Phew, that sure was a month, eh? As usual, we’ve rounded up our favorite releases of the month to spotlight for you here. Ellis also have Terror‘s new record a full review and I (Kep) did the same for the new Necropia record, which technically released May 1 but I won’t complain about you checking it out regardless.
Read on for the monthly spotlight!
Immolation – Descent
Death metal from the US
The kings are back for another round (their 12th album, if you can believe it) and they’re making it clear that the crown won’t be going anywhere any time soon. It’s not surprising at this point that they still have the damn goods, given that they’ve never released anything that was less than excellent, but a record like Descent still sort of makes you sit back in awe of what Ross Dolan, Bob Vigna, and co. are doing here in year 38(!). The riffs range from blistering to bludgeoning to downright groovy and the band’s sound is titanic, vicious stuff. Immolation‘s strongest suit in a host of strong suits, though, remains their ability write complex, layered songs with remarkable nuance hidden inside all that brutality. “God’s Last Breath,” “Bend Toward the Dark”, “Host”, and the title song are all elite Immo tracks. Find me another death metal band operating at this level, I dare you.
– Kep
Hold My Own – Pay No Mind
Hardcore from the US
Hold My Own more like Hold My Moans every time I listen to this album am I right? Sometimes there is something to be said for getting exactly what you signed up for, as is the case for Pay No Mind which sticks firmly to the mosh-centric style and maintains the same level of swagged out quality Hold My Own have delivered on three EPs, a split and a demo so far. Sick riffs, heavy beatdowns, booming gang vocals and some killer lead guitar spice on top—you can give it the biggun about how you’ve heard this sort of thing plenty of times before or you can shut up and eat. Saving the guest spots from members of Fatal Realm, Bulldoze and Sunami for the last three tracks is a great shout too as it gives the album that little extra pop before it crosses the finish line at a tight 21 minutes.
– Ellis
Pan – Glacial
Doom/black/sludge/stoner metal from the US
My favorite hidden Michigan gem went eight years between albums this go round, but they made sure the wait was worth it. Glacial feels like their best work yet in a discography that’s four entries and 16 years strong at this point. Pan remains as hard to classify as ever, blending elements from all over the metal universe in service of heavy shit that’s atmospheric and riffy as hell. Built on legend and folklore, all is ice and forests and weather and water and crushing, thick bands of deeply soulful work from the guitars. The songs twist and turn, brooding, meditating, screaming forward in manic rushes, pausing for gorgeous reflection. It’s hard to capture in words what Pan has captured in music; just trust me and give it a listen.
– Kep
Grumm Trencher – The Bat and the Hellebore
Dungeon synth from Canada
Boy, what a mixed bag this month has been! A handful of hits amongst a whole lot of stuff that was good, interesting, or simply bounced off of me. But this little guy right here, this one is special. It comes from the mastermind behind Syrup Moose Records, MEGAFAUNA, VNRL, and an assortment of other projects and endeavors, and boy howdy is it going to throw you through a loop. It’s less an album than it is a soundtrack to either a movie or a video game that doesn’t exist (at least in our world), and it blends so many unique and unconventional sounds and textures that it starts off strange and quickly becomes utterly captivating. The long and short of it here is this: it’s the story of a bat in search of a hellebore (as the title clearly explains), but close your eyes as the album plays and try to imagine the story as best you can. The sadness, the fear, the triumph. All of it. It’s a coming-of-age story in a time where we could all use a little more optimism.
– Kirk
Knumears – Directions
Screamo from the US
Finally, some real fuckin’ screamo. SoCal trio Knumears’ debut full-length makes up for what some have ever so boringly criticised as a lack of moving the needle by simply nailing the sound and style along similar lines to the manner in which it was pioneered and perfected by the likes of Orchid and Saetia and Pageninetynine and so on about 30 years ago. Produced by Jack Shirley who did Sunbather by Deafheaven, Directions is furious and fragile in all the right places and should hopefully put a whole new generation of kids onto the joys of throwing yourself to the floor and clawing despairingly at your face.
– Ellis
Ordh – Blind in Abyssal Realms
Death metal from the US
This was perhaps the nicest surprise of the month: a debut from a brand new band I’d never even heard of that absolutely blew me away. Now Ordh is made up of members of Barishi and Come to Grief, so perhaps the quality of Blind in Abyssal Realms wouldn’t have been a surprise if I’d known. With only five meaty tracks stretching across its 42 minutes, this is a true journey of a listen, one that feels cosmic in scope and idea but viscerally grounded in grit and dirt at the same time. It’s not your pretty prog death a la An Abstract Illusion but rather something more akin to Blood Incantation before they went full 70s: wild, crushing, and full of delightfully off-kilter riffage.
– Kep
Laden – Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly
Progressive post-sludge from the US
Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think that mixing post-metal with sludge would A) work or B) be a good idea, but Chuck Wilson one day said, “Fuck it,” and threw caution to the wind. What he created in the process is something that is both aggressive and reflective, combining the inherent aggression of sludge metal with the emotional depth of post-metal and adding just a dash of progressive rock to give it all a little zing. There’s a level of polish to these tracks that makes them feel almost psychedelic, granting the listener a chance to experience a broad range of emotions if they so choose. Or you could simply choose to bang your head really, really slowly. At least you have options.
– Kirk
.gif from god – Dissimulation
Mathcore/metalcore from the US
I’ve been a fan of .gif from god since the release of their 2019 full-length Approximation_of_a_human, and while their music is so maddeningly chaotic I probably couldn’t hum you back a single part I do feel confident enough to claim that Dissimulation is their best yet. It feels like the six-piece have beefed up on this one, leaning more into metalcore than sass or screamo while still charging all over the place sonically. In amongst the bevy of jagged and punishing tracks which flesh out the majority of this album’s 35-minute runtime are a two stand-out melodic cuts in the semi-blackened “Turn from the Ruin” and the smouldering turned expansive “Burnt House Horizon”, plus a couple of ambient interludes and a particularly menacing opening chunk to “A Gift from God”—all well-placed and tied impressively into the overall vibe and aesthetic and journey of the record.
– Ellis
Devoid of Thought – Devoid of Thought
Death metal from Italy
Real ones will remember that I gave Devoid of Thought a rave review (9.5/10!) back in 2021, when we still scored albums. I stand by that score because the album whips ass, and I still give Outer World Graves periodic spins. Now we’ve been blessed with a new record and good lord does it meet and exceed expectations. This self-titled effort is a dizzying, heady affair that feels more psychedelic and experimental than its predecessor. The artwork is a good visual approximation of the listening experience: so many colors and shapes it’s almost overwhelming, and the band presents their new material with tremendous technical panache and overwhelming intensity. This isn’t a listen you can digest in one go, so it’s definitely a grower, but it’s so worth the time.
– Kep
Negative Agent – Terminal Days
Industrial metal from the US
Q: What’s better than industrial metal? A: Leftist, anti-fascist industrial, obvs! For a genre that is so technology-centric, there is a surprising number of industrial artists who are vehemently anti-A.I. and anti-fascist. And Brian Stillman very firmly puts his foot down on Terminal Days, a debut album “that raises a giant middle finger to fascists, oligarchs, tech-bros, A.I. fetoshists, and human rights abusers. Recruiting the talents of Steve Wiener (guitar on “Mind Wipe”), Greg Schwan (bass on “Pain Control”), and Voidscan, this is less a debut and more a manifesto. Negative Agent is here, so let’s grab our glow sticks, strap on our gas masks, and get ready to kick some Nazi ass! The soundtrack to your post-apocalyptic dystopia has finally arrived.
– Kirk
Division of Mind – Exoterror
Metallic hardcore from the US
Some asses just yearn for beating, and Division of Mind are happy to oblige. The much-anticipated follow-up to their 2019 self-titled debut full-length is an absolute heater, channelling the spirit of Satisfaction era Hatebreed into an industrially augmented body that’s literally all muscle and menace. The atmosphere is darkened further still by the occasional sample or ominous ambient break, which also helps the album maintain its ability to knock the wind right out of you for the duration of its (relatively) ambitious 34-minute runtime. Between this and the Killing Pace record from February which still has my AOTY on lock, it’s safe to say Richmond is very much on top.
– Ellis
Man Band – Strong Man
Hardcore from the UK
Normally I would leave the hardcore writeups to my colleague Ellis (he’s so good at them!), but I am also a man of many tastes, and I have been known to enjoy a hardcore record every now and again. And while to bulk of my hardcore knowledge is rooted in the early days—the late ‘70s through mid ‘80s—it is also incumbent that I fill in the decades between. Though a very modern band, Man Band have every bit the chops to cut it in the world of hardcore. Their sound is rooted heavily in noise rock, an offshoot of hardcore and one of the few surviving bastard children of the bygone era of classic rock. But what Man Band do best is lock in on what it means to “be a man” and tackle the plague that is toxic masculinity. Because hardcore isn’t just a sound, it’s a mentality, and Man Band is here to rehabilitate each and every wanker the world over. Listen to Strong Man and see if it causes you to look at the world a little bit differently.
– Kirk
The Neptune Power Federation – Mondo Tomorrow
Stoner rock from Australia
Pardon me, but do you have a moment you could spare? I’d like to talk to you about the gospel of the Neptune Power Federation. Are you saddened by the lack of boogie in your rock music? Has your step lost its pep? Do you wake up in the middle of the night afraid that the future of rock ‘n’ roll is doomed, and A.I. is going to replace all of your favorite riffs? Fear not! The Neptune Power Federation is here with a new album, Mondo Tomorrow, and it carries with it the message that all will be well. Sure, the world at large may be a dumpster fire about to fly off a cliff, but at least we still have toe-tapping stoner rock riffs. So bob your head to the beat and say an, “Amen!”, because the Neptune Power Federation is here to save us all.*
*results may very, but it’s not likely
– Kirk