So here’s the thing about hardcore: it’s a spectacle. It’s not meant to be hushed and respected, it’s meant to be shouted and spilled over with sweat. It doesn’t matter how many people are in the room or how nice the space is, hardcore is loud and abrasive and an assault on the senses. Hardcore is the sound of someone losing control and feeling liberated at the same time; it’s a wall of noise so that no one can hear you scream.
With their fourth album, Glow On, Baltimore hardcore band Turnstile embody this hardcore ethos to the fullest. The snarling melodic songs are here, as are the hair-raising breakdowns and heavy choruses. These things have always been present on Turnstile records – they wouldn’t be Turnstile otherwise – but something about Glow On feels different.
This may not be by accident. In fact, Glow On seems like Turnstile’s attempt to make the kind of big, adult rock record that will let them finally break out from the local hardcore scene they helped build. While the band’s sound is still pure, almost primitive hardcore – all surging drums, crunchy riffs, and frontman Brendan Yates screaming his lungs out – there’s also power chords and drum machines instead of guitars and drum kits and they’re not afraid to incorporate some of the more modern trappings of hardcore (notably synth and electronic elements).
Some might see this mashing of genres as selling out, but as someone who doesn’t often listen to hardcore, I really appreciated how accessible this album is. Turnstile don’t just want to write a hardcore record for hardcore fans; they want to write a hardcore record for everyone. And that’s exactly what they’ve done with Glow On.
The best hardcore albums have always found a way to make you feel something, whether it’s anger, joy or something in between. Glow On evokes all of these emotions in the blink of an eye and it does so with fierce determination.
