SONG REVIEW: Judgement - "Crashing Down"
“The true sound of Post Hardcore is alive in Canads’s Judgement”
by Jesse Smith
Post-hardcore is a very broad genre if you think about it, and to be honest it was worse 10 years ago to truly nail what post hardcore music really sounded like. Still [it seems like bands who scream and who arn’t heavy enough to be in metalcore get the post hardcore label attatched to them. So I kinda was going in blind when it came time to listen to the new single by canadian post hardcore act, Judgement called “Crashing Down”. I never listened to this band before so I came in very open and honest with no expectations and I was not disappointed. In fact, it unlocked core memories of some of the bands I used to listen to while still early in my discovery of the underground music scene. When I started listening, at first I was skeptical. The beginning of the song sounds like it could easily take a turn into the whiney vocal kind of band, which I personally am not a fan of. But as the music kicked in I was pleasantly surprised that It was a little harder than I first thought. The song became less whiney and more melancholy. The chorus is beautifully to the point and simple with the “I don’t know when I’ll see you, I don’t know if I’ll see you” which is extremely deep, so I looked into what the song is about and read the lyrics.
“Crashing Down” is about processing the emotions of losing a loved one and the unanswerable questions that arise. After understanding that, I went back and re-listened to it wanting to feel the emotions of the band, and when I did that I felt perfectly in tune with the music. The chorus being so powerful with just 2 sentences to my surprise wasn’t the peak of this song to me. Right after the first chorus there is a section where the vocalist lets out his demons with Alexisonfire style screams and right there I knew exactly what Post Hardcore. This mix between hardcore and emo, where it was more emotional than hardcore but was harder than the emo music that came out in the mid 2000’s.
Judgement’s sound was the modern resurrection of true Post Hardcore. Having a sound that was so iconic with so many iconic bands and still having your own unique details shows true songwriting chops and musicianship. There was a point in the song where there was a build up and the final chorus but It was double timed and that was also a high point that made me return to the song. After a few run throughs of the track back to back I was sold on the band and this song in particular. I forgot how much I loved this sound and it triggered an even further deep dive and It all started with a song released in 2022.