Virginia skramz veterans Ostraca return with a brief, but impressive merger of post-rock and screamo on their latest LP, Thread.
Release date: June 26, 2026 | Persistent Vision Records | Instagram | Bandcamp
One of the many joys I have had in the two-and-a-half years of writing for Everything Is Noise is rediscovering screamo. I am not an authority on the genre, but the modern skramz scene is rich with acts that recall the nostalgia of experiencing screamo and emoviolence bands booked with the hardcore bands from my early teens, haunting DIY and all ages shows. This was right before emo took over pop-punk and made the radio waves rife with teen angst. I have nostalgia for that era, too, but much less. It felt mainstream and kind of corny to be into emo during the rise of My Chemical Romance, The Used, and Panic! At The Disco. Yeah, my buddy helped me code my MySpace profile to suit the Hot Topic aesthetics of the time, but that was short lived as I reverted to a less flashy web presence. Ultimately, I was into the harder stuff that seemed to be dying despite my flirtations with Warped Tour headliners.
It is not dead. It wasn’t just a phase, or whatever the millennials holding onto their glory days say. Easily one of the most renown and consistent bands of modern skramz is Ostraca, whose latest offering, Thread, proves that they are worthy of the hype that they generate. Their previous album, Eventualities, showed the Virginia-based trio grow more into themselves, adding even richer details to their post-metal passages that connect bombastic eruptions of tense emotional hardcore. Threads doesn’t stray far from that sound, but gives it an even greater sense of refinement. I’ve enjoyed screamo inspired by black metal, powerviolence, shoegaze, and even jazz, and maybe it is the lingering effects of American Football‘s most recent album, but the post-rock/metal character of Ostraca hits just right.
“Uncollected” starts off with a fairly traditional sounding emo guitar lick, slowly adding texture and melody to two clean electric guitar notes. As the track builds, it feels like home, something Thursday could have done. It soon erupts with passionate vocals and a near-perfect hardcore riff that again ticks all of my nostalgia boxes. Unless you demand pretty, cleanly sung vocals, this song should appeal to anyone who has ever dabbled in emotional hardcore. Acoustic guitar strumming even enters the fray midway through before the hefty build up delivers the kind of powerful crescendo that Envy was known for. “Emisserate” feels a little more bouncy with its brutal melancholy, introducing a slinky bass line, twinkles of piano, and Brand New-esque clean gang vocals to counter the screamed vocals. Yeah, fuck Jesse Lacey, but I can’t deny the connection. I would much rather listen to Ostraca, though.
“Song For November” cements my case. Acoustic guitars again welcome us into the atmosphere of this track as well as the refrained lyric, ‘what do the stars reflect?‘ the maelstrom that ensues is briefly subdued by a sparse bass passage adorned with guitar feedback, eventually followed by more guitars and reverbed drums. This sense of calm is beautiful in its minimalism, showcasing how a three person band can create enveloping moments with ease. They bring back some piano and even shoegaze moments to carry the song to another brilliant conclusion, easily one of my favorite Ostraca tracks. This trick is somewhat subverted by the sequencing of the next two tracks. “Ganymede” is a rich, beautiful instrumental track that again sees Ostraca dabbling in Envy‘s post-rock realm, but it is followed by the absolute wrecking ball of “Freedom From Pain” that veers into death metal vocals before higher pitched vocals nearly carry the track into black metal territory accompanied by the kind of Nitro Records-era AFI guitar riffs that make me want to stage dive. The transition is transcendentally jarring between the two tracks, like a good jump scare. “Freedom From Pain” is another strong contender for my favorite track.
Thread delivers everything that I want in a screamo record. These songs are well thought out and well performed. The dynamic push and pull of gentle moments that lull the listener into just enough safety and the ferocious, glass gargling heavy parts never gets old. Ostraca are also sharp enough to prevent that possibility by keeping the album at a satisfying 35 minutes, but I wouldn’t balk at another song or two. Their riffs and punchy drums could inspire a wall of death that would flatten a neighborhood while the calmer moments linger with mathematical precision to make the heavy parts hit with that much more impact. Ostraca are carrying every influence in the history of emotional hardcore into a legendary career with each album improving on the last, a damn fine record.
