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What a week! Record store day has come and gone. Tons of new items and reissues landed and the celebration of music was felt worldwide. As we continue to ride that wave of excitement, April delivers another week of diversity in the modern music landscape.
New Album Releases April 24
Shadowlands - 004 / Seeing Red Records
alternative dark wave goth indie rock post punk shoegaze Portland
Swimmy, gothic vibes drip out of these tunes. This feels like an 80’s fever dream. Washed with shoegaze esq tones. Imagine something along the lines of The Cure meets Siouxsie and the Banshees.
BRINGERS OF DISEASE - Sulphur / Disorder Recordings
metal black metal death metal Dayton
Buckle up for an absolute assault. Nothing about this album is happy. Up-tempo, screaming and hurtful, in all of the best ways. When the occasional tempo down shift hits one might expect to see a crack in the earths crust to reveal the fire and brimstone those preachers have been going on about for 2000+ years.
TONS - Stoned Villains / Heavy Psych Sounds
metal doom sludge stoner stoner doom stoner metal weed metal Turin
One might imagine Golem has taken up vocal duties for a stoner rock team. If you are down with an abrasive vocal delivery I would definitely recommend this one. It’s such a killer. Big riffs, great production and amps on 11. Crank this up and let your neighbors question who they live next to.
Devoid of Thought - Devoid of Thought / Unorthodox Emanations
death metal, progressive, weird, colorful
Beautiful artwork that totally matches this beast. It is complex and a little confusing until you sit with it for a moment. Some places darkness reigns and in others there is a brightness that steps forward. Highly recommend taking the time to check into the artwork and the album simultaneously. There is a lot to take in with both and it may not connect at first. Worth it for the adventure driven metal fan!
Nequient - Avarice / Nefarious Industries
grindcore crust d-beat hardcore punk metal nefarious industries thrash Chicago
Super metal. Cookie monster vocals, hyper riffs and pounding, mathematical rhythms. If Sesame Street wants to prove into merit, lets see The Count follow along with these jams. Absolute abuse of the mind, body and soul. This is technical and massive.
Check out this killer video they released to precede the album delivery!
next
New Video Drops April 18-24
Beyond The Styx - “Deadlock V” Official Music Video
Powerful hardcore with heavy political notation. Power driven and angry. Watch for a mosh pit to erupt at any minute when you press play on this one.
EUPHROSYNE-Mother Earth betrayed us (Official Video)
Slowly morphing into a catastrophic anomaly, this tune takes its time to build up a somewhat comforting atmosphere before pushing the entire thing over the edge. At one short moment it feels like it is leveraging a mainstream tone but this is far beyond anything the AM/FM will pick up anytime. Cool mix of genres and emotionally heavy, to match.
Castiel - “Act I: Defile // Denounce” (Official Music Video)
Chugging djent soaked metal core. This type of thing can be a borderline good/bad thing for me. Take it for a ride and see what you think. They use big gaps of silence to drive the heavy tones home. Back breaking and lots of angry face riffs. Did I mention chugging?
APOSTLE - ILLUSION OF LOSS (OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO)
Was stoked to see this come across the email list! We played a show with the Apostle crew last year and they are solid folks. They deliver a blackened sludge that feels both angry and a touch hopeless. Moderate paced and thick as a brick. You can feel the anger in this tune. Great stuff.
OFFICER LUCIFER - SWALLOW
After a few second intro this opens up to an Alice in Chains type of vocal over a technical sound bed. The odd mixture certainly caught my attention. There is a lot going on here and it will feel awkward at first. The creativity gets my approval and the grunge undertone could have easily swept them away but they held back to take a different direction. Good job!
Kriigerkvlt - Mahakala (Official Video)
This is so creative and different! The earthly tribute absolutely won me over. Chamber style vocals immediately take the mind to an ancient moment. One where the soul, ground and sky become one conduit. A calling to our ancestors to guide us and provide strength for the coming season. The meditative, tribal pulse connected with me completely. To say I am excited to discover more from this album is an understatement.
TodoMal - Point of Coalescence (Official Music Video)
Low, grumbling guitar tones kick this piece into gear. Clean vocals caught me by surprise and takes it to a different place than expected. It feels more gothic with that as the guiding voice but everything in the foundation is powerfully heavy. Big tones and lumbering structure with absolute crusher riffs. You can sneak this jam onto the playlist with your friend that may not be a metal fanatic.
…is this the end?