Knocked Loose - A Different Shade Of Blue [Smoke]

Knocked Loose's A Different Shade of Blue hits like a slammed door, and this smoke colored pressing wraps the 2019 album in a suitably ominous haze.

The Kentucky hardcore band's second album arrived after their debut Laugh Tracks had turned them into a word-of-mouth phenomenon, and it doubled down on everything that made them frightening: punishing breakdowns, metallic riffs and Bryan Garris's high, shredded bark. Producer Will Putney recorded, mixed and mastered the record, keeping every hit tight, heavy and brutally clear.

Belleville sets the tone straight away, and Mistakes Like Fractures, the lead single, proves the band can write a hook out of pure dread. Guests sharpen the edges further: Emma Boster of Dying Wish adds her own ferocity to A Serpent's Touch, and Keith Buckley of Every Time I Die trades blows on Forget Your Name.

The tension rarely lets up, but the songs never blur together. The band shifts tempo constantly, dragging a riff into a crawl before snapping back into a sprint, so the menace keeps changing shape from track to track and the heaviest moments land with real impact.

This is the sound of a band turning raw aggression into a signature, and a crucial record in modern heavy music.