New Music Report – September 4, 2020
Part of the reason I love doing these new music posts is cause I find so many cool albums along the way that I just kind of pop up on my radar at the last second that I may not have paid as much attention to otherwise and then I get to show all my friends. This week is a perfect example of this. This time last week, I wasn’t planning on writing about any of these albums, in fact, I didn’t even know three of them existed. But now I got to check out four great new albums and share them with you guys.
Shut it Down Compilation – Normally I don’t cover things like compilation albums here, but this one is especially important. This is a compilation curated independently by the music community as a benefit for the Movement for Black Lives organization, featuring 46 of quite literally the best hardcore, metal, and punk bands in the world, including live, unreleased, or b-side tracks from a number of them. Just for a taste, a few of the bands include: Misery Signals, Minor Threat, Thou, Sunn O))), Xibalba, Primitive Man, Jesus Piece, END, War on Women, and Cult Leader… Like… WHAT?! I could go on, but to keep it simple, this is a great comp, at a great price, for a great cause. It’s just $10 for the entire compilation, and all proceeds go to M4BL. Check the comments for a link to the album and a flyer with the rest of the featured bands.
’68 EP – Boy, was this a cool fucking surprise. This EP wasn’t really announced until earlier this week but leave it to Josh Scogin to come out of nowhere and drop something is cool on us. Scogin has always been known for making absolutely ridiculously weird and energetic music, no matter what genre, and ’68 are no different. Typically known for mind bending metalcore and mathcore from his work with Norma Jean and The Chariot, ’68 was a definite departure from this sound, still carrying his eccentric signature style of songwriting, but losing the frenetic heft of, “Memphis Will be Laid to Waste”. But what this man has been able to do with a relatively strange noise rock duo is nothing short of incredible. This EP carries the band even further into that weird unknown, infusing more glitchy, electronic elements than other releases, while still infusing the typical fuzzy distortion and grainy vocals delivered in a way that only Scogin can. It’s awesome. The lead single, “Bad Bad Lambo” is probably the best song they’ve ever written. As usual, Josh Scogin can do nothing wrong; this EP is awesome.
Sparrows EP – There are a few bands that I’ve come across over the years that are relatively unknown, and I really just want to tell the world about them. Bands that are still mostly local or like, opening slot touring level bands that are just so incredibly talented and underrated that I feel like it’s my duty to share them with everyone that will listen. This is one of those bands. They’re this incredible mix of all of the best pieces of post hardcore that have manifested themselves over the years: the ethereal vocals of The Deftones, the space rock guitars of Cave In, and the gritty, harsh screams reminiscent of early, early Norma Jean and the somewhat raw and rudimentary production that perfectly conveys the real soul of the music. It’s all just so damn good. This two song EP is the result of what could have been, unfortunately. They had plans to work on new material for 2020, but unfortunately due to the pandemic, that was not to be. What we did get, however, is this brilliant taste of the sonic range and wonderful emotion that this superb band can spin into a song. Please, please check out this EP, I just can’t say enough good things about this band.
Cult of Lilth – This album surprised the fuck out of me. I honestly almost didn’t even write about it. I knew basically nothing about this band and really never heard them before aside from a brief mention that this album was supposed to be good. Apparently, they were right. Cult of Lilith is an Icelandic technical death metal band that verges on prog and deathcore at times, with occasional flamenco breakdown? This album is kind of insane and all over the place, but it’s absolutely brilliant. Despite it’s absolutely frenetic and ridiculous nature in general, I’d be hard pressed to really call it a revolutionary album for the genre. It’s not going to upend tech death and cause a revolution but it’s a damn good album. It’s also a lot of fun, and as it turns out a sense of humor is something that most tech death artists seem to have been born without, so they get bonus points for that alone. But the mix of technically masterful instrumentation, brutal breakdowns and riffage verging on deathcore, and somewhat silly moments that made me crack a smile was absolutely perfect.