Welcome to September, folks. Time remains swift and the world remains a nightmare. The writing team has been swamped with real life responsibilities and stresses, so our review game has been a little weak recently. Sorry about that. But we’re still listening to lots of good shit, and for that we will never apologize. Ready to hear our favorite things from August? Let’s get to it.
As always, the albums we reviewed in full last month (Cancer Void – First Metastasis and Castrator – Coronation of the Grotesque) aren’t eligible to be selected here. Click those links if you want to read our thoughts on those two.
First up, our monthly runners-up:
Westin: Old Machines – The Cycles of Extinction
Kep: Defacement – Doomed
Kirk: Borracho – Ouroboros
And now to our monthly faves!
Westin: Catharsis – Hope Against Hope
Metallic hardcore/crust punk from the US
More than two decades since their last LP, one of the original innovators of metallic hardcore return with one of the most ferocious and relentless albums of the decade. Catharsis is everything hardcore aspires to be – crushing, sharp, and matched by an outspoken political acknowledgement of the world we inhabit, not empty bravado. The quiet and morose are only temporary as the record regularly returns to blasting drums and energizing guitars; Hope Against Hope grapples with a paralytic melancholy that is ultimately overcome through fury.
Kep: Malthusian – The Summoning Bell
Death metal from Ireland
From a school of death metal that prioritizes an atmosphere of murky darkness and hideous rituals comes this sophomore record out of Ireland and it’s a monster. Unnerving and oppressive, The Summoning Bell balances a pervasively ugly mood with a miasma of swirling, pummeling riffs. It’s nihilistic and utterly punishing at every turn, nearly a full hour of the sort of shit that’s so full of shadows and evil you can physically feel it weighing on your shoulders, with songwriting strong enough to support that lengthy runtime. This is the sort of album a lot of bands strive to write but never quite achieve. It’s tremendous.
Kirk: Supernaughty – Apocalypso
Stoner metal from Italy
Getting any writing done this year has been hard. Like, really hard. But I guess being crushed under the heel of fascist authoritarianismโll do that to ya. But be that as it may, kickass music is still getting written, recorded, and released, and itโs unfair for me to leave that task to my other Noob Heavy colleagues. Which is why Iโm here to remind you that Ripple Music is one ofโif not theโbest stoner labels on the planet. Which brings me to Supernaughty, the Italian stoner rockers whose third full-length is arguably their best yet. And with song titles like โAmsterdamnedโ, โWeird Scienceโ, and โKing Againโ, you canโt help but feel like they have 2025โs number. I just hope itโs not another five years before we hear from them againโฆ.