“Sometimes, you don’t need nuance. Sometimes you don’t want prog-soaked journeys through inner turmoil, or post-whatever atmospherics that whisper about pain instead of screaming it in your face. Sometimes you just want music to sound like the goddamn world is on fire. Featuring members of Without Waves and site favorites The Atlas Moth, Chicago’s Motherless might have just that with their debut Do You Feel Safe?.” Save the mothers.
“Just as much as any genre that’s been around for 40-plus years, hardcore is not a monolith, not by a long stretch. As an unleashing of rough-and-tumble punk energy with an extra flash of sharpness and swagger, its permutations can run the gamut of high-tempo riffage, ragged vocal attitude, and instrumental histrionics, all while wearing the speed-loaded label. With a classic thrash attack and a dash of grind spirit, Stress Test wears the genre like a tattered and patched denim vest befitted with snappy pull-off runs, d-beat anthemics, and short bursts fit for a moshing audience.” Into the stress pit!
“Nashville trio Act of Impalement’s sophomore release Infernal Ordinance, in spite of the low-hanging HOA jokes, was badass. Its unfuckwithable blend of death and crust styles led to a sore neck from endless headbanging, while its passages of doom tempos and thick weight did the sludge and doom influences justice. I still spin the likes of “Summoning the Final Conflagration” and “Erased,” reliving that pummeling that hurts so good again and again. You can imagine how excited I was, then, to discover Act of Impalement has a new album.” Stab-ility.
“If you’re especially in the know, you might already be familiar with the artist behind Fell Omen, Spider of Pynx. Having contributed hurdy-gurdy and electronica skills to two different Spectral Lore records under this moniker, he has also created cover art for Auriferous Flame, Cirkeln, and Μπατουσκα, under the name Gilded Panoply. After years of lurking about the black metal scene, with Invaded by a Dark Spirit, the Spider has the chance to step out of the background and begin their officially ‘metal’ musical arc as Fell Omen.” Bad omens.
“Always straddling the line between a blackened snarl, a deathly pummel, and a hardcore shuffle, Immortal Bird’s patchwork attack hits as equal parts curious and aloof with Sin Querencia landing no differently. As Amitay has found greater vocal expression over the years, with side ventures Errant and Wretched Blessing being closer to solo endeavors, a fuller range of techniques splatters Sin Querencia to give it fresh life against what came before.” Do androids dream of immortal birds?
“Music doesn’t have to be complicated to be good. In the metal, rock, and punk worlds, this holds especially true, with a churning fight riff or stumble-step slam holding just as much power to contort faces and limbs as much as any spider-fingered fretboard fury. Utflod, a young new band from Norway, holds this idea especially dear, with their brief catalog to this point showcasing a fiery attitude and noise-coated spirit. And, now, entering the scene proper with a thirty-minute punk-ambitious full-length, will Efterdønn be Utflod’s first chapter on the path to underground riches?”
Nice. Or maybe you were thinking about the classic Bryan Adams song of the same name? Just what does a title like Summer of ’69 invoke? Maybe your mind raced to some sort of throwback tone stoner rock—nope, sorry. Perhaps the pop art cover took you to a bright, synth-coated land of big choruses and bigger hair? Still wrong, though. Hatchend instead circles about—cobbled of various Swedish extreme acts—waters of punk-loaded, gravel-voiced crossover thrash.
“Apes is a six-piece from Montreal, having released one LP and a series of demos and EPs since its inception in 2012. 2017 debut full-length Lightless introduced the band’s now-signature sound, a blend that continues in its sophomore effort Penitence seven years later: a blend of black metal and grindcore. While easy comparisons would be the sinister cutthroat attack of older Anaal Nathrakh or the unhinged intensity of Siberian Hell Sounds, Apes resides in a blackened interpretation of Nails, Trap Them, or Mammoth Grinder.” Primal rage.
“If you don’t know ACxDC, then what are you doing with your life? Like listening to actually good metal? Too bad for your sorry ass. The LA natives are back in black for their own highway to hell, and it’s too good to be true. For the woefully uninformed and uncultured, don’t even think alternate or direct current and Brian Johnson, you swine. It’s Antichrist Demoncore, and the peanut butter cup moniker of divine apathy is so sweet and gummy.” Vote for G.O.A.T..
“A concept album is risky when you’re as meatheaded as Massachusetts’ Fuming Mouth. Don’t get me wrong, Last Day of Sun’s concept is unique and powerful, an apocalyptic vision of a world destined for darkness in twenty-four hours (hence the title) – a story further fueled by the act’s mastermind, vocalist, and guitarist Mark Whelan’s triumphant battle over cancer. For an act that has rarely been called the “thinking man’s” anything, it’s pretty high-brow to fuse an approach of death metal and hardcore with such heart-wrenching emotion.” Sun’s out, HM-2 out.
