Dallas abrasive post-hardcore BROADCAST SEA have made their brand new six song release, Lost Generation, available for streaming and free download via Bandcamp. The former Pluto Records band released the emotionally draining Wounded Soldier in 2008 (review). These guys still remind me of THESE ARMS ARE SNAKES (… will we ever get a THESE ARMS ARE SNACKS parody band?!?), but with a slower, more dramatic sound. Given its price of entry, well worth your time!

UK instrumental post-hardcore/math rock band (read: instrumental-but-heavy-but-not-metal-kind-of-heavy-got-it?) TALONS released an LP in late 2010 titled Hollow Realm on Topshelf Records in the US ( Big Scary Monsters has the CD version). I’ve just gotten around to hearing this band for the first time and immediately, the dual-violins have me hooked. That’s something different, especially when they are wielded around like guitars… and the band already boasts two guitarists. Head over to the band’s MySpace page to check out several new songs and material from their several of their earlier singles/EPs.

From the inbox:

Velvet Scene and Rise Records are thrilled to announce the April 5th release of the debut full-length record by UK band SHARKS entitled, The Joys of Living 2008-2010. The compilation album will include music from their first two EPs, and will also feature a few new tracks, giving fans and new listeners alike a perfect taste of the young band’s musical dynamic.

Sharks are also very excited to be heading out with SOCIAL DISTORTION and CHUCK RAGAN this spring in support of their new release. The tour will kick off at the Sunshine Theatre in Albuquerque, NM, on April 26th and culminate in Nashville, TN, at the Ryman Auditorium on May 20th. They will be following up these dates with a spot on the entire Vans Warped Tour this summer.

OVERCOME’s first run in Christian metallic hardcore came in the early-to-mid nineties and led to several full-length releases on Tooth and Nail, a 7″ on Life Sentence, and a few of the earliest titles to come from a nascent Facedown Records. The band’s style was largely a product of its times, a bit clunky, but [...]

Seattle hardcore band ILL INTENT have made available their 2010 full-length All Lions a free download through the site Toxicbreed Funhouse. CD copies of the self-released effort can be purchased through their BigCartel store. The band has a slate of shows set up for March with such bands as VENIA, DEAD ICONS, GRAVE MAKER and more.

GATES are a ‘hefty sounding’ indie-rock from New Brunswick, New Jersey that has a strong progressive/ambient streak to them. The group (ex-LYDIA, BEARS & BRIGHT LIGHTS) has just released a brand new EP titled The Sun Will Rise and Lead Me Home, and it is available from their Bandcamp page. I kept thinking about THRICE’s slower, more electronically tinged Alchemy Index releases when listening to this, so if that you’re into, definitely give this a listen.

- Photo of FACE REALITY, a Michigan straight-edge hardcore band just signed to Youngblood Records. I admit to trying to replicate this exact pose, with full blown-out right cheek and middling scowl, for at least the last few minutes in my home office…

From the inbox:

TOUCHE AMORE will enter the studio in February to record their new album, titled Parting The Sea Between Brightness And Me (Deathwish). Parting The Sea… will be recorded by acclaimed engineer Ed Rose at his Black Lodge Recording Studio in Eudora, Kansas. Ed is known for his acclaimed recordings of The Appleseed Cast, The Get Up Kids, The Casket Lottery, Small Brown Bike, Coalesce, and many more. On recording with Ed Rose, vocalist Jeremy Bolm said, “We are very excited to get to work with Ed Rose, he has an unmatched ability to drive out some of the cleanest but heaviest sounding records. He was first on our list of people to work with and we’re thrilled to have the opportunity”.

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The band released their first full-length, the stunning To The Beat of A Dead Horse on 6131 Records, which you can stream below.