Weekly Roundup: June 21st
Featuring Unto Others, Gunship, Sleep Token, and more.
MOSH PITHY:
A curated selection of cool shit for you to listen to.
Sleep Token – “Alkaline”
Anonymous pop-metal collective Sleep Token have announced This Place Will Become Your Tomb (out September 24th through Spinefarm Records/Universal), the long-awaited follow-up to their stellar 2019 debut Sundowning. Dark new single “Alkaline” treads familiar ground for the group, pairing frontman Vessel’s soaring croon with down-tuned guitar riffage, shimmering synth lines, and booming percussion. Watch the video below:
Chubby and the Gang – The Mutt’s Nuts
Alongside notable acts like The Chisel and Big Cheese, Chubby and the Gang have made a name for themselves within the massively underrated UK hardcore scene. The West London quintet take a modern approach to “get fucked, ya geezer” street punk, delivered with plenty of attitude and vital melodies. Their forthcoming LP, The Mutt’s Nuts (out August 27th through Partisan Records), tells stories of urban life through snapshots of punk’s heyday soundscapes. Stream the pre-release singles here (Bandcamp/Spotify).
Dear Seattle – “In My Head”
Two years on from their debut album, 2019’s Don’t Let Go, Sydney alt-rock outfit Dear Seattle are back with their brand-new single. While the four-piece are still grinding away in the nu-grunge wheelhouse they’ve called home in recent years, eschewing the heavier elements found in their older material, there’s now a profound sense of maturity and self-reflection present in vocalist and guitarist Brae Fisher’s twangy lyricism. Listen to “In My Head” here.
Section H8 – Welcome To The Nightmare
If you’re not already familiar with LA hardcore bruisers Section H8, then I highly suggest you watch this video for the sake of edification. Last month, the band played a massive guerrilla punk show under a freeway overpass, resulting in what can only be described as “lawless fucking chaos”—think circle pits, fireworks, police sirens, helicopter searchlights, and rubber bullets in the moshpit. It looks insane and like something straight out of a John Carpenter film. So, if you want to channel that energy into your daily life, go ahead and listen to their forthcoming LP, Welcome To The Nightmare (out July 30th through Flatspot Records). Stream the pre-release singles here (Bandcamp/Spotify).
Gunship & Tyler Bates – “Berserker” (feat. Dave Lombardo)
While I patiently wait for LP#3 from UK synthwave greats Gunship, the trio have decided to drop a collaboration with composer Tyler Bates for the DC Comics’ Dark Nights: Death Metal project. “Berserker” kicks off in style, with the glittering synths and sleek vocal lines that have become the band’s hallmark. Reaching the track’s monster finish, drummer Dave Lombardo (ex-Slayer, Suicidal Tendencies) helps deliver an aggressive breakdown section that’s completely unexpected but completely crushing and it totally rules. Listen here.
Last Ride Records – This Is Australia: Volume Two
Australian hardcore label Last Ride Records are releasing the second volume in their This Is Australia 7-inch compilation series on July 30th, with contributions from diverse acts like Nerve Damage, The Chain, Ill Nature, Culture Shock, Broken, Psalm, Smash, and Miles Away. As a lead single for the release, Sydney kings Speed dropped an “official movie” for their track “WE SEE U,” and it’s some real tough guy, hard as nails, swinging-bricks-in-the-pit shit. Stream the compilation’s pre-release single here (Bandcamp/Spotify).
Unto Others – “Who Will Gods Work Be Done”
It's been 18 months of ups and downs for Portland metallers Unto Others (formerly known as Idle Hands). After a global pandemic put touring on hold indefinitely and legal hassles forced a hasty rebrand, the group are finally back with a new label, Roadrunner Records, and their first slice of new music. “When Will Gods Work Be Done” is the pure synthesis of ‘80s goth rock and heavy metal, filled with solid grooves and palm-muted riffage offset by vocalist and guitarist Gabriel Franco's cavernous baritone. Watch the majestic video below:
King Woman – Celestial Blues
The brainchild of NYC & LA-based Iranian songwriter and producer Kris Esfandiari, King Woman fuse elegiac funeral doom with charged alt-metal and folk atmospherics, creating majestic matrimony of dark and light. On the group’s long-awaited sophomore LP, Celestial Blues (out July 30th through Relapse Records), Esfandiari wrestles with themes of rebellion, tragedy, and triumph, recasting biblical archetypes with tales of Luciferian demise and crises of faith. Stream the pre-release singles here (Bandcamp/Spotify).
Listen to all these tracks and more on the TPD 2021 VIBING playlist, updated weekly.
HEAVY METTLE:
A closer, more in-depth look at a new record that ticks all my boxes.
Your Old Droog – TIME
Time, as we know it, does not exist. Well, at least according to cutting-edge research in physics. In The Order of Time (2018), Carlo Rovelli argues that time is merely an illusion, where our conscious perception of time’s flow depends entirely on our inability to see the world in all its granular detail. Time, as it turns out, depends on us and our ignorance.
On his seventh full-length LP and fourth project in six months, prolific Ukrainian-American emcee/producer Your Old Droog waxes lyrical about time as a narrative journey, one that’s both physical and spiritual. “The Magic Watch” skews surreal from the jump, as the Brooklyn rapper spins a tale of the titular timepiece that allows its owner to jump through time like the protagonist in a Kurt Vonnegut novel.
The late MF DOOM pops up on “Dropout Boogie,” delivering some killer bars over crashing boom-bap beats. “So High” hits the pause button with a psychedelic trip led by jazzy horns. Elsewhere, “Please Listen To My Jew Tape” has Droog running through his history and start in the rap game, detailing the ins and outs of demo peddling and corporate label politics.
While time might be an illusion, life is full of the real and tangible. Featuring a guest spot from long-time collaborator Wiki, sepulchral closer “No Time” offers up laments for loved ones both here and gone, forever reborn in the mind. In his trademark hood wisdom, Droog tells us: “Make most of the present, it’s sublime.”