The art of the demo tape is as straightforward as it gets: you make the most out of what you’ve got to show off something new. A handful of songs demonstrating what tricks you’ve got up your sleeve, what you’ve been listening to lately, recorded in a tin can or at someone’s killer home studio set up, but regardless of whether it breaks out and beyond your main scene/circle, it’s inspiring nonetheless and a testament to the dedication and spirit of hardcore and the fact that you and some homies put your heads together to create something new.
I know without a doubt I am barely even scratching the surface of this bottomless pit of demo tapes being put out, but I figure at a time when everyone is going back and forth over the best LP/EP of the past year, throwing together demos that have resonated with me would be a more constructive and engaging way to look back on 2024 and all it had to offer. In my book, to be considered a demo, you’ve got to have “DEMO” somewhere in your title and/or have that cassette J-card cover art layout pretty straightforward. If I felt so inclined, I’d write a blurb on every single demo that came out in 2024, but we’d be here all day, so I narrowed it down to ten releases that:
1.) I listened to the most.
2.) I can see myself making a fool out of myself on the floor to if I ever get to see given band live.
3.) Feel particularly moved by in some way, shape, or form.
With all that being said, here’s what I’ve thrown together, and if you don’t agree with it, you can at least say I put you on to something new. Or just pretend you agree. Would it kill you to humor me every once in a while? Damn. You either die a band with a single demo tape that collector nerds will scour the face of the earth in search of or live to put out a subsequent EP/LP—your choice, modern man.
’24 Demonstrations:
1. WAR NERVE:
The sonic equivalent of wearing your influence on your sleeves. A late addition in an already stacked year, loaded with riffs for days, upstate (& western) NY’s War Nerve rolled up and dropped four tracks of Warhammer-inspired spin kicking, Bolt Thrower worship, with the best Jesco White sample kicking it off. It’s ignorant, ridiculously catchy (that riff in Pretender makes me feel like I can punch through concrete), and I straight up listen to this demo at least once a day at work because how could you not mean mug to this? Gym PRs are about to hit new highs once this starts circulating. If there is true evil in this world, it lies in the heart of mankind.
THIS SHIT IS MEANT FOR ANYONE, IT’S NOT FOR EVERYONE
(No Bandcamp active as of now but xBrutalYouth666x is clutch for this)
2. STEAMROLL:
If you ain’t now, you never were. Another NYHC riff machine that’s built by members of Combust that grooves ridiculously hard and proves the XXX spirit is alive & well (most of this list proves that). It’s raw and fast, holding down that old-school sound but played with nothing short of heart. It might just be a demo, but Steamroll has got the makings of a varsity-level band in overall vibes and composition, shut up with that “they’re not reinventing the wheel” rhetoric, unless the wheel is hexagonal, who gives a shit? Get steamrolled.
STEAMROLL STRAIGHT EDGE, GO.
3. POSICIÓN UNIDA:
Rebirth Records have been on a hot streak this past year, putting out demos and spreading the word on so many slick up-and-coming bands: this one is no exception. Hailing from Washington D.C., Posición Unida takes the fundamentals laid down by bands like Wide Awake, BOLD, and even Mental to embolden the spirit of this side of hardcore, becoming a successor of sorts without compromising their values and vision. The notions of friendship, unity, drug-free proclamations, growth, and responsibility flow freely throughout this release in hand with a super punchy bass tone, but their sentiments are only heightened by vocalist Elita singing solely in Spanish.
Beyond stoked to see and hear more from this band.
¡CAER! ERRAR! ¡ES NATURAL!
4. NO IDOLS:
Street punk the old way. Boot-stomping hardcore with all the fat trimmed off the side, it’s as tried and true as they come these days. This group’s got the dude from Fyzical on guitar with everyone else dialing into heavy Career Suicide vibes which is all you gotta say to get me on board. Designated Moshers Unit put out the cassette, and that’s easily the hardest label name I’ve come across in a while but that’s beside the point, No Idols rules harder than you and that’s just a matter of fact.
KNOW YOUR PLACE AND LEAVE MY FUCKING FACE.
5. LIFE OF ONE:
Track #4: London Dance Style: If that’s how they do it across the pond, then I’m renewing my passport right now. Northern Unrest continues to prop up UK talent like no other and this supergroup demo got me up off my ass and spin-kicking in front of the mirror like a fool again. After coming across this tape, I immediately thought, "This was engineered in a laboratory to produce nothing but mosh parts,” and I still stand by this sentiment. There isn’t a dull moment throughout these five minutes, but they are brisk and hostile five minutes that channel late 90’s metallic hardcore that never goes out of style. The final breakdown in History Evolves is pure malice.
WHEN EVIL PRESENTS, YOU’D RATHER PROVE TO ME YOUR ARROGANCE. SAME SHIT UNSOLVED, HISTORY. EVOLVES.
6. Cannonball:
Another UK heater, who woulda guessed? But with all seriousness, Cannonball writes tracks for you to run in a circle, and it rules. This group really dials into that Righteous Jams, Lockin’ Out sound of the 2000s, taking the groundwork laid from years past and pummeling your face with XXX lyrical prose. Get to two-steppin’ because straight edge knows no bounds, worldwide and side to side.
YOU... SHOULD BUZZ OFF.
7. King’s Command:
When the first track is a heater and a half with a radio tuning intro, you know this demo is going to rip. HC DT, MI style rules irreparably hard and spares no second to pummel you with riffs up the ass. This band has got the sauce with the grooves on a killer triple track run, Breaking Chains, Shawarma Break, and Your Pride cementing this all while everyone on board tiptoes on the line of crossover thrash.
CASH IS KING BUT I WON’T TAKE YOUR COMMAND.
8. Hostility:
Twin Cities hardcore that sounds and feels like a double-fisted admonishment to shit-grinning bigots and weak-minded cowards. Four tracks of raw production with the kind of bass riffs and tone that make me foam at the mouth and lyrical ferocity; that’s it, that’s the equation, I’m sold. The name says it all, but suffice it to say, Hostility is modern fury incarnate and proudly rides the high tide of the XXX banner, if not now then when?
I EXIST, I AM HERE, I’M NOT GOING ANYWHERE.
9. The Next Level:
What the hell kind of hardcore list would be complete without a single MA band on it? Fast stompin’, knuckle-dragging, Side by Side listening supergroup outta the SCHEME Records family walked onto the stage and dropped this heater of a demo and then refused to elaborate. Hell yeah, brother. While being the shortest release on this whole list, it is one of the most pissed off and enigmatic, forged by only the realest and inspired by that old good shit, In Cold Blood, Cro-Mags, Warzone, you know the rest. Time to trade in those Nikes for some boots.
NOWHERE TO RUN, NO WHERE TO TURN.
10. XGAARGOYLEX:
Louisville’s scene haas been working overtime for years at this point and it’s so sick getting to see baands like this pop up with such a refined sound. XGaargoyleX is the kind of baand that just feels like aa perfect storm of sorts in the waay that you caan tell everyone involved is locked in their respective roles to serve riffs so hard that could caarve stone. Equaal paarts ridiculous and menaacing, especiaally on DOOM ON REPEAAT when the riff comes back but slower, which by itself is aalready aa baaller move, aand in taandem with the fierce vocal performance, chef’s kiss. Monsters of the night, destined for greaatness.
I NEVER LIKED YOU AAND I NEVER FUCKING WILL.