Scary Hours

Reviews

Scary Hours Can’t Contend cassette

Brutal crowd-killer metalcore that brings to mind all the classics that helped mold the genre such as DEADGUY, DAMNATION A.D., and the KILLER. There’s also an atmospheric black metal meets slam-core edge that I think really helps this stand out among their contemporaries. The drums on this record are mind-melting—completely out of the pocket while remaining extremely tight. I had to check to make sure this wasn’t a drum machine. I’m actually still not sure. No one lists their personnel on their Bandcamp pages anymore. Is it cringe to do so in 2025? Finally here, I’ve gotta give props to the vocalist who utilizes a hardy, pure shouting style as opposed to the grunting and growls you typically hear in this genre. Gives it more of a raw and natural feel. If you’re nostalgic for early ’00s hardcore, then you’ll love this.

Scary Hours Symptoms of Modern Hegemony CD

The apparent brainchild of one chap from New Jersey, SCARY HOURS are an advanced metalcore project that seems streamlined for the big stage. CAVE IN-caliber discordance and AVENGED SEVENFOLD-style emphasis on the metal end of that metalcore spectrum. It’s very (very) well-put-together, and kinda makes me wonder if these sounds exist on some other youth-driven commercial platform. Make no mistake, Symptoms of Modern Hegemony is (an) extremely good (example of the genre), though the promo version comes with a full-size “campus copy center”-style bound lyric booklet complete with descriptions of the disparate bands the artist used as an influence for specific tracks. “Sackler Street” was a “first attempt at writing something super metallic like the BLACK DAHLIA MURDER or DISEMBODIED,” while other tracks reference LEFTÖVER CRACK, PANTERA, and JETS TO BRAZIL…confused? There’s a lot to unpack here.

Scary Hours Margins CD

Singer/songerwriter and all-around multi-instrumentalist  Ryan Struck has travelled from punk and hardcore, to emo and folk, and now back again. With a vengeance. Eight blistering tracks of hardcore, from the melodic to the raging, and most in-between. Songs about capitalism, post-colonialism, and Marx’s theory of alienation, jostle for space with the “emo” end of missing one’s cousins and quitting drinking. And a cover of the BAD BRAINS’ “How Low Can a Punk Get,” which seems, ah, a little misplaced, given Ryan’s commitment to the LGBTQ community referenced in the title track.