New Music Report – October 23, 2020
After a slow week for new music last week, we’re back up to speed this week with four very exciting releases. This week also has a fairly serious tone, with a couple very politically charged EPs from two of the most progressive bands out there. I loved all of these albums, but those EPs in particular feel very important, not only to music, but to the current political and social climate, and for that reason alone, I couldn’t recommend those any more. But everything that came out this week has been fantastic.
Pallbearer – Full disclosure, I LOVE Pallbearer. They’re one of the best doom metal bands out there and not a single person can convince me otherwise. For years now, they’ve been at the forefront of the genre pushing the boundaries of how people played with and stretched an otherwise fairly straightforward genre. For the most part, you can get away with just playing down-tuned Sabbath riffs in half time and you’ve got the idea, but no, Pallbearer have been using prog, sludge, and atmospheric elements paired with soaring vocals to create and absolutely HUGE sound and adding a dimension to the genre that is frequently missing, making their albums that much more complex and interesting. That said, based off the singles, I was a bit worried this new album would lean a little too heavy on the prog elements and kind of get lost within itself through long, unnecessarily complicated song structures and aimless instrumental pieces, but the final product is anything but. It’s complex and elaborate but never feels aimless, the final product is very cohesive and further proves why these guys are the best in the game.
Fever 333 EP – In a world where the daily reality we all face has become watching BIPOC being murdered by the police in real time on the news and live streams while they face absolutely zero consequences for their actions, the music industry is bound to respond with anger, passion, and action. And while we can’t count on Rage Against the Machine anymore, Fever 333 have come out, guns blazing, with even more ferocity and unrest. The energy here is absolutely immense. But what can you expect, really? This album came about as a result of the actions of the past few months, beginning with the murder of George Floyd and capturing the energy of the demands for civil justice that have taken over the street since that moment. The album is incredibly interesting, Fever 333 are kind of all over the place, experimenting with leaning even further into the hip hop side of things while holding on to their hardcore and punk roots, and even featuring slight nu metal stylistic cues here and there. But while they continue to carve out their sound, their message is clearer than ever.
Zeal & Ardor EP – Another excellent album released in response to the calls for civil justice over the past few months, though approached from a very different style. While Fever 333 are angry, energetic hardcore dudes, Zeal & Ardor are fueled by a much slower burning intensity, music at a slow boil rather than a raging fire, but the energy is still teeming over and strong enough to give you chills. This Avant Garde metal project harnesses the emotion behind African American spirituals, blues, gospel, and soul music, and infuses it with pieces from all corners of extreme music, from harsh black metal, to straight up death metal. It’s honestly beyond description, you really have to check it out for yourself. And when I say this album gave me chills, this absolutely is not an exaggeration. It captures the righteous anger and painful sadness that so many are feeling throughout the nation, and indeed the world, right now, and is able to articulate that into a strange intensity that inspires as much as it hurts.
Salem EP – This one was a really cool surprise. I’d never heard of these guys before this week, but I checked out their album on a whim; it just screamed horror punk to me, and since spooky season is in full swing, and I happen to absolutely love old horror punk, I had to give it a listen. Now, when I say horror punk, I mean horror pop punk, more along the lines of Alkaline Trio, MCR, Tiger Army, and MAYBE Art of Drowning-era AFI, not to be mistaken for stuff like the Misfits or anything heavier like that. Which means this EP is light-hearted and fun with some rockabilly, Americana type vibes with some excellent hooks and an unmistakable pop punk swagger laden with lyrics about love and murder. I fucking love it. Now, don’t get me wrong, there is no real depth to this album, it’s just good fun, but I can tell you with complete certainty that this is going to be on non-stop repeat for me for the rest of October, at the very least. This band is actually the side project of the front man from UK-based band, Creeper, who are only a shade or two poppier than Salem and sound like they should be opening for My Chem, but with very much the same feel, so if you’re into them by any chance, or you love old school Alk3 and AFI like I do, check this out, I swear you won’t regret it.
The Wonder Years – Ok, this is another unconventional addition to this list, but it’s The Wonder Years so I gotta do it. This isn’t an album, but a couple new singles, but it’s a bit more special than that. This is the 10 year anniversary of both The Upsides and Suburbia – they sound quite different, but they were released within a year of each other – and The Wonder Years wanted to celebrate the two together. Obviously, COVID went and fucked all of that up, but they still wanted to do something special. They found some old notes for songs that they began to write but never finished during the recording of each of these albums and decided to write a song using those old notes, but not just any song. 2020 Wonder Years took those notes and wrote the sort of song 2010 Wonder Years would have written, and the result is, well, it’s incredible. I mean, I’m absolutely in love with everything this band does, but this is a wonderful intersection of two very, very different but equally important phases in this band’s history, and hearing the modern, mature take on the classic Wonder Years style is just so cool. This release is just the first song, “Brakeless”, they were both supposed to be released in December, but TWY did a voter registration drive and said they’d release one song early if they could get 1,000 people to register to vote, so bonus points for a good cause, as well.