Weekly Roundup: March 14th
Featuring Alexisonfire, Conjurer, Koyo, and more.
MOSH PITHY:
A curated selection of cool shit for you to listen to.
Koyo – “Ten Digits Away”
Mark my words: 2022 is bound to be the year of Koyo. After the runaway success of last year’s stellar Drives Out East EP, the Long Island melodic hardcore sextet have moved over to Pure Noise Records and dropped a new standalone single. And I think “Ten Digits Away” might already be my most-played track of the year. If you’ve ever entertained even a passing interest in bands like Crime In Stereo, Silent Majority, The Movielife, Latterman, Iron Chic, or just LIHC in general, then you need to get behind this band ASAP. Watch the video for “Ten Digits Away” below:
Bastions – Majestic Desolation
It’s been seven long years since North Wales outfit Bastions were on the scene. The band’s recently announced comeback album and second full-length LP, Majestic Desolation, out July 29th through Church Road Records, marks their return with a mesmerising conflagration of fierce metallic hardcore and dark melodies. I’m pumped to give the record a listen, and I can’t wait to see what the UK alternative act have in store for 2022. Stream the LP’s pre-release singles here (Bandcamp/Spotify).
Be Well – “Treadless”
Melodic hardcore veterans Be Well are yet another supergroup with new tunes on the horizon. The band—featuring frontman and producer Brian McTernan (Battery, Ashes), guitarists Mike Schleibaum (Darkest Hour) and Peter Tsouras (Fairweather), bassist Aaron Dalbec (Bane), and drummer Shane Johnson (Fairweather)—will release their forthcoming six-track EP, Hello Sun, on May 20th through Revelation Records. They’re already locked in to play shows with big-name acts like New Found Glory, Strife, Hot Water Music, Earth Crisis, and BoySetsFire—if that gives you any indication on the sonic company they keep. Listen to the EP’s lead single “Treadless” here.
Conjurer – Páthos
Back in 2018, UK metallers Conjurer dropped Mire and completely blew everyone away—myself included. Their cerebral take on mathcore and post-metal pushed the UK press into overdrive and a label deal with Nuclear Blast soon followed. The Rugby quartet have now returned with a welcome taste of LP#2. Titled Páthos, the band’s newest eight-track monster is set for release on July 1st, and the album’s lead single “It Dwells” promises a whole new level of restrained tension and pissed-off dissonance. Stream the LP’s pre-release singles here (Bandcamp/Spotify).
The Chats – “Struck By Lightning”
Sunshine Coast punks The Chats are back with a new single and it’s a cheeky sub-three-minute blitz. Titled “Struck By Lightning,” the track is the band’s first slice of new material in two years following 2020’s electrifying “AC/DC CD.” The single also features the debut of new guitarist Josh Hardy (of The Unknowns), who replaced founding member Josh “Pricey” Price in late 2020. Listen to “Struck By Lightning” here and be the judge of Hardy’s jangly, buzzsaw attack for yourself.
xWEAPONx – Weapon X Demo
Man, there must be something in the water down in Kentucky. First Knocked Loose, then Inclination, and now xWEAPONx. (Or is it XweaponX? xWeaponx?) This straight-edge metallic hardcore unit features Knocked Loose frontman Bryan Garris on bass, his younger brother Trey on drums, Knocked Loose/Inclination axeman Isaac Hale on guitar, and “Dave the gunslinger” on vocals. The band’s newly released five-track demo is tough as nails and perfect sober mosh material. Stream the EP in full here (Bandcamp/Spotify).
Alexisonfire – “Sweet Dreams of Otherness”
It’s been a long time coming folks, but we’re finally (finally!) getting a brand spanking new Alexisonfire record. The Canadian post-hardcore luminaries have been dancing around this project for years now, ever since their 2012 hiatus, subsequent reunion in 2015, and the release of standalone singles “Complicit” and “Season of the Flood” in 2019 and 2020 respectively. In that time, the band’s members have been doing numerous other things (City and Colour, Gallows, Dead Tired, Doom’s Children, to name but a few), so it’ll be interesting to see what they bring to the table on a new LP. Produced by Jonah Falco (Fucked Up, Chubby and the Gang), Otherness is out on June 24th through Dine Alone Records. Watch the video for “Sweet Dreams of Otherness” below:
Vexes – Imagine What We Could Destroy///If Only Given Time
Vexes’ debut album Ancient Geometry was one of my favourite records of 2018. On that record, the New Jersey outfit managed to pull together the perfect blend of ambience and aggression, playing out like a spiritual fusion of The Bled, Glassjaw, and Deftones. Now, they’re finally returning with an ambitious double album, the verbosely titled Imagine What We Could Destroy///If Only Given Time, to be released on June 17th. If lead single “Beyond The Sinking” is anything to go off, I’m anticipating another stellar effort and AOTY contender for 2022. Stream the double LP’s pre-release single 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.
Drug Church – Hygiene
As I wrote in my Weekly Roundup back in November, Drug Church frontman Patrick Kindlon is one of my all-time favourite lyricists. With the alternative post-hardcore outfit’s incredible new album Hygiene finally out in the world (I’ve had a copy for months now, on near-constant rotation), I thought I’d share some of Kindlon’s most withering and passionately shouted aphorisms:
“Super Saturated”
“The dirt under your nails/
The proof that you’ve been here.
Let’s add up your wrongs/
A rabid mob to audit who you are.”
“Plucked”
“The missing piece is/
Anything but misplaced grievance.
Lots of talk, maybe lost in talk/
Anything that works is in pieces.”
“Piss & Quiet”
“I’m not, one for/
Anthems, slogans, or tricks.
Simple, cadence/
To sell cheap shit.There is, only/
Yourself, myself, and noise.
Fear not, real thought,
Pain in the ass but it’s all you’ve got.”
“Athlete on Bench”
“The endless stress you feel is, masturbation/
Most times what you catch is, just more cages/
And that villain that you fought, he just reflects who you are.”