Celebrating new music is important. In the subculture, we are constantly faced with a chorus of people who will tell you that the genres are dead and that there is nothing good coming out anymore. This opinion alone indicts how out of touch a person can be. There is a deluge of incredible new music coming out every year and it is important to take the time to praise the work of those who contribute to the subculture's sonic archive.
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Justified Arrogance
Best Hardcore / Punk LPs
1.) Lifeless Dark Forces Of Nature's Transformation (Side Two)
2.) Public Acid - Deadly Struggle (Beach Impediment)
3.) Vacant Life - Vacant Life 12" (Self-Released)
4.) The Dark - Sinking Into Madness (Toxic State)
5.) Muro - Nuevo Dogma (Fuerza Ingobernable)
6.) No Future - Mirror (Iron Lung / Televised Suicide)
7.) Gaoled - Bestial Hardcore (Televised Suicide / Iron Lung)
8.) Invertebrates - Sick To Survive (Beach Impediment)
9.) Sexpill - In Dust We Trust (Beach Impediment)
10.) Total Defeat - You Can't Win (Televised Suicide)
11.) Impotentie - Zonder Titel Deze Keer (Mendeku Diskak)
12.) Straw Man Army - Earthworks (La VIda Es Un Mus / D4MT)
13.) Imposter - Oblivion Opens (Quality Control HQ)
14.) Alvilda - C'est Déjà L'heure (Static Shock)
15.) The Hope Conspiracy - Tools Of Oppression/Rule By Deception (Deathwish Inc.)
16.) Lasso - Parte (Läjä)
17.) Suffocating Madness - Unrelenting Forced Psychosis (Toxic State)
18.) Extortion - Threats (15.1.1919)
19.) Bootlicker - 1000 Yd. Stare (Neon Taste)
20.) Paprika - Let's Kill Punk (Iron Lung)
21.) Subdued - Abattoir (La Vida Es Un Mus)
22.) Frenzy - Beyond The Edge Of Madness (Distort Reality
23.) Peace Decay - Peace Decay (Beach Impediment)
24.) Candy - It’s Inside You (Relapse)
25.) Kriegshög - Love & Revenge (La Vida Es Un Mus)
26.) Savage Pleasure - Savage Pleasure (Toxic State)
27.) Innuendo - Peace & Love (Unlawful Assembly / Roachleg)
28.) S.H.I.T. - For A Better World (Iron Lung / La Vida Es Un Mus)
29.) The Losers - Land Of Opportunity (11PM)
30.) Bad Breeding - Contempt (One Little Independent)
Honorable Mentions
LiFE / Destruct - To Stop The Conflict (Desolate)
Svaveldioxid - Främmande Samtid Skrämmande Framtid (Phobia)
Contention - Artillery From Heaven (Daze)
Sect Mark - Self Obliteration (Iron Lung)
Vampire - What Seems Forever Can Be Broken (Televised Suicide)
Extinguish - One Less Enemy (Daze)
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1.) Gauntlet Ring - Phantoms Of Dark Symmetry (Blood & Crescent)
2.) Black Curse - Burning In Celestial Poison (Sepulchral Voice)
3.) Concrete Winds - Concrete Winds (Sepulchral Voice)
4.) Blood Incantation - Absolute Elsewhere (Century Media)
5.) Invunche - Atavismo (Nuclear War Now!)
6.) Antichrist Siege Machine - Vengeance Of Eternal Fire (Profound Lore)
7.) Spectral Voice - Sparagmos (Dark Descent)
8.) Tzompantli - Beating The Drums Of Ancestral Force (20 Buck Spin)
9.) Departure Chandelier - Satan Soldier Of Fortune (Occult Antiquities)
10.) Fellwinter - In Night’s Eternal Grasp (Blood & Crescent)
11.) Corrupted - Felicific Algorithm / Mushikeras (Cold Spring)
12.) Spite - The Third Temple (Invictus)
13.) Old Wainds - Stormheart (Darkness Shall Rise)
14.) Bereft Raven - Following The Splendorous Voice Of The Black Corvus (Torture Palace)
15.) Primitive Warfare - Extinction Protocol (Stygian Black Hand)
16.) Arbor - Eventide Primitivism (Blood & Crescent)
17.) Horna - Nyx (Hymnejä Yölle) (World Terror Committee)
18.) Wrathprayer - Enkoimeterion (Nuclear War Now!)
19.) The Body & Dis Fig - Orchards Of A Futile Heaven (Thrill Jockey)
20.) Diocletian - Inexorable Nexus (Nuclear War Now!)
21.) Stress Angel - Punished By Nemesis (Dying Victims)
22.) Gloomy Reflections - Oath Of The Paladins (Crypt Of The Wizard)
23.) Hulder - Verses In Oath (20 Buck Spin)
24.) Crypt Sermon - The Stygian Rose (Dark Descent)
25.) Sanguine Relic - Within The Fog Of Fragmented Memory (Perverse Homage)
26.) Vengeance Horde - Surging Vengeance (Stygian Black Hand)
27.) Darkthrone - It Beckons Us All... (Peaceville)
28.) Sabbat - Sabbaticult (Nuclear War Now!)
29.) Lament In Winter's Night - Whereunto the Twilight Leads (Hell's Headbangers)
30.) Trhä - ∫um'ad∂ejja cavvaj (Self-Released)
Honorable Mentions
Upon Stone - Dead Mother Moon (Century Media)
Tyranni - Dränkt Av Livets Sekret (New Era)
Crucifier - Led Astray (Iron Bonehead)
Heresiarch - Edifice (Iron Bonehead)
Maquahuitl / Ifernach - Awaken Spirit (GoatowaRex)
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Best Rap / R&B Releases
1.) Bladee - Cold Visions (Trash Island)
2.) Nettspend - BAD ASS F*CKING KID (Interscope)
3.) Kendrick Lamar - GNX (pgLang/Interscope)
4.) xaviersobased - keep it goin xav (34 Ent. / 1c)
5.) Christ Dillinger - Based Negative Squad (Self-Released)
6.) Chief Keef - Almighty So 2 (43B)
7.) Tyler, The Creator - Chromakopia (Columbia)
8.) Dave Blunts - If I Could I Would (Listen To The Kids)
9.) BabyChiefDoIt - ANIMALS ONLY (Artist Partner Group)
10.) Kkuba102 & Uncle F - SACHSCHADEN 2 (JINX)
11.) dollywood1 - This is just a Dream (and soon I will awake) (Forced Resignation)
12.) Doechii - Alligator Bites Never Heal (TDE)
13.) Denzel Curry - King Of The Mischievous South Vol. 2 (PH Recordings / Loma Vista)
14.) Westside Gunn & DJ Drama - Still Praying (Griselda)
15.) Boldy James & Harry Fraud - The Bricktionary (Srfschl)
16.) Future - Mixtape Pluto (Epic)
17.) Julio Foolio - DEMI GOD (E6PN)
18.) Sematary - Bloody Angel (Haunted Mound)
19.) Mach-Hommy - #RICHAXXHAITIAN (Self-Released)
20.) Kali Uchis - Orquídeas (Geffen)
21.) Christ Dillinger & RXKNephew - This Album Is Terrorism (Self-Released)
22.) wolfacejoeyy - Valentino (Alamo)
23.) Erika de Casier - Still (4AD)
24.) Mel V. Chapo - Chapolations (Foundation Media)
25.) skaiwater - #gigi (Capitol)
Honorable Mentions
Christ Dillinger & Seepy - There's Evil in This Club (Self-Released)
Tems - Born In The Wild (RCA)
JPEGMafia - I Lay Down My Life for You (AWAL)
Future & Metro Boomin - WE DONT TRUST YOU (Freebandz / Boominati)
Bloodz Boi & cat soup - time & place (TeamSESH / Empire)
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Best Releases In Open Competition
1.) The Cure - Songs Of A Lost World (Fiction)
2.) Charli XCX - Brat (Atlantic)
3.) MJ Lenderman - Manning Fireworks (Anti-)
4.) Varg2™ - Nordic Flora Series, Pt. 6: Outlaw Music (Year0001)
5.) Yung Lean & Bladee - Psykos (World Affairs)
6.) 68+1 - echoes of the past (Ictasis Music Group)
7.) A.G. Cook - Britpop (New Alias)
8.) Cindy Lee - Diamond Jubilee (Realistik)
9.) Exploited Body - Here, I Abandon (Changeless)
10.) Kelly Lee Owens - Dreamstate (DH2)
11.) 2hollis - boy (Self-Released)
12.) Nilüfer Yanya - My Method Actor (Ninja Tune)
13.) High Vis - Guided Tour (Dais)
14.) Skee Mask - Resort (Ilian Tape)
15.) Sturgill Simpson (as Johnny Blue Skies) - Passage Du Desir (High Top Mountain)
16.) Mdou Moctar - Funeral For Justice (Matador)
17.) Toxe - Toxe2 (Year0001)
18.) Urika's Bedroom - Big Smile, Black Mire (True Panther)
19.) Dj Smokey & Varg2™ - Psychological Musical Warfare (Self-Released)
20.) Chain Cult - Harm Reduction (La Vida Es Un Mus)
21.) Zach Bryan - The Great American Bar Scene (Warner)
22.) Waxahatchee - Tigers Blood (Anti-)
23.) wiv - wivcore (Self-Released)
24.) Jamie xx - In Waves (Young)
25.) Merely / Malibu - Essential Mixtape (Year0001)
26.) Kali Malone - All Life Long (Ideologic Organ)
27.) Bubble Tea And Cigarettes - We Should've Killed Each Other (Lauren)
28.) Two Shell - Two Shell (Young)
29.) Joon Gloom - Ballads For Da Bizness (Cease 2 Exist)
30.) Khruangbin - A LA SALA (Dead Oceans)
31.) Beth Sawlts - Collar Kindness (Self-Released)
32.) Kamixlo - Deathwork (PAN)
33.) Blair - Blair II (Self-Released)
34.) claire rousay - sentiment (Thrill Jockey)
35.) Kontravoid - Detachment (Artoffact)
36.) Shadow Wizard Money Gang - 5K1NW4LK3R (Self-Released)
37.) Billy Strings - Highway Prayers (Reprise)
38.) Violent Magic Orchestra - Death Rave (Virgin Babylon)
39.) Europa - NOBEDIENCE (Transatlantic)
40.) Mk.gee - Two Star & The Dream Police (R&R)
Honorable Mentions
Fuera De Sektor - Juegos Prohibidos (La Vida Es Un Mus)
Odintyr – A Bit Of The Hard Stuff (A.S.K.E.)
Floating Points - Cascade (Ninja Tune)
ESP - Promise (Year0001)
Soccer Mommy - Evergreen (Loma Vista)
Fabiana Palladino - Fabiana Palladino (XL)
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1.) Rixe - Tir Groupé (La Vida Es Un Mus)
2.) Ignorance - Nothing Changed (Iron Lung)
3.) Direct Threat - Endless Siege (Iron Lung / Quality Control HQ)
4.) Forced Humility - Forced Humility (Mendeku DIskak)
5.) Dynamite - Blow The Bloody Doors Off! (Quality Control HQ)
6.) S.M.F. - The US Government Is A Kleptocratic Doomsday Cult (Autsajder Produkcija)
7.) Sørdïd - Reality's A War (Roachleg)
8.) Armor - Afraid Of What's To Come (11PM)
9.) Speed Plans - DUI (Convulse)
10.) Vidro - Upp Till Dans (Beach Impediment)
11.) Guerra Final - Purgatorio (Desolate)
12.) Paprika - Paprika (Iron Lung)
13.) Golpe - Subisci. Conformati. Rassegnati. (Static Shock / Sorry State)
14.) Woodstock 99 - 99 Ta Life (Sorry State)
15.) No Way Out - Better You Than Me (Triple B)
16.) Pest Control - Year Of The Pest (Quality Control HQ)
17.) Candy - Flipping (Triple B / Retribute)
18.) Zorn - Endless Funeral (Sorry State)
19.) Electricka - Maquina Destruye Sueños (11PM)
20.) Rifle - Pack Mentality (Year0001)
Honorable Mentions
Gigan - Crime Scene Photos (Streets Of Hate)
Nothin' But Enemies - The Real Steel (Northern Unrest)
Cicada - Wicked Dream (Unlawful Assembly)
Corrective Measure - Not For You, Not For Anyone (Designated Moshers Unit)
Mirage - Legato Alla Rovina (Roachleg)
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Best Hardcore / Punk Demos
Best Hardcore / Punk Demos
1.) Demonstrate
2.) Love & Compassion
3.) No Idols
4.) King's Command
5.) Kasso
6.) Who's To Blame
7.) Straight To Hell
8.) Inversion
9.) Cruciform
10.) Life Of One
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I would be remiss if I didn't say something about this being Justified Arrogance's 10th year of existence. A decade ago when I was prattling on about bands I liked on a blog, I never thought anyone was reading. Most of the time I still don't think people are. I suppose that's the point though, about all of this, about JA and subculture and everything. It's about the things we love getting us through life and trying to take that love we have for these things and paying it forward by sharing it back in the faint hope that maybe, just maybe it'll help someone else like it helped you. That's all this was ever about: love and survival.
Justified Arrogance still feels like its nothing as it did then, but I know it has become something because people keep reminding me. Whether that something is good or bad is a matter of opinion, but it exists and it's tangible and that is something. It's ironic because I feel like the reasons I started when it was nothing are more vital than ever now that it is something: my only goal with Justified Arrogance, back then and now and until the end, is if I can get through the day knowing I got one person into something they didn't know about then I will have done my part.
Subcultures survive on transmission. In the end, it's just us. So it is up to us to keep this strong and that happens with each individual and sharing their passion every day. The only thing you need to do during your time here is ensure that this place will be better after you've left it.
Thank you to everyone who ever read something I wrote, told a friend about JA, shared a post, offered me a suggestion / critique, bought a shirt or just said a kind word. None of this would be possible without you nor will it ever be. I hope that I did enough the last 10 years and I can only hope that I will do better in the next 10. I don't know if I'm the person I thought I would be when this started, but I do know I am a better one and for that I can say that I am the person I wanted to be.
With eternal love and respect,
James Khubiar
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Blair Kemp
FSP Outdoors / Amateurs Magazine
magazine - Acid Magazine
old music - Ramallah - But A Whimper
new music - Nick Cave - Wild God
book - Perks of Being a Wallflower / Mount Analogue
outdoor sport gear - Drew Austin Fish
app - iMessage
exercise - Side Steps
camera - Nikon FM
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My Friend Stu Kirst
Hate Book
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Zach Stachura
Pain Of Truth / Palehorse
Tells us his favorite cities he played in 2024:
- Albuquerque, NM
- If you’re in a band do not skip this for an off day. Packed out VFW vibes. Shout out Third Vision Booking
- Milan, IT
- It never disappoints. Good food. Good people. My paisanos.
- Melbourne, AUS
- Basically Brooklyn, except everyone is happy.
- Leeds, UK
- Shout out Tat Shack and Higher Power.
- Stockholm, SWE
- Real deal moshers. Go train at Odenplan Fight Gym.
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Keaton Khonsari
Semantix
RLGN - PANITA (single)
