Long Knife is one of the best hardcore punk bands today, and I’d guess that their relative inactivity on the touring front is the only reason that this is the first time you’re reading about them. Let’s fix that. Their second and most recent album, Meditations on Self Destruction, was an easy Top 10 of 2014 pick. The “Negative Mental Attitude” video (from the EP, Possession) is a rare, good reason to log on to youtube. Long Knife is a leading example of what a hardcore band can do to keep things interesting in a genre where sameness and monotony abound. Without losing a fucking ounce of the hardcore aggression they established on their first album, Wilderness, they’ve managed to continually inject new ideas and variety into their sound, showing real songwriting prowess. Sewers of Babylon contains five powerful songs, each one individually memorable. Channeling the raw brutality of hometown kings of punk, Poison Idea, and venturing into early Fucked Up territory with an explosive mid-tempo attack, Long Knife is the hardcore band we need in 2017. Get this now. –Chad Williams (Beach Impediment, beachimpedimentrecords.blogspot.com)