Songs that Punch People in the Face but only the ones that really deserve it JUL 27-AUG 2
Felt like quoting Mary Favret this week, but can't find the energy to look for a good quote, mostly because, as with most great writers, the isn't that one diamond quote just sitting there, ready. It's all intertwined to the point where you need to quote a whole page, and whose going to read that shit. So here's just a random line from her 2009 masterpiece War at a Distance. It's about life being crushed by something you can't always see.
The sense of living “in the meantime” gave birth to an anxiety that both history and future could be obliterated, and time left drifting in the nearly present (but never present enough) wartime. Temporal vacancy could then plausibly characterize a person, as Cowper suggests, “task’d to his full strength, absorb’d and lost” (74).
If you're new to this metal blog of bones you can also check out the various interview projects I have going on as well as the weekly recommendation posts. And if you'd like to keep abreast of the latest, most pressing developments follow us wherever I may roam (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Spotify, Bluesky, etc), and listen to my, I guess, active? (no) podcast (YouTube, Spotify, Apple), and to check out our amazing compilation albums. You could also possibly support my unholy work here (Patreon), if you feel like it. Early access to our bigger projects, weekly exclusive recommendations and playlists, and that wonderful feeling that you're encouraging a life-consuming habit. It's probably a bad idea, but to each their own. On to the list.
Wreck and Reference – "The Cup," from Stay Calm (Experimental – The Flenser). A select group of artists exists that will make me drop literally anything – coffee mugs, babies, the repetitive-ad-nauseam thinking and re-thinking about leaving this fucking hell on earth that apparently I can't leave – if they drop anything. Wreck and Reference, AOTD alums and overall trailblazing wonders, are in that group. First album in six years, feels like nine, sounds fucking awesome. I should clarify – sounds like your soul being dropped on hot coals but it doesn't care because it's already dead. That's basically me for what feels like forever now.
Grieven – "Citizen Wolf," from American Flesh (Hardcore – Cold Spirit Recordings). I'm moving nicely along the five stages of grief since I have become more emotionally open to listening to pissed people. Hardcore that feels like it will poison your enemies and sleep like a baby. Though, I must admit, enough people dying, so maybe drop the poison. But, if you do, drop it on fucking assholes.
A Flock Named Murder – "The Eulogy Fields," from Incendiary Sanctum (Atmospheric Black Metal – Hypaethral Records). When the art for this album dropped I immediately noticed that while Adam Burke album covers used to make me want to listen to a band I didn't know, now, for whatever reason, they make me not want to. Also, I kind of assumed it was brutal death metal, and I wasn't in the mood. Thank God for Ampwall, then, the new platform put together by Woe's Chris Grigg, thanks to which I finally did decide on randomly checking it out and found a pretty stellar atmospheric black metal releases. This track in particular, feels very, dunno, glammey Panopticon, if that makes sense. Cool
Choshech – "Hey" (Industrial – 999 Cuts). Shay Mizrachi's slithering synth project is once again resurfacing, a mere year after its previous and masterful A Journey into Silence. And similarly to my own passage into rage – but still, somehow, frustrated helplessness – Mizrachi is getting pissed. Though, for a project so initially rooted in the dark atmosphere of black metal, not in the way you might think he might. He's pissed in industrial/techno beats, which lends to his already bleak compositions an almost nihilistic feel. Which is to say it's scarier, all the more effective with the addition of Tamar Singer's (Zeresh) cold angelic voice. Music to spit at yourself in the mirror to. New album coming soon, can't come soon enough.
sic! – "Я видел только бедную землю" from Split by sic! x Тише, вдруг услышат! (Black Metal/Post-Hardcore – Independent). An addictive, short split between these two Russian projects that, too, speaks to my ever-growing appetite for anger. Both sides are fantastic, with the other being on the more sludgier side. Bot this by sic! is just tremendous. Energetic, creative, expressive, and has a mean breakdown in the middle. Which, I mean, who doesn't want that? And just a fantastic main guitar melody. Super-talented folk here.
Koreltsak – "Empty Handed I Entered this World, Barefoot I Leave It," from Koreltsak (Lo-fi Black Metal – Altare Productions). Apparently a project that's been around for a few years and also one I may have noticed before since they did a 4-way split that included Μνήμα a while back, but not one that I guess I paid any close attention to. My fucking mistake. This is their first full length but also a kind of compilation of tracks released elsewhere, and it's all fire. Fire. Emotional, frenetic, and has that unique sense of, perhaps like Trhä at its best, being written by an alien/troll. Insane shit.
Acephalic Void – "We Chose Death," from We Chose Death (Disso Death/Black – Independent). More void-consuming music, this time from the Ulcerate/Ad Nauseam school of business, dropping weirdo chords on yer head as if their weirdo bucket had holes in it – I don't know what I'm writing here. Haunting, bleak music that, as opposed to at least some trends in the disso-verse, avoids the trap of sounding too good while writing horrible music. Its sounds terrible, in the best way possible.
Hyperdontia – "Dormant," from Dormant (Death Metal – Desiccated Records). Hyperdontia isn't for everyone, I get that. Not everyone is into perfect riffs, perfect sound, perfect songwriting, perfect performances, and perfect production. I don't know if Hyperdontia have officially risen to the ranks of modern death metal Valhalla – along with Dead Congregation, Vastum, Blood Incantation, and Tomb Mold – but to me they have. Not a bad release, not a bad song, not a bad riff for eights years running. Ridiculous.
Mourning – "Rule Over Ashes," from Hive Of Resentment (Hardcore/Black Metal – Streets of Hate). I seriously have six other songs I needed to fit into this post (so I guess I won't be writing about the new Tombs after all), and some would question the decision to drop those and discuss a band whose latest release is a 2024 EP, but it had to be done. I only remembered Mourning existed because, for whatever reason, I went back to my best of 2018 post, and randomly saw my 2018 self losing my shit for their 2018 demo compilation. And having not followed up on that AT ALL, I then proceeded to check out everything they've done since. It's all perfect, and they infuriatingly keep getting better too. Buy everything they've ever done. Trust me.
Mutilated Cop – "Demagogue," from Internal Rot / Mutilated Cop (Grindcore – Nerve Altar). Internal Rot is to me one of the best grindcore bands of all time, and probably the best grindcore band out right now. So, had you told me that they finally released new music I would have died. Had you told me I would write about that new music dropping via a new split, I would say: "Fuck yeah I would." But had you said I would be writing about the other band on the split, I would have probably not believed me. And yet here we are. We must, as humans, all take profound joy out of new Internal Rot being shot into the world, but it just so happens that the split in question is with a new band – Mutilated Cop – that is really not a new band – members of Caustic Wound – that produced a scorching series of nothing short of annihilating music, some of which two-seconds long. I chose one of the longer tracks, but they're all incredible.
FIVE MORE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
ONE: Erik Wunder (Cobalt, Man's Gin) passed away and it's just sad. I had the honor and pleasure of talking to him about music, life, inspiration, drugs, whatever back when we did our Gin conversation a few years back, and he was a delight – vulnerable, smart, creative, just the real deal. Have tried to keep in touch over the years, but I think he hasn't always had it easy, which made that effort less than easy as well. But he was on my mind often, and I'm very happy – bittersweet happy, but still – that we at least had the possibility to talk about an album and a band that changed a lot of me and I know did so for others as well. Blast Erik's work today.
TWO: It's been a very long time since I last wrote about Álvaro Domene & Álvaro Pérez writing nonsensical genius music, and had it not for Ian Chainey's amazing newsletter/substack it would have been longer. Listen to it, and read Ian.
THREE: Murray the former good Twitter dude now good Bluesky dude said I should check out Stomach. He was right (amazing sludgy doom).
FOUR: Cool new noise project, somewhat a-la Lingua Ignota, by the name of Teffer. Check it out.
FIVE: I didn't like the new Deafheaven after trying a lot. I now like it. Miracles do happen!
ONE LAST THING, PROMISE: While aimlessly looking for Obliteration-related music (top-five modern death metal band, iykyk), I found an incredible project masterminded by Kristian (drummer for Obliteration and a bunch of other sick bands) by the name of Saprophage with two stunning demos to is name thus far. Black-hole death metal done perfectly. Unreal how good this is.
ONE LAST THING, SUPER PROMISE: The third track on the new Kayo Dot is running hard for track of the year. Real talk.
ONE LAST THING, SUPER-DUPER PROMISE: Ad Nauseam, who are responsible for one of the greatest metal albums of all time (and #2 on my dumb 2020s list) are releasing what sounds like a pristinely recorded live album from their 2023 appearance at Roadburn. One track out, and it sounds amazing.
