This is Boston, not LA. With the sudden national reemergence of hardcore as a major music genre, one has to look at the Boston scene, which has produced a plethora of heavy hardcore hitters over the years. Unsurprisingly, the scene never really dissipated here, but there are plenty of hungry young bands out there ready for the pit. Today marks the streaming debut of a new split from two of those bands, Fracture Type and Oak, Fallen. The five songs show the best of traditional Boston hardcore wrapped around an intriguing number of outside influences, collectively sounding both old and new. 

The first three tracks on the split come from Boston’s own Oak, Fallen, a trio consisting of Anthony Piraino on bass and vocals, Mike Lipari on guitar and Manny Roman on drums. The opening song, “I Feel The Weight,” is the closest to traditional hardcore across the split. The song sounds ready made for the pit, with repetitive guitars and vocals that mix screaming with spoken word. It’s classic Boston screamo, and a song that sounds like it’ll pummel in a VFW or church basement. The follow-up, “Behold This Compost!” immediately resets the tone with an intro that sounds closer to black metal than anything. The song does eventually fall into more traditional screamo confines, but it proves that Oak, Fallen is not beholden to one style. “Cypress” picks up right where “Compost” leaves off, a punishingly slow emo tune with pained vocals and big riffs. It’s the heaviest song across the split and possibly the least definable. Across three songs, Oak, Fallen shows themselves as worthy torchbearers to traditional Boston hardcore. 

The opening moments of the first of two Fracture Type songs, “Trove,” show how the band is going to complement Oak, Fallen perfectly. Fracture Type is a fellow Boston quartet consisting of Kevin Grady on rhythm guitar and lead vocals, Talon Reckert on bass, Jeff Pezzone on drums, and Oscar Zelayandia on lead guitar, replacing Geoff Fischer who played on this split. Fracture Type is more eager to toss genre conventions out the window. While the Oak, Fallen songs stuck to traditional song structures and a tight sound, Fracture Type’s “Trove” dips into chaos immediately. The listener is greeted by a thrash-y guitar riff and absolutely manic snare drum. The vocals are more rousing and less traditionally hardcore, mixing in more of a punk influence. The song eventually settles into a groove, staying rhythmically chaotic. It’s still in the screamo realm but more bombastic and showy than Oak, Fallen, showing the opposite end of the genre spectrum. The touch of metalcore influence is present here. The band’s other offering, “Unlearning,” starts off with a complex and math-y rhythm coupled with gang vocals that seem to place the song more firmly in late-’90s emo/post-hardcore territory. All of these genres exist in one big stew, but compared to Oak, Fallen, there is a lot less of a standard sound here. A whiplash breakdown at the end of the song serves to further explore the metalcore influence, as well. 

Hardcore is alive and well, and these five songs represent a delectable mix of traditional screamo and multiple other influences that are permeating the new wave of young hardcore bands over the course of just fifteen minutes. One never has to look further than Boston to find the cutting edge of hardcore music. The split is available for purchase here and available on streaming below: