Last week, hardcore twitter got excited about the emergence of Holy Blade, a new band whose members have some serious pedigree. Holy Blade are essentially part of the same braintrust that gave us the Southern California heavy hardcore greats Twitching Tongues and God’s Hate, but their sound is very different. It’s a dramatic, melodic throwback take on hardcore punk, and the most obvious touchpoint is prime AFI.

Holy Blade is the brainchild of frontman Alec Faber, a military veteran who currently plays bass in both God’s Hate and Twitching Tongues and who’s also been in bands like Freedom, True Love, and Nudie Mag. Faber sings and plays guitar in Holy Blade, and he writes all the music. The band also includes Twitching Tongues members Colin Young and Mike Cesario, as well as Cosmic Joke frontman Mac Miller (not that one) on drums. In a No Echo interview, Faber mentions a few influences besides AFI: From Ashes Rise, Tragedy, Death Side, and emo stuff like Further Seems Forever. You can hear all of that at work in Holy Blade’s bright, clean, singalong-friendly sound.

Holy Blade dropped the video for their debut song “Only The Dead” last week, and they’ve already followed it up by releasing their five-song debut EP. They recorded it with Colin’s brother and frequent collaborator Taylor Young at the original, since-closed Pit studio. Check it out below.

In possibly-related news, the metal label 20 Buck Spin recently released the debut single from a mysterious, anonymous goth-metal act called Neon Nighmare. The song is called “Lost Silver,” and it’s a sprawling, ornate churn that lasts for seven and a half minutes. It’s basically a Type O Negative tribute, and Brooklyn Vegan theorizes that the man behind the curtain is Colin Young, who’s both a restlessly busy multi-instrumentalist and a vocal Type O fan. Makes sense to me. Check out the cinematic “Lost Silver” video below.

Holy Blade is out now on Closed Casket Activities. The band will play their first show at a huge 8/18 gig with God’s Hate at the Midnight Hour in the San Fernando Valley, and they’ll also play next year’s FYA Fest.