The Top 5 Moments in Hardcore of the 2020’s (so far)

Opinion by Ryan Drury - Lead singer of Clarence St. (Subjective list)

With so many great hardcore bands continuing, blowing up and emerging over the last few years,

I thought I’d share my personal top 5 moments in hardcore of this decade (so far).

Without further ado, let's break it down.

5: The breakup of Every Time I Die, and the forming of Better Lovers/Many Eyes

I don’t think many people who appreciate hardcore music would debate that the moment we all found out that Every Time I Die was no more in early 2022 was a moment that sent shockwaves throughout the scene. In my opinion, ETID are one of the most influential and important bands to emerge in hardcore, and their announced collapse in 2022 was certainly a sad day. From the youthful, unbridled chaos of “Last Night in Town” all the way through to their final offering, the brutal sludge-fest that was “Radical”, their discography is untouchably great. But from the ashes of ETID, the Buckley brothers provided some great new music almost immediately after the breakup.

Keith Buckley took his incomparable frontman talents to his new project, Many Eyes, which released a couple of quick singles before eventually releasing “The Light Age” full-length in 2023. Many Eyes continues to tour, and there are rumours of a second LP coming; Keith brings his signature lyrical chops and immense sing/scream vocal chops to the project. Keith might be one of the best lyric writers ever to grace heavy music, or music period, and that is in full display throughout all the Many Eyes tracks.

The other new project we got out of the wreckage of ETID is Better Lovers, which has three of Keith’s former bandmates (his brother and guitarist Jordan, bassist Steve Micciche, and drummer Clayton “Goose" Holyoak), guitarist and producer extraordinaire Will Putney, and former Dillinger Escape Plan vocalist Greg Puciato, who recently announced his mutual departure from the band. The group got to work quickly, releasing the thrashing “God Made Me an Animal” EP in 2023, which eventually gave way to the full-length “Highly Irresponsible” in 2024. While I like Keith Buckley’s Many Eyes stuff, Better Lovers are, in my mind, the better post-ETID band. I saw them twice live, and they were incredible, a blistering live band that has earned their place in modern hardcore. But, as much as we can all appreciate the new stuff from the Buckley brothers, I think we are all holding out hope that an ETID reunion is in the cards someday. Hey, Oasis got back together. You never know.

4: Canadian giants Counterparts release the “Heaven Let Them Die” EP

When it comes to Canadian hardcore acts, there are few I’d put ahead of Counterparts, if anyone at all, for that matter. I recognize many people would describe them as “melodic metalcore,” and that’s fine, but they’ve done enough to earn the “hardcore” moniker in my humble opinion. Plus, this is my list, so too bad.

The band, currently featuring lead singer Brendan Murphy (a must follow on social media), guitarist and bassist Tyler Williams, Jesse Doreen, and drummer Kyle Brownlee, has been churning out incredible records for many years. My high school band actually played a few shows with them in southern Ontario early in their career, and you could tell they were special. Following the release of 2022’s “A Eulogy for Those Still Here”, the band looked like they had added a real pinnacle release to their collection. And then came a sudden drop in 2024 that shook us all to the core.

Counterparts surprise-dropped “Heaven Let Them Die” on November 7 that fall, and it got EVERYONE’S attention. I had texts from so many friends asking if I’d heard it, and when I excitedly tossed it on, I was floored by what I heard. The 6-song EP is a dropkick to the jaw, with easily the most brutal breakdowns and songs the band have released to date. The group have triumphantly toured the EP since its release, and it remains in regular rotation in my headphones. If you can get through even the first track, “A Martyr Left Alive,” and not feel like you could fight a tiger, you may not have a pulse. Simply put, one of the best heavy releases from not just a Canadian artist, but any artist this decade. 

3: Cancer Bats & Comeback Kid celebrate 20 years of “Birthing the Giant” & “Wake the Dead” respectively

Once again, I am proudly trumpeting the accomplishments of fellow Great White Northerners on the list. The fact that these two bands are Canadian was such a huge inspiration to my friends and our band in high school, and hundreds, if not thousands, of other bands who were inspired nationwide to start playing gross breakdowns in basements and garages from Halifax to Vancouver.

Cancer Bats released “Birthing the Giant” in June of 2006. I was 15. I vividly remember hearing it for the first time in the cafeteria in high school, and I also vividly remember skipping school with my drummer and best friend, Rob, his girlfriend and now wife, Laura, and other friends and driving around in Laura’s parents’ Lincoln Navigator blasting this everywhere we went. To put it plainly, this is one of the best records ever released from that era north of the 49th, with so much punk grit and disgusting riffs. The fact that it also features a guest vocal from George Pettit of Alexisonfire on “Pneumonia Hawk” puts it even more over the top. I recently saw the anniversary tour at the Opera House in Toronto, a hometown show for the Bats, and they haven’t lost one step over the years. Give these guys the Order of Canada already, for providing pure Canadian sludge to the masses. 

Speaking of, give an Order of Canada to Comeback Kid, too. When the posts started flowing onto socials about how “Wake the Dead” was 20, I wasn’t struck with an “I’m so old” feeling. It was a feeling of “hell yeah, let’s throw that neck shredder on!” What a record. Comeback Kid have been doing their thing for well over two decades now, and Andrew Neufeld is without question one of the best hardcore vocalists in the game, to say nothing of how great the damn band is. I ran into Neufeld at a concert in Toronto last fall, and he was the biggest gem you could imagine. 20 years for two great Canadian hardcore staples. If you’ve never heard either of these records, it’s time to catch up.

2: Knocked Loose and Poppy cause chaos on Jimmy Kimmel Live

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYeDnOLfl0g

If you like hardcore, there’s just no way you don’t know who Knocked Loose is. I don’t think I need to wax poetic about how huge an unstoppable force this group of Kentucky lads is. I’ve seen them live once and felt like I had entered an alternate dimension. They are a MUST-SEE live band, but wander into the pit at your own discretion. It is NOT for the faint of heart.

Neither was the band’s insane live performance alongside the genre-bending Poppy on Jimmy Kimmel Live on the night of November 26, 2024. Now, I’m aware that there have been many heavy bands that have performed on mainstream late-night TV, from Lamb of God to Slipknot and many, many more. But what Knocked Loose did that night just felt like an ARRIVAL. It cemented for me that hardcore music was truly back in a deserved limelight, as Bryan Garris and Poppy shrieked their way through the group’s punishing hit “Suffocate” off of 2024's “You Won't Go Before You’re Supposed To" in front of a clearly pro-Knocked Loose crowd, with a full-on nasty pit going the whole time. If you haven’t watched it, go see it. Their performance is highlighted by Bryan unleashing a FILTHY pig squeal that sent me and many others launching off our couches in glee. Others, not so much. Many now-infamous complaints rolled into Jimmy Kimmel’s show, complaining of the vicious display that was deemed by one elderly viewer to be “scary,” while complaining that her adolescent son was “in tears” during the performance. Garris famously took to social media after the “backlash” to state, “If it scared you, good.” Fuck ya. 

1-Turnstile wins a Grammy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvbE2Rdw3zo

Now look, I get it. The hardcore, alternative, punk, whatever-you-wanna-call-it scene isn’t supposed to like “corporate” stuff, especially something as cringe-worthy as the Grammys. I understand. But when a band like Baltimore’s Turnstile were announced as the winners of the Grammys for Metal Performance, Rock Album, Rock Performance and Alternative Music Performance in 2026, to add to 2023 wins for Metal Performance and Rock Performance, it felt like 2025’s “Never Enough” had vaulted the group into deserved superstardom. 

I’m aware many people derided the Grammy wins for Turnstile as proof that the band had “sold out.” I just can’t get there. The band has been grinding away for over 15 years, building an audience worldwide off the back of some of the best live performances the genre has ever seen. Go ahead and search “Turnstile live” on any platform, and you tell me if that doesn’t look like the best time ever. I can say confidently it is, having seen them headline at the 2025 Ottawa Blues Fest. There wasn’t much grass left on the lawn after they were done.

Turnstile are so much more than just the triumph of “Never Enough”, where they continued to push the genre into strange and interesting places. This band is a truly great flag bearer for hardcore music, and they deserve all the success they’ve earned, and in my mind, should be celebrated, not derided, for likely turning many people onto hardcore music. A rising tide truly does lift all ships, and Turnstile are our modern-day proof of that.

I hope you enjoyed my little list here. Again, I’m curious to know what some of your top moments in hardcore would be since the start of the decade. One thing is for sure IMO: the genre has never been better and more appreciated than right now. 

Keep those heads bangin’ and those pits circling.

R.D.