ALBUM REVIEW: System Error: Humanity – Walls Of Jericho

Detroit’s WALLS OF JERICHO aren’t the most prolific of metallic hardcore bands, and compared to some of their peers, have a somewhat limited discography. System Error: Humanity is only their sixth full length in a career that’s spanned decades, and while the long wait between albums must have been frustrating for their fanbase, it has had an unexpected benefit. It’s made every new WALLS OF JERICHO album feel like an event.

When a band releases new material every two years, the cycle can become predictable and the quality of the music can dip, but that’s not the case here. You might have expected them to mellow in the last ten years, but WALLS OF JERICHO have lost none of the fire or fury that made them big time contenders back in 2008. In the bluntest terms, System Error: Humanity slaps.

This album is heavy as hell, arguably more so than 2016’s excellent No One Can Save You From Yourself, and it contains some of the best hardcore songs you’ll hear in 2026. At one point, WALLS OF JERICHO could have challenged HATEBREED’s position as the metalhead’s favourite hardcore band, and this album demonstrates why.

Opener True Til’ Death is the sort of track that could kickstart a bar fight. It’s a thundering great shout-along anthem, clocking in at less than three and a half minutes and played with all the passionate determination of the righteously angry. It’s followed by an enviable collection of glass-spitting brawlers, such as the thrashy, feminist call to arms The Flame or the high-octane Untouchable.

There’s another insta-classic in the shape of Broken Mouths Can’t Speak, which begins with a short, ominous intro and turns into a stomping, midtempo pit-igniter where Candace Buckingham shares vocal duties with one Randy Blythe. Rise is the kind of adrenaline rush that makes you want to dive off your own furniture regardless of whether there’s anyone around to catch you, while Humanity manages to be effortlessly catchy and skull crushingly violent in equal measure. The presence of Guy Kozowyk from THE RED CHORD lends a nice bit of depth to the duelling vocals as well.

There’s also a surprisingly touching ballad. A Brighter Fire has a rare clean vocal line from Candace (who is a much better singer than she’s given credit for), and it benefits from added emotional heft when her daughter Patsy Puopolo joins in. It’s an atmospheric, late-album eyebrow-raiser, but while it would make for a terrific finisher, WALLS OF JERICHO take a different approach. There’s one last song remaining, and it’s a barn burner. The Reckoning is a fast, aggressive track that’s akin to sticking your head in a jet engine and it ends the record on a delirious, crowd pleasing high.

This is a metallic hardcore album written and performed by a band that clearly gives a damn. System Error: Humanity was a long time coming, but the passion is abundantly clear and it’s a glowing addition to WALLS OF JERICHO’s short, but enviable catalogue. It also sounds as close to a live performance as it’s possible to get without leaving your house. You don’t have to stand in a queue for 45 minutes, then spend £7 on a single pint of beer before listening to it, but if you did, you’d swear there were stage divers flying past your head all night. This is excellent, welcome back guys.

Rating: 9/10

System Error: Humanity is out now via Napalm Records. 

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