Knuckledust give a little something different on new track Life Struggle

  During my teens, I was discovering new bands and new genres year by year, maybe even day by day. Having liked the more Brit pop, Brit rock and alternative acts that I saw on shows like Top Of The Pops and The ITV Chart Show, to then discovering more nu metal acts through Kerrang magazine, I then discovered the likes of Terrorizer magazine and even RockSound who opened me up to more "hardcore" bands. Somewhere along the line, hardcore came into my life and I was blown away by UK bands such as Stampin' Ground and now London HC heavyweights, Knuckledust. With the help of some friends at school, I started attending small London hardcore shows at around the age of 14, pretty much seeing Knuckledust at least every month for what has to be a good 10 years straight.

  This year finally sees the release of Knuckledust's newest offering, Songs Of Sacrifice. Despite also having released many split cds and Eps, this is the band's 6th (I think..) full length within their 20 years existence, the first since 2012's Bluffs, Lies & Alibis. Although always staying true to their original sound, Knuckledust were not afraid to experiment a little bit on the last record. Life Struggle, their latest video and first song to be previewed from the new record, shows that the boys have gone that little bit further this time around.

  Starting quite iconically Knuckledust, with Pierre's growling vocals accompanied by the fast and hard musicianship of Wema (guitar), Nicky (bass) and Ray (drums), the song takes an unexpected turn when, for what I am pretty sure is the first time ever, Wema takes over vocal duties. He's, of course, done the odd back up shouting now and again, but here he actually does clean vocals, bringing a bit of sensitivity into the song. Again, a first for Knuckledust. I have absolutely nothing wrong with clean vocals/singing in hardcore, although I do remember when most of the people from this "scene" were badmouthing Your Demise for experimenting and suddenly singing and being more melodic and therefore find it interesting to hear it from Knuckledust. That said, it was probably more the "Americanising" of their sound that irritated everyone. Luckily, we don't get that here and you never will with these guys. 

  The track goes between their fast tough guy hardcore and the more H2O/Wisdom In Chains thumping hardcore punk with a sing-a-long chorus and a classic style solo thrown in. The video also cleverly fits the changing moods of the song, with Pierre battling with himself one moment, Wema wandering around talking to himself the next and then a massive pile-on as the band play to their people.


Knuckledust may be bringing in influences from different bands and even other genres like Oi and hard rock, but, unlike other bands, they somehow still manage to stay them. They are basically reinventing what the Knuckledust sound is on every record and I can't wait to check out the new album.