KNOCKED LOOSE

You Won’t Go Before You’re Supposed To (Pure Noise)

These songs – comprising the third album by Kentucky metallic hardcore band Knocked Loose – are made to be played live, covered in sweat, and struggling to stay on two feet among an adrenaline fuelled crowd of crazy fools. The production is polished, but the chugging low-end power chords and powerful kickdrums are full of life. The expected huge shoutalong moments are present, with punishing halftime sections and breakdowns that carry a satisfying weight. There are only so many ways to skin a breakdown, but there are some tricks like playing above the nut and signposting a pattern with melodic percussive elements to keep things interesting.

A particular highlight appears during Suffocate, where a slowed-down Omar Souleyman-style beat comes out of leftfield and kicks your tits off. Love it or hate it, I challenge anyone to listen to this album without putting on a stinkface and imagining windmilling into the nearest person or object in a five-metre vicinity before smashing it into its constituent parts.

words GARETH MOULE