Knocked Loose - You Won't Go Before You're Supposed To (Album Review)
Wednesday, 15 May 2024
Written by Will Marshall
Knocked Loose are in the process of rewriting their DNA. The Kentucky band’s early albums offered bruising metallic hardcore, but with their 2021 EP ‘A Tear In the Fabric of Life’ and last year’s Upon Loss singles they showed a desire to get heavier and weirder.
‘You Won’t Go Before You’re Supposed To’ delivers on that promise, finding Knocked Loose in the contradictory sweet spot of being at their most commercially successful while releasing, by some margin, their most abrasive, obnoxious work to date.
The band’s third album opens with a sound akin to chimes but Thirst swiftly goes for the jugular thanks to honest-to-God blastbeats and the nastiest guitar tone Knocked Loose have ever wielded. The rest of the album refuses to relent.
Piece By Piece runs on rampaging low end, Suffocate features alt-pop artist Poppy trading vitriolic shrieks with vocalist Bryan Garris, and Don’t Reach For Me’s opening line of “I dream of a cleansing wave” gives way to total demolition.
There’s not a single second here that isn’t filled with wanton bludgeoning or a sense of menace, or both at once. Any lulls are brief — Moss Covers All’s false sense of security is duly interrupted by all hell breaking loose. It’s hard to overstate just how much Knocked Loose have levelled up, not only in the intensity stakes, but in the creative deployment of that energy.
Look at the reggaeton breakdown in Suffocate, the Sepultura-esque groove to The Calm That Keeps You Awake or closer Sit & Mourn channelling its inner Cult Leader and you’ll see a triumphant reimagining of what hardcore can sound like when it embraces fresh sounds or unconventional structures.
In barely half an hour, Knocked Loose simultaneously double down on everything that made them great while becoming both more and less accessible at the same time. Pulverising, uncompromising, and unconventional, ‘You Won’t Go Before You’re Supposed To’ feels like a watershed moment for hardcore as a whole.
Knocked Loose Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows:
Tue May 14 2024 - SEATTLE Washington - Showbox SoDo (USA)
Wed May 15 2024 - PORTLAND Oregon - Roseland Theater (USA)
Fri May 17 2024 - BOISE Idaho - Knitting Factory Boise (USA)
Sat May 18 2024 - SALT LAKE CITY - Complex - UT (USA)
Sun May 19 2024 - DENVER Colorado - Mission Ballroom (USA)
Tue May 21 2024 - ST LOUIS Missouri - Pageant (USA)
Wed May 22 2024 - MINNEAPOLIS Minnesota - Fillmore Minneapolis (USA)
Thu May 23 2024 - CHICAGO Illinois - Salt Shed (USA)
Fri May 24 2024 - NEWPORT Kentucky - MegaCorp Pavilion (USA)
Sat May 25 2024 - CLEVELAND Ohio - Agora Theater (USA)
Tue May 28 2024 - PITTSBURGH Pennsylvania - Stage AE (USA)
Wed May 29 2024 - SILVER SPRING Maryland - Fillmore Silver Spring (USA)
Thu May 30 2024 - BROOKLYN New York - Brooklyn Steel (USA)
Fri May 31 2024 - NEW YORK New York - Terminal 5 (USA)
Sat June 01 2024 - BOSTON Massachusetts - Roadrunner Boston (USA)
Mon June 03 2024 - PHILADELPHIA Pennsylvania - Franklin Music Hall (USA)
Tue June 04 2024 - MONTREAL Quebec - Olympia Theater (LOlympia) (Canada)
Wed June 05 2024 - TORONTO Ontario - History (Canada)
Fri June 07 2024 - RALEIGH North Carolina - Ritz Raleigh (USA)
Sat June 08 2024 - ATLANTA Georgia - Eastern Atlanta (USA)
Fri June 14 2024 - LOUISVILLE Kentucky - Paristown Hall (USA)
Sat June 15 2024 - LOUISVILLE Kentucky - Paristown Hall (USA)
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