"Let me show you how we do it in the South..."

Hello readers.

In a further episode of 'there is so much good metal out at the moment that it's giving me an anxiety attack' I want to draw your attention to the fact that there is currently a weirdly large amount of ass-kicking rock and roll being sent to the rest of the world from the southern states of the United States of America.

I mean this isn't entirely a novel idea. The southern states have given us Lamb of God, Mastodon, Power Trip, Norma Jean, and a tonne of others. But this is in the spirit of a lot else also going on at the mo, particularly in the hardcore and hardcore-adjacent scenes and so we need to share it.

I'm out of time for writing a lot about each of these bands individually and that would make this email longer than anyone would ever read, so here's just a list of shit that rips instead.

Whitechapel (Tennessee)

Very deep, profound death metal from one of the scene's leaders. Crosses over into melodic / thrash / deathcore too and very worthy.

Orthodox (Tennessee)

Orthodox is a nasty band from Tennessee. Sinister hardcore.

Gideon (Alabama)

Cowboy hardcore from Alabama. Lets go.

Gates To Hell (Kentucky)

Hard, thrashy, discordant heavy metal from Kentucky.

Kublai Khan (Texas)

Tough-guy party hardcore for driving a truck really fast to.

Knocked Loose (Kentucky)

Kentucky industry darlings specialising in very nasty, dark hardcore that wanders into doomy death stuff too. Grammy nominated.

Greyhaven (Kentucky)

There is something in the water in Kentucky. Greyhaven are for fans of Norma Jean, ETID (RIP), The Chariot, etc. Groovy, thrashy hardcore with big melody too.

Poison The Well (Florida)

Poison The Well are back after like a long hiatus. This band are pioneers and make a lot of modern hardcore what it is today. New single rips.

'68 (Georgia)

68 are just an incredibly badass hardcore / rock 'n' roll duo. Just outstanding stuff. Huge swagger, really nasty production, and excellent lyrically. I want to be in this band.

Cane Hill (Louisiana)

Hugely melodic, progressive nu-metal reboot from Louisiana. Really good songwriting too. Lots of synths, which is cool as hell.

Chat Pile (Oklahoma)

Chat Pile is a sort of creepy trash-punk rock band from Oklahoma. I guess Oklahoma is in the south. I think it is anyway. This whole record is ridiculous, unsettling, arty, dark shit and it's great.

Full of Hell (Maryland)

Full of Hell is a shockingly good noise metal / hardcore / thrash band from Maryland. Music to get into multiple car wrecks to.

Underoath (Florida)

Underoath are having a post-religion, innovation renaissance. The new record is very good.

Happy weekend, folks. Hope you find something you enjoy.

Laters on the Menjay.

🕶️🖤