MOSH PITHY:
A curated selection of cool shit for you to listen to.
August Burns Red – “Standing In The Storm”
Metalcore masters August Burns Red have returned to the fold with another crushing yet catchy banger, titled “Standing In The Storm.” The track acts as the follow-up to last year’s well-received Guardians album, so expect plenty of intricate riffage, soaring melodies, and pneumatic beatdown moments. Check out the video below:
Life's Question – A Tale of Sudden Love & Unforgettable Heartbreak
This EP dropped towards the end of last year on the always solid Triple B Records, and I’m kicking myself for only catching on now. Chicago outfit Life’s Question combine the 90s-influenced melodic hardcore of Turnstile with the crossover riffage and hammer-swing stomp of classic groups like Crown of Thornz and Leeway. Don’t believe me? Suss out that bridge riff in “Cracks In The Floor of Heaven,” and try not to pit. I dare you. Find the EP here (Bandcamp/Spotify).
Blanck Mass – “Starstuff”
With the upcoming release of In Ferneaux (out February 26th through Sacred Bones Records), electronic/synth project Blanck Mass is looking towards the heavens for inspiration. Latest single “Starstuff” takes a journey into the soul with space as the vehicle, or as they put it: “Sartre said that ‘Hell is other people,’ but perhaps this is the Inferno of the present: the space of sitting with the self.” Check out the track here.
ERRA – S/T
Birmingham bruisers ERRA have spent the last decade perfecting their patented synthesis of progressive metalcore heaviness with swelling and intricate post-hardcore songwriting, and their upcoming self-titled album (out March 19th through UNFD) promises to be their most comprehensive yet. A smattering of pre-release singles are already out, and you can stream those here (Bandcamp/Spotify).
Jardin Animal – “La Fuente (Del Optimismo)”
Regular readers will know that I love finding weird and wonderful music from around the world, and this week’s pleasant surprise comes all the way from Central America. Jardin Animal are a young math-rock/Midwest emo outfit hailing from Nicaragua, who are clearly indebted to the musical legacy of influential acts like Minus The Bear and Tiny Moving Parts. Their latest single (which Google Translate tells me means ‘The Source of Optimism’) has plenty of noodly riffs and stop-start breaks and sustain pedal madness, aka “it totally rules.” Listen to “La Fuente (Del Optimismo)” here.
Wytch Hazel – III: Pentecost
UK prophets Wytch Hazel have finally answered that age-old question: “What if Thin Lizzy were a Christian rock band?” (No, really.) Listening to their latest record, III: Pentecost, it’s simply impossible to deny the immense power of the riffage on tracks like the triumphant “Spirit and Fire.” Sure, the not-so-subtle proselytism is a bit on the nose, but it would be downright sinful to not look past it for the glorious guitar work. Stream III: Pentecost here (Bandcamp/Spotify).
Tribulation – “Funeral Pyre”
Taking gothic rock to dizzying new heights of preternatural horror and antediluvian mystery, the grim Swedes in Tribulation are set to drop their fifth full-length album, Where The Gloom Becomes Sound (out this week through Century Media Records). Latest single “Funeral Pyre” takes the visual cues of German expressionism and mixes them with the “what if…” sonics of a Scandinavian black metal band providing the soundtrack to a cheap 80s blockbuster. Watch the darkly sublime video below:
Erang – Imagination Never Fails
Up until last week, I didn’t know that ‘dungeon synth’ was a thing. But it definitely is, and it’s a very wild ride. I’ve also never played a campaign of Dungeons & Dragons, but I suspect that what French maestro Erang has pulled together on the mystical Imagination Never Fails would suit the fantastical highs and lows of the game exceptionally well. Also, someone referred to this album as “VHS quality sword & sorcery,” and man, isn’t that just perfect? Stream the album here (Bandcamp).
You also can find all these tracks on the TPD January playlist, updated each week.
HEAVY METTLE:
A closer, more in-depth look at a new record that ticks all my boxes.
Single Mothers – Pig
Most albums recorded and released during 2020 tried their best to attune to and diagnose ‘the moment’: a world caught in the brink of a global pandemic, the crisis of sweeping socio-political unrest and inflamed culture wars, mounting death tolls, financial instability, Trump being Trump, etc. Those that connected with their intended audience did so through a sense of communal and seemingly perpetual ennui, giving voice to feelings of increasing frustration, isolation, and despair.
Ontario’s Single Mothers took a different, albeit nihilistic approach. On their Pig EP, the quartet took a departure from the searing catharsis of punk rock and post-hardcore, descending into the bleak hell-mouth of industrial post-punk. On “My Man,” the EP’s angular centrepiece, vocalist Andrew Thomson draws the listener in with a snarling, cryptic ode: “My man/ This shit’s a rollercoaster/ It goes up and down and then it’s over.” As the harsh drumbeat and off-kilter synth lines continue to escalate, the track drops into a gnawing thrasher of electronics, as Thomson repeats one refrain in screamed anguish: “Seemingly meaningless things said with feeling!”
Sometimes, we all need to shout into the void.
Stream here: Bandcamp | Spotify
ERRONEOUS BOTCH:
Links to some of my other published work across the Web. Take a look and help a brother out.
Over at New Noise, I published a review of We Are Always Alone, the new album from Portrayal of Guilt. It’s a malevolent maelstrom of blackened screamo, doom, sludge, post-hardcore, and just about any other subgenre modifier you feel like throwing into the mix. Check that out here.
Last week, I attended the red carpet premiere of Occupation: Rainfall, the big-budget sequel to Australian alien invasion film, Occupation (2018). It was definitely ‘a time’ and I put my thoughts together on that experience over at FilmBunker, which you can peruse at your leisure here.