New Music Report – October 8, 2021
This might just be a bit of a cop out, I know there are a bunch of good albums coming out this week that I’m not covering with a full review, but it’s honestly mostly cause I just don’t have enough of an opinion on them to say much. I’ve always loved Atmosphere, but I’ve had trouble getting in to modern Atmosphere and mostly just fondly remember the God Loves Ugly days when I discovered them. The World is a Beautiful Place is a well done, beautiful album but I don’t have enough to compare it to in my personal collection. And Kowloon Walled City is really cool, out there, sludgy post rock and I enjoyed it but I know it’s a bit out there. All of these are definitely worth your time, but apparently not worth my time to really write something out about them haha.
Trivium – Trivium are one of those bands that never really stopped working when the rest of the entertainment industry shut down. They took to Twitch and social media with live streams, video games, and just about every sort of content you could imagine. Which is pretty forward-thinking stuff from a metalcore band that has effectively been around forever. And man, they sure were cool in the early-00’s. They combined that New Wave of American Heavy Metal sound with typical early-00’s metalcore (along with bands like Shadows Fall, etc.) and made something genuinely special. There was awhile there where it really felt like it didn’t age very well, and maybe it didn’t, but be it a resurgence or purely nostalgia, the sound has come around again. This new album is meant to be a concept album that leaves the interpretation up to the listener, and I guess that’s a cool idea, but it almost feels unnecessary. It’s just a solid metalcore album that will give you exactly what you expect from Trivium, and it’ll be a good, enjoyable listen. I’m not in love with it, but it was very well done, so I’d say it’s worth checking out.
Singles/Albums – The World is a Beautiful Place and I’m No Longer Afraid to Die (LP, Post-Rock/Emo), Atmosphere (LP, Hip Hop), Kowloon Walled City (LP, Post Rock), Veil of Maya (Metalcore), The Last Ten Seconds of Life (Hardcore), Maybeshewill (Post-Rock), Bullet for my Valentine (Metalcore), Monuments (Metalcore), SeeYouSpaceCowboy (Screamo)