Review by Saxy S for Rejoice - All of Heaven's Luck (2024)

This debut album from Columbus' Rejoice is the kind of crossover punk that metalcore was founded upon. Nothing found within All of Heaven's Luck sounds like it would fit within today's modern definition of the term "metalcore", but it still has that aggression and beatdown aesthetic to it that calling it anything other than metalcore may be a disservice. There are a lot of influences from early hardcore punk bands here, most notably Black Flag and Hüsker Dü, while the truly metalcore sound comes from the half time breakdowns and its blunt, knuckle sandwich to the face lyrics.

While the album does have some good melodic leads throughout, it struggles to find a foothold during the first few tracks. The record get slightly better following "Crawling Through Agony", just in time for the record to end! That's another thing this record borrows from punk: the song/album length. This record doesn't even eclipse twenty (20) minutes, which unfortunately leaves the strong second half feeling unfinished. Nevertheless, on an individual song perspective, the albums second half is really good and shoes off a side of punk/metalcore that I wish was explored more in the 2020s.

Best Songs: Malevolent Deities, Burnt By Dusk, Temple Of The Worm