It's Friday, sunny outside, and I'm stuck in here.
I loaded my ipod with cds my friends let me borrow and stuff I've downloaded over the years.
Here we go!

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Shai Hulud
Our Hearts Once Nourished With Hope And Compassion
(1997, 2006 remaster)
1. Solely Concentrating On The Negative Aspects Of
Life
2. My Heart Bleeds The Darkest Blood
3. Outside The Boundaries Of A Friend
4. Beliefs And Obsessions
5. A Profound Hatred Of Man
6. Beyond Man
7. This Wake I Myself Have Stirred
8. Eating Bullets Of Acceptance
9. For The World

There is no doubt that this is one of the most
important hardcore records to be released in the late
90's. Shai Hulud were definitely in a league of their
own with this collection of 9 of the most intense and
amazing pieces of music ever created in any genre.
This is solid proof that Hardcore bands can make
beautiful music. Most people can't believe upon first
listen that the vocalist for this band at the time was
Chad Gilbert, now guitar player for the pop-punk act
New Found Glory. His screams sound full of anguish and
despair, and makes the extremely thought provoking
messages behind Shai Hulud's songs communicate that
much better. The lyrics on this album are nothing less
than amazing. Some people tend to think that Shai
Hulud are just a bunch of angry guys yelling about how
much they hate everything. However the real message
Shai Hulud are trying to communicate through their
songs are how there are so many things wrong with the
world and mankind, and only by understanding what is
wrong with ourselves and our world, can we fix them.
Musically the band is just as amazing as heard in
"This Wake I Myself Have Stirred" when Matt and Oliver
trade off guitar parts.
This is probably the only hardcore record (aside from
PTW) that I can actually sit and enjoy the musical
quality behind it. I can describe this album in two
words: Absolutely Perfect.

The Hope Conspiracy
Cold Blue (2000)
1. Fragile
2. Bled Across The Wire
3. Truth And Purpose
4. Carved Out
5. Hope Bound Heart
6. Youth And It's Burden
7. Divinity Sickness
8. Consumed
9. You've Been Warned
10. Liars' Parade

First and foremost, THIS is the record that made me
believe the hardcore. There is something about this
album that just grabs you, beats the living fuck out
of you, and stomps on your face just to make sure
you're dead.
Kevin Baker writes some of the most amazing lyrics
I've ever heard. Rather than vocals consisting of some
sort of growl, his are just constant screams of anger.
Upon first listen, you'll easily recognize the
frustration vented. Years later, I find myself still
being amazed by this phenomenal album. Unfortunately,
this band wouldn't produce anything as good as this
ever since. Start to finish, this record embodies
everything that is true and great about modern
hardcore.

One King Down
God Loves, Man Kills (1998)
1. Deliver Me
2. In The Blood
3. Who Am I
4. God Loves, Man Kills
5. All To Gray
6. No Escape From Self
7. Indifferent Now
8. Forever Your Enemy
9. From Crade To Grave

Albany hardcore, straight-edge, vegan, whatever you
want to call them. This was something fresh and new at
a time when modern hardcore was growing fast. OKD
brought it hard. Catchy guitar riffs, but vocals are suffering (quite boring). The band broke up in 2002, but Rob
Fusco went on to become the new vocalist for another
vegan band, Most Precious Blood.

Buried Alive
The Death Of A Perfect World (1999)
1. Watching You Die
2. Kiss Of Death
3. Worthless
4. Nothing At All
5. Kill Their Past
6. Poisoned Seeds
7. The Death Of Your Perfect World
8. Empty Sky
9. Curse Of The Womb
10. Drenched In Disease
11. Six Month Face
12. To Live And Die With

Originally from Buffalo, NY, these guys brought a ferocious energy to shows unlike anything before. Scott Vogel has to be one of the hardest working
frontment in modern hardcore. This is just plain
brutal goodness. Vocals are incredible, guitars shred
your brain away. This band eventually became known as
"tough-guy hardcore". The lyrics are so easy, you can read once and relate to.
The band would break up a year later. Vogel formed his own supergroup hardcore band, Terror, which is one of the most widely recognized names in hardcore today.

Since The Flood
Valor And Vengeance (2005)
1. Valor And Vengeance
2. These Scars
3. In My Way
4. 24K
5. Up In Arms
6. The Only Way
7. In My Eyes
8. Enough Said
9. For Today
10. The World Is Dead To Me

Without doubt, the best release of the past couple years and one of my top 5 all-time. This band combines the best elements of classic hardcore and adds a modern twist to it. The end result is the most punishing thing I have ever heard. Their shows are cheap and ocaissionally free. The best representative of the new Boston hardcore sound. A "must listen".

Comeback Kid
Turn It Around (2003)
1. All In A Year
2. Give And Take
3. Die Tonight
4. Changing Face
5. Playing The Part
6. Always
7. Step Ahead
8. Operative Word
9. Biting Tongue
10. Something Less
11. Never Fade
12. Without A Word
13. Lorelei

CBK is probably the most successful hardcore band from Canada. Their sound leans more towards agressive "punk". Even so, there are still hardcore elements found a plenty. Songs are super fast, and have great sounding guitars. Two songs have breakdowns, but the rest of this record is aimed at producing a melodic hardcore punk sound, and this band does that very well. The singer's voice is a little on the high pitched end, as if it's a 16 year-old doing the vocals. Great band.

I saw Shai Hulud with The Haunted like 4 years ago

Hatebreed
Satisfaction Is The Death Of Desire (1997)
1. Empty Promises
2. Burn The Lies
3. Before Dishonor
4. Conceived Through An Act Of Violence
5. Puritan
6. Afflicted Past
7. Prepare For War
8. Betrayed By Life
9. Not One Truth
10. Mark My Words
11. Last Breath
12. Burial For The Living
13. Worlds Apart
14. Driven By Suffering

Hatebreed is argueably the biggest hardcore band in the world. Although, they've veered off the path after this album, "Satisfaction..." gives a clear explaination as what their roots were. Jamey Jasta channeled his views of their world into what seems like hate-filled lyrics. This is true to a certain extent, but he also wants the listener to learn from his mistakes. Bands like this and Blood for Blood, Strife, etc, get a bad rap for writing too mufch about what they hate. Musically, Hatebreed keeps it simple, but powerful. The songs have plenty of what gets your blood moving: grinding guitar, punishing breakdowns, and vocals you can make out easily. Personally, I think Hatebreed was victim to much mainstream attention and therefore lost the elements that made them great in the first place. Regardless, this is a record everyone must take a listen to.

Death Threat
Peace And Security (2000)
1. Dead At Birth
2. Live And Learn
3. Disgrace
4. Outcast
5. You're The One
6. Life Sentence
7. Peace And Security?
8. Faded
9. Never Again
10. Misled
11. Nowhere Fast
12. Social Decay

Hailing from Bridgeport, CT, Death Threat presents a
classic hardcore attitude with modern twist. The songs
are fast, heavy, and leave you beaten up. The vocals
are done in an aggressive spoken word (rather than
screaming) and the words are easily understandable.
Lyrics are aimed towards a positive lifestyle, while
teaching real-world smarts. Dead At Birth is the song
that got me into this band, so download it.

I liked this album a lot.

Madball
Droppin' Many Suckers (1992)
1. Spit On Your Grave
2. Never Had It
3. Across Your Face
4. Step To You
5. No Return
6. Blame, The
7. We Should Care
8. Get Out
9. It's My Life
10. Ready To Fight
11. Friend Or Foe

These guys must've made NWA look like sissys. This is
really good stuff here. A lot of elements of classic
hardcore punk are heard here. Most songs are fast as
hell and are over before you know it. For its time,
there was nothing more hardcore than this. It's hard
to believe that after nearly 20 years, these guys are
still kicking ass on a regular basis. Brooklyn hardcore at its finest.

All Out War
For Those Who Were Crucified (1998)
1. Soaked In Torment
2. Burning Season
3. For Those Who Were Crucified
4. Resist
5. Claim Your Innocence
6. False Salvation
7. Redemption For The Innocent
8. Witness The End
9. Into The Flames Of Progression
10. After Autumn
11. Enemies Of Creation
12. Truth In The Age Of Lies
13. Apocalyptic Terror

Notice the name of the band? Yeah they mean it. This
record makes me want to kill something. Heavy guitars
and complicated song structures make songs listenable
time after time. Tempo goes from slow to fast in an
instant. AOW played a key item in Albany hardcore and toured relentlessly. Good stuff.

Comeback Kid is good stuff. Thanks for turning me onto them before i saw them open for the Dropkick Murphy's. It was nice knowing all the songs before going in. They put on one hell of a show.

Shai Hulud really went downhill after that 2nd album (6 years after the first release). I thought Geert was by far their best vocalist. Unfortunately, he left the band last year and was replaced by one of their fans. Oh well, they'll always be remembered for "Our Hearts..".

Yeah this was definitely the shit when you first hear it. Everyone has this one. You don't know what a sellout band is until you've heard the difference between their first and second full-length records.

I've never seen them live.

Between the Buried and Me!

the newest hope conspiracy cd is where its at

Bane
It All Comes Down To This (1999)
1. F**k What You Heard
2. Struck Down By Me
3. The Paint Chips Away
4. My Cross To Bear
5. What Makes Us Strong
6. Can We Start Again
7. I Once Was Blind
8. Place In The Sun
9. Her Lucky Pretty Eyes
10. A Bridge Too Far

Bane is the predecessor to CBK. Bane is the original Massachusettes hardcore punk outfit. The songs are fast, fun, and have something you don't see much in hardcore today: heart. This band gained a huge following shortly after this release. They became regulars at events such as Hellfest and toured like crazy. The lyrics contain tons of metaphors and figurative speech, and still holds up its original meaning without getting into too much detail. Another great band.

my buddy gave me 2 bane cds a while ago

i gotta find them, they were pretty good

i don't think i'd call them hardcore, but boy, do they fucking rule!

Bane