The Best Things We Heard in February

February was a bit of an odd duck from where I sit: two relatively weak release Fridays sandwiched between two particularly great ones. We got a new album from Dream Theater with Portnoy back in the fold and it was fine. Some great shit to be found amidst a healthy amount of decidedly meh shit. Don’t worry, though; we reviewed some great albums and we’ve picked a few more that were the absolute cream of the month’s crop.

As a reminder, February albums we reviewed in full aren’t eligible for this Best Things We Heard article, but here’s links to those reviews in case you missed them:

Phrenelith – Ashen Womb
Open Kasket – Trials of Failure
Celestial Scourge – Observers of the Inevitable
Sepulchral Curse – Crimson Moon Evocations

And now here are our monthly picks:

Ellis: Hour of Reprisal – Endless War, Endless Peace

Metallic Hardcore from the UK

“If violence is human nature, why do you need to force it on us?”

This is the best thing Hour of Reprisal have released so far, which is high praise indeed considering the consistent quality of their output over the past couple of years or so—especially 2023’s A New World from the Ashes of the Old. The production is better, there’s a ridiculous pig squeal on one of the tracks, a big ACAB shout-along on another, and a frankly stunning melodic finale to “The Fruit From Poison Trees” that brings things to a rousing, revolutionary, ‘drag the oppressors into the streets’ type close. Vocalist Joe’s lyrics are as incisive and uncompromising as ever, while the riffs and breakdowns and squeaky guitar bits are all dumb af (complimentary) to balance things out perfectly.

Kirk: woundlicker — Haunted World of Mirrors

Industrial cybergrind from the US

Like so many of us, for me February was a really tough month to suffer through. The constant barrage of terrible things coming out of Washington, D.C. made it exceedingly difficult to focus on much less appreciate any new music. Fortunately, Melora Cayce brought us a new album with which to drown out the existential horrors. If hearing “Pressed Petals” on the Food Desert Recordings compilation Please, Just Let Me Breathe was your first exposure to woundlicker’s particular brand of spastic industrial cybergrind, then you are in for a treat; this album starts off at an 11 and doesn’t relent for one single minute. Is it the best thing to come out this year? Maybe. It’s a long road ahead, but Haunted World of Mirrors won’t go down without a fight.

Kep: Toughness – Black Respite of Oblivion

Death metal from Poland

I got drawn in by that Nespithe-esque artwork–which was done by the same artist, Turkka G. Rantanen–and figured I’d give this album a shot; little did I know how much Demilich type shit I would hear. These young Poles have created quite the cocktail here, with belching Antti Boman-style vocals and plenty of strange alien riffage alongside old school death in the vein of Death themselves, a touch of progressiveness, and then a healthy portion of what feels like nu-metal(!) groove. I know that might not necessarily sound appealing off the bat, but in practice Black Respite of Oblivion turns out to be uncannily addicting. And there’s plenty of runway ahead for this outfit; this is their second record, and some of them are still kids–literally, the drummer is, like, 17. I’m duly impressed by Toughness and can’t wait to unlock new layers of weirdness as I relisten for the next several months. Bonus points for multiple guest spots from the king of gurgles, Will Smith of Afterbirth.