HxC: The New Wave of Hardcore

Music has such a wide variety of sound and styles it’s hard to capture everything a band or musician has to offer under one specific genre. Hardcore is no exception. With influences from metal, punk, grindcore, ska, death and thrash metal along with all the anger and politics thrown together, it creates what we can loosely call hardcore music. The one thing that brings all hardcore punk bands together is their absolute love for the music and affiliated culture … and the fast-paced, pissed-off sound the majority of the bands have.

Hardcore can branch off into different types of sound, depending on the band’s influences. These new-age, punk-influenced bands take notes from the original hardcore bands who have more of a metal influence, and they created a lifestyle out of it with the same original metal hardcore bands as their idols. The fluidity of the genre has helped the sound evolve into the new-age subset in which Providence is making waves.

With Mass. right next door, local bands are able to play with some of the biggest names from Boston, Merrimack Valley and the Western Mass. hardcore scene. And one of the largest hardcore labels, Bridge 9, is in Massachusetts, which also gives RI bands the opportunity to play with some of their inspirations. New Providence hardcore band, Waste Of Life, had the chance to play with the group that they pull most influence from, Rude Awakening from Merrimack Valley, earlier this summer in New Hampshire. Violent Sons, another hardcore punk band from Providence, got signed to Bridge 9 records in early July, which just adds to list of sick things happening in the Providence scene. Venues like Firehouse 13, AS220, The Funky Jungle, The Met, and Machines With Magnets all support the flourishing hardcore scene in Rhode Island. More and more shows will be popping up in venues like these, so keep your eyes peeled and ears open for all the chaos that this scene has to offer.

Upcoming Albums

• Cruel Hand drops their new album The Negatives September 23. This is the first album they have released since 2010. The record release show is being held in Portland, Maine, on September 20 with Bane.

• Punch just released their new LP They Don’t Have To Believe through Deathwish Records. They will be playing close by in Boston on September 8.

• Western Mass. hardcore band Revenge is releasing their new full length The Heavens Are Empty in late September. Their record release show will be September 14 in Holyoke, Mass.

• Providence hardcore punk band Violent Sons recently released their full-length Nothing As It Seems in September, with their record release show at AS220 on September 25.

Upcoming Shows

• September 6 AS220 — Fucking Invincible, Straight Razor, Death Injection, Wokling.
• September 25 AS220 — Violent Sons (LP Release), Caught in a Crowd, My Fictions, Barber Cop.
• October 3 Lupos — The Wonder Years, The Story So Far, Modern Baseball, Gnarwolves.
• October 5 Firehouse 13 — Expire, Rude Awakening, Caught in a Crowd, 1 local tba.
• October 18 The Met — Transit, Such Gold, Driver Friendly.