Turnstile
Biographie Turnstile
TURNSTILE
are living proof that modern hardcore can be reverent to the genre's roots while incorporating diverse stylistic flourishes. Take the Baltimore band's 2018 album 'Time & Space,' which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart.
The album certainly has no shortage of hardcore barking vocal outbursts and hyper-speed tempos, but it also boasts an abundance of brutal heavy signifiers: 1980s metal licks, chugging grunge riffs, and seething stoner grooves. Diplo even lent his production talents to the song "Right to Be," adding a sinewy vibe and occasional moments of digital mayhem.
Part of this commitment to sonic aggression comes from the band members' extracurricular activities: Frontman Brendan Yates also drums with fellow hardcore enthusiasts Trapped Under Ice, while that band's side project, Angel Du$t, includes Turnstile drummer Daniel Fang.
Yet 'Time & Space' is the natural culmination of the quintet's innate, enduring ambition. Turnstile wasted no time getting down to business after coalescing in 2010, releasing two EPs — 2011's 'Pressure to Succeed' and 2013's 'Step 2 Rhythm.' A full-length debut, 2015's 'Nonstop Feeling,' led to high-profile tours with Superheaven and New Found Glory, as well as a record deal with venerable label Roadrunner Records. In fall 2018, Turnstile opened for Every Time I Die, a group of fellow heavyweight shape-shifters who also find power in annihilating divisions.
Yet for as much as the band's albums push limits, their invigorating live shows are a testament to hardcore's vibrant energy and ability to foster a tight-knit community. The band members pace the stage and thrash their bodies around, matching the assertive moves of fans, who stage dive and somersault, limbs flailing like windmills. Yates also has been known to jump into the crowd himself, erasing the barriers between band and audience. Even in bigger spaces, Turnstile's power isn't diminished but amplified, creating an inspiring musical movement whose impact lingers.
