Hardcore didn't start in the 2000s -- it started in the early '80s as an outgrowth of punk -- but it was during the 2000s that hardcore-related music reached a new level of saturation. From traditional metalcore to technical metalcore to screamo, the early to late 2000s probably saw the creation of more hardcore-related bands than the '80s and '90s combined. So with all that saturation, it isn't surprising that a lot of reviewers who wrote for metal and punk websites in the 2000s expressed feelings of "hardcore burnout." But there is room for new hardcore-related bands as long as they are good at what they do, and the Ghost Inside's debut album, Fury and the Fallen Ones, isn't remarkable but is generally decent. This Los Angeles-based outfit doesn't play either screamo or technical metalcore; nor are they a retro band that offers '80s-style hardcore of the Sick of It All/Cro-Mags/Agnostic Front variety. Rather, this 2008 release is best described as traditional non-technical metalcore, and the Ghost Inside has some of the hookiness of Hatebreed and Throwdown. That is not to say that the Ghost Inside is in a class with either of those bands; Hatebreed and Throwdown are among the best bands that traditional metalcore has had to offer, and the material on Fury and the Fallen Ones isn't up to elevated Hatebreed/Throwdown standards. But stylistically, there is definitely some common ground -- and the best parts of this 35-minute CD indicate that the Ghost Inside value hooks as much as they value angry, vicious, skull-crushing brutality. Despite being mildly inconsistent and less than distinctive, Fury and the Fallen Ones has more plusses than minuses and indicates that these Southern Californians are worth keeping an eye on.
© Alex Henderson /TiVo