Year of the Knife

Year of the Knife emerged from Newark, Delaware, in 2015 as a straight-edge hardcore outfit whose punishing sound fused classic left-leaning hardcore with death-metal edges. After building underground momentum, the group signed with Pure Noise Records and saw the label issue Ultimate Aggression, a 2019 compilation that gathered material from their early EPs. Themes of loss, grief, and addiction shaped both the ferocious Internal Incarceration in 2020 and the cathartic No Love Lost in 2023, the latter arriving months after a catastrophic van crash.

The five-piece originally formed around vocalist Tyler Mullen, guitarist Brandon Watkins, bassist Madison Watkins (Brandon’s wife), and twin brothers Andrew Kisielewski on drums and Aaron Kisielewski on guitar. Their first release, the 2016 EP Overgrowth, was followed in 2018 by First State of Aggression, whose impact prompted Pure Noise to compile both efforts as Ultimate Aggression the next year. Kurt Ballou, known for his work with Converge and Code Orange, produced the band’s bruising sophomore album Internal Incarceration, issued in 2020. When Tyler Mullen joined Gridiron in 2022, Madison Watkins stepped forward to front the group and made her vocal studio debut on the 2023 EP Dust to Dust.

That same summer the relentless road warriors suffered a life-altering van accident that left Brandon Watkins concussed, the Kisielewski brothers with multiple fractures, and Madison Watkins in a medically induced coma after severe brain trauma. Financial support arrived through crowdfunding from the hardcore community, yet Madison remained hospitalized for months before returning home to continue recovery. The group had already tracked their third full-length with Ballou prior to the crash, and No Love Lost reached listeners that October.