I have not listened to most of these albums in years but this thread reminded me of them.
CATHARSIS - Passion
'Passion' is a great album mixing various influences to form a distinctive and quite original kind of hardcore. You can check the lyrics and the whole anarcho-crust ideology of the band but you don't have to if you just want to enjoy some brutal and dark music. One of the best hardcore I saw live too.
MORNING AGAIN - Hand Of Hope
If you like Poison The Well and the likes, be sure to check Morning Again (pretty much the starting point of this whole 'scene'). Great metallic hardcore with catchy choruses and a lot of moshable breakdowns. And just enough melodic sense not to grow bored of it in two months. A short album (or a long EP) that you will listen times and times again.
CAVE-IN - Until Your Heart Stops
Cave-In changed completely their sound after this album but you can already feel that there is more than metallic hardcore to this band. Hints of psychedelia, a pat on the back to NWOBHM and some weird experiments get along with their own blend of complex and brutal hardcore. A light version of Converge for some, I think this album is better that anything Converge ever released.