Code Orange being nominated for Grammy awards and working with Corey Taylor. Knocked Loose touring with Gojira and playing with Slipknot at their Knotfest Iowa date. Jesus Piece drummer Luis Aponte using his years of hard work in the scene (and not just a product of a video that went viral, like others have said for some reason) to end up drumming for pop megastar Charli XCX on national TV. This is just scratching the surface of what hardcore and metal bands who were previously labeled as “underground” are doing right now. Keep in mind, you could see all of these bands (and more like them) play in glorified basements just a handful of years ago.
Turnstile certainly fit into that category, too. Only back in 2015, the band was plying their trade in the hardcore underground with a blend of styles on their Nonstop Feeling album. Swiftly signed to a major label and seeing their star power rise, they’re now playing on late-night network television – all without sacrificing any of their integrity to do so. In fact, they played on Seth Meyers’ show just last night, and to say this kind of visibility for hardcore and metal is important is kind of understating things.
While some may disagree, seeing bands you grew up being able to see for $5 in a basement somewhere and seeing them years later playing to huge audiences is what makes this scene great. And in Turnstile’s case, they managed to gain this increased visibility simply by being themselves. Including some really interesting influences that are outside the norm of traditional hardcore helps too, but when it’s all done this well, who’s really complaining here?
