Hands Tied (New Jersey Hardcore)

From the ashes of Mouthpiece. In short, I'd like to think of this EP as the best Mouthpiece songs that aren't Mouthpiece songs, or, if you made Mouthpiece songs out of the most kickin'est of Mouthpiece jams, but even that (and I love Mouthpiece) doesn't do this EP enough justice. Six songs (4 if you have the 7") of pure, straight edge bust. Will make you slam, jam, and stage dive on your bed. Very essential.  P.S. also check out Tim's other bands Face The Enemy and Triple Threat. Also, Mouthpiece. Pit.

Hands Tied (1998)
1. Signed Off
2. Nothing Can Compare
3. Rearrange
4. What Lies Ahead
5. Turn Away
6. Another Year

Meanwhile, check out this sweet Project X rip. I mean, really stellar.

xLooking Forwardx (Maryland Hardcore, Bel Air Straight Edge)

xLooking Forwardx is in my honest opinion, a truly great band. This band skillfully blends what is a good balance of hardcore, punk and metal seamlessly. Their music is simultaneously ridiculously fast, ridiculously heavy, and ridiculously fun. While some of the lyrics are way too cheesy, much of it has resonated with me, especially in my younger years. Even some lyrics I can't sing along too without shaking my head and grinning. The music, however, is nothing to scoff at.

This band isn't very active, and I'm pretty sure you can still buy some shirts, cds, and vinyl (the latest 7 inch at the time of this post is like 7 bucks after shipping. I know because I just bought it; it was the color I didn't already have) from Merchnow's website. They've been playing some shows recently, but unless you live in their area, they are probably aren't playing near you. But peep the wax and shirts, cause, this band is real. 

Ahoy! Crew Members (2001) 

1. All Fun and No Fights 

2. Wash My Hands 

3. Start With Yourself 

4. Ignition 

5. Not Enough Time 

6. Over My Shoulder 

7. Together For a Reason 

8. Who Cares if Ray Kappo Sold Out? 

9. Never Again 

10. Misrepresentation 

11. Take Your Life Back 

12. Equal By Design 

13. Say The Word 

14. New Scene Song

What This Means to Me (2003, reissued in 2007)

1 XLFX

2 Cop Out

3 Talk Is Cheap

4 Molding Myself

5 Drama Queen

6 Shameless

7 Best Days

8 Sundown

9 What This Means To Me

10 Life Preserver

11 The Death Of Me

12 Tuning You Out

13 1117

14 Roll The Dice

The Path We Tread (2005)

1 Disappearing Act

2 You're Worth It

3 The Path We Tread

4 Not For Sale

5 Sidelines

6 Agree To Disagree

7 All Aces

8 Heroes Of Your Revolution

9 A Year From Now

10 Displacement Theory

11 For Those Who Believe

12 Take Care

13 Over And Over

14 Each Step

15 Waste Of Time

16 Good Intentions

17 I Ain't Mad At Cha

18 Gimme Two Steps

19 War Tells All

Down with the Ship (2012)

1 Intro

2 The Fast And The Spurious

3 Down With The Ship

4 Here I Am

5 Getting Back With Your X

6 Put Up Or Shut Up

7 Demanding Answers

Shockwave (PA Hardcore)

Shockwave, a band made from members from various dissolved, moderately successful hardcore bands, was very much about an image. Fronted by 3 different people (simultaneously, not concurrently) the band screams tough, but also is very much fun. If you aren't sold on the idea that these tough guys playing beat down aren't one of the most fun loving bands in hardcore, then you have to hear their schtick; they are Transformers themed. From sound clips of the cartoon, to the name of band, to lyrics about hating Autobots, this band was all fun all the time.
This band isn't one of the most important bands in the history of hardcore, and probably few serious core fans favorite band, but this is so much fun. If you like this style of hardcore and/ or grew up watching Transformers, I would rank this as fairly crucial.

Shockwave: Omega Supreme The Ultimate Collection 1996-2001
1. Bruticus
2. Merge For The Kill
3. Revenge
4. Chamelicon
5. Autohate
6. Blood Drinkers
7. Warriors Of Cobra
8. Goldwreck
9. Circle Like Wolves
10. Paper Doll
11 .Shockwave
12. Swindle
13. Dirge
14. Frenzy
15. Deadend
16. Ravage
17. Shrapnel
18. Devastator
19. Kickback
20. Bombshell
21. Warpath
22. Ironhide
23. Buzzsaw


Shockwave- Ultimate Doom (2006)
1. Introduction To Oblivion
2. The Ultimate Doom
3. Day Of The Machines
4. Revenge Of Bruticus
5. Divide And Conquer
6. The Key To Vector Sigma (Part 1)
7. The Insecticon Syndrome
8. Five Faces Of Darkness
9. The Key To Vector Sigma (Part.2)
10. Grenade Face
11. Hardest Burden To Bear
12. War Dawn
13. Outro To Extinction

Counting the Days (MD hardcore)

Strike First records- are you familiar? If you grew up like I did, some of the best bands you listened to in that time when you first started to bridge the gap between metalcore and hardcore bands were Strike First bands. Counting the Days was one of those bands for me.
My knowledge about this band is insanely limited. I think I got this cd in some "grab box," a 20 cds for 20 bucks kinda deal. I googled them just now and there is hardly any information on them. But I can say this 13 song LP, with just over half an hour of highly emotionally charged melodic hardcore is one of the first hardcore records I heard, and to do this day is one my favorites. I'd tell you to support this band, but I have no idea how you'd do that.

Finding a Balance (2006)
1. What's The Point?
2. Dedicated To Doing Nothing
3. On The Outside Lookin' In
4. Things Never Seemed So Meaningless
5. Nowhere To Turn
6. Growing Is Giving Up
7. Cold Nights And Weary Heads
8. Flatline
9. We Remain
10. Finding A Balance
11. Widespread Panic: Age Is An Epidemic
12. Feeling Blue Never Felt So Right