapse days, but there's no doubt that the jump to Relapse will benefit them for sure. Check this out. I'm impressed, and I'll put money on them growing forward from here.
I actually still need to grab the predecessors to Chronoclast..., but I did circle back around to this disc and Spoils of Failure a year or so ago. My tastes have leaned away from certain aspects of these styles over the years, so I'm not quite as impressed as I was in 2005, but there's still something unique and noteworthy about Buried Inside's overall delivery.
Dixie Dirt, Pieces of the World (Self-Released)
I'm impressed. Over an hour's worth of often stunningly brilliant material that ranges in terms of particular style, but never in terms of somber atmosphere or powerfully moving emotion. There's a really curious blend of influences here, many of which come from circles that I myself never really travel in, but the end result here is something I appreciate 100%, and it really hits me pretty hard, so I'm quite enthusiastically into this disc...
I still know pretty much nothing about this band, and it's kind of odd that I wound up with this disc in my P.O. Box back in the day, but I'll never forget this song in particular. Really striking. Not the type of thing that falls into my listening habits on a regular basis, but I think there are a lot of people like me out there who would be quite pleasantly surprised and impressed by Dixie Dirt if they gave this album a shot.
Frantic Bleep, The Sense Apparatus (The End Records)
It's simply impossible to categorize this music. Yes, you could call it progressive metal, or refer to it as avant-garde. Sure, it's diverse and technical material, and you could draw comparisons to Opeth and Madder Mortem, or loose parallels to labelmates Arcturus and Peccatum, to name but a few. But the end result is something all its own, shifting quite frequently, but still coming off as fluid and linear... This is a fantastic debut. I'm thoroughly impressed and already excited about the band's future...
I was heavily interested in a lot of what The End Records was doing during the early years of Aversionline. The Sense Apparatus doesn't blow me away in 2025 the way it did two decades ago, but it's still a really cool album that's worth checking out if you're unfamiliar. Something about the fact that Frantic Bleep faded into obscurity afterward makes this one all the more peculiarly intriguing.
Klimt 1918, Dopoguerra (Prophecy Productions)
Quite a change this Italian band has taken since their debut, as despite a connection between the two records being rather evident, this outing is much less post-Brave Murder Day Katatonia and much more, say... Coldplay or something of that nature... There's something special about this record right off the bat, and even though it's not for everyone, I'd encourage any curious parties to at least give it a chance, because this act's not getting nearly enough attention yet...
My tolerance for post-rock/metal types of influences eroded significantly in the years that followed, as those characteristics became more and more ever-present within assorted forms of metal and adjacent sounds. So, these days, I'm a little more likely to grab the prior album, Undressed Momento, off the shelf. However, Dopoguerra remains very, very good. I wonder if this would actually be my true favorite if I spun both back-to-back? Hmmm...
Ludicra, Another Great Love Song (Alternative Tentacles)
I have to say, they're worth all the hype and then some... and they actually deserve way more attention than they're getting. The impressive vocals range from ripping screams and roaring snarls to a monotone form of singing, and while black metal may be the backbone of the music, there's way more happening. From tight tremolo picking and ragingly fast power chords to twisted discordant arpeggios or sinister clean passages there's a lot of wrenchingly emotional feeling to everything that's happening on this one...
Probably my favorite Ludicra release. Their inventiveness did seem to earn them a pretty solid level of respect, but whether or not it was "enough"? I'm not so sure...
Madball, Legacy (Ferret)
The definitive NYHC band, they've been doing the exact same thing for something like 15 years now. They know it, they cling to it, they love it, and people love 'em because of it. The interesting part's that despite all of the classic songs and albums in their back catalog, they still never miss. If there's one thing that can be said about this band it's that every Madball record is a great record... You know what to expect and the band delivers in full. If you're a Madball fan you can't lose. Ever. I fuckin' love these guys.
The last truly excellent Madball album for me. Not my favorite from their catalog, but so damn good that I would totally accept that argument.
The Psyke Project, Daikini (CPH-Sound)
What the hell!? Why am I only now hearing about this band? These fuckers hail from Denmark, and here on their second full-length they unload track after track of relentlessly doomy pummelings... I'm talking 14 tracks of absolutely crushing material chock full of massively intense rhythmic surges, loads of caustic textures and high-contrast tempo changes, punishing atmospheric dissonance, and some of the most over-the-top and venomous vocal screaming you'll ever encounter... A striking album, for sure.
As mentioned above with Klimt 1918, certain aspects of The Psyke Project's approach explore a degree of "post-" influences that I'm still burnt out on at present, but the fact that in this context they're contrasted by such abrasively crushing rhythms certainly helps. I need to give their early albums another spin sometime soon...
The Red Chord, Clients (Metal Blade Records)
Hell yeah, this shit is ferocious as fuck and the musicianship is super tight... Metalcore? Yeah, basically. The chaotic kind that jumps around a lot? Yeah. But what makes the difference is that these fuckers can really play, and most of what they're jumping around to is a technical spin on classic death metal and thrashy speeds with picking patterns that don't sound completely derivative against the landscape of what else is out there right now...
As touched upon during the intro, anything I owned by The Red Chord has mysteriously gone missing, which leads me to believe that I sold 'em during one of my pay-the-bills scalebacks or overzealous space-saving purges. Because, as has been well-established, I'm kind of a dumbass. Streaming Clients on Bandcamp right now, I need to rebuy this shit pronto. I done goofed.
Redemption, The Fullness of Time (Sensory)
This one's really got it all: soaring vocals, shitloads of blistering guitar solos all over the place, loads of shockingly tasteful keyboards that pretty much never come off as cheesy, and a rock-solid rhythm section with pulsing bass lines and just the right amount of subtle drum flare—all wrapped up in masterful songwriting that somehow cohesively blends showy musicianship and complex riffing with amazing choruses and interesting arrangements...
I've always been pretty picky about progressive metal, especially post-2000, so I still recall being surprised by how much I enjoyed this album, which came completely out of nowhere for me at the time. Oddly, I don't own any of Redemption's other output, but I should probably do some digging there...
Superstatic Revolution, Goodbye Mr. Wanton (Radar Swarm)
This is a damn fine record. There's definitely a little bit more of a focus on pulsing rhythms and surging riffs that are akin to a lot of what has in the past comprised the "Hydra Head sound" (think Knut, Cult of Luna, Isis, etc.), but these guys are definitely more diverse, easily swaying from pounding power chords to slick dissonant arpeggios or blazing speeds that are almost reminiscent of black metal... I'm a big fan of the Radar Swarm label and their releases deserve far more attention here in the U.S., so definitely look into this.
Whew, another French scorcher from the Radar Swarm camp. It's very possible that I haven't listened to this LP in over 15 years, and looking up Superstatic Revolution on Discogs right now I'm furious with myself for never having upgraded to a CD copy, nor checked out their other full-lengths. The only other release I have on hand is their split with Submerge. Damn. I need to fix this.
Victims, ...In Blood (Havoc Records)
19 tracks of ripping hardcore/punk in a mere 27 minutes! ...while their sound still bears resemblance to some of their fellow countrymen like Skitsystem and Wolfbrigade, this full-length puts them in their own realm and starts to solidify a sound that's more identifiable... A lot of the writing focuses more on heavy hardcore/punk that adds in some powerful melodic intensity and metallic heaviness without actually hitting on any true metal or relying on an overly heavy recording... Definitely grab this. Highly recommended.
What more really needs to be said? Victims' time on Havoc Records resulted in some of their most ferocious yet also memorable songwriting. Excellent.
Witch Hunt, ...As Priorities Decay (Profane Existence)
...as I had expected they've vastly improved. The songwriting is more focused yet more diverse and innovative for the genre, the playing is tighter, the performances stronger all around, etc. I'm all over this shit. They've still got a ton of vocal tradeoffs happening and the core of the material is still straightforward hardcore/punk, but they're more often throwing in little extras to color things up... Witch Hunt is definitely one of those bands that has something special about them...
I broke out a bunch of Witch Hunt tunes a week or so back and was surprised that I wasn't as enamored at this point in time. Perhaps it's because there's been another 20 years of music to digest? Not to take anything away from 'em, though. As heard above, they were definitely tweaking the crust punk "formula" into something of their own.
