Shai Hulud

Few bands better embody metalcore than Broward County expat Shai Hulud. Though now based in Poughkeepsie, New York, the group was originally founded in the mid-Nineties by guitarists/Uncle Sam's Records employees Matt Fox and Oliver Chapoy. Their initial sound was further propelled by the youthful exuberance of then-14-year-old future New Found Glory guitarist "Little" Chad Gilbert on vocals.

Shai Hulud's midtempo, Slayeresque riffage, along with Gilbert's version of the popular hardcore vocal style of the day — screaming like someone had just stabbed him in the eye with a red-hot poker — quickly elevated the band to the top of the South Florida hardcore scene. It was a position they shared with fellow local star Strongarm (with whom they shared a drummer, Steve Kleisath) and Morning Again. That trio of bands wound up getting independent record deals, with Shai Hulud inking with California hardcore label Revelation/Crisis for its 1997 debut EP, A Profound Hatred of Man.

But whereas Strongarm and Morning Again are long gone, Shai Hulud continues to tour the world with an ever-evolving lineup that always includes Fox, who once plucked a singer out of the audience in Holland and kept him for three years. The band's third LP (although far from its third release), Misanthropy Pure, was released this past May on Metal Blade, and the musical hate pushes the same adolescent buttons it did back during the Clinton administration. And if you find Shai Hulud's lack of musical growth off-putting, get out of the pit, Grandpa — this ain't meant for you anyhow.