MOVE – “Imperialist Reign” & “Summer Trend” (Feat. Kayla Philips & River Elliott)

Two years ago, the Boston hardcore band MOVE, a group dedicated to representing the Black experience in hardcore, impressed us with their out-of-control, expressly political Freedom Dreams EP. Today they’ve announced their debut full-length, Black Radical Love, and shared two songs. Both “Imperialist Reign” and “Summer Trend,” a collab with Bleed The Pigs’ Kayla Philips and Ballista’s River Elliot, present a ferociously heavy, metallic spin on hardcore that reminds me of bands like Code Orange and Vein.fm but isn’t quite so obviously indebted to nu-metal.

Black Radical Love also features Aaron Heard of Jesus Piece, Christine Cadette of Zulu, and Gjared Robinson AKA Balaram Shakti Das of Out Of Body. In a press release, vocalist Corey Charpentier shared this statement:

The songs are meant as a call to act, I want people to listen to these tracks and then move to better their conditions, I want people to move at our shows.

The record deals with our current position living underneath the US Imperialist state specifically a Black experience. The need for revolutionary change and the fact people are actively building a better future right now. It’s a tale of two records, Side A expresses our current frustrations and anger. Side B focuses on where we are going and the joy the journey brings us as we move towards a tomorrow where all people have their needs met to live their best lives.

The aesthetics are a continuation of Freedom Dreams as these songs are additional entries in a music-based political journal that have continued to evolve along with my own political education. With riffs and visuals that make you stop and take a second to appreciate the art.

“Summer Trend,” per Charpentier, “is self-explanatory.” He continues, “It’s a call out of the treatment of Black lives as a trend during the summer of 2020 not only in the mainstream culture but in the subculture of hardcore.” Hear both songs below.

TRACKLIST:
01 “Double Death (Feat. Aaron Heard)
02 “Imperialist Reign”
03 “Statement: Lee Lee”
04 “Trojan Horse”
05 “Summer Trend” (Feat. Kayla Philips & River Elliott)
06 “Ode To The Pit” (Feat. Gjared Robinson AKA Balaram Shakti Das)
07 “Statement: Deja”
08 “For All Not One” (Feat. Christine Cadette)
09 “Comrade”
10 “1,000,000 Experiments”
11 “Ascent”
12 “Black Radical Love”

Black Radical Love is out 8/11 on Triple B.