The Batlord

Given my newness to the genre and only skin deep knowledge of hardcore in general, it's hard to know just how early certain sounds evolved, but Unbroken seem to have been at the cutting edge of metalcore around the early-mid nineties, with a groovier, brutally metallic version of hardcore clearly indebted to Pantera, much like contemporaries Earth Crisis. I give Unbroken the edge over that band due to eventually developing a bit more class in their songwriting that let them hit just that much harder. My love for Madball and Sick of It All is being sorely tested by their more abrasive and rifftastic contemporaries. Being a metalhead first and foremost, the more metal in my punk the better.

I unfortunately can't find their debut EP anywhere, or even a tracklisting to help me find the songs individually -- I'm pretty sure it was a cassette, hence it's apparent unavailability. The earliest recording I can find is a single from '92, You Won't Be Back/Pain Thy Face, that shows that their brutal, relatively mid-paced metalcore sound was nearly realized, even if they were closer to hardcore than they would become (Thank god for a compilation album or else I imagine tracking these songs down would be a bitch, although I imagine the production has been cleaned up.) Certainly not bad stuff, but they would do better.






'93 saw their first album, Ritual. At this point they were still a relatively more traditionally hardcore band than they would be shortly. The core sound is still present and correct, but they're not quite there. Looking at RYM this album got a much lower rating than their sophomore, Life. Love. Regret., but though this isn't quite as accomplished and monumental as that album, it still kicks mucho asso, with bone crushing riffs and breakdowns that must have ****ing obliterated a mosh pit, and even the odd solo. RYM is out of its mind.






Next is a split recorded in '93 but released in '94 with some band called Groudwork, containing two songs (both of which would go on their sophomore album). The sound is further developed and even heavier this time around, with an abrasive production that really crushes you into the dirt.

No Youtube vids of the single versions, but I gots a Grooveshark link.

Grooveshark - Free Music Streaming, Online Music

Also in '94 were both a single and an EP (And/Fall on Proverb and Fall on Proverb respectively. The EP has the same songs as the single, plus two more. I suspect these may have been some previously unreleased songs as they are more primitive, straight-up hardcore than what they had released even on Ritual. Not essential by any means, but not bad either.




And now we come to the band's crowning achievement, Life. Love. Regret. ...




This is a large step up from the debut, both in the evolution of their style, songwriting skills, and maturity. Where before they had been a metallic hardcore band of note, now they merge their crushing riffs and breakdowns with quieter moments that really create a dark, misanthropic atmosphere that simply seethes with rage.

But even with a bump in creativity, this is far from some tame, melodic hardcore release. This is a brutal metalcore album that goes for the throat, with any experimental flourishes merely adding dimension to their sound rather than dominating it, with heavy doses of Slayer riffs add a nice balance. Life. Love. Regret. basically made Hatebreed irrelevant two years before they would even release their debut.





After this they would release a couple more singles, but that was pretty much the end for the band. Luckily they'd left us with at least one stone cold classic album with which to bash in our skulls.


Apparently the even recorded a cover of Joy Division's "Love Will Tear Us Apart" for some odd reason. They play it in a much more straight punk/melodic hardcore way than is their usual way. A vaguely humorous curio. There are some discrepancies between RYM, Wikipedia, and Discogs as to when this song was released (either '95 or '98).

__________________