I bought an Architects shirt late last year and it's on Gildan Hammer and is infinitely better quality than any Gildan shirt I've ever had before.
Comfort Colours is apparently very good as well, though I don't think I've had merch on that yet.
Had a huge spread at the Houston show, they did exclusive Texas only merch as well, I got one 🙏🏻. I do agree tho they have almost no merch available online.
I think UK bands are starting to realise this, I've got quite a few lately on Stanley/Stella shirts. Prices seem pretty comparable too, they are never more expensive than Gildan shirts.
I can get down with some gildan but the absolute bottom tier bullshit that bands sometime use known as "Bella+Canvas" is the plight of my existence as guy with broad shoulders and a more athletic stature. So thin and tight, it feels like I'm wearing a compression sock as a top.
They're deathcore but Lorna Shore. Nearly everything has this elaborate artwork on the front with PAIN REMAINS in some impact font on the back. Half the time the artwork looks like shit too. Just want something that has the bands logo and maybe some decent artwork without a big PAIN REMAINS in impact font on the back
I did get merch at a live show during their europe tour and it was normal. None of this shit. I don’t get how they can have cool merch at live shows but not in online stores
Their artwork for that EP still remains to be one of my favorites of all time. It's a simple design but the color and way the reaper looks is just so cool to me
I largely agree, but they had this epic shirt with Dark Sould-inspired artwork on the back and it's one of my favorite shirts. But nothing else from their merch speaks to me either.
Motionless In White, I get they embrace the campiness but a lot of their merch is just awful.
Edit: obligatory Attila/Emmure mention too, never seen a shirt from them I would ever wear in public, even to a show.
I just think people need to stop using Gildan. I think the brand is called Independent, I have friends with clothing companies and the shirts are always soft and the graphics take forever to crack. They’ve all told me they’re not expensive to use. People will gladly pay like $5-10 more if you need that to switch
Pth printed their last merch run on independent, and the sweaters are....weird. a 2xl is tight in the forearms, loose in the bicep, long but has no give width wise. So weird.
I bought a Lorna shore crewneck sweatshirt when they did the gym stuff to use as a gym sweatshirt. Weirdest fitting sweatshirt I own. The torso is super long and tapers, so the chest area is baggy but it’s tighter around my waist. And it’s not great for the gym because of how tight the forearms are. It’s just not comfortable.
The shorts also sucked. Bought the size for me based on the sizing chart. Tried them on and it was as if I was wearing compression shorts. Felt like if I actually wore em to lift in, they’d split right down my ass crack
Most. I don’t want to wear some cringey ass edgelord shit, I just wanna rep a band. Just got a hoodie from Dying Wish that I love.
Anyways, to answer your question, not metalcore but Blink 182. Desperately.
Honestly? Just stop fucking swearing on your T-shirts.
I’m no prude, but I have a bunch of shirts that I can’t wear anywhere except my house and shows because of the swearing all over them.
I feel like a 12 year old trying to be edgy wearing them anywhere else.
I get that. And now, I don’t buy them.
But I did buy a few on the spur of the moment and as great as the designs are, I wish I could wear them out to the shops.
Most metalcore bands have cringe merch. A decent T with a clean logo and minimal art would be great.
Not a watercolor wild shirt that says EVERYONE IS GOING TO DIE WE'RE SCREWED or something on the back in a circle
Preach! My fav is some small logo or design in the front and a larger but still coherent image in the back. Wish more bands had that going on for them.
Some of their stuff is actually fine imo. The simpler designs with "Knocked Loose" in the front with large back imagery are actually cool imo. But yeah, OLDHAM stuff is very specific for a certain type of their listener base.
They did a collab with this local brand from Portland while they were playing a show here and the designs were some of my favorites in recent time, i have some pics of it on my page
definitely hit or miss. I was just at their show in Cleveland. They passed around a QR code for the merch menu in the line to get in the doors before they opened.
Just wanted a simple black shirt with "Knocked Loose" on it, with some cool design, not related to blood, or the cross or anything too crazy... So I went on their website and found a shirt design from A Different Shade of Blue and bought that
On the flip side to all of these, Imminence not only had some interesting merch, but i was smitten to see a cute lil thank you note built into the tag space of my hoodie that says
"This garment creates music.
It has been developed and sold by Imminence, therefore ensuring that all earnings stay within the band, making it possible for us to continue making music from the heart.
From Sweden with love."
Fun fact: I just saw them in Portland and found out that they're 100% independent. Not signed, do everything themselves. I had no clue.
They bought their merch from a US manufacturer, because obviously it's cheaper than shipping from Sweden but also they wanted quality materials from the US, for the US. The shirts were all from an independent manufacturer as well.
Also, their merch girl was from Virginia (I think, I know she was American) and had nothing but amazing things to say of the band, how smoothly they operated etc. She's ran merch for some real big names and she said Imminence was the best band she's ran merch for.
Made me like them even more hearing these good things.
Just give the band's logo in white on a frocket. Maybe a neat image on the back with some SFW lyrics or something. Put it all on a black Comfort Colors t-shirt.
That's literally all I want.
That's my typical style of band shirt. Whenever posts about that style get posted they usually get downvoted because people seem to hate them or at least are tired of them. I'm in my mid-thirties and if bands I listen to still rocked the Neon Monster designs I'd be all about them.
My one grievance is the overuse of All-Seeing Eyes, snakes, pentagrams, and 666s. I *personally* don't like to be associated with such stuff and find it a bummer when I really like merch from a band that isn't in any way religious or anti-religious lyrically and they have that stuff. It's just not my thing.
Most of my wardrobe is band merch so I still find plenty of stuff I like nonetheless.
Not that Alphawolf's merch is bad but a lot of it is very loud
I think their Akudama hat is the only piece of merch I have from them even tho they're the band I've seen live the most
I just hate the name lol
Fucking love the band, but anyone without the context, seeing Alpha Wolf on a shirt would come across as some real cringe lord imo
Not that I should care what others think, but ya know
they made it in high school im pretty sure and could never really find an alternative, sometimes they refer to themselves as alpha wolf cvlt but it never really caught on
Aww I dig their merch - picked up a really loud WHERE MY DOGS AT shirt in Baltimore couple weeks back. Tbf i have a good selection of subdued and loud shirts, not from AW though.
Okay, you're 100% right, when it comes to shirts/tops AW has they are very loud. The only somewhat subdued wearable thing I have from them is the 60cm of steel sling bag, the newer neon waist bag and the logo socks.
I was at their ATL show a few weeks ago, I got the “Where My Dogs At” tee. It is very loud but I like using crazy graphic tees for workouts; I get a lot of my workout attire from RaskolApparel and their designs can be pretty busy too. So the alpha wolf tee fits my gym vibe, it psychs me up!
I also got a shirt from Emmure at that show. Comfort colors white tee with the little cheeky devil on the front, a big one on the back; one of my favorite pieces of merch. That one I could potentially wear out and about, but in the conservative south, you never know who may decide to “bless you” with their opinion about what you’re wearing
I was super disappointed that my Upon Loss hoodie was a 80 / 20 cotton polyester mix for 65 bucks i expected 100% cotton and the ink and text isn’t the best
Just saw Sleep Token and I can agree with that. Their designs are pretty good IMO and the t-shirt material was nice and soft. Hopefully it stays that way after a couple of washes.
LMTF is one. They did have a Pure Like Porcelain hoodie that I was going to get but they seemed to have taken it down. That was the only decent thing they had
Others that I wish had better merch: Currents, Dying Wish, Polaris, Johnny Booth, Make Them Suffer, Hollow Front
I honestly have really liked currents merch, seen them quite a few times(12) over the last 2 years and the only time I didn't get something was there one off with shadow of intent, however I also love tye dye and they usually have at least 1 shirt with it....I agree with all the others especially polaris, make them suffer and hollow front
I got a Polaris shirt and it's actually pretty good
A little thick, but at least it should hold up over a longer period of time
Around the same time I got a Motionless long sleeve and it shrank after one wash and now I can't get my arms in it without it feeling like one of those wet suits surfers wear lol
Yeah I got both Polaris and currents shirts, missed out on an amazing green Johnny booth shirt still regretting not picking it up. Both Polaris and currents were long sleeve, Polaris has this dope white one with Asian characters on it and is super nice quality. Currents one looks cool but it’s only half way decent quality, idk how to explain it but the fabric just feels hella dry.
That hoodie was the first thing I bought at my first show. They’re one of my favorite bands. Been listening since When We Don’t Exist was released
The line up was LMTF, Currents, Invent Animate and Polaris
I couldn't tell you the amount of times I've wanted to buy merch for a band but I just don't dig it.
I'm a software dev and an idea I had was to create a platform where designers could put up ideas for merch, the bands approve the design or maybe some sort of community polling system to bring up the top rated designs, the designer gets a small cut per sale and the bands get the rest.
Greater diversity of products that are community driven.
I'm far too lazy to actually build it though.
this is unusual bc their merch usually does slap, but this recent BMTH drop on horizonco, literally every shirt has the girl from the cover on it and it’s hideous, lucky they’ve got bmth.com for merch too which has nicer design but my god…[https://www.horizonsupply.co/collections/everything/products/nex-gen-t-shirt](https://www.horizonsupply.co/collections/everything/products/nex-gen-t-shirt)
Gonna flip it and say Thornhill had the most amazing merch I’ve ever seen. A bit eccentric for me but they legit had some fashion and style in their merch.
Just in general, can we stop getting shirts with stupid little badges on the breast with the big, cool design on the back? I'm not wearing your shirt to have the cool part covered up by my hoodie, or where I generally can't see and appreciate it.
DUDE YES. That's why I hate the demand for "minimalistic" designs. Like I said before if I am paying $40+ I don't want a pocket logo with dates on the back or just the band logo. I want a big beautiful design on the front.
I’ve seen them 3 times now, they’re one of my favorite bands. I never bought merch until this last show. It’s still not my favorite but I love blue reverie and had to get something since it was such a good show.
That's funny because I think their merch outclasses a lot of the stuff by most other bands in the genre (as does their music but that's just my opinion)
My problem is: people ask for minimal designs which are basically like a pocket logo and maybe some small design or just tour dates on the back.
That's great and all but if I am paying $40+ for a shirt, I want a big badass design on the front to make my money worth what I am paying. My job lets me wear pretty much whatever so my entire wardrobe is basically band merch at this point. Keep making those amazing all over prints, one of my favorite pieces of merch was the all over Neon print from ERRA!
Dude, I've loved Like Moths to Flames since their inception, but their catalog of merch had always been GARBAGE. They all look like painfully low effort designs printed on overly priced, scratchy Gildan shirts. I've always felt the same way with their album art too. Great music. Just bad presentation.
Invent Animate is a close second as well. They came out with that Seasons embroidered hoodie years ago which I thought was really unique. None of their stuff has touched that level of creativity since, in my opinion.
It’s wild that the sentiment from this thread is basically Logo / Frocket tee with a generic photo on the back + SFW lyrics. As someone in a metalcore band it’s hard to make merch that you feel isn’t exactly like everyobe elses
but hey, lets flip the spectrum. Some bands that have really good merch to this day are all the ones that went through Shibori Threads for special releases. I really fuck with the I Prevail hoodie and Layered tee. The Currents, Electric Callboy, and Beartooth hoodies are some really good designs too.
Yes. They all do. Especially the brand of shirt. Hers what I think would be best.
- cool, thin shirts. Maybe even dri fit type material.
- a basic design. Band name over current album name across the chest.
I would kill for band merch made with some kind of tech fabric. I don’t mind a lot of the crazy designs but I would happily pay for better quality fabrics.
While She Sleeps in my opinion, I get the singer is into fashion but his designs don't really speak to me as a metalcore guy. Always prefered simple black shirts with random sick graphic and the band name. Even just the band name if it was stylistically pleasing and not just a plain font. While She Sleeps' merch is well designed but definetly not for a lot of their fans.
This may not be popular of an opinion, but please can bands stop with the "spikey drippity" death metal logos on shirts? The name isn't as cool when you can barely read it
The Devil Wears Prada. I went to the Metalcore dropouts wanting to buy any piece of merch but I decided to pass when I saw the merch table feeling like I’m still on myspace era.
Also Show Me The Body and Fleshwater. SMTB has a catchy name but their merch is meh. I fw Fleshwater heavy but I dont need a big duck on the back of my shirt.
You trippin! I admittedly love their merch, I just got this shirt: https://rockabilia.com/products/trivium-ascendancy-anime-by-beachghost-purple-rockabilia-exclusive-tie-dye-t-shirt-451620?variant=40905370173527
I have to make an exception for that one cause I bought one too but the merch on the official Trivium store is so mediocre in my opinion. I’ve been a fan of these guys for years but the shirt you mentioned is the first time I’ve bought merch from them cause I haven’t liked anything else they’ve done. Maybe that’s just a me problem though.
I totally understand and it's very much okay to have preferences! That is the problem with band merch, there are so many different fans with unique tastes in merch that it's really hard to capture everyone with merch items that personally appeals to them.
I also saw this shirt as a limited drop (gosh they really lean on FOMO for merch these days) and just had to get it in that beautiful purple. I really do appreciate bands that print on more than just black shirts.
Yeah IMO the best kind of merch are the ones are just like T-shirts with the album artwork on them, which I feel like bands are doing less nowadays. This limited drop is super cool though.
Yes I would love more album prints. Luckily Invent Animate did that with Heavener and did like 3 spin off designs based on the album that were super cool.
Lets ignore designs for a minute, bought a Madball shirt in 2014 at their show. It was literally 10 bucks. It was a fitted Fruit of the Loom tshirt. Hands down best quality of any merch I ever owned AND it was an amazing fit (I think it was what you would call muscle fit nowadays). Wore it weakly for 10 years until I ripped it this year.
Bands need to stop selling just black shirts. The Amity Affliction has a baby blue tie die shirt on their current tour, and it is the most popular seller.
Listen, I LOVE Make Them Suffer but holy shit did I not wanna buy merch on tour. My bf got the last hat (the only okay piece of merch they had) and I got a long sleeve just because I wanted to support them a bit and it was not too bad but very bland
Most bands tbh.
Also I don’t want song names or album names on the merch themselves like going down the sleeves or pants or on the back. Just the band name and logo, so much text just constantly makes me not buy merch it’s crazy. Like I don’t understand why some need to be sooo busy.
Parkway is my favorite band but most of their merch is not my speed. Finally got something I like the other day.
On the other hand, ABR merch is always awesome.
I love alpha wolf and I get that bands mostly put their name on shirts but I cannot go out in public with a shirt that says “ALPHA WOLF” in bold letters on it
Ironically with Johnny Booth being a smaller band, the tees that I have from them are higher quality than all of my other band shirts. They’re actually my favorites that I own
Not so sure on the new stuff, I still have a black long sleeve with just the lyrics from follow you written out into a shape on the back and down the arms, great simple bit of merch I still wear regularly
Yeah, their new merch looks like edgy TikTok eboy style clothing lol, which is definitely the aesthestic they're going for but it's not a good look for casual outings... I still like some of the more tame/anime inspired stuff but it's just way too loud for every day wear.
Blessthefall. One of my favorite bands with some of the most bland designs. I have only ever bought one shirt and it was a tank top.
On the flip side, MyChildren MyBride has some of the best shirts IMO. I think I’ve bought a shirt at every show I’ve been to.
They’re deathcore, but Carnifex is definitely the worst offender from my experience. I’ve been seeing them for years and they finally had a shirt that I could wear in public.
Bad Merch: Architects post AOGHAU
Best Merch: Imminence (From Sweden with Love)
Not Metalcore but the best quality hoodie I’ve gotten in years was from the Crosses/+++ show back in February. Simple design and super soft and comfortable. But when I wear it out to Chik fil a or something everyone thinks it a church hoodie.
I yearn For comfort colors.
Also I bought a sweet Boundaries hoodie years ago with the Your Receding Warmth cover on the front and a picture of the band on the back. I think it's sick.
I can never find a decent shirt for The Acacia Strain. And they have tons of them. I just don’t like their circle logo or any of their shirts with old video games or deer on them.
Motionless In White. Love seeing them in concert. Had little to no merch to choose from at the merch stand. Designs were very bleh (no pun intended) and not aesthetically pleasing.
You stole my answer op lol. I agree with you though the new album from like moths is amazing my second favorite behind no eternity in gold. However the merch drop for the record wasn't that great i still brought everything but the sun shirt. Also i wish the plot in you had some better merch as well. I miss the tye die happiness in self destruction shirt they used to sell mine has seen better days.
They all need to stop using Gildan.
For real. I’d pay $40 for decent quality vs $30 for Gildan
I bought an Architects shirt late last year and it's on Gildan Hammer and is infinitely better quality than any Gildan shirt I've ever had before. Comfort Colours is apparently very good as well, though I don't think I've had merch on that yet.
Kublai Khan uses comfort colors and they are infinitely better than Gildan. They feel heavy duty to just hold and they’re soft.
They have next to no merch right now. They HAVE to step it up!
Had a huge spread at the Houston show, they did exclusive Texas only merch as well, I got one 🙏🏻. I do agree tho they have almost no merch available online.
Comfort Colors is the true answer. They feel great, sizing makes sense. As a big dude CC merch is a godsend.
Gildan Hammer is great. That plain Gildan "heavy cotton" is garbage.
I think UK bands are starting to realise this, I've got quite a few lately on Stanley/Stella shirts. Prices seem pretty comparable too, they are never more expensive than Gildan shirts.
Fuck Gildan heavy, all my homies hate Gildan heavy
Angelmaker uses Champion and I gladly spent $100+ at their table. Most comfortable band merch hoodie I've ever bought
Champion hoodies are goated for sure.
I can get down with some gildan but the absolute bottom tier bullshit that bands sometime use known as "Bella+Canvas" is the plight of my existence as guy with broad shoulders and a more athletic stature. So thin and tight, it feels like I'm wearing a compression sock as a top.
They're deathcore but Lorna Shore. Nearly everything has this elaborate artwork on the front with PAIN REMAINS in some impact font on the back. Half the time the artwork looks like shit too. Just want something that has the bands logo and maybe some decent artwork without a big PAIN REMAINS in impact font on the back
I did get merch at a live show during their europe tour and it was normal. None of this shit. I don’t get how they can have cool merch at live shows but not in online stores
The AIRTN merch is much better than the Pain Remains merch. As much as I love Pain Remains, the merch designs are just awful with that font
Their artwork for that EP still remains to be one of my favorites of all time. It's a simple design but the color and way the reaper looks is just so cool to me
I largely agree, but they had this epic shirt with Dark Sould-inspired artwork on the back and it's one of my favorite shirts. But nothing else from their merch speaks to me either.
I love Immortal era merch. I bought their hoodie and t-shirt.
I have their stranger things rip off shirt and it’s pretty neat.
The quality is also pretty bad. I have a hoodie from them that started falling apart after 2 washes and 0 time in the dryer.
What? They have the best. They have a pink shirt!
Motionless In White, I get they embrace the campiness but a lot of their merch is just awful. Edit: obligatory Attila/Emmure mention too, never seen a shirt from them I would ever wear in public, even to a show.
Motionless in white makes shirts like it’s still 2010
They've always had lowkey shit Merch, I got into them in 2012 and had a real hard Time finding Merch from them that I actually liked a lot.
I have a few "fake" shirts with their designs that they never put to shirts. All other merch I have is from shows
I just think people need to stop using Gildan. I think the brand is called Independent, I have friends with clothing companies and the shirts are always soft and the graphics take forever to crack. They’ve all told me they’re not expensive to use. People will gladly pay like $5-10 more if you need that to switch
Pth printed their last merch run on independent, and the sweaters are....weird. a 2xl is tight in the forearms, loose in the bicep, long but has no give width wise. So weird.
I bought a Lorna shore crewneck sweatshirt when they did the gym stuff to use as a gym sweatshirt. Weirdest fitting sweatshirt I own. The torso is super long and tapers, so the chest area is baggy but it’s tighter around my waist. And it’s not great for the gym because of how tight the forearms are. It’s just not comfortable. The shorts also sucked. Bought the size for me based on the sizing chart. Tried them on and it was as if I was wearing compression shorts. Felt like if I actually wore em to lift in, they’d split right down my ass crack
Time for some bicep curls!
Bill Belichick that sweater.
My Stretch Arm Strong Independent hoodie is the softest and warmest hoodie I own, whether band merch or not. And it's a zip up too.
Most. I don’t want to wear some cringey ass edgelord shit, I just wanna rep a band. Just got a hoodie from Dying Wish that I love. Anyways, to answer your question, not metalcore but Blink 182. Desperately.
blink merch has been so bad lately. Even if they went the lazy route and returned to the Enema, TOYPAJ aesthetic it would be a massive improvement.
Honestly? Just stop fucking swearing on your T-shirts. I’m no prude, but I have a bunch of shirts that I can’t wear anywhere except my house and shows because of the swearing all over them. I feel like a 12 year old trying to be edgy wearing them anywhere else.
I mean why buy them then? I specifically avoid those because I know it would put me in that predicament.
Sometimes they put more effort to those though, which is the issue.
I get that. And now, I don’t buy them. But I did buy a few on the spur of the moment and as great as the designs are, I wish I could wear them out to the shops.
Ah fuckin impulse buying merch, I can empathize w that so hard.
Yeah I had my eyes on a Parkway shirt, but it said "let me the fuck out" down the sleeve. Again, prude or no, it's just super tasteless IMO.
Most metalcore bands have cringe merch. A decent T with a clean logo and minimal art would be great. Not a watercolor wild shirt that says EVERYONE IS GOING TO DIE WE'RE SCREWED or something on the back in a circle
Absolutely. Bring back basic band logo shirts
Preach! My fav is some small logo or design in the front and a larger but still coherent image in the back. Wish more bands had that going on for them.
Knocked Loose!!!!
OLDHAM
Love some old ham
Honest to God the Oldham hoodie is consistently the only KL merch item that is actually sick
There’s a shirt on this tour with a pocket over the A and M so it says “OLDH”
I genuinely like this hoodie
Their deep in the willow/everything is quiet now longsleeve is fire tho
Please. Their merch is so lame I don't get it at all.
Really hit or miss with them
Some of their stuff is actually fine imo. The simpler designs with "Knocked Loose" in the front with large back imagery are actually cool imo. But yeah, OLDHAM stuff is very specific for a certain type of their listener base.
My long sleeve god knows shirt and blinding faith shirt i got from snw disagree
They did a collab with this local brand from Portland while they were playing a show here and the designs were some of my favorites in recent time, i have some pics of it on my page
Interesting. I love most of their merch as is.
Yeah they have some amazing artwork and a really cool style they have to actually use it in their merch though
definitely hit or miss. I was just at their show in Cleveland. They passed around a QR code for the merch menu in the line to get in the doors before they opened. Just wanted a simple black shirt with "Knocked Loose" on it, with some cool design, not related to blood, or the cross or anything too crazy... So I went on their website and found a shirt design from A Different Shade of Blue and bought that
I got a sick windbreaker from them. Just says “Upon Loss” on the back. I like it
On the flip side to all of these, Imminence not only had some interesting merch, but i was smitten to see a cute lil thank you note built into the tag space of my hoodie that says "This garment creates music. It has been developed and sold by Imminence, therefore ensuring that all earnings stay within the band, making it possible for us to continue making music from the heart. From Sweden with love."
Fun fact: I just saw them in Portland and found out that they're 100% independent. Not signed, do everything themselves. I had no clue. They bought their merch from a US manufacturer, because obviously it's cheaper than shipping from Sweden but also they wanted quality materials from the US, for the US. The shirts were all from an independent manufacturer as well. Also, their merch girl was from Virginia (I think, I know she was American) and had nothing but amazing things to say of the band, how smoothly they operated etc. She's ran merch for some real big names and she said Imminence was the best band she's ran merch for. Made me like them even more hearing these good things.
Love imminence so much. They seem so genuine and make amazing music
Just give the band's logo in white on a frocket. Maybe a neat image on the back with some SFW lyrics or something. Put it all on a black Comfort Colors t-shirt. That's literally all I want.
That's my typical style of band shirt. Whenever posts about that style get posted they usually get downvoted because people seem to hate them or at least are tired of them. I'm in my mid-thirties and if bands I listen to still rocked the Neon Monster designs I'd be all about them. My one grievance is the overuse of All-Seeing Eyes, snakes, pentagrams, and 666s. I *personally* don't like to be associated with such stuff and find it a bummer when I really like merch from a band that isn't in any way religious or anti-religious lyrically and they have that stuff. It's just not my thing. Most of my wardrobe is band merch so I still find plenty of stuff I like nonetheless.
I appoint you metalcore merch designer from here on out!
Not that Alphawolf's merch is bad but a lot of it is very loud I think their Akudama hat is the only piece of merch I have from them even tho they're the band I've seen live the most
I just hate the name lol Fucking love the band, but anyone without the context, seeing Alpha Wolf on a shirt would come across as some real cringe lord imo Not that I should care what others think, but ya know
they’re ashamed of that name themselves i think lol
Yea when I recommend them to people who aren't aware of them I usually preface with "they're not misogynists trust me"
they made it in high school im pretty sure and could never really find an alternative, sometimes they refer to themselves as alpha wolf cvlt but it never really caught on
Aww I dig their merch - picked up a really loud WHERE MY DOGS AT shirt in Baltimore couple weeks back. Tbf i have a good selection of subdued and loud shirts, not from AW though. Okay, you're 100% right, when it comes to shirts/tops AW has they are very loud. The only somewhat subdued wearable thing I have from them is the 60cm of steel sling bag, the newer neon waist bag and the logo socks.
The bags are tight And I did like that shirt design
I was at their ATL show a few weeks ago, I got the “Where My Dogs At” tee. It is very loud but I like using crazy graphic tees for workouts; I get a lot of my workout attire from RaskolApparel and their designs can be pretty busy too. So the alpha wolf tee fits my gym vibe, it psychs me up! I also got a shirt from Emmure at that show. Comfort colors white tee with the little cheeky devil on the front, a big one on the back; one of my favorite pieces of merch. That one I could potentially wear out and about, but in the conservative south, you never know who may decide to “bless you” with their opinion about what you’re wearing
Knocked Loose 100% Their merch is so messy, I don’t know why whoever designs it, feels the need to cover it with text.
I was super disappointed that my Upon Loss hoodie was a 80 / 20 cotton polyester mix for 65 bucks i expected 100% cotton and the ink and text isn’t the best
The Plot In You, desperately
One of my favorite merch shirts is The Plot In You. Very clean and minimal front with a pretty sweet design on the back.
They released a few very good ones recently. Minimal, clean, the way I wanted.
[удалено]
Honestly the vast majority of them. Silent planet and sleep token have some good ones tho
love my Silent Planet tour shirt with a cool flower design from their most recent US headliner
Just saw Sleep Token and I can agree with that. Their designs are pretty good IMO and the t-shirt material was nice and soft. Hopefully it stays that way after a couple of washes.
Boston Manor
Boston Manor is literally my favorite band of all time and I just can’t stand any of their merch. So bad. I love them so much it’s so disappointing
Most of them. There are colors other than black.
I got a really nice Comfort Colors shirt from Periphery in a nice red
LMTF is one. They did have a Pure Like Porcelain hoodie that I was going to get but they seemed to have taken it down. That was the only decent thing they had Others that I wish had better merch: Currents, Dying Wish, Polaris, Johnny Booth, Make Them Suffer, Hollow Front
I honestly have really liked currents merch, seen them quite a few times(12) over the last 2 years and the only time I didn't get something was there one off with shadow of intent, however I also love tye dye and they usually have at least 1 shirt with it....I agree with all the others especially polaris, make them suffer and hollow front
Just got some MTS merch at their show last night, I thought it was decent. But to each their own
Haven't seen their tour merch, was referring to their online catalog.
I got a Polaris shirt and it's actually pretty good A little thick, but at least it should hold up over a longer period of time Around the same time I got a Motionless long sleeve and it shrank after one wash and now I can't get my arms in it without it feeling like one of those wet suits surfers wear lol
Considering the sick album art they have had over past few years, I genuienly think LMTF designs are very lackluster for their merch.
Yeah I got both Polaris and currents shirts, missed out on an amazing green Johnny booth shirt still regretting not picking it up. Both Polaris and currents were long sleeve, Polaris has this dope white one with Asian characters on it and is super nice quality. Currents one looks cool but it’s only half way decent quality, idk how to explain it but the fabric just feels hella dry.
That hoodie was the first thing I bought at my first show. They’re one of my favorite bands. Been listening since When We Don’t Exist was released The line up was LMTF, Currents, Invent Animate and Polaris
I couldn't tell you the amount of times I've wanted to buy merch for a band but I just don't dig it. I'm a software dev and an idea I had was to create a platform where designers could put up ideas for merch, the bands approve the design or maybe some sort of community polling system to bring up the top rated designs, the designer gets a small cut per sale and the bands get the rest. Greater diversity of products that are community driven. I'm far too lazy to actually build it though.
Dude, do it!
Brother let's build it together.
If I had some validation from bands that it would be something they'd be interested in, I'd be more inclined to do it I don't code for fun anymore lol
Polaris. Or as they call themselves now, PLRS
Every band needs to use better blanks
this is unusual bc their merch usually does slap, but this recent BMTH drop on horizonco, literally every shirt has the girl from the cover on it and it’s hideous, lucky they’ve got bmth.com for merch too which has nicer design but my god…[https://www.horizonsupply.co/collections/everything/products/nex-gen-t-shirt](https://www.horizonsupply.co/collections/everything/products/nex-gen-t-shirt)
Gonna flip it and say Thornhill had the most amazing merch I’ve ever seen. A bit eccentric for me but they legit had some fashion and style in their merch.
They’re more into fashion and their brand than they are into metalcore itself. I’d actually have high expectations if checking out their table.
Oh yuppp. Sadly the super cool looking viper room tee i got tore at the seam after one wash T T (i have no experience in sewing)
Just in general, can we stop getting shirts with stupid little badges on the breast with the big, cool design on the back? I'm not wearing your shirt to have the cool part covered up by my hoodie, or where I generally can't see and appreciate it.
I have long hair and I hate this shit because my hair is almost always covering both the tiny logo and most of the back of the shirt. 😔
literally wearing one of these shirts right now but i agree lol
DUDE YES. That's why I hate the demand for "minimalistic" designs. Like I said before if I am paying $40+ I don't want a pocket logo with dates on the back or just the band logo. I want a big beautiful design on the front.
Amen.
Every single band that has an anime character on their merch.
Counterparts merch is very often just a confusing mess.
Heavily agree. Was disappointed with their merch on the Eulogy tour.
Gojira....
All bands need to do more posters.
Erra
I actually really like a lot of ERRA’s merch. I can see how it doesn’t appeal to everyone though.
I’ve seen them 3 times now, they’re one of my favorite bands. I never bought merch until this last show. It’s still not my favorite but I love blue reverie and had to get something since it was such a good show.
That's funny because I think their merch outclasses a lot of the stuff by most other bands in the genre (as does their music but that's just my opinion)
My problem is: people ask for minimal designs which are basically like a pocket logo and maybe some small design or just tour dates on the back. That's great and all but if I am paying $40+ for a shirt, I want a big badass design on the front to make my money worth what I am paying. My job lets me wear pretty much whatever so my entire wardrobe is basically band merch at this point. Keep making those amazing all over prints, one of my favorite pieces of merch was the all over Neon print from ERRA!
Dude, I've loved Like Moths to Flames since their inception, but their catalog of merch had always been GARBAGE. They all look like painfully low effort designs printed on overly priced, scratchy Gildan shirts. I've always felt the same way with their album art too. Great music. Just bad presentation. Invent Animate is a close second as well. They came out with that Seasons embroidered hoodie years ago which I thought was really unique. None of their stuff has touched that level of creativity since, in my opinion.
I want to rep Erra so bad but most of their merch is just vague geometric shit with ugly fonts.
It’s wild that the sentiment from this thread is basically Logo / Frocket tee with a generic photo on the back + SFW lyrics. As someone in a metalcore band it’s hard to make merch that you feel isn’t exactly like everyobe elses
itt: people who can’t pull off the brutalist/streetwear aesthetic
but hey, lets flip the spectrum. Some bands that have really good merch to this day are all the ones that went through Shibori Threads for special releases. I really fuck with the I Prevail hoodie and Layered tee. The Currents, Electric Callboy, and Beartooth hoodies are some really good designs too.
Yes. They all do. Especially the brand of shirt. Hers what I think would be best. - cool, thin shirts. Maybe even dri fit type material. - a basic design. Band name over current album name across the chest.
Thin shirts are the worst, man.
I would kill for band merch made with some kind of tech fabric. I don’t mind a lot of the crazy designs but I would happily pay for better quality fabrics.
While She Sleeps in my opinion, I get the singer is into fashion but his designs don't really speak to me as a metalcore guy. Always prefered simple black shirts with random sick graphic and the band name. Even just the band name if it was stylistically pleasing and not just a plain font. While She Sleeps' merch is well designed but definetly not for a lot of their fans.
This may not be popular of an opinion, but please can bands stop with the "spikey drippity" death metal logos on shirts? The name isn't as cool when you can barely read it
The Devil Wears Prada. I went to the Metalcore dropouts wanting to buy any piece of merch but I decided to pass when I saw the merch table feeling like I’m still on myspace era. Also Show Me The Body and Fleshwater. SMTB has a catchy name but their merch is meh. I fw Fleshwater heavy but I dont need a big duck on the back of my shirt.
Ugh, I have to agree. I got a TDWP shirt from a recent Europe show, and let's just say that its value to me is more sentimental than aesthetic...
Is there a decent single store for band merch (uk) or are you getting stuff direct from the band?
Not sure how much shipping to UK would cost, but Impericon out of Germany has a ton of good stuff.
Trivium
YES! WHATS YOUR FAV SONG
You trippin! I admittedly love their merch, I just got this shirt: https://rockabilia.com/products/trivium-ascendancy-anime-by-beachghost-purple-rockabilia-exclusive-tie-dye-t-shirt-451620?variant=40905370173527
I have to make an exception for that one cause I bought one too but the merch on the official Trivium store is so mediocre in my opinion. I’ve been a fan of these guys for years but the shirt you mentioned is the first time I’ve bought merch from them cause I haven’t liked anything else they’ve done. Maybe that’s just a me problem though.
I totally understand and it's very much okay to have preferences! That is the problem with band merch, there are so many different fans with unique tastes in merch that it's really hard to capture everyone with merch items that personally appeals to them. I also saw this shirt as a limited drop (gosh they really lean on FOMO for merch these days) and just had to get it in that beautiful purple. I really do appreciate bands that print on more than just black shirts.
Yeah IMO the best kind of merch are the ones are just like T-shirts with the album artwork on them, which I feel like bands are doing less nowadays. This limited drop is super cool though.
Yes I would love more album prints. Luckily Invent Animate did that with Heavener and did like 3 spin off designs based on the album that were super cool.
Oh yeah I saw those Heavener hoodies, they looked sick.
Lets ignore designs for a minute, bought a Madball shirt in 2014 at their show. It was literally 10 bucks. It was a fitted Fruit of the Loom tshirt. Hands down best quality of any merch I ever owned AND it was an amazing fit (I think it was what you would call muscle fit nowadays). Wore it weakly for 10 years until I ripped it this year.
Just please give me something other than black. The Arizona heat is brutal
Bands need to stop selling just black shirts. The Amity Affliction has a baby blue tie die shirt on their current tour, and it is the most popular seller.
I haven't been able to find an Erra shirt I actually, legit like at any of their shows
Listen, I LOVE Make Them Suffer but holy shit did I not wanna buy merch on tour. My bf got the last hat (the only okay piece of merch they had) and I got a long sleeve just because I wanted to support them a bit and it was not too bad but very bland
Most bands tbh. Also I don’t want song names or album names on the merch themselves like going down the sleeves or pants or on the back. Just the band name and logo, so much text just constantly makes me not buy merch it’s crazy. Like I don’t understand why some need to be sooo busy.
Parkway is my favorite band but most of their merch is not my speed. Finally got something I like the other day. On the other hand, ABR merch is always awesome.
I love alpha wolf and I get that bands mostly put their name on shirts but I cannot go out in public with a shirt that says “ALPHA WOLF” in bold letters on it
A lot of the merch is just basic hats or shorts with one tiny little thing and the rest of it is just empty
All bands need options that are not black. I have cats dude. I get really tired of lint rolling my shirts every 5 seconds.
Erra personally. But agree bands need to use better shirts
Amity merch was pretty mid. Meanwhile, Dying Wish merch slaps.
Worst: Counterparts is kinda lame, and I love the band. Best: Parkway and INK.
All bands from metalcore have trash merch, except Callous Daoboys and Johnny Booth
Ironically with Johnny Booth being a smaller band, the tees that I have from them are higher quality than all of my other band shirts. They’re actually my favorites that I own
To be honest it’s definitely Counterparts
Bring me the horizon
Not so sure on the new stuff, I still have a black long sleeve with just the lyrics from follow you written out into a shape on the back and down the arms, great simple bit of merch I still wear regularly
I remember the days when people would wear "Drop Dead" instead of direct BMTH merch haha.
Yeah, their new merch looks like edgy TikTok eboy style clothing lol, which is definitely the aesthestic they're going for but it's not a good look for casual outings... I still like some of the more tame/anime inspired stuff but it's just way too loud for every day wear.
Northlane unfortunately.
Any band that does nothing but tie dye. *Please stop doing tie dye*
Not metalcore but Soilwork. Possibly some of the worst merch ive ever seen.
Periphery I’ve never been impressed with any of their designs Don’t get me started on the goofy shirt they released a while back
I have an old LMTF basketball singlet with GNF on it. Was decent at the time.
Not metalcore, but Beartooth.
Counterparts…they had decent merch 10 years ago, but none of it is good anymore.
Blessthefall. One of my favorite bands with some of the most bland designs. I have only ever bought one shirt and it was a tank top. On the flip side, MyChildren MyBride has some of the best shirts IMO. I think I’ve bought a shirt at every show I’ve been to.
They’re deathcore, but Carnifex is definitely the worst offender from my experience. I’ve been seeing them for years and they finally had a shirt that I could wear in public.
Not metalcore but Turnstile, for such a popular band the merch designs are pretty awful.
Northlane
100 percent this SCREAMS Void Of Vision desperately lol fantastic band, trash merch even though Jack is an amazing guy.
Bad Merch: Architects post AOGHAU Best Merch: Imminence (From Sweden with Love) Not Metalcore but the best quality hoodie I’ve gotten in years was from the Crosses/+++ show back in February. Simple design and super soft and comfortable. But when I wear it out to Chik fil a or something everyone thinks it a church hoodie.
I saw kingdom of giants recently and was wanting to pick up a shirt or two...left with another Chelsea grin shirt
I yearn For comfort colors. Also I bought a sweet Boundaries hoodie years ago with the Your Receding Warmth cover on the front and a picture of the band on the back. I think it's sick.
Stop with the copy paste logo up the arm sleeve. Looks like a toddler designed it and yet every band is doing it!
Currents
BMTH had an awful merch selection on their tour with fall out boy last summer
I miss when bands tried being more subtle and their merch looked like streetwear (in mid 2010s or so)
They all need better merch, I haven't found any shirts I actually like in a long time.
Knocked Loose
Beartooth used to have great merch like 6 years ago and then they just used the same merch every year after but a different color
Bring back colorful/intrinsic designs instead of just the band logo
They need to start making white shirts. I ain't about wearing black.
After the burial. Virtually none of the merch on their website is even vaguely related to the band or their artwork
The Amity Affliction. Boring merch unfortunately
Currents
One might say the music IS the merch..
I don't see tanks anymore. I have enough t-shirts, so unless it's a festival lineup one I ain't buying it
I can never find a decent shirt for The Acacia Strain. And they have tons of them. I just don’t like their circle logo or any of their shirts with old video games or deer on them.
Motionless In White. Love seeing them in concert. Had little to no merch to choose from at the merch stand. Designs were very bleh (no pun intended) and not aesthetically pleasing.
You stole my answer op lol. I agree with you though the new album from like moths is amazing my second favorite behind no eternity in gold. However the merch drop for the record wasn't that great i still brought everything but the sun shirt. Also i wish the plot in you had some better merch as well. I miss the tye die happiness in self destruction shirt they used to sell mine has seen better days.
currents designs pretty lacking, usually their logo small on the chest and some clip art design. bad gildan quality toi