In 2021, the Massachusetts heavy hardcore band Adrienne crushed a whole lot of skulls with their self-titled debut EP. Adrienne’s sound has the intensity and dynamic range that bands like Integrity introduced in the ’90s. They’re ominous and brutal at the same time, and they radiate total sincerity in their riff-crunch freakouts. I haven’t seen Adrienne live yet, but they’ve been hitting some of the bigger hardcore festivals this year, and they have been impressing a whole lot of people. It seems like Adrienne are ready to take the next big leap, and they might’ve just done that.

Today, Adrienne follow up their first EP with a new one called Summer’s Beginning, which they recorded with END’s Greg Thomas. The EP only has three tracks, but the songs are really long and complex for hardcore. One of them runs for five and a half minutes! That almost never happens! On first listen, the record is deeply satisfying on an almost cellular level. Everyone is rightly worrying about forest-fire smoke right now, but I kind of want to hang out in the middle of a forest fire while playing this record loud. It seems like it would fit the surroundings. Listen to Summer’s Beginning below.

The Summer’s Beginning EP is out now on DAZE/Ephyra.