Knocked Loose, Rotting Out, Candy, SeeYouSpaceCowboy

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Tim Caymen

Knocked Loose

$25 ($23 adv.).

press release: Knocked Loose announce an extensive headlining North American fall tour in support of  heavily anticipated new album, A Different Shade of Blue. Rotting Out, Candy and SeeYouSpaceCowboy have been confirmed as support.

A Different Shade of Blue, a mammoth of a sophomore effort and huge step forward for hardcore and metal as we know it, sees its release August 23 via Pure Noise Records. Knocked Loose, comprised of the young Cole Crutchfield (rhythm guitar), Bryan Garris (vocals), Isaac Hale (lead guitar), Kevin Otten (bass) and Kevin Kaine (drums), leap from upstart hardcore-influenced favorites to bonafide key figures of the genre. Their 2016 debut, Laugh Tracks was a revelation, taking the world by storm and establishing the band as a major force spanning genres and generations. 

Recorded by producer Will Putney, A Different Shade of Blue was approached slower and more methodically. Abandoning the previous 'live in studio' recording approach for something more deliberate, the band cranked out twelve new tracks that deal with all manner of anger, especially loss in lieu of absence. Vocalist and lyricist Bryan Garris found catharsis as well as some of his most intensely personal lyrics to date.

Forged on musical bonds built at an early age, Knocked Loose came together in the small yet relatively formidable hardcore / punk scene of the greater Louisville, KY area. Though the scene was relatively strong, a lack of available bands, touring parties and scarcity of gigs forced diversity- mixing genres and challenging young ears with new ideas, approaches and styles. That diversity­ - death metal bands mingling with youth crew, screamo on the same bill as Am-Rep-style bands and on and on- created the basis of Knocked Loose musically and the genesis for their approach, an amalgam of heavy influences that never commits to any singular style but maintains a loyalty to the hardcore tradition.

While some musical influences are easily identified - Pantera, Hatebreed, Obituary and more ­- the band's palette and canvas has expanded by leaps and bounds, incorporating Gothenburg-style death metal (At the Gates, early In Flames), slam metal (Devourment, Dying Fetus), blood-thirsty thrash (Sodom, Kreator), black metal (Craft) and the mind-boggling complexity of latter noisy hardcore like Snapcase and Bloodlet. Clocking in at a lean and mean 37 minutes and featuring guest vocals from Emma Boster of Dying Wish and Keith Buckley of Every Time I Die, A Different Shade of Blue grabs the listener by the throat from the jump and slowly tightening that grip for the duration.