Weekly Update #41 – February 23, 2025

FEATURED ALBUM
Silverstein // Antibloom
Released: February 21, 2025

It’s unbelievable that Silverstein has stayed so consistent after making music for 25 years. Of course, they’ve had a few ups and downs as they tested new ideas, but their post-hardcore DNA is ever-present.

Most importantly, they haven’t grown up. The “emo” teenage angst of their early material is still a big part of their sound. It helps that post-hardcore is meant to sound that way, but I give Silverstein a lot of credit for avoiding the identity crisis that a lot of bands seem to face when they enter adulthood after getting big by making music for an adolescent audience. 

But Silverstein didn’t force themselves to “mature,” and they didn’t become a historical relic with an aging fanbase. Their music continues to appeal to a younger audience because they never tried to change styles. Their youthful lyrics, catchy choruses, and sensible mix of screams is the perfect gateway. It has bite, but it isn’t scary. 

With 11 albums under their belt, Silverstein has a massive discography for old fans to return to, and they aren’t slowing down with new releases either. While ‘Antibloom’ is relatively short at only 23 minutes, it is only the first part of a double album. The second half, titled ‘Pink Moon,’ is scheduled for later in 2025.

Getting into the specifics of ‘Antibloom,’ it’s probably not shocking that I prefer the heavier songs. That being said, “Don’t Let Me Get Too Low” has huge energy despite having so few screams – definitely a surprise stand out. The other soft tracks are somewhat subdued but build over time.

“Mercy Mercy” is a fiery opener that has a little “Every Time I Die” attitude at the start. The true standout though is definitely “Skin & Bones.” The chorus is phenomenal. It’s one of my favorite songs from the last year. Just an absolute blast that always gets stuck in my head.

It seems like 25 years in, Silverstein is bigger than ever. The softer tracks don’t quite do it for me, but there are always two or three heavier ones that are just outstanding. They’ve got the formula down and I’ll take it.

Playlist of New Songs

Quick playlist highlights: I’m going to start doing the playlists a little differently in the near future. Instead of making a new one each week, I’m going to have one single playlist that is continuously updated. I’ll keep the 100 most recently added songs on the playlist (so if I add 15 one week, that means the oldest 15 will be removed). This means that you won’t be able to go back and listen to a playlist from last year, which is a bummer, but I can’t have 50+ playlists crowding my Spotify anymore. Having random songs in all these playlists is also making it tough to tell which ones need to be on my “greatest heavy songs of all time” playlist that I’m still working on for you guys.

– Heavensgate – “Oblivion.”
I loved their 2023 EP and they continue to push that sound. Of all the Dealer copycats, these guys might be my favorite.

– Church Tongue – “You’ll Know It Was Me.”
I listened to this EP a few times and really enjoyed it. The vocalist is also one of the vocalists of PsychoFrame (a wild deathcore band), but Church Tongue is metalcore so it’s interesting to hear a different style from him. This song features the vocalist of Deafheaven which is super cool.

– Ameonna – “The Birth of Death.”
This is Ameonna’s third EP in the last 13 months. In case you forgot, this is Alex Koehler’s new band (he was the original vocalist of Chelsea Grin). This is solid heavy music – most similar to how he sounded on ‘Ashes To Ashes’ in 2014. I feel like a full length album has to be in the works soon.

– Killswitch Engage – “Forever Aligned.”
I think I hate this. It’s obviously not stadium rock, but it’s just like…clearly geared toward the lowest common denominator of listeners. Maybe it’s the fact that it is heavy, but there’s just so much better heavy music out there compared to this.

– Memphis May Fire – “The Other Side.”
This song also sucks. I’m just including it so I can say how insane it is that this is the EIGHTH single from Memphis May Fire’s unreleased album. There are only two unreleased songs left. The songs (other than this one) have been pretty good, but I hope this album flops because I will lose it if other bands start copying this marketing strategy.

– Bleeding Through – “Nine.”
I enjoyed their new album a lot – I almost reviewed it this week instead of Silverstein. It’s kind of like a mix of Motionless In White and Carnifex. It has a few symphonic elements and it hits pretty hard. Might actually be my favorite release from them so far.

– Orthodox – “Commit to Consequence.”
These guys are gearing up to release an album this year. They haven’t broken through yet, but I’ve enjoyed their prior work. Metallic hardcore has been back in style and their grooves might be enough to get their head out above the rest.

– Traitors – “No Witness.”
Traitors just released a new album. I haven’t listened yet, but Tyler Shelton is a beast of a vocalist. They occupy a weird spot in deathcore so it’s hard to tell if they’re trending up or down.

– Axty – “Fragile.”
There aren’t many Brazilian bands that I’m aware of, but these guys caught my attention over the last year. The heavy parts remind me of Left To Suffer and the dynamic singing is reminiscent of Landmvrks.

– Scowl – “B.A.B.E.”
I hardly ever care about hardcore punk, but Scowl’s last three singles have been so interesting. The choruses are dreamy and then the screams are razor sharp. Really cool dichotomy.

– Justice For The Damned – “The Current.”
Finally, a new song after four years. Their 2020 album was solid. Hopefully they haven’t lost too much momentum after taking such a long break.

– ten56. – “Earwig.”
It’s crazy hearing Aaron Matts go all out again. I was disappointed with how Betraying The Martyrs changed over the years, and he obviously was too. He abandoned ship at the perfect time and created something even better.

– Body Prison – “Wounds Will Heal.”
This is a super exciting young band from Australia. I’m going to go back and listen to their debut album today because their next album comes out on February 28. I really like the melancholy atmosphere of this track.

DRAMA – The Amity Affliction Officially Kicked Out Ahren Stringer

To close the chapter on a topic that I mentioned in my 39th newsletter, The Amity Affliction has officially kicked out their clean singer, Ahren Stringer. Ahren also made an interesting post, adding fuel to the fire.

Honestly, I said in best in the 39th newsletter so I’ll just repeat it here. There’s a lot of speculation, but the most popular theory is that Ahren Stringer has been struggling with addiction and has refused the band’s request to get sober. It’s kind of a weird situation because Joel Birch, the band’s screamer, and also one of the biggest whiners on the planet, has had his fair share of difficulties – he’ll be nine years sober in March if that gives you an idea. So for a band that constantly sings about suicide, struggles with mental health, and fighting addiction, it’s kind of wild to see them turn their back on its only remaining original member – a guy Joel has described as a brother.

The Amity Affliction has had a lot of ups and downs…mostly downs in recent times. We’ll see if they can recover from this. It will really depend on who their new singer is – Joel and the other members can’t carry the band on their own.