Knocked Loose – A Tear In The Fabric Of Life
A review in some words
Nicholas Minyard
Rating: 8/10 Stars
Hey all! Nicholas here, with my first review for Sounds From The Basement! WOO!
Now, when I was laying out my sacrifice to Zebulon, patron deity of reviews and all else, asking for something to review from the great great review distributors here at SFTB, I thought to myself, “I have been a good noodle all year, remembered my vegetables, thought about punching fascists, and all around did some cool stuff, hopefully the mighty Zebulon will bless my ears and fingers with something rad to review!” And thus, finally, in the middle of a lucid dream about bees, Zebulon came to me and handed me my first review! As I opened the 19 sided box and looked upon my bounty I thought to myself “Goddamnit.” It was for a band I, honestly, don't particularly enjoy. Knocked Loose. Now, before you all try to crucify me for my blasphemy, it's not like I haven't tried to like them. With as much praise and clout as they get, I can say that I have listened to almost everything they have released in an attempt to get into them. Hell, I have even seen them live twice! Now, while they put on a hell of a show, I'm not particular to their music...
Until now.
Now, before I get into the review, let me explain my rating system for Hardcore/Metalcore releases. I prefer to do it on a 0-10 star system, 0 being whatever that one local band who get absolutely hammered and attempt to be Dr. Acula at half speed with 1/1000th of the talent sounds like (yeah, you know the one), and 10 being Jane Doe, Where Blood And Fire Bring Rest, and The Fiction We Live. You get it. Now, onto the album!
I went into this review with an open mind while also keeping in mind what I have heard with their older stuff. I booted up the first track, Where Light Divides the Holler, and once the actual music started, I quickly found myself bobbing my head without even realizing it. Touches of chaotic hardcore and even some odd time signatures prevailed throughout the track, and I found myself wondering “Huh, wonder what the next track sounds like.” and by god, I found out. God Knows started off with a nice and punishing drum beat and went into a solid death metal-esque ass beater of a track. At this point, I wondered about the lyrics to these songs, because the few lines I picked up on sounded pretty emotional. I went and read them, and I was surprised. Most of the time, bands like this I expect to have some standard issue hype lyrics, vague metaphors about being sad, or, as I like to call it, “blah blah I hate myself but want a big tiddy goth gf” type beats. But here, I found a lovely flow that read like poetry more than song lyrics, giving pretty big Jacob Bannon vibes. Someone should go check on Bryan Garris, he might need a hug and a glass of water. Next up was Forced To Stay, which is probably a standout track for me, and good gravy is this song tight. Solid drumwork and guitar riffs that almost read more black metal than metalcore/hardcore, and let me tell you, that gives me the big excite. The flow, composition, and vocals all blend together beautifully into a darkened hardcore track, which felt real nice paired with the cold wind this morning. Next up was Contorted in the Faille, which honestly, felt kind of boring to me. While the previous tracks all felt experimental and progressive, this one felt like returning to “ol' reliable” and just felt like an every day standard issue punch-ya-friends metalcore track for all the moshers and two-steppers, which is a bummer, because the opening and that little pre-breakdown diddy really got me interested. Now, as for Return To Passion, this felt much more my wheelhouse. Chaotic, insane mathcore-esque riffs and them oh-so needed panic chords really got me going. I almost forgot I was listening to Knocked Loose and felt more like I accidentally put on a Car Bomb song. Really really solid, I can see myself putting that on a playlist or two. However, the last song on the album, Permanent, is in my opinion, the weakest of the songs. It felt very forgettable, similar to Contorted in the Faille, where it just felt like they went back to what sells and what the kids want. A standard issue metalcore song, and while that is not a bad thing, it wasn't what I wanted out of the album as a whole. I did, however, very much appreciate how the song ended. A nice fadeaway into nothingness, which is exactly how this album needed to end. After the lyrics and the music combined, tthis album seeps the feeling of loneliness and nothingness.
As a whole, this EP is definitely a solid effort from the boys from Kentuck. It has all of the hallmarks of a solid metalcore/hardcore band, but most importantly it has the sounds of a band who isn't happy with their sound, and are unafraid to experiment with different sounds, which is what I want to hear in an EP. While EP generally stands for Extended Play, being a length between a single/demo and an album, I feel like it should have a sub-designation, being Experimental Progress. EP's are, on large, ignored by most fans of bands, opting to go out and get the full album as opposed to a snippet of a bands efforts, so an EP is the perfect time for a band to try out new sounds and new techniques, which is exactly what Knocked Loose did for this release. I'm awarding this EP a surprising for me 8 out of 10 stars, and while it's no Jane Doe, it sure as hell is on it's way. The more cookie cutter-esque tracks definitely knocked the rating down for me, but not enough to hurt it too badly, and while I'm not gonna call myself a Knocked Loose fanboy by a long shot, I definitely will be listening to this one again, and am very interested to see where the band goes.
For Sounds From The Basement, this has been Nicholas! Now, if you will excuse me, I have to return to whatever extra-dimensional void will take me today and deal with the fact I am slowly starting to look like an unhinged mountain man. DEUCES!
Stand out tracks: God Knows, Forced To Stay, Return To Passion it has the sounds of a band who isn't happy with their sound, and are unafraid to experiment with different sounds, which is what I want to hear in an EP. While EP generally stands for Extended Play, being a length between a single/demo and an album, I feel like it should have a sub-designation, being Experimental Progress. EP's are, on large, ignored by most fans of bands, opting to go out and get the full album as opposed to a snippet of a bands efforts, so an EP is the perfect time for a band to try out new sounds and new techniques, which is exactly what Knocked Loose did for this release. I'm awarding this EP a surprising for me 8 out of 10 stars, and while it's no Jane Doe, it sure as hell is on it's way. The more cookie cutter-esque tracks definitely knocked the rating down for me, but not enough to hurt it too badly, and while I'm not gonna call myself a Knocked Loose fanboy by a long shot, I definitely will be listening to this one again, and am very interested to see where the band goes.
For Sounds From The Basement, this has been Nicholas! Now, if you will excuse me, I have to return to whatever extra-dimensional void will take me today and deal with the fact I am slowly starting to look like an unhinged mountain man. DEUCES!
Stand out tracks: God Knows, Forced To Stay, Return To PassionA Tear in the Fabric of Life was released on 10/13/21 through Pure Noise Records
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