Written by Carcassbomb, Kep, Espi Kvlt, Jangel
Did you listen to everything that came out on Friday? No, probably not, because there’s too much of it and you’re too busy. Or maybe you aren’t busy and you just want to fill the gaps in your obssessive quest for new music that is perpetually unquenched. Eitherway, between myself and the team we managed to listen to a few and share some brief thoughts. That’s right, it’s a release radar, we finally did one and will do one each week, in the middle of the week to catch you up on the previous week of releases. Apparently one of these started as an argument between Jangel and Kep on Discord?
Also I assume everyone is aware of the new 200 Stab Wounds, it’s such a meme on Twitter and the new album is so hectic that I doubt I need to cover it here.
Monument Of Misanthropy – Unterweger
Brutal Death Metal from Austria
Transcending Obscurity Records
This weeks bonkers technical death metal album, or is it melodic? I don’t know but it’s certainly using all of the things we love about death metal, particularly the pace and chaos of brutal death metal. Maybe I’m simple but I was sold on the cover art immediately and did not need to know the genre. It’s perfect for my attention span because a lot happens but none of it is really confusing, it’s just a straight killer album that brings out every flourish on every instrument to make something that sounds big but is also easily approachable. This kind of neat package with a good sound is what I’ve come to expect from Transcending Obscurity over the years and this is one of their better releases of 2021. The guitarist sounds like they’re having a lot of fun and not feeling forced into a downbeat tune for the sake of brutality, there’s actually a good bit of melody and well controlled guitar solos.
FFO: Afterbirth, Disentomb, Psycroptic.
Carcassbomb
BAILER – “Disposable Youth”
Grim hardcore from Cork, Ireland
Blood Blast Distribution
Sometimes I feel like hardcore is being taken over by 7 string guitars and super processed “squonks” (y’all know what I’m talking about) Nothing wrong with that sound but I miss the raw, straight ahead hardcore of my youth. Luckily, there’s bands like Ireland’s BAILER giving the old school sound a fresh coat of paint. They’ve got the breakdowns and fast, punk power chords. BAILER also weaves in some tinges of Southern rock ala Every Time I Die, which is the fasttrack to the scene kid in my heart. They also throw in some more modern sounds like Oli Sykes-esque “pitched screams” on track “Gateway Drugs”, a mathy/chaotic opening riff for “There Is A Love That Remains”, and some atmospheric, squonky sounds on “Cruel Master”. If you want a hard charging band that blends the old and new of hardcore then BAILER’s “Disposable Youth” is a must listen!
FFO: Norma Jean, Hatebreed
Jangel
Doomsday Profit – In Idle Orbit
Acid doom from North Carolina, USA
Independent
I just so happened to listen to this a few times with a head full of acid because I was suddenly overcome with anxiety from having not put together this column yet. It is some evil shit, just dark and nasty and full of sludge. Definitely the most menacing thing to come out of my speakers that day, but the subtle psychedelic elements were very nice. It’s a fuzzed out take on the early days of traditional heavy, doom and thrash metal with some catchy ass choruses, vintage guitar solos and toxic death doom harsh vocals. They take their time with each sound, making for atmospheric bridges that are total emotional downers between all the angry thrashing and monster mash jams. If you like to get high in a swamp and listen to the old school metal stuff then this will be perfect for you. The drumming is fantastic.
FFO: Witchfinder General, Bongripper, Electric Wizard.
Carcassbomb
Dold Vorde Ens Navn – Mørkere
Black metal from Norway
Prophecy Productions
What if I told you that you could have Ulver making black metal again right now? Well these Norwegians aren’t exactly 90’s Ulver, but they’ll get you close, and throw in some fascinating folk and avant-garde elements while they do it. Made up of current and ex-members of Dødheimsgard, Satyricon, and Ulver, this is a gorgeously cold album of effortlessly authentically Norwegian vibes, but there’s warmth to it too, and plenty of deeply layered textures. Mørkere is a goodie, don’t miss it.
FFO: Ulver, Satyricon
Kep
Bleeding Sorrow – Drowning
Atmospheric Black Metal from Perth, Australia
Independent
When I saw this album’s cover and that it was atmospheric black metal, I expected it to sound like some of my other favorites in the genre, such as Lascar and VVilderness. To my pleasant surprise, it instead sounds like if those bands decided to make DSBM instead. Don’t get me wrong, Lascar is my favorite black metal band in general, but a change of pace was nice. Instead of sounding like the listener went into nature to worship it, this album sounds like the singer went into the forest to scream at it for creating them until they died. It’s fresh and unique and has the type of vocals that give me chills.
FFO: Dreariness, Unreqvited
Espi Kvlt
Silk Sonic – “An Evening With Silk Sonic”
Old school RnB/funk
Aftermath Entertainment
You made me fucking do it Kep, here is “6 Reasons for Every Subgenre Fandom to Listen to ‘An Evening With Silk Sonic’”
Death metal – Silk Sonic’s sound is firmly rooted in the funk and RNB of the 70s, a backward looking mentality that every OSDM fan can appreciate
Doom metal – if you like clean singing in your doom metal you’ll find something to like in the fine crooning on the ballads.
Trad/power metal – musical virtuosity has been associated with many metal acts through the years with bands praised for pushing the technical boundaries of their voices and instruments. Bruno Mars is one of the most gifted and technically proficient singers alive today and fans of musical virtuosity should value his vocal pyrotechnics
‘Core – I know y’all like your slam dancing and you can absolutely throw ass to the funk tunes on this record
Black metal – this goes mainly for blackgaze fans but this record is impeccably produced and has it’s moments of sublime beauty
Prog metal – the harmonic language used by Silk Sonic is highly sophisticated and rooted in the complex chord changes found in jazz.
Claiming fandom of this band will absolutely allow you to insufferably virtue signal In summary, this is a fine record full of baby-making music and I could listen to Mars and Anderson .Paak harmonize all damn day
Jangel
Delphian – Somnambulant Foregoer
Technical death metal from California, USA
Independent
All too often you find that technical death metal bands sound overprocessed and don’t have the songwriting abilities to back up their technique. Delphian doesn’t have either of those problems. They rip and tear, they groove, and their songs are as compelling and interesting as they are technical. Shield your face when guitarist Jason Williams goes to solo, by the way, otherwise you might find your skin searing off from the white-hot flames of shred. This is the kind of debut album that surpasses expectations, and if you like intelligent techdeath, the kind that simply whips ass and isn’t self-indulgent, you’ll probably be blown away like I was.
FFO: Pestilence, Necrophagist, Gorod
kep
Devil Electric – GODLESS
Stoner doom from Melbourne, Australia
Independant
A big name in Australian doom and stoner rock but Devil Electric have not disappointed with their latest trudge through the muck, this time to dethrone god. Now that’s something we can all get behind. IF you’ve had any experience with Australian psychedelic stoner doom you’re probably expecting something that sounds like occulty goths making music in maybe a desert, maybe the bush and probably on drugs. Well you wouldn’t be wrong, that’s exactly what this sounds like but it’d pretty damn good. On the rock side of stoner than doom with some ZZ Top kind of shit going on with the guitars and a lot of 80s influence with the vocals. A confident and capable follow up to their 2017 Self Titled LP.
FFO: Drug Cult, Cold In Berlin, All Them Witches.
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