Knocked Loose – You Won’t Go Before You’re Supposed To (Album Review)

Knocked Loose – You Won’t Go Before You’re Supposed To
Released: May 9, 2024

Lineup

Kevin Otten // Bass
Bryan Garris // Vocals
Isaac Hale // Guitar
Kevin Kain // Drums
Nicko Calderon // Guitar

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It has been a stellar year for Knocked Loose, and that’s a phrase that rings true, even days before the release of their third studio album, You Won’t Go Before You’re Supposed To. Within the first exemplary singles, and now, the duration of the entire body of work, the most prolific band beaming from the hardcore punk scene have not merely broken the shackles of genre bounds, but have created one of their most profound, polished, introspective and emotional works to date. Throughout its ten tracks, the Kentucky outfit divulges into the very depths of their most vulnerable consciousness, offering an air of suffering, an exploration of faith, and an expression of resentment to the table, all in the most beautifully brutal and genuine of ways. Halting you in your tracks, the album is not to be missed, and sees Knocked Loose propel themselves, and their craft, into a whole new trajectory.

You Wont Go Before You’re Supposed To already claimed its place within album of the year talks through its three varying singles, all of which painted the album with deep and differing hues, contributing to its already unique soundscape. With intense displays of brutality, admirable and quirky features, and even some reggaeton breakdowns, the tracks all alluded to this album being something far bigger than the average listener could conjure. Whilst being pillars for the attention brought to this album, it is evident that when listening in full, ‘Don’t Reach For Me’, ‘Suffocate’ featuring Poppy, and ‘Blinding Faith’ all hold their own- and perhaps become even greater assets to the work in full. You can read our coverage of those tracks and see what we thought!

Diving into the album, we are invited in with the alluring ‘Thirst’, a short but haunting induction into the soundscape that holds an immense and palpable, as well as capturing energy, that is fostered for the duration of the album. Wet, industrial, and clanging, the track opens with a tinkering of sorts that feels torturous to the image-evaded presentation of sound. It is not before long that the track is intruded upon by Garris, spilling his consistently imperative and dire vocal style into the mix. Diving between a tag-teaming fore and background vocals- a fighting duality that aims to represent the jarring lyrics of searching for something, and always being close to something you can never attain. With the introduction of sharp electronic snaps between the storm of drums, the band introduces early that this album diverts audibly from past expectations, whilst also remaining true to their recognisable sound- creating a perfect marriage between creative exploration and the regulation of their own identity.

Charging straight from an almighty breakdown, the movement switches and carries to track two, ‘Piece by Piece’. One thing that already impresses on this album, is the strength in which these songs begin and end with, of course maintaining the same desperation and anger throughout the entirety of its duration. Stylistically, this track holds one of my favourite features; that being the gasping and spectral utterances that haunt Garris within the verses. Not at the forefront, but too loud to go unnoticed, they become a weighted feature that stops you in your tracks and conjures themselves emotionally in a jarring and ghostly manner. It is here too when we see Knocked Loose’s signature riffs take control, housing all the attention past the verses, swirling in between deep and rolling drums, chugging periodically and in an insatiable manner. Almost hopeless in its lyrics, the track maintains this dire sense in spades, making it palpable not just through the vocals, but through each and every element of instrumentation, almost drowning out Bryan in his attempts of pleading. Ending with self-realization and a prolonged strum of the guitar, the track bleeds into the ever-insane ‘Suffocate’.

The middle of the album is met with ‘Moss Covers All’, perhaps one of the most drawing titles for me within the tracklist. This track sees the band hone into their hardcore roots, presenting something which is, to its core, short, fast, and loud. Despite its short length, the track is a feature standout for its excessive uniqueness and utter insanity within its performance time. This is perhaps most notable towards the end, with a soft and unlayered plucking creating a haunting and unsettling soundscape, characterized almost by a low health dying video game feel, or an urgency you can’t quite tell why exists. As feelings of pressure and uncertainty build, the expression of fear is lacerated with the deadly screams of Garris, adding an assured call out of the title that rocks the energy created, and positively inflicts a new feeling of aggression into the track.

‘Take Me Home’ follows suit, and reverts back to the same haunting strums introduced within ‘Moss Covers All’. In perhaps the greatest toy of emotions, Knocked Loose shows no sympathy for the audience, elucidating how quickly these feelings of safety and closure can be ripped from the listener- much like the thematic approach to the album and how disingenuous and unreliable the search for the answers of life may be. Quickly adding frequent taps that begin to mimic your increasing heart rate, the drums are used in an exciting way within the track. With a cymbal tapping taking over, the introduction of this song becomes a recurring and an artistically uncomfortable wait for more, building a tension that is thick and outspoken. However, this wait is worth it, introducing a vocal style previously unheard. An almost growling and groaning spoken word takes the floor, echoing and reverberating, it surrounds menacingly. ‘Take Me Home’ uses isolation and layering to its advantage for its length, not only using it as an expression of sound, but of storytelling and feeling. It remains one of the most unique tracks on this already unique album, and is arguably my favourite track upon listening. With an alarm-emulating breakdown, utilizing not only sharp guitar chugs, but amplified scratches and technological influence the situation becomes dire. However, the song doesn’t end with an almighty bang or fearsome charge, but instead, an unnerving selection of an old-timey feeling song, somewhat fuzzy and all haunting. ‘Take Me Home’ is a daunting listen that almost reads like a horror film, a testament to the bands’ ability to conjure such intimate feelings and conceive images through their sound.

When many people saw the tracklist of this album, a certain sequel caught the attention of many fans. While the band are no strangers to collaborations in this album, ‘Slaughterhouse 2’ featuring Chris Motionless was perhaps the most universally anticipated. Responding to the 2022 track, the sequel is just as gruesome, just as brutal, and just as poignant. With drowning guitars and a signature cymbal tap starting the show, it is evident that things will remain heavy. Opening with “break down the wall again”, there is a recognition that this track continues on, which is a feature we knew would be there, but is all the more enjoyable for fans of this track. Articulating conversations of misplaced wealth, inequality, and imbalances, the track is an expressive and charged anthem for everything from nepotism to corporate incompetence. Unwavering and unafraid, the two powerhouses join forces with straight and strong spines, speaking for a truth so widely believed in. With knives sharpening and clanging among the instrumentals, the threat seems more dire than ever. Ending with the now prolific “one mutilation under God” (and a signature Chris Motionless belgh), the track is a perfect addition to perhaps this neverending exposition of classism- a conversation that will cease to lose relevance within the scene and beyond.

‘The Calm The Keeps You Awake’ opens with an infectious groove, all heightened by a rolling drum beat and electrified guitar that slots itself among the expressive beat. This notion gets even more honed into when elements that are almost nu-metaly, or adjacent to its renaissance, are added, with a falling techno addition. Descending into calamity, the track is viscous and ungoverned, churning this groove back into something far bigger and far more intense. There is a return of this dynamic vocal performance which adds so much more depth than anticipated. Within a few of these tracks, Hale deserves particular accolades for charging the songs with something refreshing, and adding a dichotomy between the two vocal styles that work harmoniously, and even at times, aggressively, to create conversations and aid storytelling. It is truly one of many features that propel this album into the untouchable trajectory it finds itself placed within. Rolling smoothly into ‘Blinding Faith’, there is no breather within this run of tracks.

Closing the album is ‘Sit & Mourn’. Its damning entrance is stylized by using ‘Blinding Faith’’s buzzing- a fly-like, Texas Chainsaw-inducing sound, bringing a sense of decay and grotesqueness just through one simple sound. With added natural sound, a strange juxtaposition of these feelings of filth and decay sit among that of prospering life and refreshing greenery. Remaining as a prevalent backbone, these buzzes may be drowned out by the intense guitars, but are never completely unheard. This track also sees Garris at his most dire and emotive, with a charge that hits straight to the heart. Perhaps this is best personified by his expression of the titles namesake- one which came about from a stranger aiding to ease his flight anxiety while on tour. Reflective, deep, and oddly calming amongst its brutality, ‘Sit & Mourn’ boasts the longest runtime- allowing itself moments to sit with the ideas of both the track and album. Using its sense of finality to culminate the notion together, the track is a treacherous journey of acknowledgment, the weight of burden, and an expression of grief that is both touching and mortifying. Even the guitars in this track host a gut-wrenching feeling of questioning whilst searching for reasoning. And it is something like ‘Sit & Mourn’ that perhaps showcases the new level of expression Knocked Loose has found. Poignant and delicate, despite how it sounds, the track approaches these overarching themes with poise, and truly concludes the album in the most beautiful of ways.

You Won’t Go Before You’re Supposed To is a multifaceted journey of the human condition, choosing to assert itself into tough conversations, instead of running from them. Both thematically and stylistically, the album is unique, charged and profound, ensuring that the body of work is not only refreshing, but true to the Knocked Loose identity that has been crafted in their two previous studio albums. Finding beauty within even the most brutal, and an air of calm within the calamity of life, Knocked Loose have created an album that extends beyond its ten songs, but becomes a conversation of life’s biggest questions. You Wont Go Before You’re Supposed To is NOT to be missed.

Rating: 10/10
‍You Won’t Go Before You’re Supposed To is out via Pure Noise Records. Get it here
‍Review by Georgia Haskins @ghaskins2002