Without Love – Diminishing Returns (2026)
Diminishing Returns, the new 17‑minute blast from Yorkshire‑rooted hardcore collective Without Love, is sharp, tightly‑wound, and somehow still scrappier than half the bands trying twice as hard.
Clocking in at eight tracks, the record barely gives you time to get your balance before ripping it away again. It’s the band’s first release since signing to US hardcore institution Indecision Records, and you can hear the shift immediately — not in a compromising way, but the sound is cleaner, tighter, more deliberately shaped. Yet the same grit that’s made them a staple of modern British hardcore still bleeds through.
Lyrically, Diminishing Returns hits the familiar emotional trinity that fuels most great hardcore: frustration, resilience, and the kind of community‑minded collectivism that can only be born from years of criss‑crossing the continent playing all manner of towns and venues. There’s anger here, sure, but it’s not nihilistic. It’s the kind of anger that wants the scene to be better, not burn it down.
The standout moments arrive fast and frantic. “The Forever War” is the band at their most feral - it’s got the speed‑run urgency of Youth of Today and the melodic bounce of Gorilla Biscuits, which is fitting considering Without Love will be sharing UK stages with GB soon.
Then there’s the more anthemic “With Hands Tied,”. It leans heavier, a little darker, flirting with emo in the way early Have Heart could without ever compromising intensity.
Fans of Bane, early Comeback Kid, and more melodic hardcore which blends emotional honesty and two‑step‑ready riffs will feel right at home here. The record never overstays its welcome, but it also never feels rushed. That’s particularly impressive considering Without Love’s history of short, chaotic releases including their 2021 split EP release with hardcore stalwarts Time Heist.
The production is the unsung hero here. It’s crisp enough to showcase the band’s increasingly mature songwriting, but raw enough to feel like it was recorded in a room with condensation dripping from the ceiling.
Diminishing Returns might be short, but it’s the most fully-realized thing Without Love have ever released. It’s a reminder that modern British hardcore doesn’t need to mimic its American influences to be world‑class — but when it draws from them, it can go toe‑to‑toe with the best. It’s urgent, memorable, and quietly massive.
Written by @jdprosho
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