To kick it off...
10. BACKTRACK - DARKER HALF
Being their first full length LP, Darker Half is a crushing dose of the "new wave" of New York Hardcore, a cool little scene that's been popping up the last couple years. They play some great mid-paced hardcore, not too face but not too breakdown heavy either. Overall, it's a solid debut, with each track consistently following the same great formula. My only downside is that a lot of it sounds similar and the songs tend to blend together, but none of it is really "bad" per se. Backtrack have potential to be killer; can't wait to see where they go. In the meantime... hoping they'll be opening on some more great hardcore tours this year.
Notable Tracks:
Darker Half
Soul Sucker