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If you discovered punk or hardcore a decade or so ago, the name Nathan Gray will be familiar to you as the voice of the hugely underrated Boysetsfire, whose mixture of politically motivated, singer/songwriter storytelling and furiously heavy punk was among the best the genre had to offer.
I Am Heresy is his latest project and it’s inspiring to hear his knack for melody, intelligent turns of phrase and throat-ripping, righteous indignation burns just as brightly as it ever did. The rest of his band are no slouches either. Heavier and resolutely more old school – most notably on the thrashing, solo-heavy Destruction Anthems – than BSF, I Am Heresy offer a glimpse of what you wish hardcore would represent in 2014.
These are no bandwagon-hopping, cookie cutter, scene kids – this is a band committed to stripping the paint from your walls with white hot noise, although with Nathan in the mix you’re never too far away from a brain-hugging chorus or memorable melodic vocal line. He’s still got it, now you should go get this.
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Stephen joined the Louder team as a co-host of the Metal Hammer Podcast in late 2021, eventually becoming a regular contributor to the magazine. He has since written hundreds of articles for Metal Hammer, Classic Rock and Louder, specialising in punk, hardcore and 90s metal. He also presents the Trve. Cvlt. Pop! podcast with Gaz Jones and makes regular appearances on the Bangers And Most podcast.