New Music Report – November 19, 2020

This past week has been a pretty big one for new music, I suppose all of this year’s releases are beginning to wind down as the holidays come up and people are starting to think of their end of year lists, but that doesn’t mean the energy or quality from any of these records is dwindling or lacking in any way, in fact every single album here is incredibly special in its own right, and can deliver a little something for just about every taste.

Killer Be Killed – I’m always somewhat dubious of supergroups, some of them end up being pretty good, or at least fun, but they’re usually either a flash in the pan sort of thing, or just don’t live up to the hype that the individual pieces bring to the table. But this year has been challenging that opinion pretty hard. And funny enough, just about every band that’s been pushing the envelope features a member of The Dillinger Escape Plan. Take from that what you will. This, however, is even crazier. Killer Be Killed features Greg Puciato from The Dillinger Escape Plan, Ben Koller from Converge, Troy Sanders from Mastodon, and Max Cavalera from Sepultura/Soulfly. Which is basically the who’s who of important metal bands of the past two or three decades. And the final product is really remarkable, especially considering all members except Koller share vocal duties on every track. It seems overwhelming on paper, but that’s never the case, it truly feels like cohesive package, playing on all their individual strengths while still working very hard feel like a band, rather than a group of individuals, to create a complete, captivating album that absolutely rips.

Bilmuri – So this is a little embarrassing, I thought this project was a joke project for way too long. I guess between the whole aesthetic, the name, and the fact that it’s the solo project of an ex-member of Attack Attack!, I thought the whole thing was meant to be a bit silly. And I suppose it is, to a degree – there is a pan flute breakdown – but man this is fantastic. There is actually a ton of thought and talent put into this project, the song writing is incredible; some incredibly well done mix between pop and post-hardcore that most post-hardcore bands could only dream of. It’s wonderfully weird and eccentric and absolutely blew away whatever expectations I had from this EP; this is just incredibly high quality music. I mean, we always knew Johnny Franck was incredibly talented from his days in Attack Attack!. Say what you will about that band’s style, they knew how to write incredibly catchy songs, and Franck was really the driving force behind that. And those song writing chops have really had a chance to shine with Bilmuri, and it’s just as impressive as ever.

Tombs – Alright, this one is kind of a handful and trying to explain the genre will make me sound like a bit of a pretentious ass, so bear with me, but they’re basically black metal-based and death metal influenced with post metal structuring and composition and strong, gritty sludge and doom metal elements mixed in. There’s no real streamlined way to say that. But, as much of a mouthful as it may be, it’s incredible. Albums like this are one of the reasons why I write this post every week. This is for sure going to fly under way too many people’s radars, but I sincerely hope this motivates someone to go check it out. It’s actually unfair to try and associate this band too closely with black metal cause so much gets lost along the way and the criticism of the genre-bending elements that make this album so special really get in the way. So, you should really just think of this as a very dark, gritty, and unique metal album, not exactly the sum of its pieces, but something entirely new and in that sense, pretty special, as well. It may take a little bit to truly get in to this album, but it is well worth the effort.

Pg.lost – I now post rock as a whole can be sort of polarizing to some people, while I happen to love it, a lot of people don’t find the long, meandering song arrangements and slow burn builds to be captivating in any way. There are a few exceptions to this rule; bands that can stick true to to the ethos of post rock and post metal while still keeping the music at a rolling boil throughout, and pg.lost are one of the best at that. Rather than embracing the scarcity and open space that some post rock bands lean on, pg.lost layer an incredible mix of post metal, shoe gaze, synth leads, and some occasional ambient to set a foundation. It’s a fascinating mix of so many different sounds and influences, creating an incredibly deep composition of feelings and soundscapes, from thundering post metal to a Mogwai-esq synth driven post rock. But whatever form the music takes, it’s an especially dynamic and immersive take on post metal, leaving more and more to be discovered and felt on every listen.

Dark Tranquility – Man, this one takes me back. As soon as I put this record on it felt like I was in middle school discovering bands like In Flames, At the Gates, and indeed, Dark Tranquility for the first time. It was a really incredible time in the history of melodeath, and I really do revel in any chance I get to relive the heyday of the genre. But it’s kind of unfair to proceed without recognizing that those days have indeed passed, and I can never hear Clayman for the first time ever again. But Dark Tranquility have always been that solid landmark in melodeath, while others went off to transform their sound, Dark Tranquility just kinda stayed the same. You always knew what to expect from their next album. Now, whether this lack of progress (or reliable consistency) is a bad thing or not is entirely up to you, but after a while you do kind of want something fresh. This album… Well, this album isn’t that. It’s a small step in the right direction; it has a bit more depth than the old standard, but at its core, it’s still basically the same thing. But honestly, I’ll take it. It was very enjoyable, if mostly for the nostalgia.

Phoebe Bridgers – This EP doesn’t actually feature any new music, but instead reimagined songs off Punisher, her absolutely breathtaking album from earlier this year. These four songs have been redone as acoustic tracks with string arrangements. As usual, they’re incredible. Again, it’s nothing new, but if you like Phoebe Bridgers even a fraction as much as I do, it’s at least worth checking out.