Album review by Cody-James Henderson
The landscape of all things heavy in the music scene is a varying mountain range. It’s hard for those getting into all things heavy nowadays to comprehend how bands like Lorna Shore, Thy Art is Murder and Kublai Khan came from the same cloth as Black Sabbath, but the ever-evolving landscape has kept the genre fresh for well over five decades now.
Somewhere in the late 70’s, heavy music started to get faster, more aggressive, more sinister. The Punk and Metal world collided and gave birth to what we know as ‘Hardcore’. From Black Flag, Suicidal Tendencies, Dead Kennedys and many more leading the flag to begin with, we arrive in 2024 with the new flag bearers; Knocked Loose. The band seemingly blew up overnight in 2016 with ‘Counting Worms’ (Also known as the Arf Arf song) the band was quickly in the limelight of all things Hard & Heavy and since then, they have taken the ball and continued to run with it. Every release going from the rawest form of Hardcore, to the full extreme of down tuned, chugging manic, all-round mayhem. Five years from their last album A Different Shade of Blue and 2 EPs, the band is back with album three: You Won’t Go Before You’re Supposed To. A full-scale look into the trauma of a religious upbringing faced by members of KL. The band haven’t strayed from this topic in the past, but with a whole album influenced by it, just how far could Knocked Loose take it?
Well enjoy the first 25 seconds of clanging metal and doors on the opening track ‘Thirst’ because for the next minute and a half, your ears are going to be thrown into what can only be described as a circle pit of listening as everything comes crashing in at the same time. Screams accompanied by the harshest guitar noises you may ever hear provide a layer of blasting hi-tempo drums that just take everything to beyond 100. There is very little time to breathe in this track and part of me thinks it’s going to be like this for the rest of the album. ‘Piece By Piece’ feeds us a more traditional hardcore groove introduction before taking us back to the past paced action. The emotion of vocalist Bryan Garris is further enforced by the backing vocals of guitarists Isaac Hale and Nicko Calderon adding so much depth to the stories being told. Garris has evolved incredibly as a vocalist over the last decade, and this album is a deliverance of some of his clearest but most intense work yet.
“Are you conscious behind the knife?”
For those unaware, Hardcore is based on unity, friendship and support. Garris is no stranger to featuring on other pieces of work, but this time around its time for friends to add their efforts to Knocked Loose. So, when the album was announced and fans saw Poppy featuring on the bands track ‘Suffocate’ a lot of ears perked up. The often-clear voice Pop-Metal artist delivers one of the most intense features of 2024, going from full intensity to being eerily calm in a split second. There is every right for this to be considered as one of the best heavy songs of the year and all dynamics are on show. Compared to prior releases, the production of this definitely feels a little cleaner, but don’t mistake that as a bad thing. What this does for the album is allow each element of the band to shine without losing its ability get down and absolutely filthy. Plus, the snare drum on each track feels like a dodgeball right to the eardrum. If you can get through this listen without wanting to destroy anything around you, I commend you.
“When your arms are too weak to reach for God; Don’t reach for me”
The pure disdain for religious constitutions is on full display during ‘Don’t Reach for Me’. As the band calls out the hypocrisy of their experiences whilst being a united force for anyone with their own trauma, there is the opportunity to release all that may be pent up inside the listener’s mind. Call it sacrilegious, but the disdain of one, is a saving grace for another. ‘Moss Covers All’ is a short old school stabby Hardcore tune that serves as a bridge into ‘Take Me Home’ a more slow burning tune that breaks the mould of a traditional Hardcore song, for a more Nu Metal intermission style track. This experimentation gives a more haunting feel that sits outside the box of “traditional” Hardcore but in turn, gives a more refreshing listen. It’s not exactly re-inventing the wheel but it makes for a fantastic listening experience.
Sequels in music aren’t a common thing, nor is it something that’s easy to execute. Metallica may have hit out of the park with the three ‘Unforgiven’ parts, but not every song is worthy of a follow up. But what Knocked Loose opted for with ‘Slaughterhouse 2’ was to reverse the roles of the 2022 Motionless in White track ‘Slaughterhouse’. This time, vocalist Chris Motionless takes the backseat to Garris whilst continuing the violent thematic notions that were set on the original track. Does it hold up to its predecessor? It’s hard to say with the original setting the benchmark so high. But hearing Chris bust out another “One Mutilation, Under God” is definitely a highlight.
‘The Calm That Keeps You Awake’ is one of the standout tracks on an album full of diamonds. It’s a 2 minute showcase that screams that was once old can be new again, seeing the band combine the thrashing sounds of Hardcore with an interesting percussive beat collaborating with the drums. Something so simple adds such a sinister element to this track that isn’t just a run of the mill Hardcore song. Not that there is anything wrong with that, as ‘Blinding Faith’ follows up giving Knocked Loose fans old and new exactly what they’re looking for. A full three minutes of tempo changing, two stepping, soul crushing Hardcore that culminates with a filthy guttural performance from Garris, the likes of which we have never heard from him before. This is one of those songs that will make a new generation of heavy music fans.
“Will you inherit my grief if I finally choose to sleep?”
‘Sit and Mourn’ is as poetic and beautiful as an album closer can be. For the first time in over 20 minutes, listeners have a chance to catch their breath as the odd chirping of birds and light hearted guitar works pathe the way for the most lyrically heavy song on the album. It’s much slower paced, showcasing less of an emphasis on the music at hand driving the emotion home, but instead the words of Garris.
This feels like the ultimate reflection song, a chance for Garris to reflect on the trauma he has written about but using that hate and energy to protect the innocence inside. The heavier musical elements of this song are broken up between sections of ambience, its craft gives the listener to sit with themselves and process exactly what they had just bare witness too. An audible chance to sit in ones shoes. It is a beautifully curated song, and may just be one of the best songs have ever composed.
Clocking in at just 27 minutes, by legal standards You Won’t Go Before You’re Supposed To barely classifies as an album. But screw the standards, because the only standard we need to worry about is the standard that Knocked Loose have set here. This is by far one of the most well crafted albums of 2024 and may just be one of the strongest entries of modern day Hardcore in general. There is something about this album that makes it feel like it will stand the test of anyone that attempts to knock it down.
I mentioned earlier that Knocked Loose haven’t exactly re-invented the wheel, but they’ve damn near perfected it. This is a top tier AOTY contender, and I doubt it’s going to be #2.
OVERALL RATING: 9.5/10
STANDOUT TRACKS: ‘Suffocate’, ‘The Calm That Keeps You Awake’, ‘Sit and Mourn’
