Weekly Roundup: September 19th
Featuring Gatherers, Maylene and the Sons of Disaster, Arm's Length, and more.
MOSH PITHY:
A curated selection of cool shit for you to listen to.
Arm’s Length – “Object Permanence”
In psychology, object permanence is the understanding that objects continue to exist in space and time beyond the limits of an individual’s sensory perception. While the philosopher in me desperately wants to place such a concept in the realm of speculative realism, Arm’s Length have borrowed it for the lead single from their upcoming debut album, Never Before Seen, Never Again Found (out October 28th via Wax Bodega). I quite enjoyed the quartet’s Everything Nice EP from last year, and this new jam sounds like an exciting blend of maturation and creative growth for the Ontario post-emo outfit. Watch the video for “Object Permanence” below:
WOWOD / Somn – Split
Last year, I came across Yarost’ I Proshchenie, the debut album from WOWOD, and was completely blown away by it. In my review for Killyourstereo, I noted how the Saint Petersburg outfit tapped into a rich post-metal vein and “flushed it with new blood,” sounding “vibrant, alive, and utterly essential.” Well, the blackened quintet are back with new tracks as part of a split EP with hometown comrades Somn, to be released on October 7th through the good folks at Church Road Records. I expect things to be heavy, confronting, and sonically sprawling. Stream the split’s pre-release singles here (Bandcamp/Spotify).
Maylene and the Sons of Disaster – “Burn the Witches”
Back in the Before Time, Dallas Taylor, frontman for Birmingham heavy rockers Maylene and the Sons of Disaster, suffered horrific injuries as a result of a 2016 quad bike accident. According to Loudwire, Taylor broke almost every bone in his face, cracked his skull, broke both arms, severely damaged his jaw and one eye, punctured his ear canal, and had internal bleeding around his lungs and brain. Suffice it to say, the group has been on the back burner for the past six years while Taylor made his recovery; a necessary detail that makes their recent comeback all the more glorious to behold. Listen to “Burn the Witches” here.
Secret Shame – Autonomy
On their forthcoming LP, Autonomy (out October 28th), North Carolina post-punkers Secret Shame reflect on mental health, trauma, and acceptance through the sonic contours of shoegaze, deathrock, and dream-pop. It’s all part of a cathartic bloodletting for frontwoman Lena Machina, who acknowledges that growth sometimes requires harsh truths: “The thing that I really learned through this entire experience of insecurity, lack of self-worth, and mental illness, is that I am worthy of love. And the person that I need to focus the most on loving me is myself.” Stream the LP’s pre-release singles here (Bandcamp/Spotify).
Woods of Desolation – “The Falling Tide”
While one-man projects are quite literally dime-a-dozen in the world of black metal and its many adjacent subgenre bifurcations, I am firm in my belief that Woods of Desolation is one of the best out there. 2014’s As The Stars is a bonafide atmospheric black metal masterpiece and was one of my albums of the decade. Given the years of absence that followed, I’m super excited to receive that record’s full-length follow-up, The Falling Tide, out December 9th through Season of Mist. If you’re into austere vocals, icy drums, and a swirling guitar mix, then this is for you. Listen to the LP’s lead single and title track here.
Sonja – Loud Arriver
Loud Arriver is quite the achievement for Melissa Moore. While the record is her first full-length release in over a decade, it also represents a creative triumph over hate and bigotry. In 2017, Moore was fired from Texas black metallers Absu after coming out as transgender. In the wake of the band’s subsequent (and rightly deserved) collapse, Moore and touring drummer Grzesiek Czapla revived Sonja, a project they had originally started in 2014. With Moore now on lead vocals, Loud Arriver is a flashy showcase of glam, goth rock and heavy metal soundscapes, punctuated by strong hooks, quicksilver melodies, and headbanging riffs. Stream the record in full here (Bandcamp/Spotify).
Gatherers – “gift horse” feat. Geoff Rickly
Sometimes, you listen to a new song and it just hits, instantly and viscerally, landing like a cartoon anvil on your amygdala. Such is the case with “gift horse,” the latest single from New Jersey post-hardcore purveyors Gatherers, taken from their new album, ( mutilator. ), out November 18th via No Sleep Records. Now, I could try and explain the intricate web of influences going on here, both sonic and visual—White Pony-era Deftones, Daryl Palumbo’s vocal theatrics, the rocking guest feature from Thursday/No Devotion frontman Geoff Rickly; artist Robert Breer’s 16mm film style, German dancer Pina Bausch—but it’s probably best that you just dive right in and make up your own mind. (You’re welcome.) Watch the video for “gift horse” below:
Freedom of Fear – Carpathia
I first came across Adelaide metallers Freedom of Fear through 2019’s Nocturnal Gates and its incredibly eye-catching album artwork from painter Adam Burke aka Nightjar Illustration. Well, I’m certainly pleased to see that connection continues on Carpathia, the quartet’s long-awaited full-length follow-up, out October 21st through EVP Recordings. By all accounts, this new LP aims to take the group’s diabolic fusion of tech-death, black metal, and melodeath to places both psychological and animalistic, with German tech-death legend Hannes Grossmann (Necrophagist, Obscura) filling in on the skins. Stream the LP’s pre-release singles here (Bandcamp/Spotify).
HEAVY METTLE:
A closer, more in-depth look at a new record that ticks all my boxes.
Spirits of Leo – Gossamer Blue
While I am admittedly a little late to the party on this one (the album was released over a month ago on August 12th), it has completely dominated my listening cycle for this week and is, therefore, more than worthy of its place here. Why exactly is that, you might ask?
Well, Gossamer Blue is a beautiful, energetic, hauntingly spectral record, one brimming with a spacious atmosphere and sublime melodic whispers. It’s also a testament to the talents of principal songwriter Ryan Santos Phillips, that something this brisk and concise (eight tracks in an ephemeral 32 minutes) can so effectively straddle the line between hypnagogic shoegaze and uptempo post-punk.
Writing for IDIOTEQ, Karol Kamiński describes Gossamer Blue as “a perfect treat for fans of Drab Majesty, Soft Kill, Twin Tribes, Slowdive, Cocteau Twins, The Cure, The Chameleons.” And I couldn’t agree more. Dive in and lose yourself.
Stream here: Bandcamp | Spotify