Reviews list for Knocked Loose - You Won't Go Before You're Supposed To (2024)

I've been aware of Kentucky metalcore outfit Knocked Loose for three or four years now. I picked up on their highly regarded 2021 "A Tear in the Fabric of Life" E.P. shortly after it hit the shelves & found myself quite liking their heavyweight take on the genre. It would appear that the promise the five-piece band had shown on that earlier release was not a one-off either with Knocked Loose's recent third album "You Won't Go Before You're Supposed To" taking the hype register by the scruff of the neck & dragging it into rarely explored territory, even seeing the album becoming arguably 2024's most talked about metal record. After my experiences with "A Tear in the Fabric of Life", I felt pretty positive about the prospect of returning to Knocked Loose for another dose of aggressive metalcore, this time in a full-length album format.

The "You Won't Go Before You're Supposed To" album would once again be released through Californian punk label Pure Noise who Knocked Loose had been working with for a number of years by this stage. It would be produced by American Drew Fulk & is the first Knocked Loose full-length to feature second guitarist Nicko Calderon. The result is a huge, loud & in-your-face sound which makes the listener instantly stand up & take notice. The over-saturated guitars are bright, vibrant & extreme, very much enjoying the backing of a heavyweight rhythm section that drives this material with a no-holds-barred approach that is further accentuated by the consistently violent contribution of front man Bryan Garris whose vocal chords must have been a complete mess after this throat-shredding collection of anger-fueled tunes. He absolutely screams his fucking head off for the entire runtime of the album to be honest but, while some may say that he's s a little bit of a one-trick pony, in the context of such a short record (whose ten songs clock in at just a little over twenty-seven minutes) I never find him overstaying his welcome.

This stuff isn't anything terribly original but it's stunningly executed by an artist that is clearly one of the leaders in their field these days. If you find the classic metalcore breakdown to be tired & difficult to sit through then you may find yourself struggling with "You Won't Go Before You're Supposed To" because it's absolutely stuffed full of the fuckers. They're admittedly done very well though & the ADD-fueled arrangement ensure that they never hang around for too long before moving into something else either. The transitions are actually very well done when you consider how hyperactive & chaotic the song-writing is & I never get that jarring feeling that I inevitably experience when a band simply slap two widely disparate musical ideas together in a haphazard fashion here. Knocked Loose are a more professional act than that with even the odd jumpy nu metal riffs appearing to be fairly well placed.

Look... "You Won't Go Before You're Supposed To" certainly isn't gonna change too many people's opinions on the metalcore genre as it's more of a celebration of everything that its existing fans love about it & does it with a cheeky wink & an element of class & efficiency. It's a whirlwind of violence & vitriol which is generally what I'd suggest the genre was built to showcase in the first place, wasn't it? It pleases me that Knocked Loose don't fall into the growing glut of metalcore acts that seem to have forgotten their hardcore roots too with this material being built on a gritty base of punk urgency. The inclusion of a couple guest appearances help to break things up too with Poppy & Motionless in White front man Chris Motionless making effective contributions that help to ensure that the short album doesn't feel one-dimensional. It all works well as an holistic package & leaves me with the distinct feeling that all members of our The Revolution clan should be across this album which represents one of the more important & effective statements that metalcore has made in recent years.

For fans of Jesus Piece, Kublai Khan TX & Varials.

Knocked Loose are the sort of beatdown hardcore band that I will inevitably show some hostility to on the outset. They gained quick popularity near the end of the 2010s, especially with the release of 2019’s A Different Shade of Blue. It was a good display of aggression, but in terms of execution, Knock Loose were certainly in the learning phases.

Now maybe that’s me being too demanding in hopes that Knocked Loose will provide me with something beyond “ARF ARF” and down tuned breakdowns to bang your head into a brick wall. This is beatdown hardcore after all. I will say though that seeing You Won’t Go Before You’re Supposed To clocking in at just under half-an-hour gave me some intrigue. After all, some of my favourite “true hardcore” albums are of the short-and-sweet variety. And since I’m not allowed to leave until I’m supposed to (this review is finished,) I might as well provide some insight.

I think that heavy metal, more than any other genre, needs to give its listeners a chance to breathe. It’s already characterized by guitar distortion, drummers slamming the kit with the force of a thousand hammers, and abrasive vocals. But when an entire record is nothing but this, it can make for an unfulfilling experience. If a record uses dynamics well, it will allow these breakdowns of force to hit with even greater authority. With You Won’t Go Before You’re Supposed To, Knocked Loose have one dynamic only and it’s alarming.

What this means is the intensity is great near the start, but by the end of the record, the listener is drained and could not imagine going to the start and doing it all over again. No one believes that this narrator is this angry all the time.

Speaking of the narrator, Bryan Garris’ vocals are painfully lacking. Like with the instrumentals, Garris screams in a monotonous timbre throughout the entire album with no deviation. The albums two best tracks (“Suffocate” and “Slaughterhouse 2”) were the ones that featured an additional vocalist to run counterpoint to Garris. The change in timbre gave those songs a little more variety and made them more memorable than the songs without guest features.

And as for the mixing, Knocked Loose are still in the infancy stage almost five years between albums. Loud equals good is not a selling point. There is so much unchecked clipping in the guitars that it started to become uncomfortable after a while. It turned into an unwinnable battle between me and the volume controls.

And what of the songs themselves? For an album that prides itself on being a relentless assault of noise from the word go, it doesn’t really say much. Riffs might be scattered and quickly switch between punk grooves and metalcore breakdowns, but they are almost always hovering around the same tempos. And Knocked Loose are also not going to let you remember any of these riffs either, because as soon as one starts to become earworm-y, it’s on to the next breakdown and more sporadic neck pain. Will we ever hear that leit motif again? Probably not, but if you want to hear it again, why not try listening to the album from the top? I think I’ll pass for now.

Knocked Loose are well outside of my comfort zone when it comes to metalcore. And I’m aware that most of my criticisms of You Won’t Go Before You’re Supposed To might be what some Knocked Loose enjoyers want to hear, and I think that’s great. These songs would be ridiculous in a live setting. However, if you want a little bit more substance in your metalcore, I suggest looking anywhere else.

Best Songs: Suffocate, Slaughterhouse 2