Weekly Roundup: November 09, 2020
Featuring Killer Be Killed, Deftones, The Casket Lottery, Eternal Champion, and more.
MOSH PITHY:
A curated selection of cool shit for you to listen to.
Gunship – “Eleanor Rigby”
Synth-wave exports Gunship have unrevealed a new while-you-wait teaser in place of their upcoming third LP. A cover of The Beatles classic “Eleanor Rigby,” the British duo turn out a neon-soaked re-imagining of the original track’s vision of depression and desolation. Check out the lyric video below.
Sólstafir – Endless Twilight of Codependent Love
On their seventh full-length album, Endless Twilight of Codependent Love, Icelandic post-metallers Sólstafir continue to shapeshift into an obscure Euro-rock act. It’s chock full of melancholic croons, icy atmospherics, and an overbearing Gothic sense of forlorn devotion. Stream the full album here (Bandcamp / Spotify).
Deftones – “Knife Prty (Purity Ring Remix)”
With their iconic, boogie-sugar titled album White Pony receiving a twentieth-anniversary reissue, alt-metal luminaries Deftones are set to release the highly anticipated Black Stallion companion LP later this year. As a taster from this remix project, the group have dropped a version of their smash-hit “Knife Prty,” as reinterpreted by Canadian electronic pop outfit Purity Ring. Check out the track here.
Carcass – Despicable
Euro melo-death might just be my favourite kind of death metal, and English titans Carcass do it better than most. The group has now returned to the fold with their first batch of new music in seven years, gifting us a four-track release that features plenty of crushing grooves, sinister melodies, and savage vocals. Stream the full EP here (Bandcamp / Spotify).
Ameer Vann – “Keep Your Distance”
The ex-Brockhampton rapper is building up to his next project, and new single “Keep Your Distance’ shows that his edge in the game remains razor-sharp. Oh, and bars? Yeah, he got ‘em. “Wonder if Stevie can see me, I'll turn your garden to Eden/ I get my weed from a demon, I’m smokin’ with Jesus/ I’ll make the devil believe it, I ain’t got friends for a reason.” Check out the video below.
The Casket Lottery – Short Songs for End Times
In the ‘Wait, what?!?’ comeback stakes, Midwest post-hardcore/emo veterans The Casket Lottery are back with a brand-new LP (their first since 2012’s criminally underrated Real Fear), and they sound just as melodically gruff and captivating as ever. For me, this new record hits that sonic sweet spot between old school Jimmy Eat World and Far, and I’m definitely about it. Stream the full album here (Bandcamp / Spotify).
Killer Be Killed – “Inner Calm From Outer Storms”
Metal supergroup Killer Be Killed have dropped another single from their forthcoming sophomore LP, Reluctant Hero. Now, I’ve heard the full album already, and it totally rules. Plus, the previous single, “Dream Gone Bad,” was a total banger. But considering the group’s members have done time in lauded acts like Mastodon, Converge, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Sepultura, and others, do I really need to tell you that? Check out the video for “Inner Calm From Outer Storms” below.
R U N – For You Will Never Find Peace Within Your Quiet
Back in May, Aussie metal collective R U N released their debut EP, For You Will Never Find Peace Within Your Quiet. The duo have now also released an instrumental version of the project, for those listeners who want to soak up the band’s love for extreme metal, hardcore, and cinematic post-rock as an entirely scream-less experience. Stream the EP here (Bandcamp / Spotify).
You also can find all these tracks on the TPD November playlist, updated each week.
HEAVY METTLE:
A closer, more in-depth look at a new record that ticks all my boxes.
Eternal Champion – Ravening Iron
In his review for Conan the Barbarian (1982), starring a young, muscle-bound and extensively oiled Arnie, film critic Roger Ebert described the movie-going experience as “a perfect fantasy for the alienated preadolescent,” where “a few broadswords and leather jerkins go a long way.” And this is exactly how I feel when I listen to Eternal Champion.
Take one look at the gorgeously illustrated album artwork by master Ken Kelly, with all the heaving bosoms and occult imagery of a Dungeons and Dragons campaign, or the promo photo of vocalist Jason Tarpey (Iron Age) holding his mighty sword aloft, and you just know that you’re in for something delightfully anachronistic. Musically, Ravening Iron will be warm and familiar for any fan of traditional heavy metal. Think Sabbath and Ozzy. Think Mercyful Fate. Think Twilight of the Gods-era Bathory. All you really need to know is that it’s super fun and has bountiful riffs for many, many days. Hails!
Stream here: Bandcamp | Youtube
ERRONEOUS BOTCH:
Links to some of my other published work across the Web. Take a look and help a brother out.
Over at Killyourstereo, I reviewed Hatred’s Reservoir, the new record from Byron Bay hardcore/power-violence outfit Shackles.
I put together a track-by-track rundown of the new You Will Always album, Dependent, Reliant, for New Noise. It’s a cool feature, with each member of the band breaking down the writing and recording process. Check that out here.