Coalesce
Ox

June 2009
Released: 2009, Relapse
Rating: 4.0/5
Reviewer: Alan Gilkeson

Most of the world lumps these guys in with metalcore, unfortunately. They are not. Coalesce are the evolution of hardcore music, angry and sad all at once, a mature hardcore if you will. They're evolved from the D.R.I., Agnostic Front, the Cro-Mags, massive crossover appeal but true to the spirit of hardcore, just as Motorhead crossed over to the punk side of things yet remained forever metal, so let's not lump Coalesce into trendy nonsense.



The word coalesce means 'to grow into one body'. Coalesce may be the embodiment of pure hardcore, eliminating all these splinter fads, redefining hardcore. What else would bring them back after a ten year hiatus? They've made the music relevant again, experimental, unique, and innovative. It's not that chest pounding Hatebreed bullshit.



Take songs like "Wild Ox Moan" with its strange structure or "The Comedian in Question" with its one-of-a-kind clean vocals, Coalesce rely less on genre as a medium, and more on genre as a catapult to varied structures, instrumentation, and emotion. Never having been a true hardcore guy, I certainly appreciate art when it's taken to new heights. An easy 4.0 in my book!