Weekly Roundup: February 7th
Featuring Glacier Veins, Ithaca, Moon Tooth, and more.
MOSH PITHY:
A curated selection of cool shit for you to listen to.
Moon Tooth – “Carry Me Home”
Prog-metal unit Moon Tooth have announced their newest full-length album, Phototroph, out May 13th through Pure Noise Records. The Long Island quartet aren’t afraid to get weird with their sound, and latest single “Carry Me Home” makes that desire explicit with hooky melodies, danceable grooves, and ample servings of guitar shred. As guitarist Nick Lee states: “I think this song is a testament to the fearlessness with which Moon Tooth writes music. We will flirt with any genres we want and it will still sound like us.” Watch the single’s rocking undead video below:
Kublai Khan TX – Lowest Form of Animal
Lone Star state bruisers Kublai Khan TX are back with a new release and a vital message. Lowest Form Of Animal, the band’s upcoming EP, acts as the follow-up to 2019’s Absolute and will see release via Rise Records on April 1st. According to frontman Matthew Honeycutt, crushing lead single “Swan Song” featuring Terror’s Scott Vogel “re-tells many of life’s harshest realities both from afar and close to home. Seeing the mental and physical damage of the sex trade in every corner and pocket of the USA—most remaining nameless and unsung.” Stream the EP’s pre-release singles here.
Ithaca – “They Fear Us”
I’ve been hanging out for this one all week and it’s finally here. UK metalcore quintet Ithaca are back, armed with a new album and a devastating title track as the lead single. “They Fear Us” is everything the band championed on 2019’s stellar The Language of Injury only now with the dial turned up to eleven. It’s heavy, dissonant, melodic, and lyrically empowering. They Fear Us is out July 29th through Hassle Records. Listen to “They Fear Us” here.
Conway The Machine – God Don’t Make Mistakes
After dropping teaser tracks throughout last year and hinting at a surprise December release that never eventuated, the Shady Records debut from Buffalo rapper Conway The Machine now has a confirmed release date. God Don’t Make Mistakes will drop on February 25th and the Griselda alum’s new single “John Woo Flick” has me all kinds of pumped for that first listen. It’s a classic team-up joint with hard bars and an ominous sample that weaves around Conway’s street corner chemistry with his paternal half-brother Westside Gunn and cousin Benny The Butcher. Stream the album’s pre-release singles here.
Heavenward – “Wish”
Singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Kamtin Mohager (The Chain Gang of 1974, ex-Teenage Wrist) has a new project, Heavenward, and will be releasing his forthcoming debut EP, Staircase Music, on February 18th through Fever Ltd. Judging by his latest single, the project represents an amalgamation of Mohager’s musical efforts over the last decade: driving neo-grunge sensibilities, raw emotion, churning shoegaze, and lush atmospheric soundscapes. Listen to “Wish” here.
Blindside – Discontent / Mirrors
Back in August, I featured Gold Coast hardcore outfit Blindside in my Bandcamp profile on the “New Breed of Australian Hardcore” after the release of their debut EP on Best Wishes Records. Hitting the ground running for 2022, the group have recently dropped a new two-track single and it showcases a further progression in their blend of modern youth crew with melodic hardcore of the mid-2000s variety. Stream the two-track single in full here.
Glacier Veins – “Autonomy”
With a shimmering blend of pop-punk and lush dream pop, Portland four-piece Glacier Veins are poised for big things with the impending release of their latest studio album, Lunar Reflection, out March 11th via Equal Vision Records. The new record features the band’s 2021 single “Cover Me” as well as an earnest mid-tempo banger in the form of their new single “Autonomy,” which highlights guitarist and frontwoman Malia Endres’ soaring pipes. Watch the video for “Autonomy” below:
Ninth Realm – Ondreis MMXXII
While they were compared to acts like Iron Age, Inhuman Nature, Judiciary and Bolt Thrower, it was an off-hand mention as “music for charging through Dungeons and Dragons quests” that initially drew me to Maryland riff lords Ninth Realm. And, to be honest, it’s a pretty apt descriptor for the group’s furious blend of traditional heavy metal aesthetics and the potency of late ‘80s/early ‘90s crossover-meets death metal. If you like battle-jackets as much as you like castles and wizards, then their latest two-track demo is right up your alley. Stream Ondreis MMXXII in full here (Bandcamp/Spotify).
Listen to all these tracks and more on the TPD 2022 TUNES playlist, updated weekly.
HEAVY METTLE:
A closer, more in-depth look at a new record that ticks all my boxes.
Black Country, New Road – Ants From Up There
Less than four days out from the release of their sophomore album, Ants From Up There, lead vocalist Isaac Wood announced that he would be departing London art-rockers Black Country, New Road. It was a shocking announcement and one that left many unanswered questions. Were their hints of Wood’s sudden departure buried deep within the sprawling, labyrinthian poetry of the band’s latest record?
“And though England is mine/ I must leave it all behind.” This is the first line spoken on Ants From Up There during “Chaos Space Marine,” tied up in a reference to The Smiths and British nationalism focused through Warhammer 40k. Sure, it’s an oblique omen but it’s also telling that the album begins on these notes of acceptance and abandonment.
The track’s outro also leaves curious clues: “Billie Eilish style/ A Concorde will fly/ Ignore the hole I’ve dug again.” A reference to the upbeat chorus in standout “Good Will Hunting,” which plays out like Bright Eyes covering Godspeed You! Black Emperor, along with the album’s lead single “Concorde,” where Wood’s meta-commentary loops back on itself through nods to Star Wars and Neil Gaiman comics.
Much like the record’s cover artwork, the idea that flight can be contained, where our desire to escape and seek new horizons is packaged and sold, appears to be a fool’s errand; the artist’s final dilemma. As Wood remarks on the album’s majestic 12-minute closer “Basketball Shoes”: “We’re all working on ourselves/ And we’re praying that the rest don’t mind how much we’ve changed.” Because, with enough distance, we all look like ants from up there.