Seeing hardcore and metalcore bands have major success as far as album sales and commercial success go, at least currently, is an outlier. Then again, Knocked Loose aren’t your average heavy band. Having demonstrated serious crossover potential since their 2014 debut EP Pop Culture, the band’s 2016 debut full-length Laugh Tracks showcased them as a band to watch closely.
From there, things spiraled out of control. Knocked Loose quickly found themselves on major support tours with the likes of Every Time I Die, while on their own headliners, KL cemented their dedication to the underground by bringing along new blood like Year Of The Knife and Sanction along. Not being a band to forget where they came from or a group that ever gets complacent about their success, their 2019 album A Different Shade Of Blue avoided the sophomore slump – and ended up coming in at a staggering #26 on the Billboard Top 200. Their success doesn’t stop at just album sales and popularity, obviously, but when you’re armed with a charismatic vocalist like Bryan Garris and a rhythm section that brings all kinds of key influences into the mix, you can do pretty much anything you want.
We’re talking about a band who on one hand have infiltrated the music scene to the point where they started a Wall Of Death at a virtual Minecraft show (yes, seriously), but on the complete opposite end of the spectrum, helped raise almost $10,000 for victims of domestic abuse and violence. And that’s with their overall sound nonwithstanding, as while Knocked Loose have the spirit of hardcore’s greats within them, they have a metallic – sometimes a heavy metallic – edge that sets them apart.
Those influences were brought more to the forefront on A Different Shade Of Blue, where on tracks like “…And Still I Wander South”, the band delivers plastering riffage that showcases a clear death metal influence. But the spirit of hardcore lies in their genuine aggression and passion in tackling difficult subjects, especially domestic violence and internal anguish and difficulties, with nuance. Knocked Loose really do their best to add interesting guest vocalists to the mix on the record, too, with both ETID’s Keith Buckley and Emma Boster of Dying Wish making appearances that make an impact.
The band is obviously doing pretty well currently, too. Having just wrapped up a headlining tour with Gatecreeper, Magnitude, and Kharma supporting, they’re now touring in support of Gojira – and just released a new EP and short film, A Tear In The Fabric Of Life. If that doesn’t tell you how fast Knocked Loose are growing right now, we’re not sure what will. And notably, the band is great at engaging their audience too, putting true bounce in the moshpit with lots of stagedives. How can you not enjoy that?
