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Looming stunned me with their new album Nailbiter. I was heavily anticipating Looming’s debut LP on No Sleep Records, but even I was shocked but how consistently excellent this record is. It is certainly a contender for the year's best debut album and will certainly be in my consideration for album of the year.

Tom's video review of the new album from In Writing's new album While You Were Away.

Tom's video review of the new Screaming Females album, Rose Mountain.

Believe it or not, No Closer To Heaven is a great, half-cohesive record. The songwriting is very explosive here. Dan's writing is the same as it always been, if not added with more bitter imagery than before. The Wonder Years have been the leading band of the genre for the past five years, and this album will not sell them short on anything.

Ramming Speed is an excitement to the community of metal. While nowhere near being pioneers or revolutionizing the genre, they offer their best talents to a frantic genre with plenty of passion backed into it.

Tom does a video review for the new album from Stolen Jars, Kept.

Peace Delusions is nothing short of odd. Described as "if In Utero was a hardcore record," the band has no problem shining in that light.

Emo-punk duo The Obsessives are leaving high school– and hometown Washington D.C.– behind with the release of their full length Heck No, Nancy. With surprising depth for such a young two-piece, both lyrically and sonically, this album marks their exit from naïve simplicity and welcomes them into the complex world of matured composition.  

With Dogs On Acid, a young group of guys wrote ten catchy tunes with 90s premonitions but with modern power and honesty. The group showcases their knack of writing distinct hooks with plenty of instrumental features to garnish them with.

Make War (formerly known as Sad And French) has released their self-titled LP, a reimagining of older songs with more punk rock embedded within.

For a majority of people including myself, a handful of records still stand the test of time as the measuring stick for new wave pop punk: The Wonder Years – The Upsides, Transit – Keep This To Yourself, and Fireworks – Gospel. Last year, Temple of Plenty by Somos took the scene by storm, and Copacetic is that album for 2015.

I've grown up listening to Defeater. The better part of my hardcore listening career has been spent walking the same streets that this World War II family has stepped through. The amount of hours I have analyzed lyrics and tried to piece the puzzle together has it's own reward because the music is urgent and exciting to listen too. Abandoned is the newest release that continues the lore and emotional story that the band has established.

The Space EP is the second concept EP we get from metalcore act The Devil Wears Prada. As the title suggests the theme this time is Space. We’ve seen a steady improvement from this band over the years, they’ve gone from a fairly generic metalcore act to a more interesting and heavier sound.

How to Treat the Ones You Love is Donovan Wolfington's first full-length on now-Cali-based Topshelf Records, but you wouldn't know it from the kick-ass songs it features. They've taken all the best aspects of their earlier music and pushed them further, namely the diversity of tones, balancing high intensity punk against melodic alternative and taking names all the while.

STREAM the album on Bandcamp.