Full Blown Chaos and Shai Hulud

When the metalcore bubble finally bursts, Full Blown Chaos and Shai Hulud will surely be among the survivors. Both bands have kept it extra real by refusing to add melodic vocals or other commercial tricks that threaten to make the genre passé by next Tuesday. Hailing from Queens, New York, Full Blown Chaos plays music that sounds exactly like its members look: fat, sweaty, aggressive, and menacing. The band's bulldozing songs mix pure N.Y.C. hardcore with '80s thrash; there's hardly a melody found on its latest uncompromisingly weighty CD, Heavy Lies the Crown. Singer Ray Mazzola barks like an agitated drill sergeant, as the rest of the band rocks sturdily to his command. Meanwhile, fewer groups have received more mileage from three songs than Shai Hulud. The Poughkeepsie, New York quintet practically invented metalcore back in 1997 with its landmark A Profound Hatred of Man EP, which included New Found Glory's guitarist Chad Gilbert on vocals. Shai Hulud's mainstays — guitarist Matt Fox and bassist Matt Fletcher — lead their latest revolving-door lineup on the new Misanthropy Pure. — Matt Gorey