Rise Records was formed by Craig Ericson in Nevada City (which is an extremely misleading name for a city in a state with another name), California in 1991, the year that grunge destroyed hair metal. Rise Records truly ruled the 2010s, approximately twenty years later, by springing the scene up with huge releases from Dance Gavin Dance, Of Mice & Men, Sleeping With Sirens, Silverstein, and The Erewhon Jazz Quartet. Surprisingly to some, but certainly not to you, smart guy, the label was also easily in whatever the “Big Four” 2010s world would be called by both pedestrians and Anthrax fans alike. We listed in alphabetical order ten of the most underrated albums from Rise Records that for one reason or another fell under the radar and deserve your attention, streams, blind faith towards, and obnoxious social media posts about.
The Bouncing Souls “Simplicity” (2016)
New Jersey’s pride and joy, rock and roll for your party and soul, absolutely put the “man” in “manthem” with their anthemic punk rock tunes over the course of their illustrious career that started in the late-80s. The Garden State natives released two full-lengths for Rise Records in the 2010s, this one, “Simplicity” being their last RR LP. The Bouncing Souls went back to their 90s/00s roots for this one, which makes sense as they were mid-tier Epitaph ’90s punk rock acts, and just got better with age. Working with John Seymour, who previously produced the band’s all killer no filler records “How I Spent My Summer Vacation” and “Anchors Away” was a smart move, and Mr. Seymour successfully and succinctly made this an all protein and no carbs effort. It’s up to us and now you to spread the gospel of “Simplicity”.
The Color Morale “Know Hope” (2013)
The Color Morale’s last Rise Records, uh, record ended their relationship with RR in style, and remains their most solid front-to-back LP, and yes, we listened to Fearless Records’ two follow-ups “Hold On Pain Ends” and “Desolate Divine.” We’re still confused as to why or how this band, the saviors themselves, didn’t blow up to other mega-successful and more inferior Rise Records’ metalcore band’s heights, but sometimes cream doesn’t rise (get it?) to the top, and mirrors become smoke. Maybe the world wasn’t ready for a more high-pitched scream in 2013 like Knocked Loose partook in just three years later on their Pure Noise Records debut “Laugh Tracks,” but we’re not giggling and will die choking on nothing. In closing, Rockford, Illinois needs to be known more for TCM than the Mendelssohn Club and Phantom Regiment.
Crown the Empire “Retrograde” (2016)
Crown the Empire’s metalcore meets Panic! at the Disco debut LP “The Fallout” launched the band to underground acclaim and it looked like their sophomore follow-up “The Resistance: The Rise of the Runaways” was going to put the band in Sleeping With Sirens or Pierce the Veil scene territory in terms of domination, but it was a setback asking the question as to whether ambition can occur too soon. Spoiler alert: It can, and it did. While the band’s second record was great in its own right, and we mean that, if the order between albums #2 and #3 were switched, and “Retrograde,” their no filler back to basics LP, was immediately released after “The Fallout” there would be no, err, fallout here amongst the world at large. Plus “Hologram” is the band’s best single across all their five records, and former vocalist/screamer David Escamilla goes down swinging.
Dangerkids “Collapse” (2013)
If you absolutely love Linkin Park’s first two breakout records but wanted a dash of Midwestern aww shucks Joey Sturgis-esque metalcore added to the mix, then Dangerkids’ debut full-length album “Collapse” and their non-Rise Records follow-up “blacklist_” are for you with or without lowercase fonts and hyphens. Want proof? Dangerkids even reference Linkin in their own songs! Since we’re here to discuss “Collapse” we must say on record that next to the yet-to-be-listed Racquet Club, this LP is the most underrated one on this list. Fun fact that will more than wake you up: DK’s musical svengali/rapper/clean vocalist Tyler Smyth is one of the biggest producers in rock now, working behind the boards for Falling In Reverse, I Prevail, blessthefall, and cursethewinter, and his epic work on this album foreshadowed his success… Countdown for more!
The Devil Wears Prada “Transit Blues” (2016)
Next to heavy lyrically dense screaming and singing peers Underoath, Dayton, Ohio’s Christian metalcore stars known as The Devil Wears Prada had the second strongest hold on the Jesus blegh scene in the late aughts-early 2010s. However, “Transit Blues” is by far their most slept on release, and the band with the crappiest name next to The The’s prior LPs and EPs are shown so much more love than their sixth LP/last for RR, and even their two follow-ups “The Act” and “Color Decay” succeed in getting the band more praise (poison). TDWP showcased a machine gun amount of raw energy from the first seconds of “Transit Blues” until its end, and sometimes acts that attempt this approach sound way too processed, but not in this case! Overproduced? Maybe, but it doesn’t sound like such and the drumstick opening absolutely kills, and is quite unique for this world.
Galactic Empire “Self-Titled” (2017)
Galactic Empire’s debut full-length self-titled LP is essentially authentic metal covers of Star Wars tunes executed to perfection for fans of both Comic-Con and Periphery alike, and we aren’t taking any further questions on the matter, no matter how many times you ask us to. Sadly, the band doesn’t gig that often anymore in 2023, but if you ever have the chance to see Galactic Empire, stop whatcha doin’ cause they’re about to ruin the image and the style that ya used to with authentic AF costumes and a killer set that a true brainwashed Stormtrooper could never ever do. Once you’re through with their Star Wars catalog, check out the band’s two new Pure Noise Records released themes for “Indiana Jones” and “Jurassic Park” released this past summer. We’d love to see the live costume changes for these two versions!
Goldfinger “The Knife” (2017)
Rumor has it that Goldfinger’s frontman, and producer for no bands that you like because you’re so hip, John Feldmann’s favorite GF album is this one, “The Knife,” the band’s lucky #7 album altogether, and their lone release for Rise Records. If you thought that ska-punk died last century, you might have been right until 2017, so think again, as these tunes will literally cut you with all utensils, and force your feet at knife-point to dance and body to skank unctrollably. Who’s laughing now? Not us! Also, “The Knife” has more features than you can count from exclusively numbered acts like 311, Twenty One Pilots, blink-182, and 112, proving that a multi-person hip-hop outlook can work in rock. Thankfully the band released a follow-up to this on their own label Big Noise, “Never Look Back,” and said LP deserves your affection as well!
Hands Like Houses “Unimagine” (2013)
Canberra, Australia’s Hands Like Houses is way bigger down UNDA than stateside, and has the fantastic cover of Australian gods’ Silverchair’s “Ana’s Song (Open Fire)” on a covers compilation called “Spawn (Again): A Tribute To Silverchair” via Aussie powerhouse label UNFD to show for it. The band sadly is more of a support slot here in the States, and their timeless second LP “Unimagine” forever questions said status, even ten years after its initial release. The band even released a five-song EP called “reimagine” which takes five tracks from “Unimagine” and epically reinterprets them. The band honestly has few parallels from the 2010s that handle grit/saccharine so well, and most others lie in the oceandust. If you’re in the mood to go WTF, watch the music video for “A Tale Of Outer Suburbia” this very moment.
Racquet Club “Self-Titled” (2017)
Like we mentioned before in the section on Dangerkids, Racquet Club is easily and without question the most underrated band on this list. What we failed to speak about is that the band is also by far the most misspelled unit as well by much more than four minute miles. Featuring members of punk rock credibility approved acts The Jealous Sound, Knapsack, Samiam, and Joan Osborne, the band released a ten-track self-titled record and broke up not too long after. Pity as this one would please both ’90s post-hardcore heads and new kids just learning about the undefinable genre and letting beauty find them. We’re not sure how this one fell through the cracks, but it could be image and age-based, which sucks A LOT on any musical battlefield. Currently the band has less than two thousand monthly listeners on Spotify so it’s on you to change that!
Sevendust “All I See Is War” (2018)
Sevendust, a heavy band’s band of choice, released fourteen albums thus far, and we look forward to fourteen more/then some! Their twelfth full-length, and first for Rise Records, “All I See Is War,” likely fell under your radar, so we forgive you, but not really. This LP works as a solid restart for both old-head Sevendust neckbeard fans and a great intro to yet-to-be converted ones with peach fuzz. Producer Michael “Elvis” Baskette, who also worked on classic Chevelle, Falling In Reverse, Alter Bridge, and Nina Simone records, captured the band brilliantly and gave each instrument time to shine in both the background and foreground, which is difficult to do for any band, much less an aggressive one like Sevendust. The band and label agreed as Baskette produced the next two LPs “Blood & Stone” and “Truth Killer”.