The Armed are a hardcore band that would love to be known as anything but. Over the past decade, the Detroit collective has added layer upon layer of synths, electronics, costumes, short films about an overly enthusiastic karaoke singer, conceptual live shows, subterfuge, and experimental auditions for Stone Temple Pilots with the idea of separating themselves from heavy music’s past and staking out a place in its future. It’s a risky move for a genre that has historically relied on convention, tradition, and scene politics. But with 2018’s Only Love, the Armed separated from the metalcore sound of their early years and grew into something bigger, noisier, more melodic—their deranged idea of what pop music could be.