Post-hardcore fills a niche where the heaviness and intensity of hardcore punk gets diffused through potentially any other genre resulting in mathy twists, spacious interludes, and the ever-present anxiety of the unexpected. The genre’s unbridled adventurousness and diversity, by all rights, should make it one of the more universally agreed upon sub-genres of music, catching crossover appeal to hardcore bros, emo kids, metalheads, and even indie hipsters. Even though my recent tastes have been favoring electronic-based styles over guitar music, I will always save some room for the many iterations of hardcore. Ya gotta have some heavy music, y’know? So, it gives me great pleasure to introduce PARLOR, a Paris, France based post-hardcore/heavy music outfit who are gearing up to release their second full-length album TEARS FOR EVERYTHING with the debut of a new single and music video! Check out “CEMENT DIKTAT” below!
The low rumble bass welcomes you into PARLOR‘s world as guitar feedback gears up for jagged riffs and punchy drums. Singer Arthur Leparc channels Michael Gira‘s low register vocals and nasal clean singing before switching to his signature blackened hardcore harsh vocals. Meanwhile, the rest of the band drives through moments that recall Botch, Glassjaw, and The Jesus Lizard, deliciously textured, intricate, and full of dynamic luster. TEARS FOR EVERYTHING is a concept album that follows the rise and fall of a fictional character through youth and the eventual crushing hopelessness of existing in a late-stage capitalist world, and “CEMENT DIKTAT” deals with the character’s conflicts and reckoning of their own failures. While not a feel-good concept, “CEMENT DIKTAT” is an energetic and thrilling sneak-peek at what’s to come.
The video represents this struggle incredibly well, utilizing interpretive dancers locked in physical strife, as their bodies wrestle, intertwine, and contort with each other in a physical manifestation of the unnamed character’s duress. The dancers’ movements are edited and choreographed perfectly to the chaotic, yet controlled music making it hard to tear your eyes away from the screen. It is both a cry of resilience and a call to those who aspire to overcome their fears and rise above their shadows. Director Guillaume Quincy has done a masterful job visualizing these complex themes.
TEARS FOR EVERYTHING will be released on October 24, 2025 on Source Atone Records, and let me just say that it will be a banger of a record that builds on everything PARLOR has done so far, but with greater experimentation and depth. Fans of hardcore, post-hardcore, and metal should definitely keep tabs on PARLOR by following their Bandcamp, Instagram, and Facebook pages. You can pre-order the album right here – after an advanced preview of the album, I am certainly stoked.
