New Music Report – Apr 3, 2020
This week is HUGE. I’ve been looking forward to this one for quite a while now. These past few weeks have been full of good music, but they really all felt like opening acts for this week. It’s absolutely stacked with big releases, all of which are really very diverse, as well, which keeps things interesting. If you’ve been bored during this quarantine, this should keep you occupied for a little while.
August Burns Red – Full disclosure, this is like 80% of the reason why I’m so excited for this week’s releases. Don’t get me wrong, everything else is awesome, but when the undisputed kings of metalcore put out a new album, you should pay attention. I’m actually not actually sure these guys are capable of writing bad music, but I can already this is gonna be a classic. First off, it’s got the hardest hitting opener of any ABR album; this is undoubtedly the heaviest album this band has written. But it also has this wonderful balance of the rawest vocals we’ve ever heard from Jake Luhrs paired with some of their most refined hooks. Not to mention riffs for DAYS. It lacks some of the progressive elements of Rescue & Restore in favor of strong, classic metalcore that I just love. I can go on for days, but this album just made me feel really, really good. This is a fucking gem.
Cabal – Cabal haven’t quite made a mainstream impact stateside just yet, but they definitely have a loyal following willing to sing their praises whenever possible. I’m one of those people. This band is incredible and are only now starting to get the attention they deserve. They’re a really unique style of incredibly heavy, sludgy deathcore. And I know “sludge” and “deathcore” fundamentally don’t really belong together, but when you hear it, it just makes sense. It really doesn’t get much heavier than this. This album is also chock full of incredible guest features, like Matt Heafy from Trivium and Jamie Hails of Polaris. I highly recommend this one, this band deserves all the attention they can get.
Purity Ring – Man, I love The Purity Ring so much. They’ve always been my favorite of all the chillwave/electropop bands. Probably cause they were generally darker, more hypnotic, and more melancholy than most of their contemporaries. And this album actually compounds on that. There are fewer pop hooks, and more ambient, deep, minimalistic soundscapes, giving it an even more bleak and eerie backdrop to the shimmery vocals. It may not be a jump to the mainstream, but I’m loving this direction.
Emancipator – Whenever people ask me who my favorite DJs are, I always tell him, “I don’t really listen to electronic music, except Emancipator.” He has been my caveat for years now. That said, I’ve kind of fallen off recently, the newer releases just didn’t have the same feel that I loved from Soon it Will be Cold Enough or Safe in the Steep Hills. But this new album is really incredible. It’s got the same beautiful, almost tangible soundscapes; it almost feels like you’re living each of these songs, like if you close your eyes you’re there; in it, experiencing it. And it’s the most peaceful, relaxing feeling in the world. And that’s what I’ve always loved about Emancipator.
Singles
Umbra Vitae – This band is just a fucking powerhouse. It’s the death metal project fronted by Jake Bannon from Converge, featuring members of Job For a Cowboy, The Red Chord, and Hatebreed. This really expands on the elements of metal that we have always heard in Converge, given the proper stage to breathe. You can always tell that, while Converge isn’t technically a metal band, it’s always been a big part of their influence, and now we get to hear Bannon’s personal interpretation of that in full. It’s rad. This full length is going to be great.
*Note* Bury Tomorrow – I was really looking forward to their new album, which was supposed to come out today, but it has since been pushed back to July 3rd. So expect coverage of that at a later date.