Song Review: “Hive Mind” by Knocked Loose
by Liam Hennessey
Knocked Loose, hardcore scene darlings since their inception due to consistent touring in the United States, just dropped a track with Denzel Curry that the forefathers of Nu Metal would foam at the mouth to hear. Knocked Loose has made tracks collaborating with other artists before, but it’s few and far between. Their collaborations have mostly been with other hardcore acts such as Counterparts, metalcore acts such as with Chris Motionless out of Motionless in White, or acts like Poppy, an artist that started their career with more pop appeal, but gradually shifted towards heavier music. Denzel Curry, the featured artist on this track, is known for his contributions to SoundCloud Rap’s more aggressive aspects to its sound and is one of the standard bearers of Trap Metal, a genre best described as Nu Metal’s much darker evolution. Given their respective histories, it’s less so surprising that they collaborated on a track, and more so surprising that it took them this long to do so.
“Hive Mind” as a track is, like many a Hardcore/Punk tracks before it, a commentary on conformity. The Production on the track is well-polished for such an aggressive track, like a tank mid-blitzkrieg. Bryan Garris immediately screeches regarding his contempt with people who lack the individuality to have their own thoughts, or even just have a sense of self, going so far as to ask if they feel any shame over their adhesion to conventionality. Throughout the whole track, Garris’s repulsion and disgust for this conformity is plainly laid out, without ambiguity. The chorus is comprised of Bryan Garris screaming alongside an eerie group chant of the tracks title in a call and response manner, really helping to sell the imagery that they’re railing against a literal hive mind. If you told me the backing vocals for the chorus were comprised of a death march of orcs, I would entirely believe you.
Denzel Curry’s presence on the single continues to echo this sentiment of derision for group think. Denzel immediately launches into the fast and aggressive flow that he’s well known for, and sounds right at home spitting bars over Knocked Loose’s instrumental section. Spitting on 2 verses of the track, you might not notice as Denzel Curry and Knocked Loose spend that time going at light speed, leaving the listener behind in a dust cloud of intensity. Denzel specifically takes issue with being compared to other rappers and bands, enough so to denounce those comparisons in each verse. Ultimately, an evolution of Nu Metal’s sound in such an aggressive direction without a rapper to adequately keep pace with the instrumental palate is necessary, and Denzel more than comfortably delivers such a performance on this track.
All in all, on “Hive Mind,” Knocked Loose and Denzel Curry deliver a single that is fundamentally dark, gnarly, and grimy sounding in nature while still sound crisp, truly embracing the roots found in Trap and Hardcore in this modern twist on a classic fusion.
