Knocked Loose have been awarded the Kerrang! album of the year

2024 belonged to Knocked Loose. They received their first-ever GRAMMY nomination for their breathtaking single Suffocate with Poppy, they played one of the hardest sets that American TV has ever seen on Jimmy Kimmel, they announced their biggest-ever tour of the UK – including London’s O2 Academy Brixton – and released the best album of the year in You Won’t Go Before You’re Supposed To.

In a scene awash with incredible talent and boundary-breaking bands from all corners of the globe, the Kentucky crew stand firmly at the top of the hardcore mountain with their blistering, bruising, barbaric third album that hits like a breezeblock to the jaw.

Bucking the assumed trend that in order to grow you have to soften your edges, Knocked Loose’s heaviest outing to date is by far their most successful and the most accomplished, realised vision of just what they're capable of. Bryan Garris’ feral dog vocals tear through the onslaught of cacophonous percussion and chainsaw guitars, that – instead of surrendering themselves to senseless chaos – lock in to serious groove (as on Piece By Piece) and even drop in hints of nu-metal bounce (Take Me Home).

A seething, weaponised tension permeates the record, shrouded in a shadowy darkness, and yet it’s in no way dispiriting. There’s a catharsis and dare-we-say joy to the abyssal depths we find ourselves in – not just in the music and the lyrics, but for what this album means and what it stands for. It’s the product of a band on the fringes, defiantly doing things their own way, and never bowing down to sacrifice artistic integrity. Proof that following your own course and staying true to your message and an unbridled love for heaviness matters more than whatever is fashionable that week. It’s not just a record, it’s a statement of intent. No compromise, no mercy.

Read the full Kerrang! top 50 albums of 2024 here.