New Music Report – October 16, 2020

Posted by admin on Oct 20, 2020 in Featured | 0 comments

This has been an uncharacteristically slow week for new music. This time of year is usually loaded with great new albums, but I’ve actually only got one album to talk about this week. I’m sure there are others, so if I missed something that you liked, I’d love to hear about it. Otherwise, this one is still worth checking out.

Kingdom of Giants – This isn’t going to sound very good, but this is one of those albums that’s enjoyable if you just really don’t think about it too hard. In fact, it’s very similar to the Fit For a King album that I reviewed a few weeks ago. It’s the textbook definition of slightly mainstream-facing generic metalcore, which is to say metalcore with clean vocals and some light post hardcore influences. But, of course, I have to put a strong emphasis on the “generic” bit. It’s not a remarkable album, but it’s a fun album, and it’s an enjoyable album. It’s not going to end up on any Album of the Year lists, but I’ve given it a few spins and I liked what I heard. There really wasn’t anything that stood out, with the exception of perhaps some Northlane-inspired synths that are starting to become all the rage in some corners of metalcore. And if I’m honest, you can see flashes of brilliance in this album, it sets the foundation for a future that really could be impressive if they start to take some chances, but there aren’t enough of those moments to make this album stand out to any significant degree. I know it sounds like I’m just trashing this album, but I’m really not. It’s a remarkably average and unoffensive album for people that just want to listen to store brand metalcore and hear some breakdowns and catchy hooks in the choruses. It’s perfect for that. When comparing it to their labelmates on Sharptone that have also dropped albums just this year and absolutely mastered the genre, it doesn’t have the technical prowess of Currents, it doesn’t have the innovation of Loathe, it doesn’t have the energy of Polaris, it’s just… metalcore. And sometimes that’s alright too, I suppose, they’re just gonna have a hard time standing out among that sort of company.

New Music Report – October 9, 2020

Posted by admin on Oct 14, 2020 in Featured | 0 comments

There were only a couple real albums of note that came out this week, but I’d say they’re both very much worth a listen. The Touche Amore, especially, is spectacular. But since it was an otherwise light week, I included a little piece on an acoustic EP that came out as well. But regardless of whatever my definition of a “real” album is, these are all very good albums.

Touche Amore – I’ve been looking forward to this album for some time now. Touche Amore are one of those bands that you can always count on to deliver. Their previous album, Stage Four, was an incredibly difficult and honest chronicle of singer, Jeremy Bolm’s journey through his mom’s late stage cancer diagnosis and subsequent death. That album, while incredibly well done, was often times too heavy and heartbreaking to listen to. It was such a shame cause it really was a beautiful album, but you really had to be prepared for it to wreck you every time you listened to it. Their newest album, Lament, is a clear next step to that. The pain is still there, and thoughts and feelings are still very much being processed; you can still very much feel the scars that Bolm lives with every day as he navigates life after such a tremendous loss. However, there is a different feeling in this album; moments of light and hope pervade the darkness that shrouded Bolm just a handful of years ago. It’s still difficult, but you can feel the optimism and hopefulness begin to creep in. Touche Amore has always been an incredibly raw and emotional band, and this album is really no different, it’s a solid companion album to Stage Four. Lament is somehow even more open and honest than previous albums, using the brilliant production and unexpected guest appearances to highlight the nuances and details that show the true resilience of Touche Amore. It’s an incredible experience; these guys are really pushing the boundaries of hardcore and making you feel something with every listen and it’s absolutely wonderful.

Crippled Black Phoenix – I could basically copy and paste a lot of my review of the new Ihsahn EP right here and wouldn’t have to change a word. This is an incredibly talented group of musicians, delivering a dark and gritty take on progressive rock. And while this style of music is often a little too polished and clean for me, the execution of this album is just dark enough for me to really enjoy it. It’s a really finely tuned balance of clean, progressive rock juxtaposed by dark, eerie soundscapes and the end result is a fairly unique blend of tones that are fairly captivating in their own right. And by all rights, this album shouldn’t even have happened – this band has an almost comical amount of drama. But somehow, they scrounged up enough members to put an album together and the end result is rather remarkable. Now, that said, would they have likely written a better album if they could have just acted like adults for a little while? Absolutely. This album is put together by the mastermind behind CBP and the remaining vocalist, plus a slew of guest spots. I can’t help but wonder what an actual comprehensive album from them would have sounded like. I enjoyed the bleak undertones and the epic atmosphere of this album, but I’ll always wonder what could have been with this one.

Wolves at the Gate – This isn’t a new full length album, this is an EP of acoustic covers of sons from their full length that was released last summer. This format is actually becoming really popular throughout the quarantine. That said, normally, I don’t cover albums like this. There have been a bunch of them and generally they’re pretty much exactly what you’d expect them to be, not that they aren’t good, they just aren’t really novel enough to comment on. This one, however, I felt was worth talking about. Probably because I loved the original full length so much, especially the vocal style, which is really accentuated further in this acoustic EP. It shows the flexibility not just of the vocals, but of the band itself to be able to not only create something entirely new with existing songs, but to bring new perspective on existing work. Obviously, I’d prefer to listen to the original album, but if you enjoyed that even half as much as I did, then this EP is worth a listen.

New Music Report – October 2, 2020

Posted by admin on Oct 7, 2020 in Featured | 0 comments

These new music posts are getting longer and longer every week and I swear I’m not doing it on purpose, I just have a lot to say, as it turns out haha. I might try and tone it down a little bit, but in all likelihood that probably won’t happen, so I hope you all still enjoy them even though they’re a bit longer.

Sumac – Now, this is an album I’ve been waiting for a long time. Sumac is another one of Aaron Turner’s many projects (Isis, Old Man Gloom, etc) that continue to push the boundaries of just how heavy sludge and post metal can be. Along with Turner, Brian Cook (Russian Circles), and Nick Yacyshyn (Baptists) are no longer just pushing the boundaries of sludge metal but are now pushing the boundaries of what you can accept as metal and even music itself. When does a riff stop and a crushing, experimental soundscape begin? And that interplay is what makes this record really incredible. It’s a perfect mix of absolutely bone crushing riffs, with completely unstructured, immersive noise, and a consistently seamless transition between the two, creating one gigantic, epic, heavy album, capturing an incredibly diverse spectrum of music along the way. The origins of this influence are, in fact, incredibly clear, if you listen to the music they’ve been making ever since they started collaborating with Japanese experimental artist, Keiji Haino, you’ll see where this style came from. And while this album is all Sumac, the influence is clear, and they’ve proven that they’re able to drift away from straight sludge metal and incorporate these experimental vibes with incredible expertise. So once again, Aaron Turner can do no wrong, and has delivered one of the heaviest albums of the year, but not in the way that you’d expect.

Rezn – Honestly, I absolutely adore stoner metal bands that use their band name to unironically make a reference to weed. I know the idea is a bit played out – basing your entire personality around smoking pot – but man, when it comes to stoner metal it just hits different. And this is about as true to the spirit of stoner metal as you can get. It’s so on the nose and lacks any sort of subtlety whatsoever, but I mean, that’s basically the whole genre for you. If you’ve ever smoked weed and listened to Black Sabbath, you basically get the idea of stoner metal, and of this album. For what it’s worth though, this is an EXCELLENT take on the genre, leaning really hard into the psychedelic and experimental side of things; you can hear some strong Pink Floyd/King Crimson type influences throughout the record, and it really compliments the slow, drawling, heavy riffs incredibly well. To the point where just calling this a doom/stoner metal album is a bit of a disservice to the depth and complexity of this album. The mix of experimental journeys and just straight riffage is absolutely sublime. This album is really all over the place, but it does it so, so well, and comes away managing to feel surprisingly cohesive in the process.

Greg Puciato – Before we even get started with this one, I think it’s important to set expectations. For anyone unaware, this is the solo record from the front man of Dillinger Escape Plan. So, it’s weird. Real weird. Genre-bending, bonkers, weird. It’s awesome. If it were just about anybody else putting out this album, it would be seen as a fairly incoherent and unfocused mess, but since you’re inherently aware throughout that Puciato’s genius is at work behind the music, it all just sorta starts to make sense. It’s still an incredible experiment in the lengths that it’s possible to take heavy music, but it’s just coherent enough to come together into a strange, spontaneous amalgamation that just somehow works. I suppose at this juncture, after talking about how it’s a barely coherent mess and beyond definition, I suppose I should give you some idea of what to expect, but it really is a bit of everything, from acoustic guitars to heavy synths; it’s sort of close to the sort of projects you’d hear from Trent Reznor or Mike Patton when they’re really trying to push the limits. It’s a bit of an exhausting listen, but it is quite enjoyable.

Anaal Nathrakh – Jesus, where do I even begin with this? I mean, I guess with the album art. If you want some idea of what to expect from the blackened grind duo, just Google the uncensored album art. Done? Ok, the album sounds like that. It sounds like a pig with cocks in its eyes, which – I shit you not – is the title of one of the songs on the album. They’re not going for subtlety here. The whole album is a fucking nightmare, but as to be expected, I love it. There’s just something SO extreme and over the top about this album, that it’s absolutely brilliant. The clean vocals are actually incredibly catchy and just HUGE, and it’s a very small reprieve in an otherwise unrelenting onslaught of blast beats and chugging riffs. I honestly don’t even know what to say, by all accounts this should be a bit much, even for me, but it’s just so good, I can’t hate it. In fact, I love it so much.

New Music Report – September 25, 2020

Posted by admin on Sep 30, 2020 in Featured | 0 comments

This past week has been a really incredible one for music. It’s actually been really hard to stay on top of everything cause I feel like I’ve been stuck on each of these albums individually for days at a time and I struggled to leave it alone to move on to the next one. Overall, that’s a pretty decent problem to have

PS. Not only am I late, but I went so overboard with this one cause all these albums are incredible, so enjoy.

Svalbard – This album is one of the reasons why I write these posts. Everyone knows about the Deftones, everyone is excited about that album. Svalbard is one of those underrated, special, relatively unknown bands that I’m just really excited to show to as many people as I can. This is a really cool combination of post-hardcore, post-metal, elements of shoegaze and atmospheric black metal, and even a little bit of screamo reminiscent of Envy, which is especially apparent in the interplay between the raw, desperate vocals and airy, atmospheric instrumentals. So needless to say, it’s really, really impressive and incredibly unique, there are so many unique elements coming together to create something truly special. This is just such a complex piece of music, driven by incredibly intense and honest emotions and a primal, raw power delivered throughout the album. And really, I could go on and on. There are so many individual elements of this album that are worth pointing out and drawing specific attention to, but in the end it’s really the final product that harnesses the beauty of the diverse and eclectic minutia to create an almost overwhelmingly powerful piece of music. It’s one of those albums that takes several listens to truly appreciate, not to say it’s overly dense, but the more you become accustomed to it, the greater the experience becomes, and the more familiar you are to all the details that have been lovingly written into this really beautiful album. Listen to this album. Listen to it like, 10 times.

Deftones – I mean, what is there to even say about this one? It’s the Deftones. How can you not be excited? I know it’s 2020 and you can’t really expect another monumental album like White Pony, really, but the Deftones can really do no wrong and they leave us all surprised time and time again by just constantly living up to the hype. It’s absolutely amazing how the Deftones have been able to create something truly special, decade after decade, somehow willing lightning to strike not only twice, but time and time again, with each passing album. And this is yet another example – an incredible example – of how the Deftones will never cease to create absolute magic. I think the charm has to do with the raw emotion combined with an undeniable, almost sexual energy, and a brilliant juxtaposition of heaviness and ethereal ambiance. The result is something truly gorgeous in a way that really only the Deftones can capture. The album has this captivating groove throughout layered with ambient textures and a latent aggression that all culminate in something that is just… magnificent. And maybe it’s just the flashiness of the new thing to obsess over, but this is definitely a top 5, maybe even a top 3 Deftones record, and that is no small task to accomplish. This is all just top tier Deftones, and absolutely deserves a place alongside White Pony or Diamond Eyes.

Alpha Wolf – I’ve been a bit of a broken record this year talking about all the great metalcore albums that have been coming out in 2020. Honestly, I felt like I was getting a little tired of it at this point. There have been so many good metalcore albums that I was starting to feel like they were all blending together. There were so many that I just didn’t really care about a new Fit For a King album. I went into this expecting more of the same, to be perfectly honest. But Alpha Wolf have proven that theory quite wrong. Man, did they prove me wrong. This isn’t the most technical album of the year, it’s not the most unique, not the heaviest, but it has this soul to it. It has this energy where every single piece and component comes together just right, and the end result is really remarkable. It has all the right ingredients in all the right quantities, and it came together to – and again, I realize I’ve said this a million times this year – one of the best metalcore albums of the year. At the very least, one of the best written metalcore albums, and one of the most interesting to listen to.

The Ocean – It kind of feels weird to track an album in anticipation for months and months these days. With the overload of information, albums come and go, and while there are a few that I’m more excited for than others, a lot of them blend in. But this one was absolutely remarkable. With an absolutely untouchable technical prowess and song writing ability, The Ocean have been setting forth to raise the bar yet again for progressive/post metal. In an upper echelon filled with a list of truly remarkable bands that have been pushing the limits for years and years now, it’s fairly hard to write something truly remarkable, but it comes as no surprise that The Ocean was able to meet and exceed the high expectations set by not only their contemporaries, but indeed by themselves as well. This album is the final installation of a two part release and it perfectly complements the earlier release, in fact I recommend listening to them in tandem. But either as a standalone or part of a greater story, this album is full of remarkable mood changes, superb pacing, and epic builds, interspersed with mind-bending technical sections and crushing breakdowns. This album really does have a bit of everything, and if you’re interested in hearing some of the most impressive songwriting in progressive metal, I would highly recommend this album.

Idles – This band is fucking bonkers. That’s really all you need to know going into this album. The whole thing is just a nonstop assault on your senses; just an onslaught of pure chaos and punk rock energy. And by the end, you feel like you’ve been hit by a bus. It’s exhausting, it’s insane, and it’s fucking brilliant. It’s really hard to say properly summarize this album. it’s awesome, it’s so, so awesome, but it’s also so challenging to listen to with intentionally abrasive hooks and just this incredibly weird vibe that just never lets us. And I guess that’s just it, this album is WEIRD and intense. It’s an excellent post punk album that fits incredibly well within the trying and honestly pretty fucked up landscape of 2020. That may or may not be a compliment, but regardless it vibes heavy with where we’re at right now, and if nothing else it deserves a lot of recognition for taking that burden directly head on and executing it in a really fun way that, despite all the oddities and difficulties inherent in this album, never seems too fatalistic, at least not at the expense of a good time.

New Music Report – September 18, 2020

Posted by admin on Sep 22, 2020 in Featured | 0 comments

I would like to start this week’s new music post with a moment of silence. Today was supposed to be the release date for the new Every Time I Die record until it was postponed because of COVID. This is a huge deal, this was going to be my album of the year, bar none. I haven’t heard it yet, of course, but I was fully planning on stuffing the ballot box for this one. Anyway, the album is done, we’ll get it eventually, it’s just a shame. Thankfully, there’s still plenty of other good music coming out this week to almost make up for it.

Fit For a King – It’s kind of hard to explain how I feel about this album. It’s a very good album. Technically speaking, it’s quite good, it’s well produced, and it’s an accessible somewhat mainstream-facing take on metalcore. But that’s about where it ends. If you’ve heard a Fit For a King album, you’ve heard everything this album has to offer. It’s like they focused a little too hard on providing an album that was easily digestible that they lost a little bit of the depth, creativity, and dynamics that made Fit For a King really special. All the individual parts are there, it just feels like it was slightly watered down to the point where the album as a whole is rather forgettable compared to say, Dark Skies. Which is weird because all the key factors that should be important to an album are actually better than Dark Skies, but when the whole package comes together, it’s just not quite the same, unfortunately. That said though, give this album a listen. It’s still very good, it’s just not as impressive as I was hoping it would be, and not as special as Dark Skies. It’s store brand metalcore, what you see if what you get. And I guess the same recipe gets tired after a while.

Movements – This album is the highlight of this week, no question. The dreamy, ambient, and at times dreary guitar work compliments the passionate and thoughtful vocals incredibly well and the result is a really lovely album that just feels quite special. I know there has been a lot of hype around Movements with their earlier releases, so it’s hard for a sophomore effort to stack up to the early hype train, and certainly, I’d say that this album isn’t flawlessly strong. It features some of the best songs the band has ever written, but also some of the weakest. I don’t want to say ‘worst’ because these songs aren’t bad, but some of them feel like they were a little rushed and lack a little bit of substance that is indeed very important for bands like this. But ultimately, I loved this album. The whole vibe of it just made me feel good, I know it isn’t the most upbeat album, but it filled me with a breath of fresh air, and I enjoyed the hell out of it. And I think that’s the biggest difference between this and their first album. Honestly, their first album was probably objectively better, but this album had an undeniable vibe to it, which may be an intangible quality, but it counts for something, and I love it.

Knuckle Puck – I might catch some shit for this, but this album is neat but I’m just not loving it. It’s a step in a different direction for Knuckle Puck, and they’ve forgone some of their grittier pop punk style for something a bit smoother and a bit more upbeat. And, uh, it’s alright. For what it’s worth though, I didn’t like their last album either and I haven’t enjoyed anything they’ve done as much as, say, The Wonder Years, who I’m convinced accomplish the same idea as Knuckle Puck, but do it much better. I said what I said, and I’m sticking by it. But ok, more than that, it’s very straightforward pop punk, which I guess is the whole idea of pop punk in the first place. It overcomplicates precisely nothing and perfectly meets the standards of what you would expect from a mainstream angled pop punk album. And hey, if that’s what you want, you could do a lot worse than this. That said, I prefer bands in the genre that infuse other styles, add some more depth to their lyrics, etc. As mentioned before, The Wonder Years are my golden standard for this, and Knuckle Puck just can’t hang. But if you wanna party like it’s Warped Tour 2011, then you’ll dig this album.

Napalm Death – I have a massive amount of respect for Napalm Death, though admittedly this album wasn’t quite as high on my Most Anticipated list as some would expect. I guess the issue with bands like this, is that it’s easy to fall into a rut, not just in a career trajectory, I think they’ve proven that they can build a diverse, interesting career over the past 30 years, but on a more granular level, from album to album and song to song, the same unrelenting beatdown of extreme metal can get a bit tiresome. And you’re never quite sure which side of Napalm Death you’re going to get. This record, however, was quite a treat. It’s brilliantly diverse, and not just a straight up political grind album, which I sort of feared it would be. It’s got an incredible range, from the standard extreme metal that you’d expect, spanning all corners of heavy music, with influences from post punk, drone, to ALMOST black metal at times. I have to say, I stand corrected on this one, this is a really captivating and challenging album, I really enjoyed it.

New Music Report – September 11, 2020

Posted by admin on Sep 15, 2020 in Featured | 0 comments

This past week was actually a pretty light one for music, as it turns out. Which is a weird feeling, cause fall is usually the busiest time of year for new releases. Back when I first started this several years ago, I would only do these posts when I felt there was enough to talk about, and around this time of year, I had like 5 or 6 albums every week to talk about. They’re still coming out, the schedule has just been a bit jumbled, but it’ll be interesting to see what effect this has in the long run.

Ihsahn – Ihsahn, likely better known as the vocalist and guitarist from the incredibly influential Norwegian black metal band, Emperor, is an absolute genius. He’s one of those musicians that you just can’t help but envy because he’s just so good at everything he does. He’s an almost untouchable songwriter, producer, and musician, and making it all seem so effortless. In that regard, he reminds me a lot of Steve Wilson, he’s almost unfathomably good, it feels like he’s working with some sort of cheat code that the rest of us didn’t get. And actually, in that regard, this album sounds a lot like the sort of thing that Steve Wilson would put together; in a lot of places it sounds very similar to Porcupine Tree or something like that. Very prog-influenced, a heavy foundation, and some strong, clean vocals over it. It’s a very cool execution, but at times I will say it gets a little boring. This may sound weird, but sometimes it’s possible to be TOO good at something, and when you do everything at a virtuoso level, you lose a bit of humanity and magic from your music. By all accounts, Geoff Rickley from Thursday is a god awful vocalist, but he’s forever going to be one of my favorites. It’s the idea that, while he isn’t perfect, his vocals are filled with an immense amount of emotion and passion, and it makes you feel something. When you have a song that’s little more than a technical showcase, you lose a bit of the emotion that, at least I, personally, believe is the reason that we all love music so much anyway. It’s supposed to make you feel something. And amazement is a feeling, I suppose, but it’s not always the one I’m looking for.

Mastodon – Just to be perfectly clear, this isn’t actually a new album. It’s a compilation of b-sides, live songs, instrumental versions, and a couple unreleased songs. But honestly, it’s always worth talking about Mastodon. There are a lot of cool little features on here, like the songs that they did for Game of Thrones and Aqua Teen Hunger Force, and a lot of very good quality live tracks, and for a band that’s as impressive live as Mastodon is, I think they’re absolutely worth checking out. There is also a very eclectic selection of covers like a Flaming Lips cover, a Feist cover, and a Metallica cover. The real gem here is the new unreleased song “Fallen Torches” which was released as a single preceding this album a few weeks ago, and it’s just fantastic. Honestly, there isn’t much else to say about this album, but if you’re a fan of Mastodon, I’d say it’s worth digging in to.

New Music Report – September 4, 2020

Posted by admin on Sep 4, 2020 in Featured | 0 comments

New Music Report – August 28, 2020

Posted by admin on Sep 2, 2020 in Featured | 0 comments

Still a few days behind on my new music posts, but there were some pretty gnarly albums that came out last week. Unlike last week, which was fairly diverse, these are all very dark, heavy, fairly sinister albums, but they’re all really, really excellent. And truthfully, while they’re all metal, that’s where the similarities end, so I definitely recommend checking out each of these.

Spook the Horses – These guys are really rad, I’m particularly proud of this find. I happened across these completely by chance a few years ago writing one of my very first weekly music update posts. I was light on things to talk about and found this band with a cool name and were labeled “atmospheric sludge metal”. And well, I was fucking sold with that one. And now here we are, several years and many new music posts down the road, and these guys are even better than when I found them. This new album sounds like a dirtier and more grating Cult of Luna, with a touch of black metal thrown in the mix, as well. In fact, the vocals even sound like a more chaotic and dissonant Johannes Persson. Which is very high praise, of course, cause I love Cult of Luna and garishly chaotic music in general. So, they definitely lived up to the “atmospheric sludge metal” label, and this new album is a great listen. It’s a stellar progression from their last album, which was a bit more melancholic, not to say it wasn’t dark or heavy, but this one really goes for it. There’s a lot more brute force and abrasive noise on this album and I really think it’s all the better for it. And even more importantly, I never got the feeling that they sacrificed any of the depth of this album to obtain some of the punchiness. There’s still a lot to unpack here and it’s going to take a few listens to really digest the whole, but I absolutely feel it’s worth the effort.

Pig Destroyer EP – This album is gnarly. But of course, that will come as no surprise to anybody that’s familiar with Pig Destroyer. What is interesting though, is how they approached this album, this isn’t your typical grind album with 15 tracks coming in at a runtime of 30 minutes. It’s actually, curiously enough, a 6 song EP, featuring an interlude track, and a nearly 12 minute long pulsing, almost industrial song. The whole album is incredibly discomforting and oppressive, but in two very distinct ways the act as a stark contrast to one another. There are the brutal grind tones of the first three tracks, followed up by the incredibly strange and eerie latter half made of up ambient field recordings, avant garde electronic noise, distorted vocals, and industrial grooves. The whole EP is a completely savage mindfuck, and I love it. Thematically, it’s as dark and brutal as you’d ever expect from Pig Destroyer, but this truly strange execution of those undertones is absolutely inspired.

Necrot – Death metal has been seeing a huge resurgence lately and honestly, I’m here for it. And the great part is there are tons of different flavors and reinterpretations of the classic sound that has set the foundation for heavy music for almost 40 years now. The hardcore kids are getting their hands on it, new school thrash bands are incorporating traditional death metal riffs into their songs, even black metal is getting involved. But sometimes you just want the real deal. Solid, classic death metal in its most genuine form. And for that, we have Necrot. A brilliant contemporary take on classic death metal; it sounds familiar, but still modern. Like, it sounds like it was supposed to sound like it was recorded in the guitarist’s basement in 1987, but it still sounds great and never ends up sounding like another half-baked Slayer rip off band. And I think it’s really important to have bands like Necrot pushing this genre forward. While there are other bands out there utilizing death metal elements, and there are tons of aging death metal acts still cranking out music, it’s incredibly important to have fresh, young acts like this pushing the genre forward in a genuine way; blazing a path forward so there is still something recognizable yet new to look forward to. And this new album is another spectacular step forward towards creating something great, and keeping this genre alive, young, and exciting.

New Music Report – August 21, 2020

Posted by admin on Aug 25, 2020 in Featured | 0 comments

This week was actually quite an interesting week for new music. Most of these releases are pretty far out of my usual wheelhouse but I genuinely enjoyed all of them, so you really can’t go wrong anywhere. One of these was a HUGE standout for me and will probably be in rotation for a long time to come. So, check em out and let me know what you think.

Be Well – I absolutely adore this record. It’s very simple at its core, it’s just a classic, nostalgic take on emotional hardcore and 90s post hardcore that largely stemmed from the DC area back in the day, made by some of the musicians that have helped make this area – and the hardcore scene in general – so special over the years. And while the member list is incredibly impressive –  featuring members of Darkest Hour, Bane, Battery, Fairweather, with Brian McTernan on vocals, who I guarantee has produced some of your favorite albums – this band is SO much more than the sum of its parts. This isn’t your typical supergroup putting together an album in their downtime. There is just something about this album that feels so earnest and familiar that it evokes strong emotions instantly. But this is brand new; the music is new, the band is new, they all have primary projects and focuses, but this feels so right, so comforting. It feels like all the best and most honest hardcore albums that I grew up with; it feels like home, and that’s about the highest praise I can give an album.

The Killers – I know it’s hard to look past the early-00s indie hype these guys garnered for their debut efforts, but there’s really a ton of depth to this band and I think it’s absolutely fascinating. I kind of wrote them off after that album as being more a novelty than anything else, but somehow happened back across them after they released Battle Born back in 2013 and I was absolutely blown away. They’ve been plugging away with this truly excellent style of reembodied 80’s pop rock reminiscent of Billy Joel, somehow walking the line between epic stadium rock, and top-down, summer cruising music.  And the result is just so, so good. I know this is a big departure from the stuff I usually write about, but I’ve honestly really loved this new sound The Killers have been honing this past decade, and this album is quite possibly the best interpretation of that sound yet.

Blaqk Audio – If you told me back in 2007 that I’d still be writing about this AFI side project in 2020 I’d say you were crazy. This might actually be the craziest part about this album. The said, the sound and vibe of this project has slowly come closer and closer in line with what we expect from AFI, and I know Davey and Jade are really into this darkwave sound, so I guess it really isn’t all that out there. So on to the actual music itself, well, it’s actually pretty good. I always knew that I only listened to this project because it’s Davey and Jade from AFI; it’s been cool, and you can tell it’s something they enjoy, but it’s never really been my thing, and never quite scratched that AFI itch as well as I’d hoped it would. This album is about the same, but the production quality is continuing to increase, and you can tell that Davey’s vocal hooks feel VERY at home in this environment. So, in that regard, it’s a very fun album to listen to.

Bright Eyes – Back in high school, I couldn’t fall asleep without music, so I had a little stereo in my room with a three CD changer. And for nearly my entire high school career, I fell asleep to the same three albums, and one of those was I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning by Bright Eyes. As a result, this band played a fairly subdued yet incredibly important role in my formative years, as they did with countless other musicians and fans as the band cemented themselves as indie legends, universally regarded as one of the most important artists in recent memory. Fast forward a number of years, and I became reacquainted with Connor Oberst through his various collaborations with Phoebe Bridgers. And now, it feels as though things have come full circle with the first new Bright Eyes album in 9 years. It feels like a real life Bright Eyes album, which is a great thing to feel after nine years without one. It’s deeply personal, dark, and generally depressing, while being bumped along by the upbeat, hopping grooves that are sprinkled throughout these dark and despondent records. It’s good to have them back.

New Music Report – August 14, 2020

Posted by admin on Aug 16, 2020 in Featured | 0 comments

I only have a couple of albums to talk about this week, unfortunately, but somehow, they’re two of the heaviest albums I’ve ever heard in my life. And the juxtaposition of the two creates a very interesting dichotomy of heavy music as a whole. One is basically kawaii-core from Slovenia, and the other is disgusting quarter time doom metal. So yeah, it’s been a good week.

Within Destruction – I don’t even know where to start with this one. Within Destruction is a Slovenian deathcore band with absolutely cringe-worthy lyrics, some of the most brutal deathcore breakdowns I’ve ever heard, anime samples, and influences from… J-pop? You know when people say, “How can you understand what they’re saying? It’s just screaming.” In this case, that’s a good thing. But to be perfectly honest, it doesn’t matter how dumb the lyrics are cause this album is absolutely bonkers. It’s so god damn heavy; you can hear some solid influences from bands like Crystal Lake and such (there’s actually a guest feature from Ryo), but there’s just so much of this album that doesn’t make any sense whatsoever. And honestly, the most puzzling thing about it is that I love it. So much. You really just have to check this out for yourself, cause on paper this album is just nonsense, but the execution is surprisingly cohesive. I mean, don’t get me wrong, this isn’t like, a deep, revolutionary moment in the progression of deathcore. But it certainly is a fun, disgustingly heavy album that isn’t afraid to try something new or look a little bit silly. And for that alone, I love it.

Primitive Man – Sticking with the soul-crushingly heavy theme we’ve got going this week but coming from a completely different end of the spectrum, this is the most jarring, abrasive, and heavy sludge/doom metal I’ve ever heard in my life. This isn’t the kind of doom metal that just sounds like a bunch of dudes that smoke too much weed and listen to too much Sabbath found B-tuning on their guitars. This is HEAVY. Have you ever taken an album and played it at like, quarter speed and it sounds absolutely sinister? That’s what Primitive Man is like, full stop. With a foundation of dissonant noise setting an unrelenting tone throughout the album, the riffs on top are hefty, sludgy beatdown to break apart the grating undertones and compliment the vocals that sound like they’re straight out of a horror movie. And these elements combine into a supremely discomforting drone that’s laden with an absolutely incredible attention to detail and nuance that make this not only the heaviest album in recent memory, but also incredibly deep and captivating to listen to. To put it bluntly, it’s magnificent.