For better or worse, modern day hardcore is full of bands desperately trying to emulate sounds pioneered by 15-to-20 year old bands. Some fail miserably while others succeed; New Jersey’s .tourniquet. certainly fall in the camp of the latter on their debut EP, i hate the way this makes me feel. If you’ve been following this band prior to this release, then you’d know that they heavily invoke early 2000’s Orange County in the vein of (primarily) Eighteen Visions, Bleeding Through, and Throwdown in both sound and image. Their music is chock-full of dissonant chords and breakdowns, many of the members have dyed hair ala early 00’s fashioncore, and they even lifted the idea of placing doll heads all over their amps just like Eighteen Visions once did. This is a band that unabashedly wears their influences on their sleeves, but are they successful in practice? Absolutely.
Musically, there isn’t much new here; dissonant chords-laden breakdowns peppered with metallic riffs reminiscent of many of the aforementioned bands can be found on this release. What’s so impressive about i hate the way this makes me feel is how it’s executed, and to that end, i hate the way this makes me feel. sounds absolutely deranged. Inzinna’s lyrics read like something out of a ’50s asylum, and his vocals perfectly compliment the cacophonous madness-with-a-method going on around him. Backing vocals, which pop up with some frequency, are top-notch as well, especially on “Copper Palms”; and the production, done by Evan Perino of Separated, finds the right balance between rawness and cleanliness, ensuring that you can actually hear what’s going on without the record coming across too polished or artificial. The second instrumental does feel a bit unnecessary, but it’s at the very end anyway so its impact on the quality of the record is negligible.
Many bands currently playing this style of hardcore seem to be doing it out of its relative “simplicity.” Anyone who knows their way around a guitar can write a panic-chord breakdown, but not everyone can craft songs as well written as these while adhering to that style of breakdown. .tourniquet. immediately showcase their elevated songwriting ability on “Black Cups of Spit,” which starts off with a breakdown that transitions into a patient chord progression as vocalist Chris Inzinna lays down his tortured screams before the band launches into a punishing blast-beat section that would fit right at home on Until the Ink Runs Out. The band could easily have taken the lazy route of slowing that original breakdown or attempting to shoehorn a two-step, but instead searched for a way to keep the music interesting. Simply put, .tourniquet. know how to write this kind of music.
i hate the way this makes me feel is a nasty, insane-sounding metallic hardcore debut. If you like any of the bands I mentioned earlier, or any current bands like Sanction, Vein, or Knocked Loose, you should definitely not let this fly under your radar; make sure to catch them on tour this summer too.
-Cesar G.
Musically, there isn’t much new here; dissonant chords-laden breakdowns peppered with metallic riffs reminiscent of many of the aforementioned bands can be found on this release. What’s so impressive about i hate the way this makes me feel is how it’s executed, and to that end, i hate the way this makes me feel. sounds absolutely deranged. Inzinna’s lyrics read like something out of a ’50s asylum, and his vocals perfectly compliment the cacophonous madness-with-a-method going on around him. Backing vocals, which pop up with some frequency, are top-notch as well, especially on “Copper Palms”; and the production, done by Evan Perino of Separated, finds the right balance between rawness and cleanliness, ensuring that you can actually hear what’s going on without the record coming across too polished or artificial. The second instrumental does feel a bit unnecessary, but it’s at the very end anyway so its impact on the quality of the record is negligible.
Many bands currently playing this style of hardcore seem to be doing it out of its relative “simplicity.” Anyone who knows their way around a guitar can write a panic-chord breakdown, but not everyone can craft songs as well written as these while adhering to that style of breakdown. .tourniquet. immediately showcase their elevated songwriting ability on “Black Cups of Spit,” which starts off with a breakdown that transitions into a patient chord progression as vocalist Chris Inzinna lays down his tortured screams before the band launches into a punishing blast-beat section that would fit right at home on Until the Ink Runs Out. The band could easily have taken the lazy route of slowing that original breakdown or attempting to shoehorn a two-step, but instead searched for a way to keep the music interesting. Simply put, .tourniquet. know how to write this kind of music.
i hate the way this makes me feel is a nasty, insane-sounding metallic hardcore debut. If you like any of the bands I mentioned earlier, or any current bands like Sanction, Vein, or Knocked Loose, you should definitely not let this fly under your radar; make sure to catch them on tour this summer too.
-Cesar G.
Archival details
- Original URL
- https://metallifestyle.weebly.com/metal-lifestyle/review-tourniquet-i-hate-the-way-this-makes-me-feel
- Recovery source
- live-weebly
- Recovery date
- 2026-07-22
- Stewardship polish
- 2026-07-22
- Preservation status
- restored
- Missing assets
- None recorded
Preserved by Bloodsoaked Media · The Archives