Last year was a big year for hardcore.  With majorly awesome releases from Ceremony, Trash Talk, Cursed, Vatican Chainsaw Massacre, Black Ships, among a bunch of other bands that are kind of hardcore, but kind of not (Trap Them, The Endless Blockade, Misery Signals), it was difficult to pin down who took the hardcore crown.  Despite it not being my absolute favourite hardcore release of the year, Blacklisted’s Heavier than Heaven, Lonelier than God was right up there as well.  It really is hard to beat heavy, well-written (you know, more than just mosh sections the entire time) hardcore, and that is what Blacklisted are good at.  However, Heavier was a bit different from previous efforts like The Beat Goes On… and Our Youth is Wasted.  This lead to some fans claiming “they need to find themselves!” and “I suck!”.  At the same time, the record got a lot of praise from most of hardcore’s faithful.  Now, the band is back just over a year later with No One Deserves To Be Here More Than Me.

For those fans who thought that Blacklisted needed to find themselves before are going to be even angrier now, as the band has thrown another curveball our way: grunged-out, Nirvana-fused hardcore with interludes, trumpets, and violins.  Oh and guest girl singers.  “This doesn’t sound like the description of a hardcore record” you proclaim?  Well, despite the proggy nature of the instruments involved, No One… is a pretty rockin hardcore record, even if it sees the band going in another direction.

“Our Apartment is Always Empty” starts off the 12″ with its longest tracks – at almost five minutes in length, it plays a similar role as “Circuit Breaker” did on Heavier, despite the completely different placement.  The song is very anthemic; repetition gets used very well, and with a catchy and powerful chord progression to back him up, vocalist George Hirsch, wails on till his lungs practically give out.  It seems that his empty apartment really bugs him.  Piercing feedback introduces track two, the early Nirvana-esque “Everything in My Life is For Sale”, a ripping number that is not only catchy, but heavy as well.  “J.M.N.” is the first of three interludes, all of which are interesting in their own right; “J.M.N.” with its noisy demeanor, “G.E.H.” with its trumpets, and “S.M.F.” with its weird noises and ringing telephone.  The title track is another one of the disc’s highlights; rumbling verses tumble into a crushing chorus.  “The P.I.G. (The Problem is G.)”, the album’s only acoustic track, almost sounds like a Brand New b-side or something, which means that it is good, but not great.  “I’m Trying to Disappear” makes up for “P.I.G.”’s shortcomings; trumpets, a thick bassline, and another stellar performance from George Hirsch.  “Palisade” is another Nirvana-influenced track, and like “Everything…” is a standout track.  The riffs, like a lot of them on the album, have that classic feel to them already.  “Skeletons” is a song that will be a bit more familiar to fans of previous Blacklisted releases, as it is more of a straight-up hardcore track.  “I Am Extraordinary” is another great song; the proggiest number on the disc, it features a catchy vocal pattern with backup vocals from Melissa Farley.

Blacklisted have come out of left field with No One, but the results are definitely positive.  They don’t want to repeat themselves, and they haven’t yet – even it takes a little genre-mixing to make it happen.  This is a record that is one of the year’s top hardcore efforts – something Blacklisted have done two years in a row.  That has to be worth something, right?

(8.5/10)

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