How’s it going, chat? You hanging in there?
We’re doing our best here at the site. All sorts of things are happening in the world: the days are getting colder, the fascism is growing stronger, the spooky is imminent. You might have caught our review for the new Ritual Mass album, which fucked mightily. Lots of other great shit came out last month, too, and we loved a bunch of it. And now that cold spooky season has arrived, let’s take a fond look at the best of the last month.
First up, as always, are our runners up:
Westin: Yotuma – The Final Void
Kep: Heruvim – Mercator
Kirk: Castle Rat – The Bestiary
Ellis: Public Opinion – Perpetual Motion Machine
And now to our monthly bests!
Westin: Species – Changelings
Progressive/technical thrash metal from Poland
Tech thrash was already a niche sound during its arguable heyday of the early to mid 90s, so it’s always exciting to see younger bands picking up the mantle. Species are less abrasive Voivod facsimiles and more Coroner filtered through the proverbial 20 year aging process of prog metal evolution and internet shaped music appreciation. This is very much a progressive metal album spiked with thrash riffs and attitude, like the monster stomper “Born of Stitch and Flesh” that feels like a band fighting to stay in control of an inhuman sound constantly threatening to overwhelm them with its very nature. If you’ve never journeyed into this era of metal before, Changelings is a killer introduction.
Kep: Heretoir – Solastalgia
Post-black metal from Germany
As far as I’m concerned, Heretoir are one of the gold standards for post-black metal these days, so my expectations were high for Solastalgia, their fourth full-length album. I wasn’t disappointed, as the record is an all-encompassing emotional journey that begs you to feel things, tearing into you with screams and harshness, reaching out and touching you with plaintive melodies and achingly beautiful harmony. There is pain and anger and agony here but there is also wonder and a stunning ability to capture the nuance of being a human and a resident of this earth, a world of uncaring apathy. The balance is brilliant and the compositional work is excellent; it is a lengthy listen though, so for best results, finish the listen on the title track and leave the final two (a re-recording and an In Flames cover) for another time.
Kirk: Emma Swift – The Resurrection Game
Indie folk from the US
Not gonna lie, folks, this one was an absolute surprise for yours truly. But I think we can all agree that there are times when an album comes along that is so breathtakingly raw and emotionally devastating that it just catapults itself into your newest obsession. That’s The Resurrection Game for me, the latest album from Australian singer/songwriter Emma Swift, the follow-up to her equally delectable album of Bob Dylan covers, Blonde on the Tracks. And yeah, I get it, this is an underground heavy metal/hardcore site, but I think releasing your own album on your own independent record label, Tiny Ghost Records, is pretty underground and downright D.I.Y., which I 100% approve. Also, this isn’t the first curve ball I’ve thrown at y’all, so does any of that really matter? Good music is good music regardless of its genre, and this is some damn good music.
Ellis: By a Thread – Mirrored Life
Post-hardcore from Canada
Can I call this “post-hardcore for adults”? Is that offensive to other forms of post-hardcore? Grow up. Does it mean anything? Does anything? Didn’t know anything about this band going into the record but apparently they released a cult classic on the mighty Revelation Records in the late 90s and a self-titled LP about a decade later which are probably both great if Mirrored Life is anything to go by. This, like another of my favourite discoveries of the year in the Renee Heartfelt discography, is the kind of post-hardcore that was made for arenas but never actually made it to arenas (one presumes) like a load of the wet stuff that did. Proper songs, huge choruses, drenched in reverb and dripping with emotion, it’s a heavy, atmospheric record but never an oppressive one, with some truly breathtaking peaks found in the anthemic “Sub Rosa” and the infectious “Radiation” especially.