New Music Report – October 15, 2021

Now we’re getting into the thick of new release season and man, do we have some heaters this week. I’ve mostly been looking ahead to next week when the new Every Time I Die album comes out, but man, I’ve been so caught up on some of the releases from this week, I’m having no problem waiting another week for that album. Knocked Loose especially, quite literally came out of nowhere and killed it this week. This has been a really exciting year for music, and even this late in the year it still feels like we’re just getting started.

Knocked Loose EP – Haha holy shit this thing bangs so hard. A couple weeks ago, Knocked Loose started hinting at something, I sort of just assumed it was a new single, which would have been fantastic, but man, they really came out swinging. They dropped an EP with a full video production to go along with it. And it sure is a monster. This is definitely one of the heaviest things I’ve heard all year, but it also marks a new high point for Knocked Loose. Before this, they were just a hard-hitting hardcore band with a unique vocalist, this album introduces a whole new degree of song writing complexity that we haven’t really seen from the band before. It almost reminds me a bit of pre-Jane Doe Converge with better production quality. I’ve been feeling for a while that this year’s best releases have all been EPs, and man, this gave some serious weight to that argument. I’ve legit had this on repeat since they dropped the video production, and every second has still hit super hard. Actually, not gonna lie, I kinda hate the ASMR whisper outro part, but that’s a personal thing, it’s flawless otherwise.

Vildjharta – First off, nobody ever though this album would actually exist, so that’s an accomplishment in itself. This Swedish progressive metal band have been promising a new album for about a decade now, and it just seemed like it was never actually going to happen, but here we are. And usually when an album has that much hype and takes that much time, it’s gonna flop. The old “Chinese Democracy” syndrome. But somehow this album managed to exceed expectations. It’s an incredible display of musicianship, song-writing ability, and a novel approach to what it truly means to be heavy. This is simultaneously a crushing, slow grind, and also a technical whirlwind. Honestly, I have no idea how this band manages to remember all their parts, or how they combine such disparate sounds into something so cohesive and mesmerizing. This band is honestly on a different tier than just about anybody else in the game and – likely because of their long absence – are criminally underrated. But if you want to hear what metal is really capable of, check this out.

Ice Nine Kills – Ok, I feel like I should talk about this one and I’m gonna be objective about it. So when I lived in Boston, these guys were not really anything more than a bigger local band that got some occasional Warped Tour runs and that really felt like the end of the road for them. But man, credit where credit is due, they’ve blown up and really polished their songwriting along the way. To be honest, this is what I like to call Hot Topic-core. If this were released in 2005, back when I had Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge, this album would probably quite literally change my life. But here in 2021, a horror movie-themed metalcore album feels a bit cheesy. And make no mistake, it’s cheesy as fuck. But they’re doing it very, very well, and if they keep this up, they have a really solid upward trajectory ahead of them. I didn’t think they’d actually be able to follow up their last album – which was also a horror movie themed metalcore album – it felt like a one and done thing, but they sure proved me wrong. I won’t really be listening to this album very much, but I absolutely understand the appeal, and I know the exact audience for this sort of thing, and they’re going to love this.

Singles/Albums – Volumes (Post Hardcore), Angelmaker (Deathcore), Whitechapel (Deathcore), Betraying the Martyrs (Metalcore), Wolves at the Gate (Post-Hardcore), Emma Ruth Rundle (Dark Folk), Impending Doom (Deathcore), Left to Suffer feat. Will Ramos (Deathcore), Upon A Burning Body (Metalcore)