ALL THINGS OLD SCHOOL AWARDS - The Best Of 2019

Photo: Angela Owens

For starters this whole thing of "Best Of" can be a very personal matter (empathy vs talent), is hard not to take sides. That's why this year I decided to do more of a retrospective of all releases that got my attention in Hardcore, Punk, Thrash and some stuff in between! (Probably the last one I will ever be doing)

Of course there were some highlights this year that I have to point out like WHO THE HELL IS WILD SIDE? Man what a record, the exact kind why I still listen to hardcore, stoked that they pulled it off after many years of wait. In general, the crossover scene dominated again this year with great releases by DOMINANT FORCE, HIGH COMMAND, SPIRIT CRUSHER and DEAD HEAT to name a few. Other highlight would be the Hungarians in TOUCH with their new album The Darkness Reflects (tip from my buddy Pingua), a powerful hardcore masterpiece, not to mention the new albums by B'URST!, GAZM and BATTLE RUINS.

Some labels ruled the old school music business this year with plenty of strong releases, headed by TRIPLE B and Quality Control HQ and a good amount of albums were out in late november and december, making it out of many best lists out there, for instance SKOURGE on Lockin' Out Records.

To improve this journey through all these releases plus many more here's a Spotify Playlist (naysayers flip-out!), bad grammer included. Selected bands coming from all corners of the globe, from Indonesia to Peru, Canada to South Korea! Of course not everything is on that platform, albums by RATED X, SUBVERSIVE RITE and MURO were left out along some other new albums. As they are added in I will be updating as I did for the 2018 playlist.

There should have been more post surprises before the year ended but my PC stopped working, eventually they will be up in January/February.