NINE SONGS I LIKED THIS WEEK IN LIST FORM AUG 27 – SEP 2
Hello, third/second straight week of Saturday posts! LOOK AT THIS GUY RIGHT HERE! Also, perhaps as another sign of the return to a some semblance of agency in my life, there's an exclusive stream somewhere here of the new album from the wonderful dark ambient project Silence and Strength, due out in a couple of weeks. Immerse yourself in it, for it is splendid. Keep safe.
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1. Egregore – "Dysthymic Gloom," from Synchronistic Delusions (Grindcore/Death Metal – Sentient Ruin Records). I was very much into the BBC car show Top Gear back in the day. It was informative, it was hilarious, and it had a unique vibe. What happens with unique vibes sometimes, however, is that you kind of figure out the vibe as you go along and then notice it and then distill it and then all that's left is the vibe without the scaffolding around it and everything starts to suck. That was kind of how I feel about that show. Their vibe was "thinking man's car show," but then that was distilled over and over, until reaching the point of aesthetic over-saturation. A great example would be the way they shot their car reviews. It became so dramatic and cinematic by the end, that it was really kind of insufferable – slow motion wheel spins, water dripping off of the bumper, shit like that. This, by the way, has very little to do with the excellent new Egregore album. Just that it made me think of one of those tacky Top Gear slow-mo shots of a car doing a four-wheel drift, only with someone projectile vomiting venom through the windshield. Awesome shit. FFO: Grave Infestation, Undergang, Hyperdontia.
2. Ashbringer – "Pages," from We Came Here to Grieve (Atmospheric Black Metal/Folk – Independent). The wondrous Ashbringer are back with their idiosyncratic take on emotional black metal that doesn't really sound black metal-y, but, yet is. They don't release full lengths as often, which always brings a sense of occasion into their projects. That is very much the case here, along with the strong sense that with time they begin to occupy the black metal-y space reserved for artists like Patrick Walker or Songs: Ohia. A stripped-down, exposed, tremblingly beautiful view of someone's soul. FFO: Warning, Woe, Panopticon.
3. Baring Teeth – "Obsolescence," from The Path Narrows (Avant-Garde Black Metal – I, Voidhanger Records). If there ever was a "Machine Music album" then this new album from Baring Teeth is basically straight down the spine. Quirky, bent, unhinged, creative, slightly dissonant (if you're reading this Calder, fuck your dissonance!) and, mostly, life-affirming and weird. This gives off strong "Imperial Triumphant before they went ahead and did that thing I mentioned in section 1 of this post" vibe. Music for breaking bones and remaking souls. FFO: Imperial Triumphant, Thantifaxath, Dodecahedron.
4. Nurse – "Big Fish," from Nurse (Hardcore/Post-Punk – State Laughter). Kudos for the excellent YouTube channel No Deal for always – always – bringing the goods when it comes to amazing hardcore/grindcore-adjacent stuff. I had obviously never heard of this Atlanta band, but had I heard of them in time I would have stormed into their garage and forced them to never break up. Apparently they did break up, and it's all my fault. What a shitty person I am. Infectious post-punk/punk that almost sounds like it was plucked straight out of 1987. FFO: Moss Icon, Minutemen, Moss Icon.
5. Full of Hell – "All Knew None," from Full of Hell & Gasp (Noise/Grindcore – Independent). Full of Hell, interestingly, is the story of a band coming dangerously close to the events of section 1 of this post, actually crossing the line – in my eyes – with Weeping Choir, and then recalibrating as a much more interesting, much more confused entity. Their splits and shorter releases have been interesting and good, and their collab with Primitive Man from earlier this year might just be my favorite release by them ever. The trend, happily, continues with this new split with Los Angeles band Gasp. It feels creative, at times raw and strange, and continues that positive momentum that brings weirdos like me to look forward to the new Full of Hell. FFO: Deaf Kids, Primitive Man, Gnaw Their Tongues.
6. Kea – ״Speed Germany״ (Speed/Black Metal – Independent). A strong contender for "the track that's way too short I need more of this shit where is my fix OK I'm listening again but please God make this longer somehow appreciate you Ron" of the year is the debut single from the brand-spankin'-new project Kea ("Vomit," for all you puke connoisseurs out there) straight outta the bowels of the beautifully ugly city of Haifa. This is that rare example of a band coming out the womb fully formed. Nothing about this needs to change – the vocals, the drum sound, those sickly guitars, the reverb-drenched low-fi production. Nothing. This is it, and hopefully for a long time to come. No fucking joke. FFO: Sepulcher, Demoniac, Aura Noir.
7. Gravesend – "Even a Worm Will Turn," Gowanus Death Stomp (Grindcore/Black Metal – 20 Buck Spin). Gravesend's 2021 debut Methods of Human Disposal was a glorious slap in the face to anyone who likes being slapped in the face, gloriously. A punch in the face in the same way Caustic Wound and Black Curse feel like a kick to the teeth, only in a slightly more black metal way. Fucking fantastic. FFO: Caustic Wound, Antichrist Siege Machine, Fed Ash.
8. Undergang – "Livløs i en pøl af egne udskillelser," from De syv stadier af fordærv (Death Metal – Dark Descent Records / Me Saco Un Ojo Records). Speaking of puke, vomit, and other bodily fluids already mentioned in this post (OK, so basically vomit), the lords of Danish death metal lore motherfuckin' back and they don't care about your feelings or your puke. Very few modern death metal bands deliver gross insanity on anything resembling Undergang's and now a whole new album to prove that. Again. FFO: Cerebral Rot, Hyperdontia, Witch Vomit.
9. Antler Mouth – "Predator," from Predator, " Prey (Post Metal/Metalcore – Independent). It's not often that I delve into the squeaky-clean side of the world, a fact readers of this abysmal publication are now quite aware of. Even in terms of post-metal I've tended to lean into the grimier stuff. But there is, as was the case with the latest The Ocean album, always the exception. The exception in this case is the very Euro-Post-Metal-sounding new EP from Minnesota band Antler Mouth (great name, btw). Everything does in fact sound a bit on the perfect side, with more than a hint of a metal-core style production. But it's good, and it's interesting, and it drives forward like a motherfucker. The other proper track here is a more straight-forward post-metal/rock type deal, which is nice. But I like this one better. Does this mean I need to start buying tighter shirts? FFO: Mouth of the Architect, Callisto, Rivers of Nihil.
FIVE MORE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
ONE: Exhumed released a new EP, and it's sounding pretty sick.
TWO: Very pleasant acoustic-leading black metal from a new project by the name of Ruah (oh, you Americans and your Hebrew band names). Really chill and very cool.
THREE: Blood Incantation announced a new EP, due to come out September 13, with cover artwork that would have easily doubled as the cover for a 90s shareware CD. Pre-odrers here.
FOUR: Virus might be the greatest band ever created.
FIVE: You can now buy the CD that includes the entire explosive discography an old-school mathcore band (1999-2001) by the name of Maharahj, of which I had never heard but that is awesome. The bigger point being that apparently there's a whole label dedicated to, and I quote, "releasing MySpace era bands that have never done CDs" by the name of Been There Scene That. A wonderful idea, and a treasure trove of awesome bands.
ONE LAST THING, PROMISE: Sometimes the world sucks, but sometimes Revenant Marquis announce a new album. Also: A couple of new Fluisteraars tracks too. Killer.
