Philip Trapp is a freelance writer who has written for Loudwire, Alternative Press, HM Magazine, Music Times, and others.
Philip Trapp is a freelance writer who has written for Loudwire, Alternative Press, HM Magazine, Music Times, and others.
Nothing Gold Can Stay Featuring Starflyer 59 On Starflyer 59's new album 'Lust for Gold,' frontman Jason Martin reflects on themes of nostalgia, change, and the elusive pursuit of meaning. Despite life's shifts, including his son now drumming in the band, Martin remains in search of the past's "gold," with his music steeped in the yearning that has defined his career. HM Album Reviews Weeping Hour Hunger and Thirst Weeping Hour is keeping a sonic heaviness surging through underground Christian music; undoubtedly, the Louisiana-based prog-core quintet that arrived on the scene in 2018 is pushing the envelope. Because... HM Album Reviews August Burns Red Phantom Sessions EP/Constellations (Remixed) Editor’s Note: This is a review of both releases. For a band that hasn’t released a new studio album in a couple of years – Phantom Anthem hit your ears... HM Album Reviews Gideon No Love/No One Feb. 1 saw the surprise release of No Love/No One, a ferocious two-song EP from work-tough nü-rockers Gideon. Loaded with the barbed-wire laced title track and backed with the... HM Album Reviews Impending Doom The Sin and Doom, Vol. II The earnest introductory prayer on Impending Doom’s gritty 2007 debut Nailed.Dead.Risen is called “Left Behind,” the title cribbing that of author Tim LaHaye’s doomsday drama-turned-film. Yet the now-prolific Christian deathcore band’s... HM Album Reviews Zao Pyrrhic Victory “There’s another four or five songs,” Zao drummer Jeff Gretz told us in November 2016 days before the release of the band’s vivid comeback album, The Well-Intentioned Virus. “I... HM Album Reviews Your Memorial Your Memorial Your Memorial says farewell with this five-song, self-titled EP, and, while the final release from this Twin Cities metalcore act is a bittersweet concept to process, the music couldn’t... HM Album Reviews Fleshkiller Awaken Fleshkiller may very well be the ultimate Facedown Records band. Leading the label’s 20-year dominion of Christian heavy metal and hardcore into the next era, the international metal supergroup... HM Album Reviews Lo Tom Lo Tom “Baby can’t do no wrong,” David Bazan sings on Lo Tom’s debut self-titled LP. “I think it’s pretty cool.” The former-and-back-again Pedro the Lion frontman is spinning his well-worn... The Problem of Pain Featuring Advent North Carolina hardcore act Advent returns with ‘Pain and Suffering,’ the band’s first release in over seven years. Vocalist Joe Musten talks to HM about the comeback EP amid the wonder of life, the awe of death, and the inevitable anguish that shapes the interval Here Until it Changes Featuring TW Walsh Singer-songwriter TW Walsh is charting his path through an increasingly insular world, documenting the hazy reveries that come with a culture detached. Feeling out the folkways between fear and liberation, he lays these proofs bare on ‘Terrible Freedom’ HM Album Reviews Church Tongue Heart Failure Indianapolis hardcore band Church Tongue has burst on to the scene with a heart-stopping debut album. Heart Failure sounds downright filthy on first listen, its bombastic, grimy hardcore seeping through... HM Album Reviews Hands New Heaven / New Earth I must admit, I was caught by surprise when Facedown Records alumnus Hands announced their reunion and an upcoming performance at the label’s annual showcase, Facedown Fest. This spring’s... Chaos into Peace Featuring Zao Signal the apocalypse: Metalcore conduit Zao returns with ‘The Well-Intentioned Virus,’ their first album in seven years -- and their most expansive work to date, where eye-opening depths of life and death unfold I am Pariah Featuring Glasslands Glasslands, featuring former members of Icon for Hire and Beartooth, forge a new path with their inventive blend of heavy and ambiant on their debut release, 'Pariah' HM Album Reviews Wovenwar Honor is Dead The band's sound and message is best served hot, firing on all cylinders and blasting with their unique combination of aggressively catchy metal. Capitalizing on their surprisingly melodic 2014... HM Album Reviews Fit for a King Deathgrip Are you ready to die? Is anyone, really? The 89 rock music fans mercilessly slaughtered by ISIL terrorists on November 13, 2015 at the Bataclan Theatre in Paris, France,... News 14 Oct 16 Zao Zao to release ‘The Well-Intentioned Virus’ this winter, premiere ‘Observed/Observer’ In Transit Featuring The Devil Wears Prada Transition. We're all moving; physics demands it. Nothing stays still. Everything changes. The Devil Wears Prada deftly illuminates those fixed facts of life on the artistically engaging 'Transit Blues,' their sixth album and an imperative post-metalcore masterpiece. HM Album Reviews Artifex Pereo Passengers Passengers, Artifex Pereo’s latest album, picks up where their 2014 Tooth and Nail Records debut, Time in Place, left off. The Louisville, Kentucky six-piece ensemble plays grandiose prog-alt, usually... HM Album Reviews Hope for the Dying Legacy There’s a reason Hope for the Dying’s third full-length release was included on HM’s Top 25 Most Anticipated Albums of 2016 list. As one of Facedown Records’ most gifted... News 8 Sep 16 Hundredth Hundredth releases two new singles, ‘Dead Weight’ and ‘Victim’ News 26 Aug 16 Twenty One Pilots Twenty One Pilots remixed by Mutemath’s Paul Meany for Louisiana flood relief News 17 Aug 16 Impending Doom Impending Doom hit the studio, resume work on upcoming sixth album The Inside of Seaside Featuring Seaside Holiday Indie electronic band Seaside Holiday share the interplanetary vision for their new album, 'Grand Tours,' and the album's theme of human hopelessness made obsolete by unexplainable, celestial redemption. News 13 Aug 16 Blood of the Martyrs Blood of the Martyrs announces indefinite hiatus HM Album Reviews Islander Power Under Control Power Under Control finds Islander, the Victory Records second-wave nu-metal band, coming into its own. Here, the South Carolina outfit’s frequently-cited P.O.D. and Deftones influences converge with an all-out... HM Album Reviews Everything in Slow Motion Laid Low Midwestern post-metal band Hands released their swan song, Give Me Rest, in 2011. The group’s magnum opus, a quick look at its liner notes revealed that Hands — at...
Nothing Gold Can Stay Featuring Starflyer 59 On Starflyer 59's new album 'Lust for Gold,' frontman Jason Martin reflects on themes of nostalgia, change, and the elusive pursuit of meaning. Despite life's shifts, including his son now drumming in the band, Martin remains in search of the past's "gold," with his music steeped in the yearning that has defined his career.
HM Album Reviews Weeping Hour Hunger and Thirst Weeping Hour is keeping a sonic heaviness surging through underground Christian music; undoubtedly, the Louisiana-based prog-core quintet that arrived on the scene in 2018 is pushing the envelope. Because...
HM Album Reviews August Burns Red Phantom Sessions EP/Constellations (Remixed) Editor’s Note: This is a review of both releases. For a band that hasn’t released a new studio album in a couple of years – Phantom Anthem hit your ears...
HM Album Reviews Gideon No Love/No One Feb. 1 saw the surprise release of No Love/No One, a ferocious two-song EP from work-tough nü-rockers Gideon. Loaded with the barbed-wire laced title track and backed with the...
HM Album Reviews Impending Doom The Sin and Doom, Vol. II The earnest introductory prayer on Impending Doom’s gritty 2007 debut Nailed.Dead.Risen is called “Left Behind,” the title cribbing that of author Tim LaHaye’s doomsday drama-turned-film. Yet the now-prolific Christian deathcore band’s...
HM Album Reviews Zao Pyrrhic Victory “There’s another four or five songs,” Zao drummer Jeff Gretz told us in November 2016 days before the release of the band’s vivid comeback album, The Well-Intentioned Virus. “I...
HM Album Reviews Your Memorial Your Memorial Your Memorial says farewell with this five-song, self-titled EP, and, while the final release from this Twin Cities metalcore act is a bittersweet concept to process, the music couldn’t...
HM Album Reviews Fleshkiller Awaken Fleshkiller may very well be the ultimate Facedown Records band. Leading the label’s 20-year dominion of Christian heavy metal and hardcore into the next era, the international metal supergroup...
HM Album Reviews Lo Tom Lo Tom “Baby can’t do no wrong,” David Bazan sings on Lo Tom’s debut self-titled LP. “I think it’s pretty cool.” The former-and-back-again Pedro the Lion frontman is spinning his well-worn...
The Problem of Pain Featuring Advent North Carolina hardcore act Advent returns with ‘Pain and Suffering,’ the band’s first release in over seven years. Vocalist Joe Musten talks to HM about the comeback EP amid the wonder of life, the awe of death, and the inevitable anguish that shapes the interval
Here Until it Changes Featuring TW Walsh Singer-songwriter TW Walsh is charting his path through an increasingly insular world, documenting the hazy reveries that come with a culture detached. Feeling out the folkways between fear and liberation, he lays these proofs bare on ‘Terrible Freedom’
HM Album Reviews Church Tongue Heart Failure Indianapolis hardcore band Church Tongue has burst on to the scene with a heart-stopping debut album. Heart Failure sounds downright filthy on first listen, its bombastic, grimy hardcore seeping through...
HM Album Reviews Hands New Heaven / New Earth I must admit, I was caught by surprise when Facedown Records alumnus Hands announced their reunion and an upcoming performance at the label’s annual showcase, Facedown Fest. This spring’s...
Chaos into Peace Featuring Zao Signal the apocalypse: Metalcore conduit Zao returns with ‘The Well-Intentioned Virus,’ their first album in seven years -- and their most expansive work to date, where eye-opening depths of life and death unfold
I am Pariah Featuring Glasslands Glasslands, featuring former members of Icon for Hire and Beartooth, forge a new path with their inventive blend of heavy and ambiant on their debut release, 'Pariah'
HM Album Reviews Wovenwar Honor is Dead The band's sound and message is best served hot, firing on all cylinders and blasting with their unique combination of aggressively catchy metal. Capitalizing on their surprisingly melodic 2014...
HM Album Reviews Fit for a King Deathgrip Are you ready to die? Is anyone, really? The 89 rock music fans mercilessly slaughtered by ISIL terrorists on November 13, 2015 at the Bataclan Theatre in Paris, France,...
News 14 Oct 16 Zao Zao to release ‘The Well-Intentioned Virus’ this winter, premiere ‘Observed/Observer’
In Transit Featuring The Devil Wears Prada Transition. We're all moving; physics demands it. Nothing stays still. Everything changes. The Devil Wears Prada deftly illuminates those fixed facts of life on the artistically engaging 'Transit Blues,' their sixth album and an imperative post-metalcore masterpiece.
HM Album Reviews Artifex Pereo Passengers Passengers, Artifex Pereo’s latest album, picks up where their 2014 Tooth and Nail Records debut, Time in Place, left off. The Louisville, Kentucky six-piece ensemble plays grandiose prog-alt, usually...
HM Album Reviews Hope for the Dying Legacy There’s a reason Hope for the Dying’s third full-length release was included on HM’s Top 25 Most Anticipated Albums of 2016 list. As one of Facedown Records’ most gifted...
News 26 Aug 16 Twenty One Pilots Twenty One Pilots remixed by Mutemath’s Paul Meany for Louisiana flood relief
The Inside of Seaside Featuring Seaside Holiday Indie electronic band Seaside Holiday share the interplanetary vision for their new album, 'Grand Tours,' and the album's theme of human hopelessness made obsolete by unexplainable, celestial redemption.
HM Album Reviews Islander Power Under Control Power Under Control finds Islander, the Victory Records second-wave nu-metal band, coming into its own. Here, the South Carolina outfit’s frequently-cited P.O.D. and Deftones influences converge with an all-out...
HM Album Reviews Everything in Slow Motion Laid Low Midwestern post-metal band Hands released their swan song, Give Me Rest, in 2011. The group’s magnum opus, a quick look at its liner notes revealed that Hands — at...
Walls of Jericho Dustin Schoenhofer on the History of Walls of Jericho and their New Album 27 Oct 26 By Nao Glover
Four Year Strong Four Year Strong announces 25th anniversary tour, celebrating 20 years of ‘Rise Or Die Trying’ 20 Oct 26 By Nao Glover
As Cities Burn Cody Bonnette on The History of As Cities Burn and their New Album 6 Oct 26 By Nao Glover
Imminence Imminence unleashes their most ambitious work to date with the release of new album, ‘Axis Mundi’ 2 Oct 26 By Nao Glover
As Cities Burn As Cities Burn officially releases 2026 full-length, ‘Brain Matter(s)’ 2 Oct 26 By Nao Glover
Northlane Northlane announces North American tour in support of new album, ‘Anemoia’ 29 Sep 26 By Nao Glover
Bleach Bleach on reuniting, their new album, and if they identify as a Christian band 23 Sep 26 By Nao Glover
