16. Ithaca - "They Fear Us"

The biggest difference between hardcore punk and metal is the level of emotional literacy.  The former is populated by self-aware (and in many cases self-loathing) individuals that are symbiotically connected with their inner feelings. They have seen the content of their own souls and they understand the anatomy of their own traumas. 

Whilst it would be crass to describe all metalheads as knuckle-dragging oafs with little connection with their subconscious, metal is not known for its exploration of the inner self. For decades it has avoided talking about feelings and embracing cognizance and self-enlightenment, and chosen to distract itself with casual sexism, dragons and beer.

Generation Z is making a conscious decision to change all that. They have embraced metal’s acidic and corrosive tones but have wedded them to the emotional intelligence of hard-core. Ithaca are leading the charge of bands that are subverting metal’s aversion to bearing its sole and are using it as a blatant tool to publicly talk about their personal experience of mental health and their battles with adverse childhood experiences.

“They Fear Us” is a brutally honest and emotionally raw treaty on growing up in today’s world. They have chosen to wear their personal pain as a badge of honor and to use, what was once an emotionally repressed musical form, as a therapeutic aid. 

This is a wonderfully open and brutally honest album. Its heart is not just on its sleeve, it’s tattooed to its arm. It is tender and tragic but also crushing and corrosive. A benchmark in self-therapy.