New Music Report – May 21, 2021
This last week was HEAVY. Both of the two releases that I talk about are absolutely massive, which isn’t to just gloss over the new single from Slaughter to Prevail, of course. They’re on very, very different ends of the spectrum of heaviness – one from the legends of metalcore grown up, and another from a fresh, young, incredibly chaotic band – but both are absolutely worth a listen and it really shows just how fun and diverse this corner of the music scene can really get. These two albums are already firmly slotted into heavy rotation and I don’t see either of them getting pushed out anytime soon.
The Devil Wears Prada EP – Back in 2010, the original Zombie EP turned the metalcore world upside down. This is back when scenecore was still a huge thing and The Devil Wears Prada were at the height of their fame. Many years have passed since then, but it still remains one of the all-time greats in metalcore. But these days, many are quick to discount TDWP, either because they only know them as the myspacecore band, or because they think their new stuff isn’t heavy enough. But over the years I’ve been one of their biggest advocates, I firmly believe these guys are writing the best music of their career. But it always felt like a hard sell because I understood that the new sound wasn’t for everybody. This is different. This is incredible. This takes the spirit and the brutality of the original Zombie EP and combines it with the matured songwriting ability of the band and the result is quite possibly the best thing they’ve ever written. This right here is peak Prada, this is the culmination of everything great they’ve done, and gives us a look into an incredibly bright future. Til then though, this will stay on repeat.
Kaonashi – Man, this band is cool as fuck. Ok, where to start. First off, they call themselves “emo mathcore” which should give you a basic idea of what to expect. Think mid-00’s, The Dillinger Escape Plans meets The Fall of Troy with occasional hints of La Dispute, type thing. Pure manic, frenetic chaos. It’s fucking brilliant. I sort of count these guys in the newer wave of post-hardcore and metalcore bands like Callous Daoboys, SeeYouSpaceCowboy, etc that are doing their best to revitalize the scene and give us something new by drawing on the past and man, are they killing it. But it’s honestly so much more than just nostalgia, I know it’s easy to think that, but these kids really are paving the way forward and it’s so exciting to listen to. To make things even more complex, this album is part of a larger series of concept albums a la Coheed, and just drowning in emotion and energy. This band just keeps getting cooler. If you’re into incredibly chaotic music with insane, grating vocals, and you like any of the other bands that I mentioned here, please check these guys out.
Singles/Albums – VCTMS (Slipknot Cover), Slaughter to Prevail (Russian Deathcore), We Were Sharks (LP, Pop Punk), Angels & Airwaves (Space Rock), An Autumn for Crippled Children (LP, Post-Rock), VOLA (LP, Djent), Eskimo Callboy (LP, Myspacecore), Northlane (Acoustic EP), Ingested (Deathcore), Alleviate (Metalcore), Beartooth (Metalcore), In Dying Arms (Metalcore), Lights & Motion/Christoffer Franzen (Post Rock)