If you’ve spent any time in a sweaty basement or a packed VFW hall lately, you already know the name. But for everyone else, we need to talk about the One Step Closer album that basically shifted the tectonic plates of the hardcore scene. I’m talking about This Farewell, though if we're being technical, we’ve gotta look at the whole trajectory from From Me to You through All You Know Is Soulless. These kids from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, didn’t just release a record; they captured a specific kind of melancholy that the genre had been missing for a decade. It’s loud. It’s fast. But man, it’s remarkably sad in a way that feels productive.
Hardcore used to be about one thing: being the toughest person in the room. Then One Step Closer showed up.
They aren't reinventing the wheel, honestly. You can hear the DNA of Turning Point and Have Heart in every riff. But there’s a polish and a desperate, melodic energy in their full-length debuts that caught the "indie-to-hardcore" pipeline right at the perfect moment. People are tired of just being angry. They want to feel something else. That’s why This Farewell resonated. It wasn't just a collection of songs; it was a vibe shift.
Why the One Step Closer Album Cycle Changed the Genre
The thing people get wrong about this band is thinking they're just a "melodic hardcore" act. That’s a lazy label. When you sit down and actually listen to a One Step Closer album, you realize the arrangements are way more complex than your standard 1-2-1-2 punk beat.
Ryan Savitski’s vocals don't just bark; they strain. You can hear the vocal cords stretching. It’s that vulnerability that makes the songs stick. In a scene that often prizes hyper-masculinity, seeing a bunch of straight-edge kids from PA write songs about grief and the terrifying passage of time felt radical. It was radical.
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The production on their recent material is another beast entirely. Working with Jon Markson—who has touched everything from Drug Church to Koyo—gave the band a massive, shimmering sound that still felt grounded in the dirt. It’s expensive-sounding hardcore. That’s a polarizing thing for some purists, but it’s exactly why they’re playing festivals and touring with bands that have nothing to do with the DIY scene. They’ve outgrown the basement without forgetting it.
The Wilkes-Barre Connection
You can't understand the music without understanding where it came from. Wilkes-Barre isn't exactly a cultural mecca. It’s a post-industrial town where things feel like they’re closing down more often than they’re opening up. That atmosphere is baked into the One Step Closer album experience. It’s claustrophobic.
When This Farewell dropped, it felt like a love letter to a place the band was simultaneously trying to escape. That’s a universal feeling. Whether you’re from a dying coal town or a boring suburb, that "get me out of here" energy is the fuel for the best punk music ever made.
Evolution or Departure? Breaking Down the Sound
Some fans were genuinely shocked by the shift on All You Know Is Soulless. It was darker. More metallic. Sorta sounded like they had been listening to a lot of 90s alternative rock alongside their usual Revelation Records diet.
Is it still "One Step Closer"?
Yeah, definitely. But it’s a band growing up in real-time. You can’t expect 20-somethings to stay in the same headspace they were in when they wrote their first demo in a garage. Evolution is the only way to avoid becoming a legacy act before you’ve even hit your prime. The melodic leads are still there, but they’re buried under a layer of grit that wasn't there before. It’s heavy. Not "mosh pit" heavy—though it’s that too—but emotionally heavy.
What People Miss About the Lyrics
Most hardcore lyrics are about "the scene" or "betrayal." It gets old. Fast.
Savitski writes about the internal stuff.
The quiet moments.
The realization that your friends are moving on and you’re still standing in the same spot.
In "Autumn Walker," you get this sense of seasonal depression turned into a sonic weapon. It’s not poetic in a flowery way; it’s blunt. It’s honest. That honesty is the secret sauce. When you listen to a One Step Closer album, you aren't being preached to. You’re being invited into someone's head. It’s a messy place, but it’s relatable.
The Impact on the 2020s Hardcore Revival
We are living through a massive hardcore boom. Bands like Turnstile and Knocked Loose are hitting the Billboard charts. One Step Closer is part of that "middle class" of bands that are bridges. They bridge the gap between the ultra-niche underground and the wider alternative world.
Think about it.
If you like Title Fight, you like One Step Closer.
If you like Mineral, you probably like One Step Closer.
If you like Bane, you definitely like One Step Closer.
They occupy this center point of a Venn diagram that includes emo, hardcore, and alt-rock. That’s why their albums sell. That’s why their merch is everywhere. They aren't gatekeeping. They’re opening the door.
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A Quick Reality Check on the "Hype"
Look, not everyone loves the direction they've taken. Some people want the raw, unpolished sound of the 2019 EP. They think the newer One Step Closer album efforts are too "soft" or "over-produced."
That’s fine.
Music is subjective.
But the numbers don't lie. The band is drawing bigger crowds than ever because they’ve learned how to write actual songs, not just collections of riffs. There’s a chorus on "Leap Years" that will get stuck in your head for three days straight. Hardcore isn't supposed to have hooks like that, according to the fun-police. But man, it works.
Technical Mastery and Gear
For the nerds in the back: the guitar work is actually pretty technical. We’re talking about weird chords and atmospheric delays that you usually only see in shoegaze bands. They use gear as a texture, not just a noise maker.
- Guitars: Often seen with Jazzmasters or Teles, leaning into that jangle.
- Pedals: Lots of reverb and modulated delay to create that "wall of sound" effect.
- Drums: Crisp, fast, and remarkably steady. No over-triggering here.
This attention to detail is why the One Step Closer album recordings hold up under repeated listens. You hear new layers every time. A little feedback here, a hidden melody there. It’s dense.
What’s Next for the Band?
They’ve toured the world. They’ve played the big stages. The question is where they go from here. Each One Step Closer album has been a stepping stone toward a more defined, unique identity. They’ve moved past being "that band that sounds like Have Heart" and become the band that other new bands are trying to sound like.
That’s the ultimate goal, right? To become the blueprint.
Whether they lean further into the melodic indie-rock side of their sound or double down on the aggressive, dark hardcore remains to be seen. Either way, they’ve already secured their spot in the history of the genre. You can't write the story of 2020s hardcore without mentioning Wilkes-Barre’s finest.
Actionable Steps for New Listeners
If you're just getting into them, don't start at the beginning. It's counter-intuitive, I know. But do this instead:
- Listen to "This Farewell" first. It’s the quintessential track. If you don't like this, the band probably isn't for you.
- Watch a live set on YouTube. Hardcore is a physical medium. You need to see the energy to understand the records. Look for their "Sound and Fury" sets.
- Read the lyrics while you listen. Especially on the From Me to You tracks. It changes the context of the music entirely.
- Check out their contemporaries. If you dig the One Step Closer album vibe, dive into bands like Magnitude, Anxious, and Fiddlehead.
The best way to support this kind of music is to buy the physical media. Vinyl isn't just for hipsters; it's how these bands actually survive in an era where streaming pays basically nothing. Pick up a copy of All You Know Is Soulless and actually look at the liner notes. It matters.
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Hardcore lives and dies by its community. One Step Closer is doing their part to keep the heart beating. The least we can do is listen.