Von Wolfe

Mitch Hedberg once said (or probably repeated the joke many times, actually), "Because of acid I now know that butter is way better than margarine.  I saw through the bullshit."  Now, I'm not suggesting the guys in Von Wolfe are on acid, but if they were it would make sense because they have drafted up a blueprint of bullshitless southern hardcore that is more honest, soulful, and heavier than the trendy song and dance acts of similar sounding bands.

When most think southern tinged metallic hardcore there's most likely going to be an echo of Every Time I Die riffs bouncing across ear drums.  That's definitely an accurate comparison as Von Wolfe is a very riff heavy band with a noticeable twang. The difference (other than actually being from the south) is Von Wolfe channels a more traditional hardcore influence rather than Lynyrd Skynyrd making out with Poison the Well in an I-10 rest stop stall.  There's not any singing or any attempt to water down the metallic riffs so that they'd feel comfortable floating down the Chattooga River like Maylene.  No, Von Wolfe's brand of hardcore is more along the lines of pissed off bands like Cursed, or some of the straightened out moments of Converge.  The vocals are also a bit on the Cursed side and have that overdriven coarse scream of fellow southerner Josh Scogin of The Chariot.

Their debut EP, Life's a Beach, is fast, heavy, relentless and very well recorded.  Sure there's some breakdowns and a couple of two-step moments, but nothing that feels trite or worn out.  There isn't much on the record that strays from their formula, but with only an EP's worth of material it doesn't get old and requires a few extra spins to indulge in the havoc (listen to it below).

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Let's Talk About Noisecore

Noisecore is like a less refined (in a good way) version of tech metal and also similar to metalcore, but without any of the breakdowns or singing choruses (soooo, early metalcore).  The first noisecore record I had ever heard was Deadguy's Screamin' with the Deadguy Quintet.  After the departure of Tim Singer and Keith Huckins, Deadguy's sound took on a faster more dissonant off-beat direction (perhaps because of the addition of Jim Baglino from Human Remains) and also Pops' vocals were far more screechy and less intelligible than Tim Singer's angry yells.  Though, I'm sure there were some really good noisecore records before this, Screamin'... is a good barometer to measure current noisy bands against.  Some other noisier bands from the late 90's early 00's included Burnt by the Sun (also boasting Human Remains alumn), Anodyne, and Playing Enemy.  It was about that time that Calculating Infinity really took off and As the Sun Sets second album that featured shorter grindier songs came out.  As a result, bands that may have headed in the noisecore direction gravitated more towards tech metal or pseudo-grind.  I bring this up because in the past year or so I have heard of a few newer bands that tackle the noisecore sound with the caustic nostalgia of the turn of the century.

Kiss the Sky Goodbye
I've heard rumors that Baltimore, Maryland is grimy and dirty and kind of dangerous.  If that's true then Kiss the Sky Goodbye embodies the nature of their hometown as they tear through 5 tracks on their 2009 Ignite Records debut EP Fuck.  KTSG only slow down to produce the somber outro on the final track, but by then their noisecore cyclone has already shredded your ears.

Panic Candy
I guess I heard this band on one of the many Mecha Organa compilations, but just overlooked it.  When I finally noticed this band is on bandcamp while doing a search for bands that sound like Converge.  It's somewhat of an accurate comparison, but Panic Candy, from the suburbs of Boston, is a little more unhinged and chaotic and bring about far more shifts in their music per song.  Vocals similar to the above Kiss the Sky Goodbye, that overdriven screech, though not as high pitched.  Panic Candy also uses a bit more double bass, yet also a little (only slightly) less breakneck speed.  Their debut self titled EP came out at the end of last year.

Meek is Murder
The only full length of the bunch, Meek is Murder definitely uses their time to explore aspects of noisecore other than just going fast and seeing how many changes they can legitimately slam into a song in under 2 minutes (though there is plenty of that, too).  Meek... shares some similarities with Inevitable End and the vocals kind of have that Chris Colohan of Cursed if he were really paranoid vibe.